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Tri-Nine Conference tournament schedule

jmikeblake — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:58:59 -0500

The Tri-Nine Conference tournament is set to start next Tuesday. First round games will be played at the higher seed, while Thursday's semifinals and Friday's finals will all be played at Green Hope High.

TUESDAY (times TBD)

Girls first-round games
8) Fuquay-Varina at 1) Green Hope
5) Apex at 4) Cary
7) Athens Drive at 2) Holly Springs
6) Middle Creek at 3) Panther Creek

Boys first-round games
8) Lee County at 1) Apex
5) Holly Springs at 4) Athens Drive
7) Cary at 2) Middle Creek
6) Panther Creek at 3) Green Hope

THURSDAY (all games at Green Hope)

Girls semifinal 3/6 winner VS 2/7 winner, 4 p.m.
Boys semifinals 3/6 winner VS 2/7 winner, 5:40 p.m.
Girls semifinal 1/8 winner VS 4/5 winner, 7:20 p.m.
Boys semifinal 1/8 winner VS 4/5 winner, 9 p.m.

FRIDAY (all games at Green Hope)

Girls championship, 6 p.m.
Boys championship, 7:30 p.m.

Offseason RailHawks player movement tracker

jmikeblake — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:36:46 -0500

Etienne Barbara, like others, will play in the MLS -- Photo by Travis Long, tlong@newsobserver.com

As the offseason moves along for the Carolina RailHawks, we will track who goes where in this blog.

It will be updated with each new signing, and we're hoping that this year that the team will announce signings like every other team in the North American Soccer League (you know, like when they happen, not a week or two before the season).

Only four RailHawks players from the 2011 season are under contract for next year.

Returning:

Cory Miller, defender
Akira Fitzgerald, goalkeeper
Nick Zimmerman, midfielder
Kupono Low, defender
Chris Nurse, midfielder

New additions:

Colin Clarke, head coach (from Puerto Rico Islanders)
Jason Garey, forward (from Houston, MLS)
Mike Palacio, midfielder (from Ft. Lauderdale Strikers)
Ty Shipalane, midfielder (from South Africa first-division)
Gale Agbossomounde, defender (loan from Portugese first-division)
James Scott Guevara, defender (first division, Costa Rica)
Tommy Drake, midfielder (RailHawks U23s/Clemson)
Brian Ackley, midfielder/forward (from Harrisburg City Islanders, USL)

Not returning:

Martin Rennie - now head coach of Vancouver, MLS
Paul Ritchie - now assistant coach with Vancouver, MLS
Gareth Evans - was on loan from Wilmington (USL), returned
Tyler Lassiter - was on loan from New York (MLS), now with Wilmington (USL)
Kithson Bain (team option not exercised)
Nick Thompson (team option not exercised)
Allan Russell - signed with LA Blues, USL
Matt Watson - signed with Vancouver, MLS
Brad Knighton - signed with Vancouver, MLS
Etienne Barbara - discovery claim made by Montreal, traded to Vancouver, MLS
Jonny Steele - signed with Real Salt Lake, MLS
Tony McManus - signed with Atlanta Silverbacks, NASL
Pablo Campos - signed with San Antonio Scorpions, NASL

Unlikely or unsigned

Floyd Franks, midfielder - trialing with Vancouver, MLS
John Krause, defender
Devon McKenney, defender
Sean O'Connor, goalkeeper

Cary Christian, Kinston Parrott win EPIC swim titles

jmikeblake — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:29:03 -0500

The Kinston Arendell Parrott Academy boys and Cary Christian girls each won Eastern Plains Independent Conference swim titles on Tuesday at Triangle Aquatic Center.

The final standings are below.

Boys standings

Kinston Parrott, 145
St. David's, 106
Cary Christian, 99
Rocky Mount Academy, 63
Halifax Academy, 53

Girls standings

Cary Christian, 130
Kinston Parrott, 119
Rocky Mount Academy, 97
St. David's, 87
Halifax Academy, 72

Ravenscroft, Cary Academy win TISAC swim titles

jmikeblake — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:28:16 -0500

The Cary Academy boys swim team won its third straight Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Conference on Tuesday. Ravenscroft's girls were dominant in winning their TISAC title as well.

CA's Adam Linker won top individual honors in the 200 Freestyle, 500 Freestyle and was on two winning relays (400 medley and 200 freestyle). Linker was named boys TISAC Swimmer of the Year.

Ravenscroft's Cathleen Pruden was named the girls TISAC Swimmer of the Year.

Girls Swimming

Ravenscroft School 176
Cary Academy 110
North Raleigh Christian Academy 88
Saint Mary's School 66
Durham Academy 42

Boys Swimming

Cary Academy 136
North Raleigh Christian Academy 133
Durham Academy 97
Ravenscroft School 92

High schools adopt helmet rule

timstevens — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:04:10 -0500

High school football players who lose their helmets during play in the 2012 high school season must leave the field for one play according to a rule change adopted by the National Federation of State High School Association Football Rules Committee.

The N.C. High School Athletic Association was one of the first groups in the country to study how frequently helmets came off during play. The NCHSAA had its game officials track every helmet that came off during play for the 2011 season.

“I’m thrilled and ecstatic,” said Mark Drebelbis, an assistant commissioner of the NCHSAA. “We were very much in the forefront in pushing for this rule change. We had the data to show that helmets were coming off way to frequently.

