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GREENSBORO — Like everyone else in the building, Dudley head coach David Price assumed the final possession was destined for J.T. Terrell's hands.

West Charlotte coach Baronton Terry drew it up that way, envisioning the Wake Forest-bound guard to inbound the ball and then get it back for a full-court assault on the Panthers' one-point lead. Terrell thought so too, trailing frantically as 6-foot-5 teammate Anthony Estes — who looked like a sumo wrestler chugging to go coast-to-coast — hurried the ball up court when Dudley denied Terrell the ball.

"I might have said his name 100 times," Terrell said.

He'd say it a hundred more, thought not as desperately, after Estes' banked layup with 1.8 seconds left helped West Charlotte snatch a 69-68 victory from Dudley at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Complex on Wednesday, denying the Panthers a trip to the regional final for a second straight year.

"Winning the game," Estes said of his thoughts dribbling up the floor. "I was shooting. I had my mind made up before he passed it."

P.J Hairston scored a game-high 25 points, Reggie Dillard added 14 and Brennan Wyatt and JaQuel Richmond each scored 9 for Dudley, which led by as many as nine in the second half. In a game where two teams played nearly identically statistically, of course it would come down to the finish.

"We had the guy handling the ball we wanted to handle it, but he made the shot," Price said. "The rest is history. It's a tough loss."

Dudley's Sam Hunt closed the first quarter and opened the second with 3-pointers, helping Dudley to a 22-21 lead that would stretch as big as 43-34 midway through the third. West Charlotte, led by the former Cummings star Terrell's 20 points, closed the quarter on a 13-3 run to go up 50-46.

Dudley never lost its poise, tying it at 52 and getting the crowd back when Hairston, who has verbally committed to UNC, blocked Terrell's corner 3-pointer with a dive out of bounds. The Panthers went up 63-60 on Dillard's layup with 2:27 left, but Terrell answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Hairston drew three defenders in the post a moment later and kicked it to Dillard, whose 3-pointer made it 66-63 with 52 seconds left. Terrell missed badly on a 3-pointer, but it caromed to Jacoby Davis (16 points), who swished for the tie and hit one of two free throws after a Dudley turnover to put West Charlotte up one. Terrell got whistled 30 feet from the basket for a hand-check of Hairston, who rattled one free throw and swished the second to put Dudley up 68-67 with 8.5 seconds left.

After Estes' heroics, Dillard's three-quarter-length pass sailed untouched over Hairston, who curled up on the ground in exasperation.

"They were crying and all that" in the locker room, Price said. "I just told them they played a good game, played hard, fought hard. There ain't a whole lot to say. One team wins. We come up short."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com

West Charlotte 19 12 19 19 — 69
Dudley 17 16 13 22 — 68

West Charlotte (22-9) — J.T. Terrell 20, Brandon Richardson 18, Jacoby Davis 16, Anthony Estes 11, Julius Hamilton, Jawan Byers 2.

Dudley (22-7) — P.J. Hairston 25, Reggie Dillard 14, JaQuel Richmond 9, Brennan Wyatt 9, Sam Hunt 6, Brandon Clyburn 2, DJ Alston 2, Stephon Redd 1.