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SWakeSports focuses on the sporting scene in Cary, Apex, Morrisville and Holly Springs. Email The Cary News at carystaff@nando.com.

Week 12 Tri-Nine football predictions

Submitted by jmikeblake on 11/06/2009 - 07:11

This is it. The last week of the regular season. Overall, the conference is twice as good as it was last year. It's deeper (no longer Fuquay, Apex and Snow White's dwarfs), it's got better players, and it's done better out-of-conference.

With most of the conference's teams knowing they're playoff-bound, the biggest game in the conference this week is Cary at Panther Creek.

 

 Cary (5-5, 3-4) at Panther Creek (4-6, 2-5)

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First round boys soccer playoff scores

Submitted by jmikeblake on 11/04/2009 - 06:29

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.

All you need to know about the Tri-Nine football playoff picture

Submitted by jmikeblake on 11/01/2009 - 17:26

There's just one week in the season, so it's time to get you caught up on the playoff picture.

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Final Tri-Nine soccer standings

Submitted by jmikeblake on 10/30/2009 - 07:58

Green Hope captured the conference championship this season.

The five playoff teams are Green Hope, Apex, Fuquay-Varina, Middle Creek and Athens Drive. There could be a sixth if Panther Creek is selected as a wild-card team, but it's difficult since the NCHSAA places more priority on conference finish than conference strength.

Green Hope will play the 3-seeded wild-card team at home. Apex will host the fourth-best team in the PAC-Six Conference (appears to be Northern Durham). Fuquay will host the 3-seed from the Cap-7 Conference (most likely Leesville Road).

Middle Creek will travel to Sanderson, while Athens Drive has a road date with Broughton (both Sanderson and Broughton are from the Cap-7).

 Tri-Nine Conference  Overall  Conference Pts 
 Green Hope 14-2-4 12-1-3  39
 Apex 15-5-0 12-4-0 36
 Fuquay-Varina 16-4-1 11-4-1  34 
 Middle Creek 10-7-4 8-5-3  27 
 Athens Drive 11-6-4  8-6-2  26 
 Panther Creek 9-12-1  8-8-0  24 
 Holly Springs 6-12-2  4-10-2  14 
 Cary 4-14-1  3-12-1  10 
 Lee County 0-21-0  0-16-0  0 

Week 11 Tri-Nine football predictions

Submitted by jmikeblake on 10/30/2009 - 04:30

There's only one game you need to know this week:

Fuquay-Varina at Middle Creek.  
 
If the Mustangs hold serve at home, 
they're your 2009 Tri-Nine Conference champions. If Fuquay wins, a three-way tie is on the table.

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Kandinata defeats Wang for Mideast title

Submitted by jmikeblake on 10/28/2009 - 19:28

Melissa Kandinata is having quite an impact on the state tennis picture in her first year in North Carolina.

The sophomore won the Mideast Regional on Monday over fellow teammate Helen Wang. Kandinata won the first set 6-0 before Wang retired in the second.

Both members of the Falcons' team will be in the state singles tournament, which starts this Friday. 

A quick back look at Friday (10/26)

Submitted by jmikeblake on 10/26/2009 - 15:12
How I did: Winners called correctly: 2-of-4 (42-13 this year, 76%)


 
Margin of victory within 7-points: 1-of-4 (I had Apex by 20 — they won by 19)
 
I'm proud of: Realizing before all others that Athens Drive would give Fuquay one heck of a contest. I had the Apex score almost to a tee, which makes me feel better about...
 
I'm embarrassed about: Whiffing on my two upset picks. Lee County did not defeat Cary and Athens couldn't overcome miscues in the special teams to hold on against Fuquay. Sadly, my picking percentage has dropped to only about 3 out of every 4 correct.
 
Looking at the games:
Interesting to note: It all comes down to this. Wins by Fuquay and Middle Creek set up the biggest game of the conference year when the Bengals visit the Mustangs on Friday. If the Mustangs win, they'll clinch the conference championship as only Holly Springs could tie, and Middle Creek won the head-to-head. If the Bengals win, a three-way tie is on the table with HS, FV and MC all finishing with one loss in the conference. Just as we saw last year with the conference's third spot, numbers would be drawn out of a hat to determine seeding and all three schools would be awarded co-conference championships.
 
Player of the week: Every school in the conference has had a player either win POTW or runner-up except one. That is, until now.
 
Apex's Shawn Knox gashed Green Hope's defense for 214 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 25 yards and a score.  
 
I know what you're thinking. "Yeah, but it was against winless Green Hope." Well, what makes Knox's outburst truly special is Apex — as a team — had not even ran for more than 150 yards in a game all season. In fact, they were averaging just 66 yards per contest entering the Green Hope game and 55 per game before a season-high 144 yards against Panther Creek the previous week. 
 
Runner-up: Malcolm Thaxton of Fuquay-Varina. Why you ask? Sure, Thaxton had just two carries for 10 yards, but he returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to tie the game at 6, then returned another one to the Athens Drive 16-yard line with under three minutes to play in the fourth. Two plays later, Fuquay broke open the tied game with a touchdown and two-point conversion. Who's to say the Bengals make it that far in that little time without a great return (especially with how little they throw the ball)? Give that man a game ball.
 

