Cannon School shuts the door on Charlotte Latin’s title hopes, wins NCISAA rings BY LANGSTON WERTZ JR. CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, FEBRUARY 22, 2020
Cannon School coach Che’ Roth said he would rather not have played Charlotte Latin at Charlotte Latin Saturday to win a state championship. “That wasn’t exactly our choice,” Roth said after watching his team beat the Hawks 71-69 in the N.C. 4A Independent Schools final. “I would’ve liked to have played them on a neutral site, just because Latin’s so good here, and we’ve just been here a month ago, but beggars can’t be choosers. We’re just glad to have been here and have come away with a really hard-fought win.” Cannon (27-6) finished the year on a nine-game win streak and won its first state championship in 14 years. The Cougars denied Charlotte Latin (22-8) its first title in 16 years. Roth’s team led, pretty much, from start to finish, after winning the first quarter 19-7. But led by 6-foot senior guard RJ Johnson, who finished with 36 points, Latin made a big push in the fourth quarter. Johnson, signed to Holy Cross, scored the Hawks’ first 10 points in the fourth quarter and tied the game at 55 on a 3-pointer. But Cannon sophomore Jaden Bradley (27 points) answered with backto-back 3s that pushed the lead back to six. 26 | CANNON | Summer/Fall 2020
