It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone in the area if I said that Apex won the team camp at UNCW a few weeks ago. After all, some self-proclaimed pundit picked them to win the Tri-9 next season.
But what should surprise you is that the Cougars did it without its best player, returning first team All-Tri-Eight forward Weston Murphy.
That's bad news for the rest of the conference, and certainly doesn't make me want to waver on my prediction. Needless to say, I'm already looking forward to next year's Apex-Lee County games, featuring the only Tri-9 coaches to lead a team to the state championship game in Reggie Peace (2003) and Dave Neal (2008).
Seniors Adam Dalbo and Carson Bowen (6-2 and 6-4 respectively) both filled in at the forward spots to give the Cougars enough production to win it all in Wilmington. Couple that with returning seniors Connor Belicic and Mike Fogg - plus junior Sunil Ram - and Apex can go seven-deep with little drop-off.
So can Lee County, however. And given recent developments at Green Hope, I may have to re-do my rankings once more. Just keep stopping by the SWakeSports blog, and you'll be sure to see it.
