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BOYS
First round on Monday, February 23 at 7 p.m. at higher seed.
Semifinals on Wednesday, February 25, at 7 p.m. at higher seed.
Finals on Friday, February 27, at 7 p.m. at higher seed.

CLASS 1-A ­ WEST

East Surry (13-13) at Thomasville (14-4)
East Montgomery (7-11) at Kernersville Bishop McGuinness (25-2)

2-A EAST

Carrboro (13-11) at Eastern Guilford (12-12)
Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (14-10) at Reidsville (22-2)

3-A EAST

Western Guilford (15-9) at Cameron Union Pines (14-11)
Eastern Alamance (16-9) at Greensboro Dudley (23-3)
South Johnston (8-16) at Northern Guilford (24-3)

3-A WEST

Southeast Guilford (14-10) at Waxhaw Marvin Ridge (18-6)
Monroe Sun Valley (17-9) at High Point Andrews (21-4)
Winston-Salem Carver (10-13) at Jamestown Ragsdale (25-1)

4-A ­ WEST

Concord Jay Robinson (9-15) at Greensboro Page (20-6)
Northwest Guilford (11-15) at Charlotte Vance (23-3)
East Forsyth (10-14) at Winston-Salem Mount Tabor (25-1)
Charlotte Mallard Creek (12-11) at High Point Central (14-10)
Winston-Salem Reynolds (13-12) at Greensboro Grimsley (18-7)

NCISAA 3-A
#11 Cary Academy/#6 Forsyth Country Day vs. #3 Greensboro Day, 5:30 Thursday at Charlotte Country Day (semifinals at 8:30 Friday at Charlotte Country Day, finals at 4 p.m. Saturday at Charlotte Latin School)

GIRLS

First round on Tuesday, February 24 at 7 p.m. at higher seed.
Semifinals on Thursday, February 26 at 7 p.m. at higher seed.
Finals on Friday, February 27 at 7 p.m. at higher seed.

1-A WEST

East Wilkes (19-6) at Thomasville (14-4)
East Montgomery (8-10) at Kernersville Bishop McGuinness (23-4)

2-A EAST

Southern Guilford (6-20) at Goldsboro (18-8)
Pittsboro Northwood (14-6) at Eastern Guilford (15-10)
Reidsville (12-11) at Farmville Central (14-7)

3-A EAST

Northern Guilford (15-10) at Cameron Union Pines (18-8)
Eastern Alamance (17-5) at Rockingham County (22-5)
Northeast Guilford (11-14) at SouthWest Edgecombe (14-8)
Western Guilford (9-15) at Oxford Webb (19-2)

3-A WEST

High Point Andrews (14-10) at Jamestown Ragsdale (22-4)
East Rowan (18-8) at Southwest Guilford (13-12)
Kernersville Glenn (16-10) at Southeast Guilford (19-6)

4-A WEST

South Caldwell (15-11) at Northwest Guilford (23-4)
Greensboro Page (11-13) at Charlotte Mallard Creek (19-6)
Huntersville Hopewell (15-8) at High Point Central (18-8)
Davie (10-16) at Greensboro Smith (10-9)
Mayodan Dalton McMichael (13-13) at North Lenoir (18-7)

Went up to the Bryan YMCA this morning and saw a Dudley player in the gym shooting jumpers. I applaud the effort, and I still think the Panthers will be fine in the playoffs.

"I don't know that I've ever been part of a game where so many people made big plays in such a short time," Tigers head coach Craig Shoemaker said this morning. His team, upset victims in the last three Mid-Piedmont tournaments, finally broke through with a 72-71 double-overtime win over Trinity in Thursday's title game at Asheboro, a contest that featured a five-point rally by Ragsdale in the final minute of regulation, missed free throws galore, a half-court 3-pointer by Trinity's Matt Watkins to force a second overtime and a layup as time expired by Ragsdale's Jay Canty to decide it.
One point of clarification on that Watkins 3-pointer. Trinity was called for a technical foul after its bench rushed the floor following the shot, giving Ragsdale two free throws. But since time had already expired, those were to be applied to the next overtime. The Tigers' Wally Jones missed both attempts, but even if he had made one, the game wouldn't have been over; Ragsdale would have just started the second overtime up one.
Irregardless, huge win for the Tigers (25-1), who wrapped up a perfect conference season.
"Our kids have just absolutely responded in times when we've had to," Shoemaker said. "One of our coaches said, ‘Our kids just know how to win.'"

