A fresh new start

There's been a whole lotta changin' going on here at the Wilson Daily, er, Wilson Times.

New name, new print design, new Web site design, new hours — you name it, we've got something new. So not to be upstaged, I've got something new for this space — daily entries.

As always, the focus will be on the area sports scene and this time of year, there is plenty to discuss.

But I'll limit my observations today to a big pat on the back to the Fike High School boys golf team, which repeated as N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A East Regional king Monday. The Golden Demons, the defending state 3-A champions, won by a whopping 31 strokes over a pretty good Hunt team.

The Demons have won seven of the past nine regional titles while Hunt earned its 11th state tournament berth in 13 years.

Can Fike win another state title?

If they play as good as they did Monday at Maccripine Country Club near Pinetops, they certainly can. This is how good the Demons were. Five of the top 10 scores belonged to Fike players, including Bailey Rose's 76 which was good enough for an eighth-place finish. But Rose's round didn't even count towards Fike's team total of 293 which takes only the top four scores.

Sophomore Coalter Paxton, who shot a 71 at the 3-A NEW 6 Conference final round last week at Maccripine, carded an 81 Monday but that didn't slow Fike down. Spencer Whitt, who has struggled recently and didn't even count in the team score in the NEW 6 finale, reigned as regional medalist Monday.

Steady senior Ryan Yarbrough, along with Spencer Peterson and Mark Whitley — along with Drew Hinnant, who didn't even play Monday — give Demons head coach Jim Boykin Jr. the kind of depth coaches dream of in big tournaments.

I certainly haven't kept up with 3-A boys golf around the state this spring but if the steady rollin' Demons continue their good work, Fike better start looking for more room in its trophy case.