“One of the most important aspects of concussion prevention is a properly fitted helmet. This is a great rule change and will help us get properly fitted helmets on our players.”

In cases where the helmet comes completely off without it being directly attributable to a foul by the opponent, the player will have to leave the game for at least one down. If an opposing player jerks an opposing players’ helmet off, it is a penalty.

Cary, Orange will host wrestling quarterfinals

timstevens — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:06:21 -0500

Cary High and Orange High will be among the host sites for the quarterfinal and semifinal round rounds of the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual-team wrestling tournament on Thursday.

The state finals are scheduled for Saturday

Cary will be at home against Fayetteville Britt in 4A competition on Thursday. At the same time, Southern Pines Pinecrest will wrestle New Bern. The winners of the two quarterfinal matches will meet later on Thursday night.

Orange is the host for 3A matches. The undefeated Panthers face South Brunswick while Eden Morehead takes on West Carteret.

In 2A, Durham School of the Arts heads to Hampstead Topsail. The other quarterfinal at Topsail is North Brunswick and Croatan.

The 1A bracket has advanced to the state semifinals. Ayden-Grifton will wrestle at Dixon with the winner advancing to the state 1A finals.

Video of Nitin Reddy's Senior Night 3-pointer

jmikeblake — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:39:37 -0500

As you can read in this game story, Green Hope manager Nitin Reddy -- who has special needs -- got a chance to play on senior night in the Falcons' 61-34 win Tuesday night.

The Green Hope students were chanting for Nitin to get into the game.

He did with 1:42 left.

It takes for Reddy (#24) awhile to get his bearings.

He first lines up in a wrong spot at the free throw line. His first two shots were well off the mark (he usually shoots from straightaway, but took all six of his 3-pointers from the left wing against Cary).

But his fourth 3-point attempt -- after almost hitting the shot clock on a high bounce off the rim -- fell straight through.

What resulted, was pandemonium (around the 2:50 mark).

Around the 3:48 mark, the Green Hope students chant his name.

After the game (around the 4:50 mark) his teammates carry him on their shoulders off the floor.

Here's a link to the video on our website, and it's also embedded below

Tri-Nine basketball with one game left

jmikeblake — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:34:37 -0500

ONE GAME LEFT.

Yet somehow, we still have a lot of possibilities.

First, here are 3 rules you need to know. I'll post them now to save myself from repeating it 4,000 times below:

1) If two teams split the regular season and tie in the regular-season standings, the conference will use "best win" to see who takes the higher seed in the conference tournament. ("best win" is defined by common opponents within the conference.. if two teams are tied for fifth, you look at 1-seed, then 2-seed and so on until an advantage is determined) However, that's not good enough for the state tournament, which says that the tie must either be broken with a tiebreaker game. That game may have already happened in a Christmas tournament. It may happen to take place during the conference tournament, but if not, it must happen on Friday on a neutral court. If the two teams can't play Friday afternoon because one is in the conference tournament title game - there's your tiebreaker, the team in the title game gets the higher seed in the state tournament.

2) If there's a 3-way tie, well, there's no way to do a tiebreaker game is there? Instead, you use the best record among the three, and everyone takes those seeds into the state tournament.

3) Seeds for the state tournament can change greatly if a team seeded lower than 2nd wins the conference tournament. Conference tournament winners automatically assume the league's #2 seed in the playoffs and bump all other teams down a spot -- unless, of course, your #1 or #2 seed wins the conference tournament.

BOYS RACES

For 1st: Apex (14-1) locked it up. Can now become the NINTH STRAIGHT Tri-Nine conference champ to have exactly one conference loss (Lee County went 12-0 in 2003). It's a useless fact, but one I like repeating because heck, I was a junior playing in the conference (then Tri-Seven) at that time.

For 2nd: Middle Creek (11-4) and Green Hope (11-4) are tied and the only two with a shot at a 2-seed. It's obvious who gets the 2-seed if one wins and the other loses this Friday. Middle Creek would win in a three-way tie -- see rule #2 -- with Green Hope and Athens Drive (MC went 3-1 vs the two.. GH is 2-2, AD is 1-3). There's also the possibility for MC and GH to have a two-way tie (if they both win or if they both lose and Athens Drive loses), in which case - see rule #1.

For 3rd: If Middle Creek and Green Hope tie for second, obviously that affects this spot. If Athens Drive forces a three-way tie, Green Hope goes here. Also, Athens Drive could finish here and Green Hope fourth.. let me explain below..

For 4th: Athens Drive (10-5) is pretty much locked into this spot, but all that could change if the Jaguars and Middle Creek win Friday while Green Hope loses. Confused? Because then that would create a two-way tie at 11-5 between the Falcons and Jags. They split the regular season, so consult rule #1.

For 5th: Holly Springs is 7-8 and that means Friday's game at Lee County is win-and-you're in. Panther Creek is 6-9 and hosts Green Hope = must win and get Lee County to win. Cary is 6-9 and needs to beat Athens Drive, have Holly Springs lose AND Panther Creek to lose. Then Cary would tie Holly Springs for fifth and need a - see rule #1 -- tiebreaker at some point.

