The school board is giving in and will pay the $1.4 million cost of doing road work around Panther Creek High School in order to get permission to use 22 modular classrooms on campus.
It's a far cry from as recently as two weeks ago when the board only voted 5-4 to pay up to $750,000 for the road improvements. They unanimously agreed today that they need to get the modulars in use as soon as possible.
The money will come from savings in the Cary High School renovation project budget.
This weekend is the state competition for individual championships. By the numbers we have:
20 - wrestlers from the area
8 - schools represented
4/4 - ratio of schools along Highway 55 represented
2 - defending state champions (Palma, Creed)
5 - wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their class by ncmat.com (Palma, Creed, Brotzman, Colvard, Morrison)
1 - wrestler ranked No. 1 in the nation (Palma)
Click "READ MORE" for the full list!
Conference tournament time is here, and we're glad to supply you with another edition of the TCN/SWW boys' basketball rankings as you get geared up for this week's action:
1. Panther Creek (22-2, 13-1): defeated Cary 74-55, def. Middle Creek 61-44
I guess that settles it. Panther Creek is the best team in this area, and probably the eastern half of the state. Keeping a level head amidst all my praise in the coming weeks will be key for the Catamounts if they want to win the state title this year — which its entirely capable of.
2. Athens Drive (21-3, 11-3): def. Middle Creek 57-52, def. Green Hope 67-47
Credit Athens coach Robert Clemons. After his team was humiliated at Panther Creek, they found themselves down 46-37 to Middle Creek going into the fourth quarter. The Jaguars rallied to win 57-52 and them demolished playoff-bound Green Hope on Friday. Josh Davis had a monster week, going for 31 on his senior night against Middle Creek and then 27 against Green Hope. He's the reason they are No. 2 in the conference tournament (him and the luck of the draw) and also No. 2 in the TCN/SWW rankings.
The regular season is done, but the TCN/SWW girls' basketball rankings keep marching on. This week, we had some big upsets (Green Hope over Athens, Fuquay over Cary) which prompted us to have to move a number of teams as we head into the conference tournaments for the EPIC, TISAC, Tri-Eight and Greater Neuse.
1. Apex (21-0, 14-3): defeated Fuquay-Varina 69-20, def. Lee County 86-51
The Cougars have been No. 1 every week in '09 and it looks like they'll stay that way for the rest of the weeks. They are the clear-cut class of this year's TCN/SWW teams and have a legitimate shot of winning the state title — especially if they can make it out of the East against teams like SE Raleigh and Wakefield.
Players named for the North Carolina/ South Carolina all-star basketball game
Twenty of the North Carolina’s best basketball players have accepted invitations to represent North Carolina in the North Carolina / South Carolina All-Star Basketball Classic to be played at Socastee High School (S.C.) on March 21. The women’s game will begin at 6:30 and the men’s game will follow. Tickets are $10. On Friday, March 20, there will be a slam dunk contest and 3-point contest starting at 7:30 at Myrtle Beach High School. The price for Friday evening is $5.
Boys' basketball scores:
Green Hope 58, Lee County 53
Apex 63, Fuquay-Varina 52
Forsyth Country Day 78, Cary Academy 65
Panther Creek 74, Cary 55
Southeast Raleigh 67, Holly Springs 59
Cary Christian--Halifax Academy*
Athens Drive 57, Middle Creek 52**
Girls' basketball scores:
Athens Drive 56, Middle Creek 42
Cary--Panther Creek*
Cary Christian 60, Halifax Academy 41**
Forsyth Country Day 53, Cary Academy 47
Apex 69, Fuquay-Varina 20
Southeast Raleigh 70, Holly Springs 54
Green Hope 68, Lee County 43
*denotes game scores not yet reported
**denotes game score updated on Wednesday
(Note: boys' basketball only. The girls' side is pretty wrapped up at this point)
Cary (3-18, 3-9) vs Panther Creek (20-2, 11-1):
If Cary wins: It stays alive in the race for the final playoff spot, and Panther Creek can win the conference title outright on Friday.
If PC wins: Cary is eliminated from playoff contention and the Catamounts can still win the conference outright with a win on Friday, no matter what Middle Creek does.
Athens Drive (20-3, 9-3) vs Middle Creek (19-3, 11-1):
If Athens wins: They can hope to win a tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, but will need Middle Creek to lose on Friday to do so. The Mustangs can still tie for a regular-season conference championship on Friday against Panther Creek.
If MC wins: Athens is in the third slot in the conference tournament playoffs. Middle Creek can win the conference outright on Friday.
Lee County (6-14, 4-8) vs Green Hope (8-14, 4-8)
If Lee wins: Green Hope is eliminated from playoff contention, and if Cary loses, Lee clinches the final spot.
If GH wins: It can clinch on Friday with a win over Athens. It also means that if the two teams are tied at the end of the week, there will be a play-in game next week.
Fuquay (0-21*, 0-12*) vs Apex (11-10, 6-6)
If FV wins: That's technically win No. 1 for Fuquay now that they've had to forfeit the previous ones.
If Apex wins: Nothing. They're still fourth and will be no matter what goes down on Friday.
*denotes new record after forfeits
Former top-ranked Panther Creek falls to No. 3 in the N.C. Media boys basketball 4-A poll. Enloe is No. 4 and Middle Creek is No. 7 and Athens Drive is No. 10. Panther Creek and Middle Creek play on Friday night.
Wakefield remains on top of the girls 4-A poll. Apex is No. 4 and Broughton is No. 10. Broughton and Wakefield play tonight.
1. Panther Creek (20-2): lost to Apex 72-62, defeated Athens Drive 50-30
--up next: @ Cary (Tue.), @ Middle Creek (Fri.)
2. Middle Creek (19-3): def. Fuquay-Varina 94-48, def. Lee County 67-47
--up next: @ Athens Drive (Tue.), Panther Creek (Fri.)
3. Athens Drive (20-3): def. Lee County 63-54, lost to Panther Creek 50-30
--up next: Middle Creek (Tue.), @ Green Hope (Fri.)
4. Cary Academy (17-6): def. Durham Academy 68-54, def. North Raleigh Christian Academy 64-60
--up next: Forsyth Country Day (Tue.), Ravenscroft (Fri.)
5. Apex (11-10): def. Panther Creek 72-62, def. Cary 73-55
--up next: @ Fuquay (Tue.), Lee County (Fri.)
6. Green Hope (8-14): lost to Cary 58-57, def. Fuquay 69-52
--up next: @ Lee County (Tue.), Athens Drive (Fri.)
7. Holly Springs (7-15): lost to Knightdale 67-49, def. Smithfield-Selma 64-52
--up next: @ SE Raleigh (Tue.), Garner (Fri.)
8. Cary (3-18): def. Green Hope 58-57, lost to Apex 71-55
--up next: Panther Creek (Tue.), Fuquay (Fri.)
9. Cary Christian (8-14): def. Arendell-Parrott Academy 59-36, def. Rocky Mount Academy 65-57
--up next: @ Halifax Academy (Tue.), Rocky Mount Academy (Fri.)
10. Fuquay-Varina (3-18): lost to Middle Creek 94-48, lost to Green Hope 69-52
--up next: Apex (Tue.), @ Cary (Fri.)
