Cannon School girls’ basketball coach Kelvin Drakeford said he was nervous heading into Saturday’s N.C. Independent Schools state championship game with Providence Day.
“I would never tell my girls that,” Drakeford said after Cannon won, 62-51, and earned the school’s second state title in girls’ basketball, its first since 2021. “I believe in (my team) and I trust them, but it was a question of what (Providence Day) was going to do. I knew what our game plan was and I knew the talent we had, but it was like, ‘What are they gonna throw at us?’”
Providence Day coach Josh Springer has won 10 state titles and more than 400 games. This was Springer’s — and Providence Day’s — third shot at Cannon this season. The Cougars beat Providence Day twice before, 63-47 at home and 50-45 on the road.
Drakeford said he knew how hard it would be to beat a team three times, especially one with the championship DNA of Springer’s Providence Day bunch.
But early in the game, Cannon School freshman Madison Drayton, who celebrated her birthday Saturday, hit a corner 3 and that seemed to settle down Drakeford and his team.
“Maddie hit that corner 3,” Drakeford said, “and I thought to myself, ‘It’s on.’”
Cannon (23-7) won its 12th straight game after working out to a 30-18 lead at halftime. Providence Day’s multiple zone defenses weren’t effective as Drayton (21 points), junior Maya McCorkle (14) and freshman Brooke Busby (16) all had big games.
The Chargers’ star, Jaida McClure, got four fouls in the first half but didn’t foul out, finishing with a game-high 22 points. But she couldn’t get the Chargers (21-10) close enough to really make Cannon sweat.
Drakeford graduated from Cannon in 2008 and he said creating a regional powerhouse there is personal for him.
He said he’ll lose one senior starter next season and return everyone else.
“I think this is the beginning of something, of something special,” Drakeford said. “I think we have great leadership to show our freshmen the ropes and our juniors, Maya McCorkle and Khloe Thompson, have been great about taking them under their wing and showing them this is how we are going to do things at Cannon, and the freshmen have bought in, and I think they want to do whatever it takes to touch the floor and for us to win. I am really happy where we’re going.”
GAME SUMMARY
CANNON SCHOOL 62, PROVIDENCE DAY 51
Providence Day 7 11 11 21 — 51
Cannon 13 17 11 21— 62
PROVIDENCE DAY 51 — Jaida McClure 22, Updyke 6, Clark 4, Ramsden 3, Sophie Levine 14, Swinson 2
CANNON 62 — Maya McCorkle 14, Khloe Thompson 11, Madison Drayton 21, Brooke Busby 16
