RALEIGH – The search is on for a player who purchased a Powerball ticket worth $1 million in Cherryville.

The lucky player matched all five white balls in Wednesday’s drawing. The winning $2 ticket was purchased at the Murphy USA on Lincolnton Highway in Cherryville. The winning numbers for the $1 million prize were 12-24-35-36-49. The Powerball number was 1.

Whoever beat the odds of 1 in 5.1 million to win the $1 million has 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim the prize money at lottery headquarters in Raleigh.

Cherryville, home to 5,760 people, is having good luck in the Powerball game. In the Nov. 8, 2014 drawing, Evans Anthony of Shelby and William Anthony of Cherryville matched all five white balls but not the Powerball to win a $1 million prize. They bought the lucky ticket at the TAS Drug on West Church Street in Cherryville.

This most recent win marks the fourth $1 million Powerball win in North Carolina in the past three months. Rachel Hoilman of Newland matched all five white balls but not the red Powerball in the Jan. 3 drawing to win her big prize.

A $1 million Powerball ticket purchased in North Carolina remains unclaimed. The ticket, from the Christmas Eve drawing, was sold at the Harris Teeter on South Tryon Street in Charlotte.

This Saturday’s Powerball jackpot annuity has climbed to $289 million. The jackpot would be worth $198.4 million if claimed as a lump sum. It is the largest Powerball jackpot since the Sept. 24, 2014 drawing when a player in California won the $228.5 million jackpot. North Carolina has had three Powerball jackpot winners who won between $74.5 million and $141.4 million.

For details on how more than $75.7 million in lottery funds have made a difference for specific education programs in Gaston County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.

Ticket sales made it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion for the state last year. North Carolina Education Lottery net proceeds will be used this year to help pay salaries of teachers and teacher assistants, for pre-kindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, school construction and repair, and need-based college scholarships and financial aid.