Oh, and remember rule #1? -- well guess what? PC and Holly Springs have ALREADY PLAYED THEIR TIEBREAKER in a Christmas tournament that counted as a non-conference game which PC won. So if PC wins and Holly Springs loses, PC is in as the 5th seed.

Wild-card?: Holly Springs is 12-11 and Panther Creek is 11-11. The state's wild-card spot goes to the team with the best overall winning percentage without an automatic berth. So both have a good -- just not great -- shot of making the playoffs even if they don't get the fifth spot.

GIRLS RACES

For 1st: Green Hope (15-0) can become fifth straight Tri-Nine champ to go unbeaten in conference play. All four predecessors also won the conference tournament, which the Falcons host this year.

For 2nd: Holly Springs (13-2) locked it up. They swept Panther Creek this year, so it doesn't matter if the two tie for second or not.

For 3rd: Panther Creek (12-3) has this all to itself, with no way to catch Holly Springs or fall behind Cary.

For 4th: Cary's (9-6) still got this. They play Green Hope at home on Wednesday.

For 5th: Apex (5-10) and Middle Creek (6-9) are going for it and they play one another on Friday. Apex won the first meeting, which means it owns a head-to-head tiebreaker. That means this game is a winner-take-all.

Wild-card?: Apex is just 6-13 overall, so they really need that automatic berth. Middle Creek, at 12-11 overall, has a pretty good shot to get a wild-card, but not a great one. Let's say Middle Creek loses to Apex and loses in the first round of the tournament -- 12-13 might not be good enough for a wild-card spot.

Read more here: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/swakesports/sorting-out-tri-nine-basketball#storylink=cpy

If soccer, volleyball had used new pod system

jmikeblake — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:18:01 -0500

Basketball is moving to a different playoff format this year, using a system that -- much like the one football uses -- includes automatic spots, seeding priority based on overall winning percentage and the use of pods based on each school's geographical position from east-to-west.

And while the football model -- which includes eight 32-team brackets -- has been the source of much scrutiny, Triangle soccer and volleyball coaches have been wanting something like this for years.

Soccer and volleyball -- as well as baseball and softball -- still use a slot system for their 64-team brackets. Each spot in the field is pre-determined, and the NCHSAA tries to come up with combinations that are fair while not creating travel problems for the whole.

But what that sometimes does is allow some of the state's top teams to meet early in the playoffs.

Take the Green Hope boys soccer team from this past fall.

Its easiest game (after the first round) was the East final against Pinecrest. The Falcons had already run through a gauntlet of top Triangle-area schools in the previous rounds, just because of how the slots were positioned.

In the last three years, Green Hope and Jordan have met in the third round each time, and each time the winner has gone on to be in the state championship.

Four second-round games during this year's 4A boys soccer playoffs featured one top-15 team going against one another. That means eight of the top teams in the state were done, basically because of the playoff format.

Volleyball has experienced similiar results with the slot system.

Green Hope, Apex and Riverside spent most of last season ranked in the state's top 10, even top five. Yet only one of them was going to make it out of the third round, since all three were close together in the bracket.

So let's play around a little bit -- how much improvement would we see competitively if this past fall's boys soccer and volleyball playoffs were done using the new basketball 64-team pod system playoffs? Would it be good for travel?

First, here are the would-be 4A East & Mideast brackets for boys soccer from 2011 (note: Richmond County would be in the midwest under this alignment due to Southeast Guilford - which is more east than Richmond is - making the playoffs)

2011 Boys Soccer playoffs, formatted with 64-team pod system

Mideast	East
1. Fayetteville Jack Britt (1-seeds)	1. Wilmington Laney (1-seeds)
2. Green Hope	2. Sanderson
3. Southern Pines Pinecrest	3. East Wake
4. East Chapel Hill	4. Leesville Road (2-seeds)
5. Jordan (2-seeds)	5. New Bern
6. Apex	6. Knightdale
7. Southeast Guilford	7. Enloe (3-seeds)
8. Fayetteville Terry Sanford	8. New Hanover
9. Lumberton	9. Fayetteville Cape Fear
10. Fuquay-Varina (3-seeds)	10. West Johnston
11. Hoke County	11. Clayton (4-seeds)
12. Riverside	12. Wilmington Ashley
13. Northern Durham	13. Millbrook
14. Cary	14. Athens Drive (5-seeds)
15. Fayetteville Pine Forest	15. Garner
16. Hope Mills South View (wild card)	16. Broughton

Based on what transpired this season and in the postseason, the likely teams meeting in the sectional championships would be 4-Jordan and 2-Green Hope in the Mideast and 4-Leesville Road vs 1-Sanderson for the East. The East final would've most likely have been Sanderson at Green Hope.

If you swapped in Richmond County for Southeast Guilford, then you would probably see Fuquay-Varina -- as a 9-seed -- arise from the top half of the Mideast bracket before falling to Green Hope. It just seems weird that after competing against "western" schools all year long and earning a spot in a "western" conference, that Southeast Guilford would play to represent the East in the state final. I think if there is one tweak to do here, it's to keep teams from western conferences in the west and teams in eastern conferences in the east.

Teams who do well in non-conference, but play in tough conferences, are almost always rewarded with high seeds. Fuquay is the top 3-seed. Jordan and Leesville Road are top 2-seeds.

The strength of the East isn't always in Wake County -- sometimes a Wilmington team can step up, or Pinecrest, or Jordan. But this year Wake County was exceptionally strong, and in this format, that would be reflected in the postseason.

