The latest N.C. High School Tennis Association girls rankings are out and Fike remains at No. 4 in the 3-A poll with Big East Conference rival Rocky Mount at No. 6. The Golden Demons and Gryphons have a showdown Thursday at Fike, which won the first meeting 7-2 in Rocky Mount.
Also, in the 2-A rankings, Greene Central remains No. 2 and Eastern Plains Conference rival Tarboro lurks at No. 5.
The complete rankings are below.
North Carolina State Women’s Tennis Polls
Sponsored by the North Carolina High School Tennis Coaches Association
nchighschooltennis.pbworks.com
Week Six Regular Season-Published 9/30/09
4-A
Team Points
1. Charlotte Myers Park 50
2. East Chapel Hill 43
3. Greensboro Grimsley 39
4. Raleigh Broughton 36
5. Green Hope 31
6. Wilmington Hoggard 22
7. Greenville Rose 17
T.C. Roberson 17
9. Winston Salem R.J Reynolds 10
10. Pinecrest 5
Others receiving votes: Charlotte Providence (4), Durham Riverside (1).
3-A
Team Points
1 Charlotte Catholic 70
2 Chapel Hill 62
3. Cardinal Gibbons 53
4. Wilson Fike 48
5. Burlington Williams 39
6. Rocky Mount 29
7. Weddington 21
8. Asheville 20
9. Marvin Ridge 15
10. Franklin 10
Others receiving votes: Ledford (6), Concord (6), Union Pines (3).
2-A
Team Points
1 Salisbury 69
2 Greene Central 64
3 Edenton Holmes 51
4 Shelby 49
5 Tarboro 42
6 East Duplin 32
7 North Lincoln 27
8 Brevard 19
9 Maiden 17
10 Topsail 12
Others receiving votes: Northwood (2), Forest Hills (1).
1-A
Team Points
1 North Carolina School of Science and Math 49
2 Mount Airy 43
3 Raleigh Charter School 39
4 East Montgomery 32
Bishop McGuiness 32
6 North Stokes 30
7 Gray Stone Day 17
East Surry 17
9 Elkin 11
10 East Wilkes 4
Others receiving votes: North Rowan (1).
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Turn football videos into cash
State Farm Insurance has created a fun way for high schools nationwide to compete for some much-needed cash.
"Friday Night Feats" is an online video contest sponsored by the insurance company to to find the most exciting high school football plays this season. Videos should be uploaded to YouTube.com and then submitted to fridaynightfeats.com.
Judging criteria will be athleticism, impact of the play and creativity for the video, including a title and short description of the play.
The grand prize is $15,000 with $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third place. There will also be 50 $2,500 prizes awarded.
"Friday Night Feats" is an online video contest sponsored by the insurance company to to find the most exciting high school football plays this season. Videos should be uploaded to YouTube.com and then submitted to fridaynightfeats.com.
Judging criteria will be athleticism, impact of the play and creativity for the video, including a title and short description of the play.
The grand prize is $15,000 with $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third place. There will also be 50 $2,500 prizes awarded.
Cougars keep gaining in Fantastic 50
It's poll time again and by that I mean Drew Pasteur's NC Fantastic 50.
After another big win, SouthWest Edgecombe moves to No. 5 the 50 and to the top of the 2-A rankings, displacing Reidsville.
There are no other area teams in the Fantastic 50 but Charles B. Aycock has climbed to 15th in the 3-A poll.
Pasteur (or his computer) lists Beddingfield at No. 35 Kinston as the ninth-best matchup this week. The Bruins are 17-point underdogs to the Vikings, coming off their first loss at SWE last week.
In other predictions of games involving area teams, Fike is a 4-point underdog at home against South Johnston; unbeaten Southern Nash is an 18-point favorite at Nash Central in a non-conference matchup of 3-A Big East Conference foes; North Johnston is a 29-point underdog at 2-A Northern Carolina Conference rival Bunn; Greene Central is favored by 6 at North Pitt and SouthWest is a 32-point favorite as it shoots for its sixth-straight win against host Farmville Central.
I should add that Pasteur was 144-30 (82.8 percent) last week and is 808-218 (78.8 percent) on the season picking winners. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
After another big win, SouthWest Edgecombe moves to No. 5 the 50 and to the top of the 2-A rankings, displacing Reidsville.
There are no other area teams in the Fantastic 50 but Charles B. Aycock has climbed to 15th in the 3-A poll.
Pasteur (or his computer) lists Beddingfield at No. 35 Kinston as the ninth-best matchup this week. The Bruins are 17-point underdogs to the Vikings, coming off their first loss at SWE last week.
