Lake Norman's coaching staff did not have to play e-mail tag with other coaches or turn their offices upside down in search of just one tape on the Wildcats' opponent in the 4A West Regional championship.
No, Lake Norman has plenty of history with West Charlotte.
It was the Lions who gave Lake Norman its last loss, a 75-70 heartbreaker in the I-Meck 4A tournament championship.
The Wildcats defeated West Charlotte twice before that game, so there certainly won't be any secrets when the two teams tip-off at 6 p.m. tonight at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center.
"It was a whole lot easier for me scouting-wise," Wildcats coach Brandon Jolly said. "We've got film. We know each other pretty well."
Lake Norman and West Charlotte are both members of the I-Meck Conference. Considered one of the toughest leagues in the state prior to the season, that belief is only strengthened by this matchup.
"I think it proves all along that what coaches have said about it being the toughest league in the state were true," Jolly said. "I think now, the rest of people in the state realize what we were facing night in and night out."
The Wildcats got this far by virtue of a 58-56 win over Ardrey Kell in Wednesday's regional semifinals.
Reggie Price and Paul Larsen both scored 18 points, but the Wildcats were shaky at times.
West Charlotte played Greensboro Dudley — which was favored by most — and won 69-68 on a buzzer-beater.
"To get to the state championship, we have to play better than we did (Wednesday)," Jolly said. "We were really good in spurts, but didn't have everybody clicking. We haven't had everybody clicking at once in a long time. If we can do that, we should play them pretty well."
The Wildcats had what Jolly called a "pretty hard" practice the day after beating Ardrey Kell.
The hope is that it refocused the team and coaching staff, who are all in the regionals for the first time.
"I think we got the first-game jitters out," Jolly said. "It was new for them, new for me, new to the school. Hopefully that's behind us and we can come out and play hard (today)."
West Charlotte senior J.T. Terrell has been a monster this season and is the key player to watch. The Lions really started rolling though when others got involved.
It was the somewhat unheralded Anthony Estes who made the game-winner against Dudley, and Jolly thinks the play of point guard Brandon Richardson has taken West Charlotte (22-9) to another level.
The Wildcats have gotten a few transcendent performances of their own in the playoffs.
Larsen, who averages 17 points a game, has been a force. He was 7-of-13 from the field against Ardrey Kell, but the Knights really struggled in defending him.
"We didn't get the ball as much to him as we needed to, and he was dominating," Jolly said, "If we come in and pound the ball to him, I don't know that anybody can stop him in there. I think we're going to have to ride him all the way to states if that's going to happen."
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