Travel doesn't seem to change much. Some first-round games are exactly the same, or conference re-matches (seven of those).

2011 Volleyball, formatted with 64-team pod system

(Southern Alamance is more east than Scotland County, so the unbeaten Scots will play in the Midwest)

Mideast	East
1. Green Hope (1-seeds)	1. Wakefield (1-seeds)
2. Riverside	2. Garner
3. Southern Alamance	3. Fayetteville Pine Forest
4. Apex (2-seeds)	4. Wilmington Hoggard
5. Person	5. Leesville Road (2-seeds)
6. Fayetteville Terry Sanford	6. Greenville Rose
7. Pinecrest	7. West Johnston
8. Pembroke Swett (3-seeds)	8. Millbrook (3-seeds)
9. Jordan	9. Wilmington Ashley
10. Holly Springs	10. Clayton
11. Hope Mills South View	11. New Bern (4-seeds)
12. Hoke County (4-seeds)	12. Sanderson
13. Panther Creek	13. Knightdale
14. East Chapel Hill	14. Cary (5-seeds)
15. Fayetteville Jack Britt	15. Enloe
16. Fuquay-Varina (wild-card)	16. East Wake

Under this alignment, you would probably expect 1-Green Hope to face 2-Riverside for the Mideast and 6-Greenville Rose against 4-Wilmington Hoggard in the East. Hoggard would have to travel to Green Hope for the East final, which you think Hoggard would win since they did in real life.

But would Green Hope's home crowd sway a 3-2 Hoggard win to a 3-2 Green Hope victory? Who knows. I was at that real-life match in Wilmington -- the crowd was excellent in its support of Hoggard.

Unlike basketball, where the fourth & fifth rounds are played on a neutral court, playoff games for volleyball and soccer are played on school sites until the state title game. The latter stages of the playoffs would use overall seeding on where to send teams, rather than conference priority (a randomly drawn list the NCHSAA does each year - this year the Mideastern had higher priority than Tri-Nine, which is why Green Hope traveled to Hoggard).

Another byproduct of using this format -- the Mid-South and Cap-8 Conferences essentially swap spots from what's been the most-often-used slot system brackets. Because the Cap-8 and Tri-Nine are usually really good in these sports - especially the conference champs - shifting one seems to balance out the brackets better than in the past.

Again, I'm not sure how much sense it makes to make Southern Alamance play for the East title and Scotland County play in the west. This year, it doesn't throw off bracket seeding by much as both teams were #1 seeds.

This cuts down on travel for a lot of teams, but Hoke County at Person (from practically the south end of the state to the top) is a match-up you'd never see with the slots. The 4A East and Mideast have six conference re-matches in the first round - and I guess there's no good way around that unless you use the slot system.

But coaches have already said they'd rather not use the slot. They've hoped for a system much like this.

If the basketball changes are well-received after this year's postseason, maybe those volleyball and soccer coaches will get their wish in time for next fall.

Dual-team wrestling state tournament starts

jmikeblake — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:22:03 -0500

The N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs are set to start this Tuesday. The first and second rounds will be played at one school site. With exception to the 1A bracket, the third and fourth rounds are held at a school on Thursday (the 1A only has one match that day for the regional title.

All four state championships Saturday between the East and West champion, also held at a school.

1A East

(host: North Rowan) #1 Ayden-Grifton vs #2 Southwest Onslow; #1 North Rowan vs #1 Central Academy

(host: NCSSM) #1 N.C. School of Science & Math vs #2 Chatham Central; #1 Dixon vs #2 Rosewood

2A East

(host: Corinth Holders) #1 Corinth Holders vs #2 Providence Grove; #1 Croatan vs Roanoke Rapids

(host: North Johnston) #2 North Johnston vs #2 Northwood; #1 North Brunswick vs Swansboro

(host: First Flight) #1 Durham School of the Arts vs #2 Wilson Beddingfield; #1 Kill Devil Hills First Flight vs Northside-Jacksonville

(host: North Pitt) #1 Burlington Cummings vs #2 Hampstead Topsail; #1 North Pitt vs Elizabeth City Northeastern

3A East

(host: Union Pines) #1 South Brunswick vs #2 Pikeville Aycock; #1 Union Pines vs #2 Eastern Alamance

(host: Orange) #1 Orange vs #2 Northern Nash; #1 Jacksonville vs West Brunswick

(host Western Harnett) #1 Eden Morehead vs Havelock; #1 Rocky Mount vs #2 Western Harnett

(host: West Carteret) #1 Cleveland vs #2 Chapel Hill; #1 Currituck vs #2 West Carteret

4A East

(host: Pinecrest) #1 Pinecrest vs Fayetteville Cape Fear; #1 Hope Mills South View vs #2 Holly Springs

(host: Clayton) #1 New Bern vs #2 Clayton; #1 Jordan vs #2 Millbrook

(host: Cary) #1 Cary vs #2 Wilmington Laney; #2 Northern Durham vs #2 Scotland County

(host: Jack Britt) #1 West Johnston vs #2 Fayetteville Jack Britt; #1 Sanderson vs Hoke County

Leesville Road, Panther Creek win 4A regionals

jmikeblake — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:06:30 -0500

The Leesville Road boys and Panther Creek girls won the East regional on Saturday afternoon. Leesville's 254 point edged Cap-8 Conference foes Enloe (246) and Millbrook (194). Panther Creek had to fend off multiple members from its own conference as well, as the Catamounts' 288 points bested Green Hope (261.5), defending state champion Apex (260), Cary (213) and Athens Drive (190).

