Maiden vs. Fairmont: 4A Championship

The realignment that took place among schools competing within the North Carolina High School Athletic Association meant teams that were in the 4A ranks last season received new classifications. One of those schools was Lake Norman which won 4A state last season.    The Wildcats became a 7A team. As for 4A, the title of 2025-26 state champion would come down to Maiden vs. Fairmont. The Blue Devils' trek to Wake Forest would go through West Stanly, East Burke, Hibriten and Pisgah. That of Fairmont would go through Bunn, Nash Central, T.W. Andrews and First Flight.    Departing from the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum with 4A state hardware would be Maiden after its 44-39 victory over Fairmont.    We at Prep Girls Hoops were on site for the big 4A state tilt. Here are a few primetime performers from Friday's contest.     When matching up against Maiden, one must find a way to keep its veteran big off the scoreboard and off the board boards. The senior Blue Devils star ensured her final time in a Maiden uniform would be one to remember as she led her Maiden assembling to the tune of a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Culliver also made sure that whenever she was fouled it translated to good fortunes for Maiden. She had seven attempts from the charity stripe and was true on all seven. Culliver also grabbed a game-high eight offensive rebounds in addition to a pair of steals. The Kay Yow Most Valuable Player recipient is among the six 2026s set to graduate from Maiden.     Anderson spearheaded the efforts for the Blue Devils from the backcourt. Alongside state championship hardware, Anderson also earned West Most Outstanding Player honors. She added 11 points to the Maiden cause and also helped said cause with five rebounds. Three of those 11 points were because of the four free throw attempts she had and six of those 11 were scored in the first half of play. Anderson also collected a steal. She is among the three sophomores that are on this season's Blue Devils team. Among the many positive elements to her game are the ability to slice her way through defenses and her fearless attitude when attacking the basket.     Close contests such as Saturday's between Blue Devils and Golden Tornadoes are not only won with points but with rebounds as well. Dula was among the frontcourt starters for Maiden and greatly helped her team's cause with eight rebounds. Primarily playing at the four, her work on the glass was a reason why the Blue Devils won the battle on the boards by a margin of 41-27. Dula also collected a pair of steals. She is another of the Blue Devils' seven seniors. With her high school career officially in the rear view mirror, Dula can now transition from wearing the blue of Maiden to the blue of Brevard College.     Even though Fairmont was on the wrong end of Friday's contest, McNair gave her team a winning performance from start to finish. She led her Golden Tornadoes with 18 points and would earn East Most Outstanding Player honors. Out of the 18 she would score, 11 would take place in the first half. The star sophomore guard also grabbed six rebounds, sent out three assists, blocked a pair of shots and came away with a steal. The Golden Tornadoes made three of its four attempts from the free throw line – all of the team's free throws were attempted by McNair. She is one of Fairmont's two sophomores.     McNair could not have given the Golden Tornadoes a fighting chance all by herself. Fairmont also benefitted from solid minutes off its bench. McLean added eight points to the Golden Tornadoes' total in addition to four rebounds in the nearly 26 minutes she logged on the court. Three freshmen are part of this season's Fairmont roster – McLean is one of those three. The Golden Tornadoes connected on six of their tries from behind the 3-point arc. Two of those were courtesy of McLean who herself made two of her five attempts from distance. Five of McLean's eight points occurred in the second half.     Also helping the Fairmont offensive attack was another 2029 with the last name of McLean. The seven points she scored also gave a boost to the Golden Tornadoes. She too would also finish with four rebounds and would play nearly 28 minutes off the bench. Even though Fairmont was placed in the win column, there was a portion of the second half that went to the Golden Tornadoes' liking. In that second half would be when McLean would add five of those seven points to Fairmont's output. One element of her game where she excels in as a transition playmaker.     As was the case with Maiden, one of Fairmont's standouts left her imprint on Friday's matchup more with her rebounding than with her scoring. Dial was that name and she spearheaded the Golden Tornadoes' efforts on the glass with a team-high eight boards. Six of those eight rebounds were recorded in the first half and a blocked shot was also part of Dial's performance in what would be her final time sporting Fairmont's black and gold hues. Her rebounding capabilities are indicative of many fours or fives but she also possesses the ball-handling and basket-attacking skills of a guard – hence why she can play on the wing.

The realignment that took place among schools competing within the North Carolina High School Athletic Association meant teams that were in the 4A ranks last season received new classifications. One of those schools was Lake Norman which won 4A state last season.