In other predictions of games involving area teams, Fike is a 4-point underdog at home against South Johnston; unbeaten Southern Nash is an 18-point favorite at Nash Central in a non-conference matchup of 3-A Big East Conference foes; North Johnston is a 29-point underdog at 2-A Northern Carolina Conference rival Bunn; Greene Central is favored by 6 at North Pitt and SouthWest is a 32-point favorite as it shoots for its sixth-straight win against host Farmville Central.
I should add that Pasteur was 144-30 (82.8 percent) last week and is 808-218 (78.8 percent) on the season picking winners. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Hunt-Rocky Mount soccer rivalry gets a bit too heated
The Rocky Mount-Wilson high school soccer rivalry seems to have taken on an extra layer with Wednesday night's match between Rocky Mount and Hunt.
Unfortunately, it's not a good one.
In the last four years in the now defunct 3-A NEW 6 Conference, Rocky Mount and Fike were archrivals in girls and boys soccer. There were some spirited games, at times with extracurricular activities spurring the rivalry. Former Gryphons coach Patrick Sensiba, a fiery leader, made it often clear that Fike was the team in Rocky Mount's sights. And Fike, which enjoyed quite a bit of success in the NEW 6, seemed to relish the role of the Gryphons' antagonist.
But when Sensiba departed following the 2007-08 school year, he was succeeded by Drew Nick, who spent one year at Hunt, which was then in the 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference. Nick left Hunt somewhat reluctantly because he wasn't offered a teaching job at the school.
Now the Warriors are in the 3-A Big East Conference, along with Fike, Rocky Mount and the rest of the former NEW 6 schools. Because many current Warriors played for Nick, a natural rivalry has developed. Factor in the status of Hunt and Rocky Mount as state-ranked teams and Fike falling off a bit this year, it makes sense that the Warriors and Gryphons would have some intense matches this season. Fueling the fire is the fact that many Hunt and Rocky Mount players compete together on the same travel soccer teams.
That certainly was the case Wednesday night as Hunt won an emotion-charged 3-1 decision in which two yellow cards (by my count) were handed out to each team. Unfortunately for the Warriors, both their yellows went to high-scoring senior forward Aaron White who will have to sit out two games following his ejection.
CORRECTION: Since White's red card was the result of two yellows, he was merely disqualified from Wednesday's match and will not have to serve further suspension.
But the most disappointing part of Wednesday's match came early in the second half when White was taken down by Rocky Mount's Justin Hartney in the box. White was awarded a penalty kick which he converted for a 3-0 Hunt lead. However, Warriors head coach Trent Dorough took exception to what he thought was Nick yelling to players to "take him out," meaning White.
Dorough, usually a mild-mannered coach, was incensed enough to complain to the officials who conferred with Nick at midfield. Nick denied the claim even though all the Warriors on the bench raised their hands when Dorough asked if they heard him say it.
I must admit I didn't hear Nick say that but I wasn't listening intently. I will say that having known Nick in his time at Hunt, I would be very surprised if he intended for his players to cause injury to a former player. That just does not compute to me.
After the match, Nick was intent on telling his side of the story.
"If I could comment, I would never and have never had one of my kids take another player out," he said. "So the accusations from the coach on the other side are totally false and he should apologize. Not for nothing, he’s created bad blood between us."
Dorough didn't refer to the situation directly in his postgame remarks but did point to questionable officiating. (White wasn't even sent off the field following his first yellow card.)
"I hate we got out of our game, I hate what happened on the sidelines," Dorough said. "I just hate the way the game was officiated. The whole game was just a brawl; it wasn’t a soccer match. It wasn’t fun ... It wasn’t the way I like to play."
It wasn't fun for me either since I know and like both coaches and think the intensity of the match probably led to the situation. Hopefully the rematch at Rocky Mount won't be about this situation because these are two pretty good soccer teams and they put on a good show Wednesday night.
Especially the goalkeepers, Hunt junior Will Jacobs and Rocky Mount sophomore Drew Gorham. No official statistics were kept but both keepers made some spectacular saves as well as boomed punts to keep the opposing offenses off-balance.
Gorham, by the way, played for the Wilson Youth Soccer Association '93 Explosion Blue which included Hunt's Sam Hoeferkamp, among others.
Unfortunately, it's not a good one.
In the last four years in the now defunct 3-A NEW 6 Conference, Rocky Mount and Fike were archrivals in girls and boys soccer. There were some spirited games, at times with extracurricular activities spurring the rivalry. Former Gryphons coach Patrick Sensiba, a fiery leader, made it often clear that Fike was the team in Rocky Mount's sights. And Fike, which enjoyed quite a bit of success in the NEW 6, seemed to relish the role of the Gryphons' antagonist.