North State 2-A girls: #2 West Stokes vs. #1 Eastern Guilford (at UNCG, 7:30 p.m.) - Wildcats vs. Wildcats. West Stokes has won eight straight, including a 49-42 home win over Eastern that denied Tina Gunn's team an undefeated conference season. Eastern hasn't lost at Fleming Gymnasium since Dec. 18 against Northwest Guilford.

Triad 3-A girls: #2 Rockingham County vs. #1 Dudley (at Northeast, 6 p.m.) - The margin was 40 the first time these two met, then four the last time. Dudley came out on top in both and has taken down all comers since a few early hiccups. Rockingham knocked off Northern in overtime Wednesday to get here.

Triad 3-A boys: #2 Dudley vs. #1 Northern Guilford (at Northeast, 7:30 p.m.) - They've split the series, and both have looked dominant through two rounds. Jacob Lawson blocked 10 shots on Wednesday, and P.J. Hairston has 57 points through two games.

Metro 4-A girls: #2 Smith vs. #1 Northwest Guilford (at Page, 6:30) - Smith's improbable run after starting the season 0-5 continues. Northwest has already beaten Smith by 21 twice, and the Vikings have only let five opponents all year get within single digits.

Metro 4-A boys: #2 Grimsley at #1 Page (at Page, 8:00) - Can the Whirlies finally break through in their fourth attempt at beating the Pirates?

Head to Lawrence Joel on Friday or Saturday to see all the wrestling you can handle. (It's like the Golden Corral of combat!) More than 1,100 matches will be contested at the NCHSAA state wrestling championships, including a bunch involving local standouts. Most notable is Southwest Guilford's Christian McLean, who will look to cap an undefeated season by defending his 3-A title in the 215-pound division.

Here's the two-day schedule:

FRIDAY - 7:00am - weigh-ins
- 8:45am - coaches' meeting
- Session 1 - 9:00am - prelims followed by 1st round consolations
- Session 2 - 6:00pm - quarterfinals
SATURDAY - 7:00am - weigh-ins
- Session 3 - 8:30am - 2nd round consolations followed by semifinals
- 3rd round consolations
- Session 4 - 6:00pm - finals

And here are all the local competitors' first-round opponents (full brackets here):

1-A/2-A

112 - MW1 Ryan Spivey, West Lincoln - WLH (45-9-12) vs. W4 Garrett Mcauliffe, Bishop Mcguinness - BMG (34-16-12)
112 - E2 Corey Craven, South Brunswick - SBR (20-7-10) vs. ME3 Zakary Berckman, Eastern Guilford High School - EGU (26-4-10)
119 - W4 Grant Sawyer, West Wilkes - WWK (36-9-11) vs. ME1 Dakota Holt, Mcmichael High School - MCM (47-4-12)
130 - W3 Nick Sgroi, Bishop Mcguinness - BMG (40-8-10) vs. ME2 Joseph Figueroa, Salisbury High School - SLB (34-5-11)
130 - W2 Ethan Peterson, Mitchell - MIT (42-6-12) vs. ME3 Chance Smith, Mcmichael High School - MCM (44-7-10)
140 - W4 Patrick Preudhomme, Bishop Mcguinness - BMG (37-12-12) vs. MW1 Nick Albertson, Mt Pleasant - MTP (42-1-12)
145 - E2 Ryan Pippen, Pasquotank - PAS (24-1-11) vs. W3 Collin Eichhorn, Bishop Mcguinness - BMG (38-10-10)
160 - ME1 Daniel Hopper, Mcmichael High School - MCM (36-7-12) vs. W4 David Middleton, Madison - MAD (17-6-11)
171 - ME3 Dustin Strickland, Eastern Guilford High School - EGU (25-5-11) vs. W2 Travis Smalling, Pisgah - PIS (27-12-10)
189 - ME1 Brach Walker, Mcmichael High School - MCM (41-6-10) vs. E4 Joseph Graves, Topsail - TOP (26-13-10)
189 - E2 Jacob Lewis, North Johnston - NJO (33-4-12) vs. ME3 James Chilton, Eastern Guilford High School - EGU (28-5-12)

