RALEIGH – Here’s our rapid reaction after Cardinal Gibbons defeated Chapel Hill 48-42 Saturday afternoon in a Carolina 3-A conference game:

HOW THE GAME WAS WON

The Crusaders were able to create pressure with their full court pressure. Once Cardinal Gibbons grabbed the lead, the Crusaders were able to maintain it with rebounds that allowed them to take more time off the clock late in the fourth quarter and produce second-chance points. Turnovers also became a factor, as the Crusaders forced the Tigers into 18 turnovers in the second half.

TURNING POINT

Cardinal Gibbons spent the majority of halftime figuring out how to attack Chapel Hill’s matchup zone that was followed by half-court traps. At one point, the Crusaders did a nice job of attacking the bucket once they broke the trap. The resulted in forward Ali Glaser, who had 12 points, to get good looks at the basket with just one defender on her.

Former Cardinal Gibbons volleyball coach Jim Freeman has been named as the new head women's volleyball coach at Barton College in Wilson.

UPDATE: Tournament postponed a day, will start on Dec. 28.

Athens Drive will host a four-team girls basketball holiday tournament. The four teams involved are Athens Drive, East Wake, Cardinal Gibbons and Wake Forest-Rolesville.

Carrboro, Roanoke Rapids, Cardinal Gibbons, South Johnston, Western Harnett, Green Hope, Broughton, Garner and East Chapel Hill all lead their respective conferences in the Wachovia Conference Cup standings.

See the full list by clicking "read more."

Wachovia Bank, a Wells Fargo company, along with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, today announced the standings for fall sports in the Wachovia Conference Cup competitions for the 2010-2011 sports season.

RALEIGH - Cardinal Gibbons played hard and with a lot of heart, but as Crusaders coach Henry Trevathan said, "We played a team that was bigger, faster, and stronger, and it caught up with us," after his team lost out in the third round of the NCHSAA 3-AA football playoffs by a 35-10 score to Northern Guilford.

The win puts the talented Nighthawks (12-2) in the Eastern final next Friday at Wilson Hunt.

The loss ends an surprisingly strong season by the 11-3 Crusaders.

Clayton's football team has a rare distinction this week. The Comets' season ended last week with a 38-22 4-A playoff loss to New Bern but Clayton head coach Gary Fowler's phone has been ringing often this week as coaches still in the playoffs have sought his advice.

After all, the Comets played five teams earlier this season that are still in the NCHSAA playoffs: Garner, Wake Forest-Rolesville, Southeast Raleigh, New Bern and Cardinal Gibbons.

I talked with the veteran coach from Clayton who notched his 200th career victory in 2010 earlier this week….

Cardinal Gibbons advanced to the finals of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-AA Mideast playoffs with a 28-27 overtime victory over Fayetteville Byrd.

The Crusaders (11-2) slipped through after Byrd missed an extra point kick in overtime and another one in the overtime period that would have forced another extra period.

RALEIGH – Cardinal Gibbons is the Carolina 6 Conference champion for the second year in a row. The Crusaders also went undefeated in the conference for the second consecutive season after defeating J.F. Webb 28-6 Friday night. And, if that wasn’t enough, Gibbons is undefeated at home during the regular season for the second straight year.

Wake Forest-Rolesville tops Leesville Road 20-14 in overtime. Marcus Jones runs six yards for the winning score. Leesville had fumbled on its overtime possession.  Wake Forest, Wakefield and Leesville Road all finish 5-1 in the Cap 8.(FINAL)

No. 1-ranked Durham Hillside defeated Northern Durham 38-6 to finish the regular season 11-0 and claim the Piedmont Athletic 4-A championship. QB Vad Lee rushed for 138 yards and passes for 161. (FINAL)

Panther Creek got a 25-yard field goal from Garrett Lang in the final minutes to defeat Cary 10-7 and clinch the Tri-Nine's No. 1 seed into the playoffs.

Athens Drive 35, Holly Springs 31 (FINAL)

Broughton 51, Sanderson 20 (FINAL)

Cardinal Gibbons 28, Oxford Webb 6 (FINAL). Crusaders win league championship.

Cary Christian 57, Northeast Academy 56 (FINAL) (NCISAA eight-man semifinals) (Teams score on first 15 possessions and Cary Christian gets game winner with 15 seconds left)

Clayton 38, Smithfield-Selma 6 (FINAL) (Clayton coach Gary Fowler notches his 200th win. He is 200-11-1 in his career, all at Clayton. Comets grab No. 3 berth from Greater Neuse No. 3 berth)

Fuquay-Varina 31, Lee County 10 (FINAL). Bengals finish 10-1, share Tri-Nine title.

Garner 42, Harnett Central 0 (FINAL) (Garner goes undefeated in Greater Neuse) (Central QB Brian Taylor apparent shoulder injury and out)

Knightdale 28, East Wake 14 (FINAL)

Middle Creek 42, Apex 31 (FINAL)

Millbrook 21, Enloe 20 (FINAL)

Pittsboro Northwood 41, Cedar Ridge 17 (FINAL)

Rosewood 27, Princeton 6 (FINAL)

Triton 40, South Johnston 34 (FINAL)

Southeast Raleigh 47, West Johnston 30 (FINAL). Bulldogs finish runner-up in the Greater Neuse.

Word of God 54, Kinston Parrott 7 (FINAL): Undefeated Rams roll into NCISAA eight-man title game.

Anne Thelen, senior, Cardinal Gibbons

Anne Thelen of Cardinal Gibbons' swimming & diving team, has verbally committed to attend Mount St. Mary’s College in Maryland.