Recap of Friday's action in boys and girls basketball as well as swimming & diving
BOYS BASKETBALL
New Hanover 70, West Brunswick 57
A 29-point fourth quarter helped the Wildcats pull away and claim at least a share of the Mideastern Conference regular season title.
Josh Aldrich scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to pace New Hanover (18-4, 12-0). Tyler Steinman continued his solid play by finishing with 18 points, while Freddie Taylor chipped in 10.
The lead was only 25-21 at halftime and 41-38 after three quarters before the Wildcats caught fire. They can clinch the outright league title Tuesday with a win over North Brunswick or a Hoggard loss to West Brunswick.
West Brunswick (11-11, 4-8) got 17 points from Khalil Bland and 13 from Jvian McCray.
Laney 72, Topsail 59
The Buccaneers trailed by five at halftime before outscoring Topsail 43-25 over the final 16 minutes.
Marc McLaurin scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the second half to lead Laney (13-9, 6-6). Sherod and Cam Sidbury each finished with 13 points and Cole McCarthy added 11.
Topsail (4-17, 1-10) got 13 points from Jamison Long and 11 from Caleb Bloodworth.
Hoggard 46, South Brunswick 44
A late 5-0 run on a layup from Tyler Matlock and a 3-pointer from Sabastian Haidera put the Vikings up 45-43 and they were able to hold on despite missing four of five free throws down the stretch.
Haidera led all scorers with 15 points and Matlock finished with 10. Hoggard (14-8, 10-2 Mideastern) also got nine points from Jhamir Shaw.
South Brunswick (14-7, 7-5) was led by 12 points from Jace McKenney and 10 from Xavier Williams.
Ashley 77, North Brunswick 64
Brady Brenning led the Screaming Eagles with 18 points, while Keigan Meyer added 14 and Elijah Robinson finished with 11.
With the win, Ashley improved to 7-15 overall and 7-5 in the Mideastern Conference. North Brunswick is now 3-16 overall and 0-11 in league play.
Parrott Academy 65, Coastal Christian 61
Eddie Smith hit three 3-pointers and finished with 16 points and Caleb Vernon hit three 3-pointers of his own en route to 11 points, but the Centurions ended the regular season with a road loss.
Coastal Christian (20-6, 6-2 Coastal Rivers) earned the top seed for next week's tournament. They will host the winner of Fayetteville Academy/Parrott Academy in the semifinals on Thursday night.
Wilmington Christian Academy 69, Greenville Christian Academy 48
Conley Burk scored 13 of his 20 points in the opening half to help the Patriots sweep the season series.
WCA (11-12, 6-2) also got 13 points from Alex Driggs.
Southeastern Homeschool 71, Faith Homeschool 26
All 10 players got in the scoring column, led by 11 from Andy Boehling, as the Cardinals bounced back with a dominant win.
Raymond Still finished with 10 points and Noah Sibbett added nine. Corbin Rosenbaum and Harrison Barber each had eight for Southeastern Homeschool (7-13, 5-9).
Trask 89, Croatan 59
The Titans saw their lead atop the Coastal 8 Conference standings grow to two games with an emphatic road victory behind 23 points from Jajuan Carr and 20 points and 8 rebounds from Tiyaun Ballard.
Rival Pender lost to SW Onslow, dropping them into a tie for second with East Carteret.
BJ Jordan finished with 11 points and Watson Orr added 10 to round of Trask's double-figure scorers. The Titans (19-2, 10-1) shot 50 percent from the field and committed only eight turnovers.
SW Onslow 62, Pender 56
Pender fell into a tie for second place in the Coastal 8 Conference with East Carteret with the loss. Both teams are two games behind league-leading Trask.
Freshman Khalil Marshall continued to put up big numbers, finishing with a game-high 28 points. Malcolm McLean added nine for the Patriots (9-10, 7-3).
Other scores: Parrott Academy 65, Coastal Christian 61; West Columbus 51, Whiteville 44; East Columbus 61, East Bladen 51
GIRLS BASKETBALL
New Hanover 67, West Brunswick 33
Amani Muhammad had a career-high 23 points and Michele Jacobs added 18 as the Wildcats clinched the top 3A seed from the Mideastern Conference for the upcoming playoffs.
