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Both the Freedom boys and girls teams advanced to the title contests of the 50th annual Freedom Christmas Invitational in Â鶹´«Ã½ on Saturday, one day after both the East Burke boys and girls reached the finals of the McDowell Christmas Invitational in Marion. But all four teams had to settle for second.

In Â鶹´«Ã½ on Saturday, the Freedom boys (10-2) fell to Asheville Christian Academy 75-50 while the Lady Patriots (7-6) were defeated by North Wilkes 59-45. And in Marion on Friday, the East Burke boys (6-6) lost to host McDowell 87-49, shortly after the Lady Cavaliers (11-1) suffered their first loss of the season, 56-52, to the host Lady Titans.

Versus the Lions, the Patriot boys led 33-30 at halftime before watching Asheville Christian go on a 23-2 tear to open the second half. The Lions led 54-37 at the end of the third quarter and took the fourth frame 21-13 to win by 25 points after previously leading 17-16 at the end of the opening frame.

Amore Connelly (16 points) and Braxton King (12) finished in double figures for FHS. The rest of the hosts’ scoring came from Ke’Andre Davis (seven points), King Johnson (five), Kober Johnson (three), Amare Williams (three), Daivyon Feaster-Hicks (two), DeAndre Caldwell (one) and Kaden Davis (one).

Ian Bailey scored a game-high 28 points for Asheville Christian and was joined in double digits by Gabe Erbeck (14 points), Liviu Anton (12) and Heath Skjoldager (10). Also scoring were Zach Peterson (six points), Ryan Storr (three) and Pavlo Markiv (two).

In Friday’s 70-61 semifinal win over T.C. Roberson, Freedom’s scoring came from Kobe Johnson (16 points), Williams (14), Connelly (13), King (nine), King Johnson (seven), Ke’Andre Davis (four), Elijah Davidson (three), Kaden Davis (two) and Jonah Griggs (two).

Earlier in the girls game, the Lady Patriots jumped out to an early 9-2 lead thanks to back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by Peyton Caldwell, and still led 13-11 at the end of the first quarter. But the Lady Vikings slipped ahead 26-21 by halftime and 39-33 after three periods before opening up a 14-point final margin.

Caldwell scored a game-high 31 points for FHS, but her help was limited as her teammates added five points (Cynica Caldwell), three (Alayhia Bates), three (Haven Gladden), two (Ava Cooke) and one (Kaitlyn Hagmann).

Meredith Tomko (20 points) and Shalyn Bare (15) led North Wilkes, which received additional scoring from Allie Farrington (eight points), Kaykay Kinder (eight), Ralee Bare (five) and Ava Johnson (three).

Freedom won Friday’s semifinal over East Rutherford 70-28 with scoring from Peyton Caldwell (16 points), Hagmann (12), Cooke (11), Gladden (nine), Bates (eight), Simone Wright (seven), Aniah Queen (four) and Cynica Caldwell (three).

In Marion on Friday, the East Burke girls suffered their first loss since last year’s NCHSAA 2A state championship game versus North Pitt 76-66, and their first regular-season loss since a 57-53 defeat at Freedom on Dec. 2, 2022. The only other losses in that span came in the Catawba Valley 2A Conference Tournament finals against Newton-Conover 58-45 on Feb. 17, 2023, and in the NCHSAA 2A West Regional finals versus Salisbury 43-37 on March 4, 2023.

Against McDowell, EBHS trailed 11-5 early, but rallied for leads of 25-20 and 36-34 following the middle two periods before the host Lady Titans seized the victory with a 22-16 fourth frame.

Braelyn Stilwell paced EB with 25 points and was joined in double figures by Kara Brinkley (10 points). Additional scoring came from Maci McNeil (nine points), Addison Sisk (five), Journi McDowell (two) and Addi Brittain (one).

Leading McDowell were Kensly Stewart (20 points), Sage Young (11) and Lanie Dameron (10). The rest of the hosts’ offensive output came from Clara McCartha (nine points), Payton Carter (two) and Kimora Stewart (two).

On the boys side, East Burke fell behind 16-7 after a quarter, 37-24 after a half and 59-35 after three periods before the host Titans closed the game with a 28-14 final-frame edge.

The Cavs’ scorers were Owen Hartmann (nine points), Cannon Morrison (nine), Dautry Ragle (nine), Barger Shook (nine), Luke Demiter (seven), Carter Bennett (five) and Nathan Fortenberry (one).

McDowell had a trio in double figures, including Rylan Parkins (31 points), Derrick Forney Jr. (17) and Rae Garner (10). The rest of the scoring came from Roby Franklin (nine points), Jay Radford (nine), Kyson Rinnert (five), Mason Brewer (two), Tristan Moore (two) and Draken Seaman (two).