Gryphons fall hard

There is an old saying that says "it's not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop." Wednesday night was a sudden stop for the Rocky Mount boys basketball team as it fell at Northern Vance 82-53.

This is the second year in a row that Northern has eliminated the Gryphons in the basketball sectionals.

The Gryphons finished at 17-11 overall on the season and had a nine-game winning streak snapped.

Nash Central is the only NEW 6 team that will make it to the sectional finals as it knocked off D.H. Conley 51-48 at Nash Central.

Up next for the Bulldogs is a trip to Kinston Friday. Game time is 7 p.m..

Fike made the trip down to Bertie and returned home a 21-point loser to the Falcons, 78-57.

The most difficult assignment of the night was SouthWest Edgecombe's, which made a trip to Greensboro and played Northern Guilford, but came home a loser, 83-62.

So after winning four out of five on Monday night, the NEW 6 tonight loss three of four.

The last two surviving ladies NEW 6 teams are in action Thursday night as both teams will play at home.

Rocky Mount's girls will face Havelock, a No. 2 seed from the Coastal Conference. Havelock is now 20-7, while the Lady Gryphons, winners of 13 in a row, are now 21-4.

Havelock was a former Big East Conference team member with Rocky Mount until the last realignment in 2005.

SouthWest Edgecombe gets a home game because its foe Thursday, Western Guilford, knocked off a No. 1 seed in Oxford Webb on Tuesday. SWE, as a No. 2 seed, gets the home game because WG is a No. 5 seed.

The long-awaited return of Tiger Woods was a good one today as he won his first match at Accenture Match Play Championships in Arizona. His entire career he has been money in the bank on putts of 10 feet or less. Tiger is hitting his early 30's now. He has been off for eight months recovering from knee surgery. It will be interesting to see if he continues to drain those 10-footers.