The day had one major revelation, as Green Hope had four relay teams -- all three boys teams and one girls -- disqualified before competition began. The relays were disqualified because the times entered before the meet had the individual splits instead of the relay time.

The disqualified teams will not participate in the state championship, which is a damaging blow to two squads who figured to place in the top three (Green Hope boys and girls won Tri-Nine Conference titles, boys were 2nd last year in 4A, girls were sixth) and contend for the title. Relays are worth up to 40 points each.

The top 10 teams are listed below. Full results are found on the Triangle Aquatic Center website by going here.

Boys Team Rankings

Leesville Road, 254
Enloe, 246
Millbrook, 194
Cary, 167
(tie) Panther Creek & Wilmington Hoggard, 153
.
Greenville Rose, 151
Green Hope, 146
(tie) Apex & Sanderson, 121

Girls Team Rankings

Panther Creek, 288
Green Hope, 261.5
Apex, 260
Cary, 213
Athens Drive, 190
Leesville Road, 175.5
Wilmington Hoggard, 161
Middle Creek, 120
Sanderson, 101.5
Holly Springs, 96

Sorting out Tri-Nine basketball

jmikeblake — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:34:55 -0500

Just one week left in the basketball regular season. Most Tri-Nine teams have just two games left while others have one. Either way, a lot has yet to be decided, and I'm here to help break it down for you.

*Reminder: seeds for the state tournament can greatly if a team seeded lower than 2nd wins the conference tournament. Conference tournament winners automatically assume the league's #2 seed in the playoffs and bump all other teams down a spot -- unless, of course, your #1 seed wins the conference tournament.

BOYS RACES

For 1st: Apex is 13-1 in Tri-Nine play and will have at least a share of the title. Apex can clinch the conference title outright with a Tuesday night victory against Fuquay-Varina. The Cougars end the season with Middle Creek, which is the only team capable of forcing a co-conference title -- but the Mustangs would need to win out and have Apex lose out.

For 2nd: Middle Creek (11-3) and Green Hope (10-4) are in the mix. Athens Drive (9-5) can force a tie for 2nd if the other two lose out, but would still not get the No. 2 seed because the Jaguars would lose out in a three-way tie. Middle Creek would win in a three-way tie because of its culmulative record against the other two (3-1.. GH is 2-2, AD is 1-3). If it's just a two-way tie between Middle Creek and Green Hope, the two would either draw for the conference's two seed in the Tri-Nine tounament, but that alone would NOT decide who takes the 2-seed in the state tournament.

In cases where two teams split in the regular season, like GH and MC did, and tie in the regular-season standings, they must either play a third game or one must advance to the conference tournament final. So if GH and MC play in the conference semifinals or finals, that would be your third-game tiebreaker. If neither make it to the finals, they would play a third game early Friday afternoon on a neutral court.

For 3rd: Kind of explained this up top, but let's say MC wins 2nd outright and Green Hope and Athens Drive are tied for third. GH and AD split the seasons series, so they too would need to either play a third game or have one make it into the conference finals to break a tie for who gets the No.3 seed in the state playoffs.

For 4th: If there is a 3-way tie for 2nd place, Athens Drive goes here. No third-game tiebreaker situation for 3-way ties, so that would mean the Jags are a 4-seed in the state tournament as well. Middle Creek can't fall this low. Green Hope can place out of this spot with one more Athens Drive loss.

For 5th: Cary (6-8 Tri-Nine), Panther Creek (6-9) and Holly Springs (6-8) are all alive for the fifth and final playoff spot. Panther Creek's sweep of Cary gives them the edge if all three tie (PC is 3-1 vs the other two, Holly Springs is 2-2 and Cary is 1-3). Here are the three's schedules: Cary has it TOUGH, playing at Green Hope and home against Athens Drive. Holly Springs has a tough Tuesday game at home against Middle Creek, then plays at Lee County. Panther Creek has just one game, but it too is tough -- at home against Green Hope.

If there is a two-way tie between Cary & PC, PC wins. A two-way tie between HS and Cary or PC & HS means the two would need a third tiebreaking game and/or advance to the conference title to earn a state playoff berth.

This is truly the "bubble" berth, because if a team seeded lower than this -- like 6-seed Lee County did last year -- it would bump everyone down a spot from the No. 2 seed and likely bump No. 5 right out of the playoffs.

Wild-card?: Holly Springs and Panther Creek are both 11-11. The state's wild-card spot goes to the team with the best overall winning percentage without an automatic berth. So let's say Cary gets the 5th spot (by the way, Cary has a losing record, and that's not going to get a wild-card spot given the current records of other teams who are looking at possibly being without an automatic bid). One of these two teams might very well earn a wild-card spot -- which would be a 16-seed since the 4A East/Mideast only has one -- depending on how they fare in the next two weeks. If HS goes 1-1 next week but wins two Tri-Nine tournament games, while PC wins its season finale but loses in the first round, Holly Springs (then 14-12) would get the wild-card nod before PC (then 12-12) would.

