I had the pleasure of attending the 2009 Triangle All-Stars Slam Dunk Challege on April 29 along with my good friend (and TCN correspondent) Langdon Morris. Langdon filmed while I sat back, wrote down the scores, and for once got to enjoy watching the likes of Josh Davis, Earnest Ross and Garrius Adams as a fan and not a reporter.

The contest, which also featured Apex's Weston Murphy, Cary's Parker Stephenson and Leesville Road's Harrison George, was an excellent one and you can watch it in its entirety by clicking here (big thanks to Josh Harrell for editing the film yet again).

A learned a few things from this event. 1- Josh Davis is very creative in his dunks. 2- Earnest Ross can throw it down much, much harder than I saw him this year when he always went for the two-hand flush. 3- Parker Stephenson can flat-out leap for a... you know the rest. 4- Harrison George may be able to throw down great dunks, but he did the same one twice in the first two rounds and that cost him. 5- Garrius Adams had been sick all week, Wednesday was his first day back in school, and it was clear he wasn't 100%. 6- Weston Murphy, while still a great player who has matched the likes of Davis and Melvin Tabb rebound-for-rebound and point-for-point during the year, is simply not cut out for a dunk contest. He missed so many, we cut his "dunk" sessions out of the video.

Before you watch, here's how the scoring evened out.

First Round: George 42, Stephenson 40, Adams 41, Murphy 35, Ross 49, Davis 45

Second Round: George 40, Stephenson 47, Adams 49, Murphy 39, Ross 48, Davis 48

Third Round: Stephenson 50, Adams 44, Ross 45, Davis 45

Fourth Round: Stephenson 0, Ross 50, Davis 50

Final Round: Ross defeated Davis 47-42 

CARY — It was your typical Panther Creek-Middle Creek affair.

Which is the Tri-Eight Conference's equivalent of the UNC-Duke rivalry.

A packed gym with both schools well represented and both sides fired up. Two of the top teams in the state. Panther Creek even wheeled out its marching band for the first time.

The host Catamounts shut down Garrius Adams and Tom Tankelewicz and grabbed control of the conference with a 60-48 win Friday.

APEX — Middle Creek 20, Athens Drive 0.

That was the score right before Athens finally scored on Tuesday night with 2:32 left in the first quarter. The Jaguars continued to fall behind even further, and trailed Middle Creek 29-8 after one.

But the No. 9 Jags clawed their way back into it, using a 19-4 third quarter and their first lead of the game at 44-43. However, the comeback bid seemed to take its toll on the Athens players' energy come the fourth quarter, as the Jaguars finally succumbed to the No. 10 Mustangs, 62-59.

"I'm proud of them because we could have just keeled over and they came back with some fight and showed a lot of heart and showed a lot of character," Athens coach Robert Clemons said. "It took a lot of energy to come back and to take the lead. It took a lot of energy and then when we needed some big shots to sustain it, we were worn out from coming back from that huge deficit."

Miami recruit gets school scoring record.

I don't have much of a say in who makes the two GSK all-tournament teams
(there's one from each the three brackets; Girls, Holiday Summit Group and Randolph
Foundation Group), but I know those who do. And from all indications, it
appears we'll have four local players on the two teams.

Q: Talk about what this day means to you. Over the summer you were just a good local player, someone people thought might end up at ECU. All of a sudden a bunch of ACC schools are after you, and now you're going to be an ACC player.

A: "I think over this summer, my AAU team just gave me a chance. I know I worked hard in the gym, shooting every day and I think the hard work I put in showed today when I signed."

Q: Would you be going to Miami if it wasn't for what the AAU circuit did for you in terms of exposure and getting your name out there?

A: "I think I would. Miami is a great school. It's private, it's not too big, not too small, has a great diversity of people. I know when I took my visit, the players there were just unbelievable. They were fun, just nice, they were just like me. That's why I liked it so much."

Q: What was your first impression of [Miami coach] Frank Haith?

A: "Coach Haith is a really fun guy... (to read more click the blue button below)

Last I checked, this is North Carolina. The state where basketball wasn't born, just perfected. It's hard to ignore three universities with nine NCAA championships all within a 30-mile stretch of I-40.

The best player of all-time was born in Wilmington and went to UNC while the best player in ACC history born was born in Boiling Springs and went to N.C. State. The best coach of all-time might be the guy still roaming the sidelines at Duke. A different NC-born player is emerging as one of the NBA's best down in New Orleans.

The two best players in college basketball this season? That conversation starts with Tyler Hansbrough, a Missouri transplant on the Tar Heels and then moves quickly to a true local guy who played his high school ball in Charlotte in Davidson's Stephen Curry.

So with due respect to Kentucky and Indiana, North Carolina has a pretty good claim as the best basketball state out of our nation's 50.

And that claim trickles down all the way to the high school level, where names like John Wall, Ryan Kelly and Reggie Bullock cause fan bases to drool over what their teams could be doing in the future.

And the talent on the high school level doesn't begin and end with Raleigh or the Triad or Charlotte or the other "meccas" of basketball in this state. 

At least not this year. This year the South Wake teams will have reason to boast as having one of the best teams in the best basketball state.

Middle Creek is announcing two of its players will sign with Division I teams today. Garrius Adams turned his summer AAU tournaments into open auditions for teams needing a talented wing player. In the end, Miami's Frank Haith won over Adams' services for next year. 

Joining him from the Mustangs is Tom Tankelewicz. Tankelewicz also proved himself during the summer, getting the attention of Charleston Southern, who he will be signing with today.

Panther Creek's Earnest Ross is going to the SEC next year to play for Jeff Lebo's Auburn Tigers.

So there's three Division I players right in your backyard. Then couple that with an Apex team that had no stars but finished runner-up in the 4-A N.C. State Championship and you've got a formidable conference race this year in the Tri-Eight.

It's basketball season folks, North Carolina-style. Are you ready for this, because if you're not.. as we like to say in these parts: "you ain't from around here, are ya?" 

Garrius Adams fulfills his dream of signing in the ACC.