FAYETTEVILLE -- When Millbrook and Southeast Raleigh met in the girls final of the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational in December, March seemed far in the future.
March is here, and the two meet again in tonight's 4-A Eastern girls basketball regional. Since the holiday tournament, the teams have combined to play 35 games.
"If you use something that happened in December as a measuring stick, it's not going to be very valid," Southeast coach Nicole Meyers said.
The winner of the 8:30 p.m. showdown at Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville between the Cap Eight champs (Millbrook, 29-1) and the Greater Neuse River champs (Southeast, 26-3) takes on either Northern Durham (24-3) or Hope Mills South View (28-0) on Saturday with a spot in the state championship on the line.
Millbrook, winner of 26 straight, topped Southeast 32-23 in the GlaxoSmithKline final, prevailing in a stellar defensive battle. The score was just 14-9 at the half, and the game set a Glaxo record for lowest combined score.
Both teams hold their opponents to less than 36 points a game. Offensively, neither side has a scorer averaging more than 15 points a game. Aprill McRae leads Southeast with 14.1 points per game, while sophomore Briana Day paces Millbrook at 11.1 per game.
Northern Durham's veteran team finds itself in a familiar position in the regional opener against unbeaten South View.
Northern's roster features six seniors, including leading scorers Ashante Richard (12.5), Tyler Holloway (10.9) and Jenna Frush (9.1).
"These seniors have always been the underdogs, [so] they're used to it," Northern coach Pam Adams said.
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Nearby 2A prep softball rivals North Johnston and Wilson Beddingfield played the ultimate grudge match Saturday afternoon, double-time style. 
Holly Springs seniors Jenna Firestein and Kristen Krebs knew Saturday’s contest against Fayetteville Jack Britt would be their final home game as members of the Golden Hawks softball team. 
Green Hope’s perfect season is snatched away by Charlotte Hough in the final 12 minutes of the state final at N.C. State’s Dail Soccer Field in a 2-1 finish. 
The Holly Springs Golden Hawks softball team has had an exciting past week of playing close games. On Friday, however, the Hawks fourth close game in a week ended in a 3-2 loss to Britt, as the Buccaneers rallied with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score and then won in the eighth to even the series at one game apiece. 
The Green Hope High girls soccer team is ranked No. 1 in the country, but won’t reach its goal unless it beats Hough in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A championships on Saturday.
Follow the game on our Twitter account, @prepsnow or get a Twitter feed at our high school blog, Preps Now. 