GIRLS RACES

For 1st: Done. The only thing left to wonder is if Green Hope can win 59 straight Tri-Nine games entering the conference tournament.

For 2nd: Holly Springs (13-2) is in the driver's seat because of a head-to-head sweep of Panther Creek (13-3). PC has just one game left (at Green Hope) so unless the Catamounts somehow upset Kristen Gaffney's senior night, Holly Springs (who has games left against Middle Creek & Lee) "should" coast to the No. 2 spot outright.

For 3rd: This will be either Panther Creek (with a loss or two Holly Springs wins) or Holly Springs (with a loss and a PC win).

For 4th: Cary's to have and to hold.

For 5th: Apex (5-9) and Middle Creek (6-8) are going for it. Athens Drive (4-10) can force a 3-way tie, but won't win it because it will have at max the weakest record against the other two (Apex is 1-2, Middle Creek is 2-1, Athens Drive is 1-3). Apex and Middle Creek play in the season finale. Apex has Fuquay-Varina on Tuesday, while Middle Creek plays Holly Springs.

Middle Creek and Apex could very well tie for fifth (but only if Apex defeats Middle Creek, Middle Creek loses to Holly Springs AND Middle Creek defeats Apex), but there would be no way to break that tie. A draw would be used for the conference tournament seeding, but a third tiebreaker game (either in the conference tournament or a Friday afternoon game on a neutral court) would be needed to send one to the postseason. Again, if one team makes it to the conference tournament final and the other does not, that will take place of a third tiebreaking game.

Wild-card?: Apex is just 6-13 overall, so they must win the conference tournament or get the fifth automatic berth. Middle Creek, at 12-10 overall, stand a chance of still being .500 or greater when all conference tournaments are left. That gives them a pretty good shot, but there are other teams in the East currently outside of the state playoffs who can say the same (like Pinecrest, who was 10-11 going into Friday's games). The wild-card isn't as "wild" as you might think. It's given to the team with the highest winning percentage who does not receive an automatic bid. In this case, the situation gets really cloudy. Basically, Middle Creek can't end the season losing two of its last three and expect something good to happen.

Final Tri-Nine wrestling standings

jmikeblake — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:23:00 -0500

Below are the final Tri-Nine Conference wrestling standings.

We will be updating this blog with overall records as teams go through the dual-team playoffs. We've included the conference tournament champions for each weight class and more.

To see more final standings, playoff scores and all-conference lists, click on the "Tri-9" tag above.

1. Cary*	24-0 (8-0)
2. Holly Springs*	28-2 (7-1)
3. Panther Creek	17-6 (6-2)
T-4. Green Hope	12-10 (4-4)
T-4. Middle Creek	13-15 (4-4)
T-4. Apex	4-4 (4-4)
7. Lee County	7-12 (2-6)
8. Fuquay-Varina	5-17 (1-7)
9. Athens Drive	0-14 (0-8)

Conference tournament champs

106 -- Chance Davis (Apex) def. Nick Tarvin (Cary), 5-4

113 -- Baffour Atakora (Middle Creek ) def. Parker Ragsdale (Holly Springs), 9-8

120 -- Alex Battaglia (Middle Creek) pinned Ryan Fawcett (Holly Springs), 3:09

126 -- Ryan Foran (Cary) def. Matt Stober (Panther Creek), 6-5

132 -- Javon Johnson (Holly Springs) def. Alex Ynoquio (Cary), 8-4

138 -- Kevin Ruiz (Panther Creek) def. John Blackwell (Cary), 8-2

145 -- Mark Mulligan (Cary) def. Daniel Richardson (Holly Springs), 6-4

152 -- Adam Kugler (Cary) pinned Colin Higgins (Panther Creek), 5:55

160 -- Bo Mulligan (Cary) pinned Austin Galati (Holly Springs) 2:27

170 -- Ryan Silverman (cary) def. Roelvis Vargas (Fuquay-Varina), 3-1

182 -- Seth Hampsey (Middle Creek) def. Jake Castagnero (Apex), 7-5

195 -- Ian Callahan (Green Hope) pinned Zachary Tousignant (Fuquay-Varina), 4:19

220 -- Corey Daniels (Cary) pinned Dylan Krauss (Middle Creek), 3:46

285 -- Mike Sutton (Panther Creek) def. Chad Mason (Green Hope), 4-0

Conference Tournament standings

Cary, 230
Holly Springs 141
Panther Creek, 134
Middle Creek, 124
Apex, 111.5
Fuquay-Varina, 79
Green Hope, 57
(tie) Athens Drive & Lee County, 14

USMNT U-23 defender signs with Carolina

jmikeblake — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:58:33 -0500

The Carolina RailHawks brought in their biggest name so far this offseason as the team made its signing of 20-year-old defender Gale Agbossoumonde on Thursday.

Agbossoumonde has experience playing on the U-23 U.S. men's national team. He comes to Carolina on loan from Portugese franchise Estoril Praia.

The defender is in his last year of a contract with Traffic Sports USA, which also owns the RailHawks. The tenuous relationship between Agbossoumonde and Traffic Sports was documented by ESPN.com in 2010.

After struggling to receive much playing time in his previous stops in Germany, Sweden and Portugal, he reportedly turned down offers from Major League Soccer this season.

