Staff report

SALISBURY — Champ Hayden hadn’t made a 3-pointer all night, but when he really needed to make one, he did.

Hayden calmly connected on a tie-breaking 3-ball with less than a second left on the clock and lifted North Hills to an exciting 83-80 win against Lake Norman Christian on Friday.

Hayden scored 43 points for coach John Knox’s Eagles, shooting 13-for-24 from the field and 16-for-20 from the foul line. He had 12 rebounds.

Jerrod Drye scored 26 for the Eagles (12-7) and had three assists. Malachi Strong had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Those three accounted for 81 of North Hills’ 83 points. Kasey Wippenbeck scored the other two.

Noah Dendy had seven rebounds.

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SANFORD — On Thursday, North Hills won 79-60 at Lee Christian.

Hayden shot 15-for-32 in that road game and scored 35 points. He had 18 rebounds

Drye had 23 points and four steals. Strong had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Dendy and Wippenbeck had a bucket apiece.