Former Smithfield-Selma High School standout football lineman Curtis Whitley passed away today, according to The News and Observer and The Charlotte Observer. Whitley went onto play at Chowan and then Clemson after his days with the Spartans and later played for the Carolina Panthers, the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers during his six-year NFL career.
He had just turned 39 on Saturday.

From the NCHSAA

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
MEN’S 1-A GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Keith Hills Country Club, Buies Creek – Keith Hills II course

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Hampstead Topsail 300
2. East Surry 305
3. Polk County 326
4. Mount Airy 328
5. Gastonia Highland Tech 338
6. Williamston 340
7. North Johnston 343
Elkin 343
9. Rosman 347
10. N.C. Science and Math 348
Louisburg 348
12. East Bladen 357

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1. Joe Ondish, Topsail 69
2. John Welden, East Surry 71
3. Ethan Grimmer, East Surry 72
4. Andrew Bateman, Andrews 73
5. David Kostyal, Topsail 75
6. Tyler Britt, East Bladen 77
7. Nick Peavy, Mount Airy 78
Josh Whitehead, Topsail 78
David Donovan, Topsail 78
Pat Morris, Topsail 78
11. Jackson Shearin, North Johnston 79
Kyle Wilson, Mount Airy 79
Jordan Humphrey, NCSSM 79
Drew Eaker, Cherryville 79
Parker Lewis, Hayesville 79

Tuesday's games

1-A
Hampstead Topsail (12-7) at North Johnston (12-8), 7
Louisburg (9-8) at Princeton (12-6), TBA

3-A
South Johnston (12-10) at Bartlett Yancey (24-0), TBA

4-A
Green Hope (10-10) at West Johnston (22-2), 6
Smithfield-Selma (11-14) at Wake Forest-Rolesville (15-2), TBA

North Johnston will host Hampstead Topsail in the first round of the NCHSAA 1-A softball playoffs on Tuesday night at 7.

Here's a rundown of Tuesday's second round NCHSAA baseball playoff match-ups.

4-A

EAST
Wilmington Ashley (15-7) at Durham Riverside (19-3)
Raleigh Leesville Road (15-8) at Pinecrest (19-4)
Fuquay-Varina (23-2) at Lumberton (18-8)
Raleigh Millbrook (16-7) at Greenville Rose (21-3)
New Bern (15-9) at Wilmington Hoggard (19-4)
Cape Fear (19-6) at Apex (17-5)
Durham Jordan (18-7) at West Johnston (19-5)
Richmond (20-5) at Raleigh Sanderson (16-6)

WEST
Page (7-14) at Ardrey Kell (23-4)
Davie County (16-8) at North Mecklenburg (20-4)
Shelby Crest (15-7) at North Davidson (21-3)
Watauga (17-10) at East Forsyth (20-5)
Greensboro Grimsley (18-6) at Huntersville Hopewell (22-4)
Providence (18-8) at East Gaston (15-8)
Mount Tabor (13-11) at South Caldwell (22-1)
South Mecklenburg (9-15) at Monroe Weddington (20-7)

3-A

EAST
Wilson Hunt (16-9) at Greenville Conley (15-9)
Pikeville Aycock (19-6) at West Brunswick (19-6)
West Craven (14-8) at Eastern Wayne (20-6)
Southern Wayne (14-10) at South Central (11-14)
South Johnston (16-9) at Northern Nash (13-8)
Rocky Mount (20-5) at Southern Lee (15-8)
Erwin Triton (16-7) at Wilson Fike (19-4)
NE Guilford (14-11) at South Granville (20-5)

WEST
Lake Norman (12-13) at SW Guilford (17-8)
Monroe Piedmont (14-11) at East Rowan (23-2)
Ragsdale (20-7) at Glenn (19-5)
West Rowan (15-10) at Moorevsille (19-5)
Hickory St. Stephens (19-7) at Belmont South Point (16-8)
NW Cabarrus (15-10) at Kings Mountain (13-10)
Gastonia Forestview (18-6) at Char. Olympic (19-5)
Asheville Roberson (15-10) at R-S Central (22-3)

2-A

EAST
East Duplin (16-8) at Whiteville (14-6)
South Brunswick (12-10) at West Bladen (18-5)
South Columbus (16-7) at South Lenoir (20-3)
Croatan (13-9) at First Flight (22-0)
North Pitt (19-6) at Hillsborough Orange (20-3)
West Stokes (21-3) at Roanoke Rapids (19-3)
Northwood (16-5) at North Lenoir (19-1)
Graham (18-5) at McMichael (18-7)

WEST
Wilkes Central (17-6) at Ledford (21-6)
North Stanly (21-7) at West Lincoln (16-9)
Surry Central (14-9) at Central Davidson (17-8)
Salisbury (17-8) at Starmount (14-9)
Mountain Heritage (8-13) at Lenoir Hibriten (18-5)
Shelby (6-18) at West Henderson (22-3)
Morganton Patton (15-10) at Black Mountain Owen (14-9)
Brevard (18-5) at East Rutherford (17-8)

1-A

EAST
Perquimans (14-8) at Williamston (16-7)
Roanoke (5-18) at Gates County (16-5)
Princeton (14-10) at Jamesville (17-2)
Louisburg (19-4) at Camden (14-7)
North Johnston (13-6) at East Columbus (13-8)
Topsail (18-6) at Wallace-Rose Hill (12-11)
Hobbton (8-15) at Midway (15-7)
Trask (9-13) at East Bladen (14-8)