The RailHawks' press release states that Agbossoumonde is also hoping that his time in Carolina can prepare him for possibly making the U.S. team for this summer's Olympics.

“The RailHawks have been one of the top organizations in the NASL,” said Agbossoumonde in a statement. “I want to be part of the continued growth and help bring the club a championship. I know the coaching staff will assist with my continued development and help me prepare for my time with the U-23 National Team and rest of my career.”

ESPN.com recently named Agbossoumonde one of the top 10 American players under age 21. In 2010, he was named U.S. Soccer’s Young Male Athlete of the Year, joining Landon Donovan and Jozy Altidore as former recipients.

As of now, Agbossoumonde is one of just three defenders under contract for next season.

“We are very happy to have Gale be a part of our 2012 campaign. We are looking forward to see him perform on the field and earn his spot for the Olympic team,” said RailHawks head coach Colin Clarke in a statement. “He is a talented young player and he will play a big role for us in defense.”

Agbossoumonde received his first call to the senior national team, earning his first cap on his birthday, Nov. 17, against South Africa.

Agbossoumonde and the 2012 RailHawks will make their debut on March 4 at 3 p.m. against the Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer in the 4^th Annual Hilton Garden Inn Durham Southpoint Community Shield Match. For more information on RailHawks tickets and game details call the Cruizers box office at or e-mail tickets@carolinarailhawks.com.

Agbossomounde's signing happened on the same day that NASL expansion franchise San Antonio announced it had signed RailHawks forward Pablo Campos. Campos tallied 15 goals - second most in the league - in 2011.

Mock-up of how basketball seeds could look

jmikeblake — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:36:24 -0500

If you haven't read this blog on how the NCHSAA basketball playoffs will be seeded, do so now and come back here. You read it yet? Opened the excel spreadsheet? Good.

Now let's take some time to visualize what this year's boys and girls basketball playoffs would look like under these changes.

Due to time constraints -- and the greater accessibility to 4A conference standings and records -- I put together a mock-up of the 4A East and Mideast seeds for boys and girls basketball playoffs.

This isn't a projection. It's just to give you a visual idea of what the basketball playoffs could look like in a few weeks.

The seeds are done in an if-the-season-were-to-end-today fashion.

As a byproduct of the pod, it looks like all area conference champions will be able to host at least two rounds until regionals begin in the fourth round. In the past, conference champs have had to play on the road as early as the second round -- against another conference champion.

I've underlined where the seeds change from 1s to 2s, 2s to 3s, etc. For instance, in the 4A girls Mideast, there are four 1-seeds, three 2-seeds, five 3-seeds, three 4-seeds, no 5-seeds and one wild-card (wild-cards are denoted by **).

NOTE: In the girls Mideast, Southern Alamance making the playoffs bumps Richmond County to the Midwest. In the boys Mideast, Southeast Guilford does the same thing to Richmond's boys.

4A GIRLS MIDEAST

Hope Mills South View
Green Hope
Hillside
Scotland
Fayetteville Seventy-First
Holly Springs
Riverside
Southern Durham
Panther Creek
Southern Alamance
Fayetteville Pine Forest
Lumberton
Pembroke Swett
Fayetteville EE Smith
Jordan
Southern Pines Pinecrest**

4A GIRLS EAST

Wilmington Laney
Millbrook
East Wake
Southeast Raleigh
Broughton
Wilmington Ashley
Wakefield
Clayton
New Hanover
Enloe
Cary
Knightdale
New Bern
Sanderson
Middle Creek
West Johnston

4A BOYS MIDEAST

Fayetteville Pine Forest
Hoke County
Apex
Person
Fayetteville Seventy-First
Lumberton
Hillside
Green Hope
Southeast Guilford
Fayetteville Terry Sanford
Pembroke Swett
Northern Durham
Jordan
Fayetteville Jack Britt
Cary
Panther Creek**

4A BOYS EAST

New Hanover
Garner
Millbrook
Wilmington Hoggard
Broughton
Clayton
Middle Creek
Wake Forest-Rolesville
Knightdale
Greenville Rose
Wakefield
Wilmington Laney
Athens Drive
East Wake
Southeast Raleigh
Sanderson

RailHawks add Palacio, bring back Shipalane

jmikeblake — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:52:16 -0500

Ty Shipalane, with shorts on backwards, against Crystal Palace Baltimore in 2010 -- N&O file photo

The Carolina RailHawks now have three new signings -- and one is a familiar face.

The team annouced two new midfielders have been added for the 2011 season -- Mike Palacio from Ft. Lauderdale Strikers and Ty Shipalane, who played for the RailHawks in 2010.

Shipalane, who suited up for the RailHawks in six games in 2010, played last year in his native South Africa. Shipalane was known for his quick moves with the ball -- as well as his backward shorts, which he said were so that the defense could see the number as he blew by them -- but had trouble finishing.

He scored no goals in those six games despite some close calls.

Palacio comes from a league foe that finished runner-up in the NASL Championship finals.

The RailHawks' third offseason acquisition -- not counting new coach Colin Clarke -- is forward Jason Garey.

Athens Drive names football coach

jmikeblake — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:34:37 -0500

Chris Martin credits two high school football coaches as being his major influences – his father James, who coaches in West Virginia, and recently retired Athens Drive coach Jeff Smouse.