But when Sensiba departed following the 2007-08 school year, he was succeeded by Drew Nick, who spent one year at Hunt, which was then in the 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference. Nick left Hunt somewhat reluctantly because he wasn't offered a teaching job at the school.
Now the Warriors are in the 3-A Big East Conference, along with Fike, Rocky Mount and the rest of the former NEW 6 schools. Because many current Warriors played for Nick, a natural rivalry has developed. Factor in the status of Hunt and Rocky Mount as state-ranked teams and Fike falling off a bit this year, it makes sense that the Warriors and Gryphons would have some intense matches this season. Fueling the fire is the fact that many Hunt and Rocky Mount players compete together on the same travel soccer teams.
That certainly was the case Wednesday night as Hunt won an emotion-charged 3-1 decision in which two yellow cards (by my count) were handed out to each team. Unfortunately for the Warriors, both their yellows went to high-scoring senior forward Aaron White who will have to sit out two games following his ejection.
CORRECTION: Since White's red card was the result of two yellows, he was merely disqualified from Wednesday's match and will not have to serve further suspension.
But the most disappointing part of Wednesday's match came early in the second half when White was taken down by Rocky Mount's Justin Hartney in the box. White was awarded a penalty kick which he converted for a 3-0 Hunt lead. However, Warriors head coach Trent Dorough took exception to what he thought was Nick yelling to players to "take him out," meaning White.
Dorough, usually a mild-mannered coach, was incensed enough to complain to the officials who conferred with Nick at midfield. Nick denied the claim even though all the Warriors on the bench raised their hands when Dorough asked if they heard him say it.
I must admit I didn't hear Nick say that but I wasn't listening intently. I will say that having known Nick in his time at Hunt, I would be very surprised if he intended for his players to cause injury to a former player. That just does not compute to me.
After the match, Nick was intent on telling his side of the story.
"If I could comment, I would never and have never had one of my kids take another player out," he said. "So the accusations from the coach on the other side are totally false and he should apologize. Not for nothing, he’s created bad blood between us."
Dorough didn't refer to the situation directly in his postgame remarks but did point to questionable officiating. (White wasn't even sent off the field following his first yellow card.)
"I hate we got out of our game, I hate what happened on the sidelines," Dorough said. "I just hate the way the game was officiated. The whole game was just a brawl; it wasn’t a soccer match. It wasn’t fun ... It wasn’t the way I like to play."
It wasn't fun for me either since I know and like both coaches and think the intensity of the match probably led to the situation. Hopefully the rematch at Rocky Mount won't be about this situation because these are two pretty good soccer teams and they put on a good show Wednesday night.
Especially the goalkeepers, Hunt junior Will Jacobs and Rocky Mount sophomore Drew Gorham. No official statistics were kept but both keepers made some spectacular saves as well as boomed punts to keep the opposing offenses off-balance.
Gorham, by the way, played for the Wilson Youth Soccer Association '93 Explosion Blue which included Hunt's Sam Hoeferkamp, among others.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Reynell takes Goldsboro boys basketball job
Just a word of congratulations to Patrick Reynell, who is leaving Charles B. Aycock to become the new varsity boys basketball coach at Goldsboro High.
Reynell has served as David West's assistant at CBA for the last five seasons. Goldsboro and CBA have had a good rivalry for a long time, especially on the basketball court and now it should be a lot friendlier.
Certainly Reynell will have a lot to work with at Goldsboro which won the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference last season and is now in the 1-A Carolina Conference, having taken North Johnston's place.
I will miss Patrick calling in CBA game reports, which he was as apt to do as West, who I'm sure will miss his trusted assistant.
Reynell's wife, Carrie, will remain at Aycock where she coaches the varsity girls basketball team and is a softball assistant coach, having played that at Barton College. They are the proud parents of an 8-month-old little girl.
Reynell has served as David West's assistant at CBA for the last five seasons. Goldsboro and CBA have had a good rivalry for a long time, especially on the basketball court and now it should be a lot friendlier.
Certainly Reynell will have a lot to work with at Goldsboro which won the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference last season and is now in the 1-A Carolina Conference, having taken North Johnston's place.
I will miss Patrick calling in CBA game reports, which he was as apt to do as West, who I'm sure will miss his trusted assistant.
Reynell's wife, Carrie, will remain at Aycock where she coaches the varsity girls basketball team and is a softball assistant coach, having played that at Barton College. They are the proud parents of an 8-month-old little girl.
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