3-A

103- E2 Corey Johnson, Northern Nash - NNA (35-3-9) vs. ME3 Andre Nie, Dudley - DUD (34-5-9)
112 - MW1 Timdarius Thurston, Tw Andrews - TWA (36-0-12) vs. ME4 Isnardo Alberto, Dudley - DUD (27-20-9)
119 - ME4 Isaiah Witcher, Morehead - MOR (19-17-12) vs. W1 Kurt Stephens, St Stephens - STS (54-1-11)
125 - ME2 Austin Swayne, Morehead - MOR (29-22-11) vs. W3 Jeremy Griffin, Fred T Foard - FOA (39-4-12)
130- MW1 Brandon Hodges, Ragsdale - RAG (47-0-12) vs. E4 Jared Quevedo, Currituck - CUR (38-18-10)
130 - W3 Travis Hamilton, North Iredell - NIR (44-4-12) vs. ME2 Sam Ross, Dudley - DUD (37-9-11)
135 - MW1 Jacob Creed, Ragsdale - RAG (49-1-12) vs. E4 Chandler Phillips, Rocky Mount - RMT (27-9-11)
135 - ME3 Luke Ziglar, Morehead - MOR (40-18-12) vs. W2 Joe Shively, Enka - ENK (43-5-12)
140 - ME1 Langston Powell, Western Guilford - WGU (33-1-11) vs. W4 Jordan Fox, Statesville - STA (37-7-12)
145 - W2 Brandon Lackey, St Stephens - STS (39-8-12) vs. MW3 Blair Fewell, Ragsdale - RAG (49-6-12)
145 - E4 Steven Luper, Nash Central - NCE (41-8-12) vs. ME1 Tylor Sigmon, Dudley - DUD (40-3-11)
152 - ME4 Eli Southern, Dudley - DUD (38-16-12) vs. E1 Terrance Zaleski, White Oak - WO (44-6-11)
152 - W1 Logan Self, St Stephens - STS (47-6-12) vs. MW4 Baxter Riddleberger, Ragsdale - RAG (42-16-12)
152 - E2 Darien Peele, Washington - WSH (40-12-12) vs. ME3 Simone Santos, Western Guilford - WGU (32-4-12)
160 - W1 Kasey Young, Mooresville - MOO (41-3-12) vs. MW4 Melvin Jones, Southwest Guilford - SWG (27-11-12)
160 - E2 Chris Foy, South Central - SC (45-9-12) vs. ME3 Alex Sellars, Dudley - DUD (39-6-11)
160 - W3 Nijel Jones, Tc Roberson - TCR (46-7-11) vs. MW2 Josh Ashworth, Ragsdale - RAG (21-10-12)
160 - W2 Christopher Cope, Rs Central - RSC (25-9-12) vs. MW3 Jeff Wysosky, Southeast Guilford - SEG (36-11-11)
171 - ME1 Guillermo Magallon, Dudley - DUD (47-2-12) vs. E4 Terrence Simmons, Jacksonville - JAX (23-8-12)
171 - ME4 Colby Flinchum, Rockingham County - RCO (26-11-12) vs. E1 Justin Moore, Washington - WSH (44-1-11)
189 - ME2 Jose Garnica, Dudley - DUD (43-5-12) vs. W3 Steven Rink, St Stephens - STS (51-5-12)
215 - MW1 Christian McLean, Southwest Guilford - SWG (43-0-12) vs. E4 Guy Williamson, Rocky Mount - RMT (36-6-12)
215 - ME2 Ian Kirkman, Morehead - MOR (45-7-10) vs. W3 Matt Allison, North Iredell - NIR (40-6-11)