Both of those influences were hoping Martin would be given a shot to coach his own team one day. All parties were rewarded as Athens Drive promoted Martin from defensive coordinator to head coach on Thursday.

Martin replaces Smouse, who resigned after last season as the program’s winningest coach. Smouse, who Martin knew from a previous stop at Lumberton High, had encouraged Martin to apply for the position.

“[Smouse] kind of groomed me for this,” Martin said. “Being the son of a head coach and being around football pretty much every year of my life, (wanting to be a head coach) came pretty natural. I just really like Athens Drive and the people there and I’m lucky they hired me for this position.”

Martin is in his fifth year at the school, where he teaches special education and has served as the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator for the last three years.

“He’s great in the classroom,” said Athens Drive athletics director Alvin Thompson. “We think he’s a perfect fit for Athens Drive and he knows the community.”

Although Martin has never been a head coach in his 14 years of experience, Thompson said Martin was outstanding in the interviews, presenting a detailed plan for what he wants the program to be. In the months since Smouse left, Martin has been leading the team in the weight room.

Martin has been on staff through some of Athens Drive’s best seasons, an 11-2 year in 2007 where the school notched its first conference championship, 10-win season and playoff victory.

“Coach Smouse was the architect of the program,” Martin said. “I just want to take the program for where it’s at and take it to new heights.”

Martin also said he plans on Athens still running a spread offense, which is what Smouse used to turn around the program.

The school will host a “meet and greet” for Martin, which will be open to the public, on Monday at 6:30 in the school auditorium.

click on the "coaching changes" tag above to see more blogs on area hirings and resignings

Gaffney sets new county mark

jmikeblake — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:05:51 -0500

Kristen Gaffney needed 12 points to make history Wednesday night -- and she wasted no time in doing it.

The Green Hope senior girls basketball player became Wake County's all-time leader in points -- among N.C. High School Athletic Association member schools -- in the first quarter of a 75-46 defeat of visiting Wilson Hunt.

Gaffney made a layup with 2:41 left in the first, and the game was paused for the announcement and recognition of the feat. Green Hope athletics director Wayne Bragg said that the game ball will be retired.

The previous highest-total by a Wake County player on a NCHSAA team was Broughton's Karen Clayton, who scored 2,343 points from 1989-92. There is no official overall Wake County record that would include independent and NCHSAA schools.

After the win, Gaffney thanked her teammates.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without my side," Gaffney said. "It's a great thing for me and I was thanking them in the locker room when they were congratulating me... It's just been a tremendous four years for me and I couldn't ask for a better team and teammates."

Gaffney, a two-time all-state selection, ended the game with a season-high 37 points, which gives her 2,369 for her career. She is averaging 26.6 points per game this season, and the Lady Falcons (17-2) have five games left this season before the Tri-Nine Conference tournament.

Gaffney is 11th all-time in NCHSAA history, but is about 900 points shy of the all-time NCHSAA record (No. 1 is Danyel Parker of Clinton High, who scored 3,225 points from 1986-89).

"It's been fun to watch her play. She's a very aggressive basketball player and she works hard for what she gets," Green Hope coach Mike Robinson said.

Athens Drive Hoops for Hope this Friday

jmikeblake — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:33:42 -0500

This Friday marks the fifth annual Hoops for Hope game between the Athens Drive and Apex girls basketball teams.

All proceeds from the game, which is hosted by Athens Drive, go to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, which raises money for breast cancer research.

The event was started four years ago by then-Athens Drive freshman Blair Williams.

Williams is now a freshman at N.C. State, but the event will continue thanks to new student organizer Taylor Cesarski, a junior for the Athens Drive Lady Jags.

There will be pink Hoops for Hope T-shirts for sale and a silent auction with items such as Carolina Hurricanes tickets, theme park tickets, gift cards and jewelry going to the highest bidder.

For more information about the event or to make a donation, email Taylor Cesarski at adhshoops4hope@gmail.com

Panther Creek, Green Hope make realignment requests

timstevens — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:41:18 -0500

Green Hope and Panther Creek made requests to the N.C. High School Athletic Associaton on Tuesday to place the schools in a league with other current Tri-Nine 4A schools.

The current drafts of conference realignment has the two Wake County schools joining Durham Jordan, Durham Riverside, Durham Hillside, Roxboro Person and Northern Durham in a conference.

Todd Schuler, the Panther Creek athletics director, said the move would create a financial hardship for the schools to leave the rivalries they have in their current league. He noted there are four high schools in Cary – the other two are Middle Creek and Cary – and that pulling Green Hope and Panther Creek would not only affect gate receipts and corporate sponsorships, but also increase travel.

He said the current Tri-Nine teams have a shared community.

Bob Hill, the athletic director at Durham Hillside, represented the PAC-6 schools.

He noted a five-team conference would create major difficulties.

In 2011, for example, Hillside played only 10 football games because it could not find opponents. One of the 10 was against a team from South Carolina.

“We have good facilities and we have good competitive teams,” he said. “We’ve had sellouts in basketball and football. I think we could develop new rivalries.”

Broughton asked to remain in the current Cap Eight instead of moving to the Greater Neuse River Conference. Jack Spain, the Caps’ athletics director, suggested a new school opening in 2013 in Rolesville, be placed in the Greater Neuse and that Broughton remain with its traditional rivals.