Tuesday's games:

(2) Apex 4, (4) Northern Durham 0

(3) Fuquay-Varina 3, (3) Leesville Road 2 

(1) Sanderson 1, (4) Middle Creek 0 

(2) Broughton 1, (5) Athens Drive 0 

Wednesday's games:

(1) Green Hope 1, (WC) West Johnston 0

Apex will face Durham Riverside on Saturday at 6 p.m. Fuquay will travel to unbeaten-and-untied Durham Jordan. Green Hope will host Sanderson.

No. 1 Apex vs Northern Durham (6 p.m.)

No. 2 Green Hope vs Purnell Swett (1 p.m.)

No. 3 Panther Creek vs Broughton (6 p.m.)

No. 4 Cary at Enloe (6 p.m.)

No. 5 Middle Creek at Wakefield (1 p.m.) 

This week, we're going to break down the upcoming football schedules for our Tri-9 teams. Things are a bit tricky now with Holly Springs joining the conference. There will be one conference team with a bye week every week of the conference season, there will only be three non-conference games and some teams who will have to meet in the same location as last year's games. We start with the "northern half" of the conference, meaning all the schools located off Ten Ten Road or farther north.

Six area teams set out on Tuesday night as part of the first round of the NCHSAA 4-A softball playoffs, but only two teams will still be playing later this week in the second round.

Fuquay-Varina, which won the Tri-Eight conference championship, shut out Holly Springs to win by the 1-0 score (our own Fred Dry will have the story on this game between two of our area's teams coming soon).

The Lady Bengals are set to play again later this week, at home, against Leesville Road, while the Golden Hawks end their final season in the Greater Neuse Confernce at 16-5 overall.

Second-seeded Apex won at home by a 2-1 score over Southeast Raleigh, and will now hit the road to play at Wake Forest-Rolesville, which...

...took out Green Hope by the 7-1 score on Tuesday, ending the Falcons' season at 12-9. Also ending their season was...

...Middle Creek. After making it to the "final four" of the softball playoffs last season, there will be no such encore for Heather Robb & co. The Lady Mustangs lost 2-1 at West Johnston on Tuesday.

Also falling in the first round was Athens Drive, which lost to Greater Neuse champ Garner 3-2.

The co-conference champs of the Tri-Eight had very different results on Thursday in the first round of the NCHSAA baseball playoffs.

Green Hope, which won the coin flip for the No. 1 seed, easily defeated Clayton (the No. 4 seed out of the Greater Neuse) by the 13-1 score. The Falcons (20-5) only needed six innings to get the win, and will host the winner of Broughton-East Chapel Hill in the next round.

Middle Creek, which was playing host to third-seeded Garner, lost their playoff opener 6-4. The game went down to the final out as the Mustangs (17-8) brought the winning run to the plate but couldn't extend the game any further.

Athens Drive (13-10), which finished fourth in the Tri-Eight and had the unenviable task of playing at CAP-7 champ Millbrook, lost 9-5. Millbrook will now play Garner in the second round.

Our own Dennis Burton will have the story from Athens Drive's loss, while I will have the report from Middle Creek's game. Clay Best of the Smithfield Herald will have the story from Green Hope, so be looking for those in the next few days.

Fuquay (11-13) will play tomorrow at Greater Neuse Conference champ Smithfield-Selma, while Apex (14-7) will travel to Holly Springs (19-5) in our only match-up of two area teams.

Enloe's Melvin Tabb and Middle Creek's Garrius Adams are outstanding players.

RALEIGH – Garrius Adams scored a game-high 23 points Wednesday night at Enloe High School, but it wasn’t enough to push Middle Creek into the second round of the NCHSAA 4A playoffs. The Eagles used a big fourth quarter to bounce the Mustangs 62-50 in front of a raucous capacity crowd.

Girls (NCHSAA 4-A) 

Green Hope 59, Holly Springs 56

Apex 51, Clayton 46

SE Raleigh 60, Cary 24

Athens Drive 43, East Wake 39

Wakefield 49, Middle Creek 26 

**On Thursday, Apex will host Broughton, Green Hope will go to Durham Hillside, and Athens will go to Wakefield.

Girls (NCISAA 2-A & 3-A)

Cary Christian 50, Westminster Catawba 21 

Durham Academy 49, Cary Academy 43

**On Thursday, Cary Christian will take on Southern Pines' O'Neal School at Charlotte Latin High.

Boys (NCISAA 2-A & 3-A)

Gaston Day School 73, Cary Christian 55

Forsyth Country Day School 80, Cary Academy 56