From mountains to coastal plain, players win $30 million

Thanks to the ACC Tournament, the second week of March in North Carolina is always a chance to celebrate the excitement of college basketball. For lucky lottery players this year it was also a time to celebrate the fun of winning $30 million in prizes statewide.

Nowhere in North Carolina happened to be luckier than McDowell County. Russell Guffey, a sales representative from Nebo, won $1 million on a $200 Million Blowout ticket, making him the third McDowell County winner of $1 million or more this month.

Staying in the western region, a hairdresser from Hudson in Caldwell County can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style this year thanks to the new “Lucky Green” game. Tamera Nichols is the first player to win a $30,000 top prize in the $2 game.

Dennis Brown of Waynesville, located near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, won $50,000 instantly playing 100X The Cash.

But it wasn’t just the mountains where folks beat the odds; the Piedmont region had a $1 million winner, too. Saturday night, Daniel Allen of Waxhaw in Union County became the sixth North Carolina Powerball player to win $1 million this year.

Nearby in Charlotte, a retired airline mechanic won his second Cash 5 jackpot in five years. After winning $773,609 in April of 2010, John Grabski won $424,168 in Tuesday’s drawing. Two other Charlotte players claimed $10,000 apiece this week. Stephen Dunlap and Alan Price won playing 100X The Cash and 20X The Cash, respectively.

Not far away in Cabarrus County, a trio of players from Concord managed to win $10,000 each – all on different tickets in the new “X The Cash” family of games. Mike Kale won playing 5X The Cash, Christine Filippi won playing 50X The Cash and David Clark won playing 100X The Cash.

Just minutes north, John Haigler of Kannapolis won $20,000 on a $1,000,000 Jackpot ticket.

Heading east and close to the South Carolina border in Wadesboro, Edward Little landed $10,000 playing 100X The Cash. And south of the Triangle in Moore County, Donna Moore of Cameron scratched her way to $10,000 on a $4,000,000 Multiplier Spectacular ticket.

Eastern North Carolina also had several big winners. Earlina Robinson of Mount Olive in Wayne County won the top prize of $200,000 playing 20X The Cash. She bought her lucky ticket at the Arrington Mart on Bill Lane Boulevard in Dudley.

Two Fayetteville players claimed big prizes. Dorethea Caldwell of Fayetteville had one of three tickets to match all five numbers in the Feb. 28 drawing, winning her a $52,516 share of the $157,548 jackpot, and Michael Ratcliffe won $50,000 playing 50X The Cash.

Six more players in the coastal plains region won big prizes instantly. They are:

• Catina Cox of Wilson: $50,000 (Casino Crossword)
• Patsy Lynch of Hollister: $30,000 ($30,000 Payday!)
  
• Simmie Bryant of Clinton: $30,000 (Red Hot 5’s)
  
• Jimmy Harrison of Lumberton: $10,000 (5X The Cash)
  
• Joyce West of Newton Grove: $10,000 (20X The Cash)
  
• Misty Bridges of Red Springs: $10,000 (100X The Cash)
  

In all, instant players won $24.6 million and draw game players added $5.4 million more.

Whatever team you root for or whatever part of our state you live in, we hope you have a great weekend. See you soon here in the Lucke-Zone.