Stat of the week: Thanks to a number of sacks and despite being blessed with good running backs and slightly mobile quarterbacks, Panther Creek and Middle Creek combined for 15 yards on 52 carries (0.3 yards per carry!). You read right. PC got four yards on 23 ( 0.2 yards per carry) while MC got 11 on 29 carries (0.4 yards per carry). I don't think I've ever seen a game where two teams did so poorly in that department. Maybe that explains why a game most figured would be in the high 30's was a pedestrian 31-17 final.

Kandinata, Wang alive in Mideast Regional

Submitted by jmikeblake on 10/26/2009 - 10:27
A number of local high school tennis players participated in the NCHSAA individual girls tennis Mideast Regional last week. Play was halted before the semi-finals could be started, and will resume today.
 
The only local players still alive are in singles, and it's two Green Hope teammates in Melissa Kandinata and Helen Wang.
 
Here is how the rounds have played out (as found on http://nchighschooltennis.pbworks.com), with local players in bold: 

Singles:

ROUND 1

Kandinata (GH) def. A. Huang (ECH) 6-0, 6-0

Alford (ND) def. Gay (LC) 6-3, 6-3

Prior (WF) def. Payne (PC) 6-0, 6-0

Sasser (RV) def. DelForge (AD) 7-5, 6-3

Robertson (BR) def. Sun (ECH) 6-1, 6-3

Brown (MB) def. Zaccardelli (AD) 7-5, 6-3

Runyans (BR) def. Ansley (LC) 6-3, 6-0

Wang (GH) def. Garimelli (E) 6-3, 6-2

 

ROUND 2

Kandinata (GH) def. Alford (ND) 6-1, 6-0

Prior (WF) def. Sasser (RV) 6-1, 6-2

Robertson (BR) def. Brown (MB) 6-2, 6-2

Wang (GH) def. Runyans (BR) 6-1, 6-1

 

*** Semi-finals and finals postponed until Monday 10/26 at 3 pm at Cary Tennis Center

Melissa Kandinata (GH) vs. Ally Prior (WF)

Laura Robertson (BR) vs. Helen Wang (GH)

 

Doubles:

ROUND 1

Iyengar/Kane (BR) def. Williams/Channell (GH) 6-1, 6-1

Orlando/Kohls (WF) def. Klanz/Sedlak (DJ) 6-2, 6-1

Bickel/Bowser (APX) def. Busch/Weischedel (LVL) 6-4, 6-3

Johnson/Flynn (ECH) def. Menius/Reister (AD) 6-0, 6-1

Davidson/Lovett (BR) def. A. Nuguyen/Namboodri (PC) 6-3, 6-0

Ervin/Albrecht (WF) def. Boyd/Gerepka (ND) 6-1, 6-1

Stokes/Steele (GH) def. Peters/Tucker (FV) 6-0, 6-0

Hill/M. Huang (ECH) def. Wach/Q. Nguyen (PC) 6-0, 6-0

 

ROUND 2

Iyengar/Kane (BR) def. Orlando/Kohls (WF) 6-1, 6-0

Johnson?Flynn (ECH) def. Bickel/Bowser (APX) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4

Davidson/Lovett (BR) def. Ervin/Albrecht (WF) 6-2, 7-5

Hill/M. Huang (ECH) def. Stokes/Steele (GH) 6-2, 6-2

 

*** Semi-finals and finals postponed until Monday 10/26 at 3 pm at Cary Tennis Center

Asha Iyenger and Katie Kane (BR) vs. Tessa Johnson and Tegan Flynn (ECH)

Katie Davidson/Hamiton Lovett (BR) vs. Tamara Hill and Megan Huang (ECH)

 

 

Legend:

GH = Green Hope, ECH=East Chapel Hill, ND=Northern Durham, LC=Lee County, WF=Wakefield, PC=Panther Creek, RV=Riverside, AD=Athens Drive, BR=Broughton, MB=Millbrook, E=Enloe, DJ=Durham Jordan, APX=Apex, FV=Fuquay-Varina, LVL=Leesville 

Hunter no longer with Cary

Submitted by jmikeblake on 10/22/2009 - 19:42



Cary coach Ben Kolstad suspended a number of starters before last week's 34-5 loss to Middle Creek. One of them was his most highly-touted player, offensive/defensive lineman Fre'Shad Hunter.


However, Hunter will not be returning to the team. While other starters were suspended for missing practice, Hunter broke an undisclosed team rule.

Hunter’s mother and Kolstad met, and decided it would be best for Fre’Shad to sit out the rest of the year.

“What happened is, there were some team rules broken, and it kind of became a mutual decision between me and his mom that he was going to focus on academics and nothing else,” Kolstad said.

The senior ranks among the best players in the state and recently committed to N.C. State. He projects as a defensive lineman at the next level, and is ranked by major recruiting databases Scout.com and Rivals.com as a four-star player.

“It’s probably not easy for him, but he’s doing fine,” Kolstad said. “This is something that we’ve been talking about for awhile anyway. It’s not that sudden of a thing for him. He’s handled it well I think.”

The Imps are 4-4 (2-3) heading into this Friday's game at home against Lee County. Hunter, meanwhile, will spend his time readying himself for college.

“He’s just preparing for next year,” Kolstad said. “And this gives him a chance to work on his academics and get himself prepared physically and mentally for next year.” 

First round volleyball matches set

Submitted by jmikeblake on 10/22/2009 - 18:02

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.) 

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