4-A

103 - MW3 Demarkus Breington, Grimsley - GRM (41-6-10) vs. W2 Corey Taber, South Caldwell - SCA (35-8-10)
112 - W2 John Grigg, East Gaston - EGA (37-8-9) vs. MW3 Dustin Sessoms, Grimsley - GRM (40-6-11)
140 - MW4 Kyle Corman, Northwest Guilford - NWG (40-9-11) vs. W1 Billy Abee, East Burke - EBU (34-6-12)
145 - W4 Drake Fortner, East Gaston - EGA (31-15-11) vs. MW1 Ethan Cox, Northwest Guilford - NWG (39-9-12)
152 - MW1 Michael Harper, Northwest Guilford - NWG (40-1-12) vs. ME4 Jordan Fearrington, Jordan - JOR (20-5-12)
152 - MW4 Andrew Williams, Grimsley - GRM (25-9-12) vs. ME1 Gabe Brotzman, Cary - CRY (54-1-12)
160 - MW4 Ray Schmucker, Northwest Guilford - NWG (35-15-11) vs. ME1 Matthew Colvard, Cary - CRY (54-2-11)
171 - MW3 David Young, High Point Central - HPC (36-5-12) vs. ME2 Andrew Takla, Northern Durham - NDU (26-2-12)
189 - MW4 Ricky Smith, Northwest Guilford - NWG (24-8-12) vs. ME1 Sheridan Rucker, Panther Creek - PCR (52-6-11)
215 - MW1 AJ Smart, Northwest Guilford - NWG (41-2-12) vs. W4 Kevin Markham, Alexander Central - ALC (36-16-11)
285 - W3 James Briggs, Butler - BUT (31-10-11) vs. MW2 Martiz Smith, High Point Central - HPC (34-9-11)

High Point Central has the most diverse assortment of hair I've seen this season, by far. I see two surfer mops, an Afro pulled up like Spanish from Old School, dreadlocks pulled back like Larry Fitzgerald, maze-like cornrows and two mohawks. Of course, they're down eight to Grimsley at the end of the third quarter right now, so it might be time to bust out the crew cuts.

Rough couple days for my box score taking. Last night, I pulled the wrong number off the scoreboard for Eastern Guilford's Tre Radcliffe, mistakenly attributing his 19 points to teammate Devin Pass. Two nights ago, the official scorer recorded the wrong player for Southeast Guilford's final basket, which should have gone to Andre McRae. You might think those are small issues, but they can mean a lot. Those were Mcrae's first two points of the year, definitely reason enough to see your name in the paper. His mom, Earline, sent me a friendly e-mail to clear everything up. "They're winners in my book no matter what happens at the court," she wrote, "but Mommy's always rooting for her sons!!"

On tap tonight:
-Southeast boys and girls face Trinity in the Mid-Piedmont semifinals. Those might be your best two games of the night right there. Both sides would love another crack at Ragsdale in the finals.
-Southern Guilford at Eastern Guilford and Reidsville at West Stokes in North State girls semifinals
-Top-seeded Andrews boys face Carver in the Piedmont Triad semifinals. The Red Raiders' reward for a perfect conference record? The game's at Carver.
-The Triad 3-A's top seeds gun for the finals as the Dudley girls face Northeast Guilford and Northern's boys face Western Alamance. Dudley has won the first two meetings of that matchup by a combined 77 points; Northern by 61.
-Grimsley boys get Northwest followed by Page's boys against High Point Central at Page in the Metro semifinals. If Grimsley and Page both hold seed, they'd meet for the fourth time this season in Friday's final. Page has won all three so far.

Most of them get started tonight. Here are the agendas we've received:

Northwest 1-A

Monday, Feb. 16 (semifinals)
6:30-Bishop girls vs. E. Wilkes girls
8:00-Bishop boys vs. E. Surry Boys

Tuesday, Feb. 17 (semifinals)
6:30-E. Surry girls vs. Mt. Airy girls
8:00-N. Stokes boys vs. Mt Airy boys

Thursday, Feb. 18
6:30-girls championship
8:00-boys championship

North State 2-A

Monday, February 16
7:00-#5 McMichael girls at #4 Southern Guilford
7:00-#6 Atkins girls at #3 Reidsville
7:00-#5 Southern Guilford boys at #4 Atkins
7:00-#6 West Stokes boys at #3 McMichael

Tuesday, February 17
BOYS
7:00-Southern Guilford/Atkins Winner at #1 Reidsville
7:00-West Stokes/McMichael Winner at #2 Eastern Guilford

Wednesday, February 18
GIRLS
7:00-McMichael/Southern Guilford Winner at #1 Eastern Guilford
7:00-Atkins/Reidsville Winner at #2 West Stokes

Thursday, February 19 — Boys Finals — 7:00pm
If the boys and girls final teams are from the same school and scheduled to play at home, then both games will be held Friday night with the girls game starting at 6:30.

