The Hoggard boys basketball team is heading to a state championship game for the first time since 1970. Here's how the Vikings overcame crosstown rival Laney Wednesday, March 4.
GREENVILLE — The wait is finally over for Hoggard boys basketball.
Nearly six decades after its last appearance on the sport's biggest stage, the Vikings are heading back to a state championship game.
Hoggard overcame a sluggish start and pulled away from Wilmington rival Laney for a 51-33 victory on March 4 in the NCHSAA 8A Eastern regional championship at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on the campus of East Carolina.
The win sends the Vikings (23-6) to their first state title game since 1970. Hoggard will face the Western champion, West Charlotte, next week in Winston-Salem.
“This team is just really special,” Hoggard senior Will Seward said. “This whole team has been playing with each other for years, and I think that we all just click so well on the court.”
The Vikings didn’t look comfortable early. Laney surged to an 11-2 lead by the end of the first quarter, while Hoggard went scoreless for the game’s opening seven minutes.
But the early deficit didn’t rattle the Vikings.
Hoggard flipped the momentum in the second quarter with a 14-2 run that erased the deficit and ignited the crowd.
Seward led the charge with a game-high 20 points, while Hunter McGrath added 15 as Hoggard steadily pulled away. The Vikings outscored Laney 35-20 in the second half and never trailed again after their second-quarter surge.
Laney was led by Colin Lamb, who finished with 17 points.
For Queen, who has guided Hoggard to more than 400 wins across 24 seasons, the moment carried deep meaning. Years of building the program and chasing postseason success finally produced a team capable of breaking through.
“Every year you talk about the state championship, and you hope that at some point you get the opportunity to play in it,” Queen said. “There are a lot of times when you don’t feel like it’s going to happen. Sometimes you just need a special group of kids to push you over the edge. In some ways, it’s hard to believe.”
Laney’s run also carried historic significance. The Buccaneers reached their first regional final since 1999 and faced Hoggard in a state semifinal for the first time.
“No one thought we could make this Final Four run but us,” Laney senior Logan Schumacher said. “I think that really shows how much heart we have and how much guts we played with.”
Hoggard will now send both its boys and girls teams to Winston-Salem after the Vikings girls defeated Willow Spring earlier Wednesday to claim the 8A Eastern regional title.
“The fact that our girls are going to be there too, it’s been a pretty unbelievable athletics year for Hoggard High School,” Queen said. “I like 8A.”
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Hoggard basketball beats Wilmington rival Laney in regional final
Category: General Sports
