Fike, Hunt, North Johnston maintain Wachovia Cup leads

The N.C. High School Athletic Association has released Wachovia Cup conference standings following the winter sports season and Fike, Hunt and North Johnston maintain their leads atop their respective conferences.

Fike won the girls swimming championship in the 3-A NEW 6 and leads Nash Central by five points and Rocky Mount by six points as we head into spring. Conference Standings:Fike 114, Nash Central 109, Rocky Mount 108.5, Northern Nash 96.5, Southern Nash 82, Southwest Edgecombe 68.

Hunt tied for first in the 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference in wrestling, girls basketball and girls and boys swimming and holds a seven-point edge over Eastern Wayne while Beddingfield is third, 18 points behind Hunt. Conference Standings: Hunt 120, Eastern Wayne 113, Beddingfield 102, Southern Wayne 99.5, C.B. Aycock 97, Kinston 48.5.

North Johnston claimed 1-A Carolina Conference crowns in wrestling and girls basketball to move 13.5 points ahead of Spring Creek. Conference Standings: North Johnston 41.5, Spring Creek 28, Princeton 27, Ayden Grifton 25, Rosewood 19.5, North Duplin 9.

Greene Central sits in fourth place in the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference. Conference Standings: North Pitt 36, Farmville Central 35.5, Tarboro 34.5, Greene Central 29.5, Goldsboro 26.5, North Lenoir 25

Cooper finally getting his due as UNC history-maker

Thanks to Dave Fulton of Charlotte who alerted me to this outstanding story by David Scott in Sunday's Charlotte Observer on Willie Cooper of Elm City.

Most people, myself included, think Charlie Scott was the first African-American basketball player at the University of North Carolina but Scott was only the first black member of the UNC varsity. Cooper actually integrated UNC basketball in 1964, two years before Scott arrived, after a standout career at Elm City's Frederick Douglass High School under head coach Harvey Reid Jr.

Cooper only played one season of freshman basketball then decided to concentrate on his academics, opening the way for Scott to make his historical entrance on the Tar Heels varsity squad.

The article by David Scott mentions that the Douglass High team's bus driver was a history teacher at the school named Phil Ford Sr., whose 8-year-old son would accompany the team to games. The elder Ford later taught at Fike High School and the younger Ford, well, he made a name for himself as the starting shortstop on Rocky Mount Senior High's 1973 4-A state championship baseball team as well as doing some things in basketball of note.

Anyway, thanks to Dave Fulton for the tip on an outstanding and historical read!

East outshined in NCHSAA finals this year

Only two teams from the East won N.C. High School Athletic Association basketball championships Saturday and both of those — the Greensboro Dudley girls and Northern Guilford boys in 3-A — aren't really from the eastern part of the state.

I still wonder why teams from Guilford County are in the 3-A eastern region and I think the real answer is that there are no 3-A teams in Wake County and hardly any in Cumberland County. You go from Wilson and Harnett County all the way to Asheboro and Burlington before you run into another 3-A school.

Here are Saturday's final scores from the NCHSAA Web site:


lass 1-A women
Bishop McGuinness 64, East Bladen 33

Class 1-A men
Bishop McGuinness 72, Weldon 56

Class 2-A women
Salisbury 56, Graham 41

Class 2-A men
Shelby 62, Northwood 50

Class 3-A women
Dudley 60, Forestview 58

Class 3-A men
Northern Guilford 66, Forestview 54

Class 4-A women
West Charlotte 78, Hillside 60

Class 4-A men
Mount Tabor 60, Terry Sanford 55

Strickland breathes rare air with big day at the plate

When Hunt junior Sam Strickland lit up Southern Nash for nine runs batted in during the Warriors' 17-2 win Monday, he came mighty close to the state record for RBIs in a game.

The N.C. High School Athletic Association record book lists Shawn Gallagher of Wilmington New Hanover and Hope Mills South View's Jason Huffman as the co-holders of the mark with 11 each.

Here is the list from the NCHSAA Web site:

11- Shawn Gallagher (New Hanover), April 28, 1995 (New Hanover 16, Southern Wayne 4)
11- Jason Huffman (South View), March 24, 1999 (South View 23, E.E. Smith 4)
11- Sam Simpson (Croatan), March 2, 2006 (Croatan 31, Jones 0)
10- Tony Lee (Garner) vs. Athens Drive,1983
10- Blake Adams (Four Oaks) vs. Meadow, 1964
10- Ricky Howard (Southern Nash) vs. Louisburg, March 15, 2002

Sam was 3 for 4 and I don't think there was anyone on base when he grounded out in the third inning so he pretty much maximized his RBI chances in the game. It might have helped if it was a five-inning affair but that's the way it goes.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Strickland's nine RBIs are almost certainly a school record and could be a county record as well as a 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference record.

ECU announces 2009 football schedule

East Carolina University released its 2009 football schedule Wednesday and the Pirates will face seven bowl participants, including Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia Tech in a Thursday night game in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

ECU also meets West Virginia, North Carolina and Appalachian State as part of its non-conference schedule. The Pirates also have a Tuesday night game and a Sunday night game. Half their 12 games are in Greenville.

Here is the complete schedule with everything but game times which aren't announced until a week before the games in most cases.

2009 EAST CAROLINA FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 5 - APPALACHIAN STATE
Sept. 12 - at West Virginia
Sept. 19 - at North Carolina
Sept. 26 - *UCF
Oct. 3 - *at Marshall
Oct. 10 - *at SMU
Oct. 17 - *RICE
Oct. 27 - *at Memphis (ESPN/Tue.)
Nov. 5 - VIRGINIA TECH (ESPN/Thurs.)
Nov. 15 - *at Tulsa (ESPN/Sun.)
Nov. 21 - *UAB
Nov. 28 - *SOUTHERN MISS
Dec. 5 - C-USA Championship Game (ESPN)

*Conference USA game