WEST
Elkin (10-12) at South Stokes (19-5)
Jordan-Matthews (16-7) at NC Science and Math (14-11)
Albemarle (9-14) at West Wilkes (23-5)
North Moore (11-14) at Bishop McGuinness (8-13)
Hayesville (10-10) at Cherryville (17-7)
Hendersonville (10-10) at Swain County (20-2)
Robbinsville (7-14) at Polk County (15-5)
East Montgomery (7-17) at Hiwassee Dam (16-5)

The NCHSAA softball playoffs start tomorrow and we're still waiting for the pairings to be announced by the Association. We know we'll have five teams in the field: Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference champion West Johnston, Carolina 1-A champ North Johnston, Princeton, Smithfield-Selma and South Johnston.

We do know that West Johnston will host Green Hope Tuesday at 6 in the 4-A playoffs, while Smithfield-Selma will visit Wake Forest-Rolesville.

As soon as the pairings are released, I'll post the rest of our area pairings.

South Johnston's boys track and field team rolled up 104 points in winning the NCHSAA 3-A Mideast Regional track and field title on Saturday at Western Guilford High School.
Meanwhile, at the 1-A Mideast meet at Princeton, the host Bulldogs finished third in the team standings. Princeton's Jania Bogle won three events.

We'll have more on the regional results and let you know who's going to next weekend's state 1-A and 3-A championships in Greensboro in Wednesday's print edition of The Herald.

West Johnston's Maraya Slatter won the NCHSAA 4-A 800-meter state championship this afternoon, her second state championship this school year. Slatter also won the 800 indoor title this past winter.

West teammate Dakota Peachee finished second in the 3200 meters, while Clayton's Kyle Barbour took second in the state in the discus. Clayton's Melody McGee took home bronze in the 300 hurdles.

We'll have more on all of the area weekend track results in this week's print edition of The Herald.

Friday night's area NCHSAA baseball playoff scores

North Johnston 7, Pamlico County 3
Princeton 15, Northampton-East 0
South Johnston 14, Rockingham County 2
West Johnston 4, Green Hope 2
Leesville Road 5, Clayton 4
Wilmington Ashley 2, Smithfield-Selma 1

We'll have reports on all of the games in next week's print edition of The Herald.

Tuesday's area second round games

North Johnston (13-6) at East Columbus (13-8)
Princeton (14-10) at Jamesville (18-2)
South Johnston (16-9) at Northern Nash (12-8)
Durham Jordan (18-7) at West Johnston (19-5)

Our new once-a-week format makes playoff time a bit more challenging so we'll have to do somethings differently. For example, I've posted three reports on the first round NCHSAA girls soccer playoff matches involving Johnston County teams on our website.
You can go straight to The Herald's sports website by clicking on the entry header above.

All after-school activities at Dare County Schools were canceled for today after heavy storms caused damage throughout the area early this morning. The decision forced Manteo and North Johnston to postpone their second round NCHSAA playoff girls soccer match until Saturday night at 6 p.m.

The Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference tournament is next on the Wildcats' schedule but they've already got plans for next week. West set its playoff softball opener today. West Johnston will host Green Hope in the first round of the NCHSAA 4-A softball playoffs on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
West is one of five Johnston County teams likely to make the NCHSAA playoffs. West, North Johnston, Princeton and South Johnston are locked into the playoffs. Smithfield-Selma will make the playoffs barring an upset winner of the GNRC tournament. Clayton, winless on the season, would have to win the GNRC tournament to advance to the NCHSAA playoffs.
We'll update you on the other softball playoff openers once we know the whos, wheres and whens.

Both NCHSAA baseball playoff games involving Johnston County teams have been postponed until tomorrow (Friday) night because of weather concerns with a heavy storm front expected to arrive this evening.
North Johnston will host Pamlico, while Princeton hosts Northampton-East. Both games will begin at 7 p.m.

Here's the lineup of area baseball playoff games for tomorrow night.
Northampton-East (9-12) at Princeton (13-10)
Pamlico (10-11) at North Johnston (12-6)
South Johnston (15-9) at Rockingham County (19-6)
Green Hope (12-12) at West Johnston (18-5)
Leesville Road (14-8) at Clayton (12-12)
Smithfield-Selma (11-13) at Wilmington Ashley (14-7)

The Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference softball tournament begins tonight at higher-seeded locations. South Johnston, Gray's Creek and Southern Lee finished the season tied for third in the league so their fate in the league tournament will determine each team's playoff seeding.

Tonight's first round games, all at 7 p.m.
(8) Overhills at (1) Triton
(5) Gray's Creek at (4) South Johnston
(7) Union Pines at (2) Harnett Central
(6) Western Harnett at (3) Southern Lee

Friday's games (all at Triton)
Semifinals
SJ/Gray's Creek winner vs. Triton/Overhills winner, 4
Union Pines/Central winner vs. So. Lee/Western winner, 6
Championship
Semifinal winners meet at 8 p.m.

North Johnston will play at Manteo on Friday in the second round of the NCHSAA 1-A girls soccer playoffs. Both teams advanced with 3-0 wins on Wednesday night. Manteo topped Cape Hatteras 3-0, while North beat Louisburg by the same count.
Manteo, the champion of the Albemarle Conference, carries a 10-3 mark into the match-up, while North is now 13-6.