Friday, February 20 — Girls Finals — 7:00pm

Mid-Piedmont 3-A

Monday, Feb. 16
6:15-#4 Asheboro girls vs. #5 Southwestern Randolph (at Asheboro, winner faces #1 Ragsdale at 6:15 Tuesday at Asheboro)
6:15-#3 Trinity girls vs. #6 Randleman girls (at Trinity)
6:15-#2 Southeast Guilford girls vs. #7 Eastern Randolph girls (at Southeast Guilford, winner faces Trinity/Randleman winner at 6:15 Wednesday at Asheboro)
8:00-#4 Asheboro boys vs. #5 Southwestern Randolph (at Asheboro, winner faces #1 Ragsdale at 8:00 Tuesday at Asheboro)
8:00-#3 Southeast Guilford boys vs. #6 Randleman (at Southeast Guilford)
6:15-#2 Trinity boys vs. #7 Eastern Randolph (at Trinity, winner faces Southeast Guilford/Randleman winner at 6:15 Wednesday at Asheboro)

Piedmont Triad 3-A (all games at Carver)

BOYS
Monday, February 16
7:30-#5 Carver boys vs. #4 Glenn (winner plays #1 Andrews at 7:30 Wednesday)
Tuesday, February 17
7:30-#3 Parkland vs. #6 Southwest Guilford (winner plays #2 Reagan at 7:30 Thursday)
Friday, February 20
7:30-championship game

GIRLS
Monday, February 16
6:00-#4 Andrews vs. #5 Carver (winner faces #1 Parkland at 6:00 Wednesday)
Tuesday, February 17
6:00-#3 Reagan vs. #6 Glenn (winner faces #2 Southwest Guilford at 6:00 Thursday)
Friday, February 20
6:00-championship game

Triad 3-A (first two rounds, all at Northeast Guilford)

Monday, February 16
4:00-#1 Dudley girls vs. #8 Bartlett Yancey
5:30-#4 Northeast Guilford girls vs. #5 Western Guilford
7:00-#1 Northern boys vs. #8 Rockingham County
8:30-#4 Western Alamance boys vs. #5 Bartlett Yancey

Tuesday, February 17
4:00-#2 Rockingham County girls vs. #7 Morehead
5:30-#3 Northern Guilford girls vs. #6 Western Alamance
7:00-#2 Dudley boys vs. #7 Morehead
8:30-#3 Western Guilford boys vs. #6 Northeast Guilford

Wednesday, Feb. 18
6:00-Northeast Guilford vs. Dudley (girls semi-final)
7:30-Northern Guilford vs. Western Alamance (boys semi-final)

Thursday, Feb. 19
6:00-Winner Northern Guilford/Western Alamance vs. Winner Rockingham County/Morehead (girls semi-final)
7:30-Winner Dudley/Morehead vs. Winner Western Guilford/NE Guilford (boys semi-final)

Friday
6:00-Girls Championship
7:30-Boys Championship

Metro 4-A

Monday, February 16
7:00-#6 Smith boys at #3 Northwest Guilford
7:00-#5 East Forsyth boys at #4 High Point Central

Tuesday, February 17
7:00-#5 Grimsley girls at #4 Page
7:00-#6 East Forsyth girls at #3 High Point Central

Wednesday, February 18 (at Page)
6:00-Grimsley boys vs. Smith/NWG winner
7:30-Page boys vs. East Forsyth/HPC winner

Thursday, February 19 (at Page)
6:00-Smith girls vs. East Forsyth-HPC winner
7:30-Northwest Guilford girls vs. Page-Grimsley winner

Friday, February 20 (at Page)
6:30-girls championship game
8:00-boys championship game

Page will hold a meeting on February 24th at 4 p.m. in the school cafeteria to explore adding women's field hockey next year. For more information, contact athletics director Rusty Lee at leer@gcsnc.com.

I never got a chance to work with him, but talking with people today, I wish I had.

Share your memories here. Thoughts and prayers to his family.