New Hanover (17-5, 9-3) now has a two-game lead over West Brunswick (14-8, 7-5) with two games to play, but owns the tiebreaker if needed because of the season sweep.
Senior point guard Azariah Fields finished with 13 points, five assists and five steals in the victory.
Laney 60, Topsail 37
Senior guard Lexie Melville made 9 of 15 field goals for a game-high 22 points and the Buccaneers remained in a tie atop the Mideastern Conference standings with Hoggard.
Laney (20-2, 11-1) also got 20 points from freshman Saniya Rivers and eight from Sydni Simpson.
Julia Sullivan and Sydney Hargrove each scored seven to lead Topsail (12-9, 3-8)
Hoggard 57, South Brunswick 7
Three Vikings finished in double figures, led by 13 from Blair Barefoot, in the lopsided victory that began with a 29-0 opening quarter.
The junior point guard added five assists and five steals. Lola Lovitt and Mia Boone each added 10 points for Hoggard (19-3, 11-1 Mideastern), which assisted on 13 of its 19 made field goals.
South Brunswick fell to 0-18 overall and 0-12 in the league.
Ashley 46, North Brunswick 45
Baili Davenport scored a career-high 20 points and added five steals to help the Screaming Eagles rally from an early 10-2 deficit.
Ashley (6-16, 4-8 Mideastern) got going in the second half after managing only 15 points in the opening 16 minutes and finding themselves down nine at the break. Freshman Lauryn Craig had her first double-double, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
North Brunswick dropped to 7-12 overall and 2-9 in the MEC.
Parrott Academy 38, Coastal Christian 19
The Centurions suffered a road loss in their regular season finale despite getting 13 rebounds from Carson Fuller.
Kristina Quigley scored a team-high six points and added four steals for Coastal Christian (10-11, 2-6 Coastal Rivers), which finished fourth in the league standings. They will host No. 5 Harrells Christian Academy in the opening round of the conference tournament on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Wilmington Christian Academy 52, Greenville Christian Academy 13
Caroline Leggett scored a game-high 24 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
WCA (11-8, 6-1) also got six points and 12 rebounds from Sydney Davenport and six points and 11 rebounds from Sophia Ke. The game was out of reach at halftime, as the Patriots took a 23-1 lead into the locker room.
East Bladen 66, East Columbus 52
The Eagles picked up their 16th consecutive victory, claiming at least a share of the Three Rivers Conference regular season title in the process.
Patience Ward finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven steals and Erica McKoy chipped in 20 points, five rebounds and four assists as East Bladen improved to 20-1 overall and 15-1 in the league.
East Columbus (11-8, 9-7) got a game-best 23 points from Tia Campbell.
Other scores: Pender 42, SW Onslow 22; Croatan 58, Trask; Whiteville 64, West Columbus 54 (OT)
SWIMMING & DIVING
4A East Regional
Hoggard freshman Jason Bunn captured the 1-meter diving title, finishing with a career-best 438.10 points on his 11 dives.
He topped Leesville Road's Devin Tibbs by 3.5 points. They were the only two competitors to surpass the 400-point mark.
The Vikings boys finished seventh as a team thanks to a number of other outstanding performances.
Jeffrey Settlemyre and Finn Howard each qualified for the 4A State Championship in four events. Settlemyre finished second in the 100 butterfly (51.50) and fifth in the 100 backstroke (52.95), while Howard was third in the 100 backstroke (51.81) and sixth in the 50 freestyle (21.96).
Both were also members of the 200 medley (fifth in 1:39.29) and 200 freestyle (1:32.49) relays.
Laney's Trey Adkins advanced to states in a pair of events. He finished third in the 100 freestyle (47.44) and fourth in the 50 freestyle (21.73). Ashley's Garrett Butner placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 59.59.
On the girls side, Ashley's Brenna Divoky was the lone swimmer to qualify for states in an individual event. She was seventh in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.51). The Hoggard 400 freestyle relay team also qualified with an eighth-place finish.