Perfect pick: North Carolina seventh-grader nails Final Four

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Although many college basketball fans ripped up their NCAA Tournament brackets days ago, a North Carolina middle school student may consider having hers framed.

The Charlotte Observer reports (http://bit.ly/2nThqBY) that Sasha Anderson, a seventh-grader at Mountain Island Lake Academy in northwest Charlotte, correctly picked North Carolina, South Carolina, Gonzaga and Oregon to make this weekend’s Final Four.

Key to her success was taking South Carolina to beat Duke in the second round, a pick Sasha said she made because her mother went to the school.

As for the championship Monday, Sasha picked North Carolina to beat Gonzaga.

Sasha’s bracket was part of a competition designed by her math teacher, Denzelle Lawson. He uses the tournament as an opportunity to encourage his students to learn about colleges across the country.