Forestview brings home county's first girls basketball title in 33 years

CHAPEL HILL — Kelsey Harris looked into the stands and could hardly believe all the fans wearing black and white.

“It looked like our whole city was there supporting us,” the Forestview senior said after helping the Jaguars win the 3A girls state basketball championship Saturday.

Forestview defeated South Central 62-55 in the midst of a festive atmosphere at the 22,000-seat Smith Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Jaguars led by as many as 16 and survived a late South Central rally to win the school’s first state championship. This team fell just short of a title last year, losing by two points to Greensboro Dudley.

Forestview also became Gaston County’s first public school girls basketball team to win a state championship since 1977, when North Gaston beat North Stanly. Since then, only a private school has made it all the way. Gaston Day won titles in 1978, 1979, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

“We’re glad to make history today,” Harris said. “We have so much support from our fans. Just hearing them cheer for us when they’re calling out our names is unbelievable.”

Making the most noise was a raucous student section that stood behind the Jaguars’ second-half goal and chanted their usual catchy phrases.

The players gave their fans much to cheer for, thriving in a fast-paced game before holding on for their lowest winning margin of the playoffs. Forestview had won all five of their previous five playoff games by double digits.

Even though the Jaguars reached the pinnacle of high school sports, their success didn’t translate to luxury. After the game, they boarded a familiar vehicle for the 2 1/2-hour ride back home.

“We took a whole different approach this year. Instead of bringing a charter bus, we brought our white activity bus,” Forestview coach Ken Beaty said.

The team did splurge on a hotel stay Friday night, though, giving the players plenty of idle time before Saturday’s 5 p.m. tip off.

Beaty at first questioned whether the team planned too much free time at the hotel, but he couldn’t argue with the final result.

“I felt like the rest was good,” he said.

You can reach Phillip Gardner at 704-869-1843.