Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/786618
28 UCW FEBRUARY 15-21, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Vernon Aldridge, student activities director for the Cumberland County Schools, got an unexpected phone call from the N.C. High School Athletic Association about a month ago. Cumberland County was expecting to host only half of this year's NCHSAA East Regional basketball championships as Campbell University had made an offer to take on some of the games. But for a second year in a row, Campbell has had to back out of its commitment, and the full regional finals will return to Fayetteville, but at different venues. Replacing the Crown Coliseum and the Crown Arena this year will be Fayetteville State's Capel Arena for the boys and Methodist University's Riddle Center for the girls. Each Fayetteville venue will host four title games on March 4, with the winners at each site moving to the state championship games the following week. They will be held at North Carolina's Smith Center and N.C. State's renovated Reynolds Coliseum. The county schools will have to make some adjustments to deal with the new arrangement, Aldridge said. "It will involve more manpower,'' he said. "When we were at the Crown, ticketing and security were handled through them. We'll have to take on that responsibility and provide deputies and ticket sellers at the location.'' Aside from manpower, Aldridge said another concern will be scheduling. When the regional finals were at the Crown, fans only had to walk across a parking lot to travel between the two game venues. Moving to Methodist and Fayetteville State means the distance between the sites will be greater. "We'll have to be mindful if a boys and girls team from the same school advances to the finals, and take care of the logistics in setting up the schedule to allow fans to see both play,'' Aldridge said. The NCHSAA will set the game times once the field has been determined. Traditionally, the regional title games at each eastern site have been played at noon, 2 p.m, 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Both Methodist athletic director Bob McEvoy and Fayetteville State athletic director Anthony Bennett are excited for the chance to show off their facilities to basketball fans from around the eastern half of the state. "We've always been proud to host different events,'' McEvoy said. Methodist previously hosted an NCHSAA baseball final between Cape Fear and Greensboro Grimsley, and has also hosted N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association soccer championships. Pine Forest High School also played a number of regular-season games at Methodist when a tornado devastated the school's campus a few years ago. "This gives us a chance to show off the campus,'' McEvoy said. "It's good timing for us because it's right at the beginning of spring break and the campus will be fairly vacant.'' Fayetteville State got a taste of the NCHSAA regionals last year when Terry Sanford moved its regional semifinal game with Havelock to Capel Arena because of a concern for an overflow crowd at the Bulldog gymnasium. Bennett doesn't think the Broncos will have any trouble stepping up to the challenge of hosting four boys' regional championship games. "It shows we are working with the community — not only the local community, but the state,'' he said. "This is a good branding opportunity to recruit students in general. "Fayetteville State is a hidden gem. We know we have some of the best facilities in the area.'' Fayetteville State and Methodist University set to Host NCHSAA Regional Championships by EARL VAUGHAN, JR. It's both an honor and a thrill to come to you as the first sports editor of Up & Coming Weekly. I want to thank publisher Bill Bowman for giving me a chance to continue doing something I've loved for the last 44 years, sharing the stories and accomplishments of Cumberland County high school coaches and athletes. That is what we intend to do in this space each week. I will certainly miss the association I enjoyed with the counties and schools surrounding Cumberland County over the years, but now I'll be able to sharpen my focus on doings at our local public and private senior high schools. Our focus, as the name of the publication implies, will be to let you know about things that are on the horizon that you want to follow, coaches and athletes with interesting stories to tell, important events ahead on the high school sports calendar. To do it well, I'm going to continue to need your help. Please follow me on Twitter at @EarlVaughanJr, and if you hear of something you think might make an interesting story, shoot me a message and I'll look into it. We're also going to recognize outstanding scholar athletes from our county on a weekly basis. If you think you know someone who is a good candidate, please suggest it to a coach or the athletic director at your school so they can pass the information on to us. I look forward to sharing the good news of high school sports in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. Thanks for reading. As you read this, basketball season is getting to the serious part of the schedule. The Mid-South 4-A and Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference tournaments are in full swing this week and champions in both leagues will be decided later this week. The run to the state championships begins Feb. 21 with the first round of the NCHSAA basketball playoffs. Meanwhile, the drastically revamped N.C. Independent High School Athletic Association tournament kicked off on Valentine's Day with three rounds of play scheduled at higher seeds before moving to neutral sites. All six of the NCHSAA's championship games will be played Feb. 25 at Charlotte Latin. One of the biggest high school events in the state is scheduled this weekend in Greensboro as the annual NCHSAA wrestling tournament comes to town for a three-day run Thursday through Saturday. Wrestlers from all four classifications, including those from Cumberland County who've survived regional competition, will take part to decide individual champions in each weight class. Check www.NCHSAA.org for the most current information available on the local wrestlers who've made it to the state finals. Basketball Season Getting Serious by EARL VAUGHAN, JR. Todd Bennett, athletic director at Fayetteville State University EARL VAUGHAN,JR. Sports Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-987-5311 HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Bob McEvoy, athletic director at Methodist University Methodist University's Riddle Center will host four NCHSAA Regional Championship games on March 4.