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Published: March 7, 2009
The Mount Tabor boys, the Bishop McGuinness boys and girls and the East Davidson girls will play championship games today in the NCHSAA Western Regional basketball tournaments in Greensboro.
The McGuinness boys defeated Hendersonville 84-78 in the Class 1-A semifinals last night and South Stokes lost to Cherryville 68-59 in the other semifinal.
Mount Tabor improved to 29-1 on Thursday with a 72-50 pounding of Charlotte Myers Park in the Class 4-A boys semifinals at UNC Greensboro's Fleming Gym. The Spartans will play Huntersville Hopewell, which erased an eight-point halftime deficit on Thursday to beat Charlotte Ardrey Kell 58-50.
Mount Tabor, in its third regional appearance and first trip to the final, and Hopewell (28-0) will play at 4 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum's Special Events Center.
The Bishop McGuinness girls -- three-time defending 1-A state champions -- dismantled Robbinsville 54-29 in Wednesday's semifinals to set up a championship game rematch against a familiar opponent, East Surry.
East also won easily in the semifinals, beating Hiwassee Dam 52-36. East Surry lost to McGuinness in the 2007 regional championship final and knows the Villains as well as any team -- the two have played at least twice in the Northwest 1-A each of the past four seasons.
McGuinness (27-4) has defeated East (26-5) three times this season. The rematch will be at noon today UNC Greensboro.
The East Davidson girls also are on course to repeat as state champions, in Class 2-A. To get to the final, they'll have to go through Central Carolina Conference rival Salisbury. They will play at 2 p.m. at UNCG.
East has defeated Salisbury three times this season but all three games have been close. The Eagles won by identical scores of 52-46 in two regular-season games, then won 45-43 in the CCC Tournament final.
Neither team has been challenged in the playoffs. East (30-0) ripped Smoky Mountain 53-33, and Salisbury (27-3) pounded Mitchell 64-42 in semifinal games Wednesday.
The McGuinness and South Stokes boys, each making their first appearances in the Western Regional, played in opposite Class 1-A semifinals last night. The Class 1-A boys final will be at 4 p.m. today at UNC Greensboro at 4 p.m.
Western Regional champions will advance to play Eastern Regional champions in state finals March 14 in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. The Class 1-A and Class 3-A title games will be at N.C. State's Reynolds Coliseum, and the Class 2-A and Class 4-A finals will be held at UNC's Smith Center.
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