Football Coaches Say No To The Pod

North Carolina High School football coaches have voted out the football playoff Pod system which they have tried to use the past two football playoffs.  The two years that it has been in play I have not heard anyone who liked it so why it took two years to get rid of it I don't know.  Basketball will use the system this playoff year so if it didn't work for football then why should the Pod last more than this year before they throw it in the trash heap?

Today is the State 3-A Swimming and Diving Championships going on today at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary

Saturday is the State Indoor track Championships which will once again return to the Eddie Smith Arena the indoor track at UNC Chapel Hill.  It had to be held outside last year because the ESA was remodeled.  Gryphon Mason Holt has run the best qualifying time in 3-A this winter in the mile run.

Rocky Mount High School will host the Eastern Regional in Wrestling on February 17th and 18th.  It all kicks off Friday afternoon and goes all day Saturday until the last match is finished.  The Big East sent a bunch of wrestlers to the State from the Regional last year.  Hope there is a conflict that night as that is Championship night in Big East basketball.  Hope both Gryphon teams are playing.

Big East Wrestling Champs Rocky Mount had to have a road game due to a home basketball game last night and lost in the Duels to Western Harnett.  Northern Nash as the #2 seed also lost so the only two team in the big East in duels are out.

Everything is set as Lady Gryphons unbeaten in conference play and losers twice this season take on one time conference loser and loser of only one game all season Northern Nash Friday night at Northern with the winner securing the #1 seed in the Big East Tournament and the #1 seed in the sectional.  This pod system who knows what good being #1 will do.  Remember the game at Rocky Mount three weeks ago was sold out by tap time of the game.  This is for all the marbles so you had better be in place by half time of the boys jv game.

I bet you haven't thought about this.  Neither Gryphon basketball team has lost in 2012

First College Start

Alex Pearce when he played baseball at Nash Central he was one of the most all round players in the brief history of Bulldog baseball.  Covering baseball games I saw him in centerfield, shortstop, catcher and on the mound pitching.  No telling where he might have played days that I didn't see him play.

Alex took his baseball skills to UNC Pembroke and for three years he has slowly gone from a freshman catcher with little playing time to by his junior year the starting catcher for the Braves.  The Braves coaches tried Alex on the mound in fall ball and today the fourth game of the regular season for Pembroke Alex Pearce started on the mound for the Braves in their home opener after they swept Anderson College in South Carolina  over the weekend.

Pearce got the first two outs of the game but a single and a home run he found himself down 2-0 to Chowan.  Five innings later Pearce went to the showers his teammates had given him ten runs but Pearce would only allow another run three in all in six innings as Alex Pearce Wins his first game in college as a pitcher 13-3 over Chowan University.

Tonight was senior night at Rocky Mount as Southern Nash's coach Wayne Bryant tried a new version of  the four corners in which Dean Smith made famous.  How a bout the one corners.  Bryant employed his guard to dribble the ball twenty to thirty feet away from the basket and play keep away from the chasing Rocky Mount guards.  Rocky Mount was able to get 20 turnovers by games end and put 66 in the board.  The Lady Birds managed 31.  Kadijah Manning was the most successful guard handling the ball and managed to score 13 for Southern Nash. The Big three J'Kyra Brown 18, Alexus Cooper 15, Tia Hudgins 10 lead the Lady Gryphons.  Rocky Mount was ahead 28-6 when the crowd fell hush as J'Kyra Brown went down what looked like an ankle injury.  Pam Gainey told me after the game she got a cramp in her foot so all Gryphons fans can stop holding their breath with Northern up next on Friday night.

There is no doubt that Southern Nash is a much improved team since Christmas but so are the Gryphons as despite how well Southern Nash played they couldn't continue the pace needed going up the Armada of guards Mike Gainey throws at you.  Those guards got most of the 34 Firebird turnovers as Rocky Mount finishes up their home season with a 95-68 victory over Southern Nash.

Marcus Hicks 15, Chi-Ali Bunn 13 and Josh Sessoms 11did all they could for the Firebirds.  Terrill Hilliard scored 23 but once again Tevin Taylor had his bomb site working for the second straight game throwing in 20.   Levon Brutus added 16.  Next stop for Rocky Mount is Northern Nash Friday night.