The Cap Eight conference tournament is set to start first-round games Monday and Tuesday. First round games will be played at the higher seed, while the semifinal games on Wednesday and Thursday, along with Friday’s finals, will all be played at Broughton’s Holiday Gym.

MONDAY (times 7 p.m.)

Girls first-round games:
No. 8 Leesville Road at No. 1 Millbrook
No. 5 Enloe at No. 4 Sanderson
No. 7 Heritage at No. 2 Broughton
No. 6 Wake Forest-Rolesvillle at No. 3 Wakefield

TUESDAY (times 7 p.m.)

Boys first-round games
No. 8 Heritage at No. 1 Millbrook
No. 5 Sanderson at No. 4 Wake Forest-Rolesville
No. 7 Enloe at No. 2 Broughton
No. 6 Leesville Road at No. 3 Wakefield

Hillside's Jamal Marcus, East Chapel Hill's Alex Moore, South Granville's Matthew Fuhr and Millbrook's Keith Marshall have been named to the North Carolina all-state high school football team by The Associated Press.

See the full team below:

Millbrook's Samantha George is the 2011-12 Gatorade North Carolina girls cross country runner of the year.

The Cap Eigth 4-A conference season resumed this week after a number of teams participated, and performed well, in holiday tournaments. As we begin the new year, here are my power rankings for the boys side:

Millbrook (10-4): The Wildcats have played the toughest schedule of anyone in the Cap Eight. That should led Millbrook to succeeding in the conference season where the Wildcats will be the team everyone is gunning for. Shi’Chee Moore (pictured left) has proved to be the best point guard in the conference. If the Wildcats can continue to turn teams over, they’ll win a lot of games.

Wake Forest-Rolesville (10-2): Give a lot of credit to first-year coach Mickey Bissette. He has the Cougars believing in his system and themselves. The Cougars gave Garner its first loss – and this is the same Trojan team that won the premier Holiday Invitational tournament. The Cougars rolled off eight straight wins after a 66-61 win over Wakefield. Will Perry and Jordan Ayscue are making WF-R a real contender.

The Cap Eigth 4-A conference season resumed this week after a number of teams participated, and performed well, in holiday tournaments. As we begin the new year, here are my power rankings for the girls side:

Millbrook (13-1): Coach Chris East said his entire team cried last week when the Wildcats fell to Charlotte Myers Park in the championship game of the Holiday Invitational. That’s a good sign. Millbrook had dominated every team it faced before that game, and now East shouldn’t have to worry about his Wildcats getting complacent. Briana Day played well in the tournament, but Millbrook should play better with Ryan Flowers and Katelyn Mitchell returning from suspensions.

Sanderson (9-3): The Spartans are near the bottom of the standings, but no one should overlook this team. Derricka Lewis (center of photo) is averaging 13 points a game and has improved her play from last year. Bria Gibson has also being solid with 10 points a game. Sanderson defeated Athens Drive for the third time this year to win the Athens Drive Invitational Tournament.

Millbrook guard Karon Blount knows the Wildcats are a different team from a year ago. As a senior though, Blount is surrounded by many of the same teammates. He still has the same point guard in senior Shi’Chee Moore (pictured left) and veteran coach in Scott McInnes.

Yet Blount feels the Wildcats, who host Wakefield (5-0, 1-0 Cap Eight 4-A) tonight at home, are more mature and better prepared to have a successful season from start to finish.

“We are different,” Blount said. “We play much harder on defense.”

On Friday night against Broughton, the Wildcats (6-1, 1-0) looked like a team that learned its lesson from the previous year.

Last season, the Wildcats reached the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A state championship game mainly because of their defense. But Millbrook had to mature over the course of that season. After all, the Wildcats started the year with a 2-6 record.

That’s not the case this season.

Cap Eight 4-A all-conference football team

Players of the year: Austin Berrios, Leesville Road; Connor Mitch, Wakefield

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Karelov Sasha, Leesville Road

COACH OF THE YEAR
Taine Mergenthaler, Leesville Road

The state Republican Party is telling voters in a last-minute campaign mailer that Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo has "the right priorities for our children."

The mailer says that "Heather believes in neighborhood schools and parental choice and will use proximity as the number one priority for school assignment." The GOP also says "the new Choice Plan will be the foundation for providing parents and students with stability and provide an opportunity to improve every school."

The mailer says "Heather will listen to the people and be responsive." Referencing the Bedford reassignment controversy, the mailer also says that "in contrast, Heather's opponent responded to over 300 parents concerned about busing their children to another school by saying he intended to 'stonewall' them."