Prep notebook: Green Hope girls tennis snaps Panther Creek’s 52-match win streak

On Thursday Green Hope did something no team had done in years: defeat Panther Creek’s girls tennis team.

The Falcons pulled out a 5-3 victory – the last match was stopped due to darkness – to snap the Catamounts’ 52-match winning streak. The last Panther Creek (6-1) loss was the last regular-season match in 2013, after which the Catamounts won the first of their three straight 4A state titles.

Green Hope (6-1) led 2-1 after doubles as freshmen Anna Ricco and Katie Andrenni won 8-2 at No. 2, and sophomores Sophia Gray and Cynthia Xiao won 8-2 at No. 3.

Gray won her No. 5 singles match 6-0, 6-3, and Andrenni won 6-4, 6-0 at No. 3. Xiao clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles. Freshman Reilly Major was up 6-3, 3-1 at No. 6 when the match was called.

Green Hope’s only loss this season is to Sanderson (7-0), which leads the Cap-8 4A. Cardinal Gibbons (11-0), the PAC-6 4A frontrunner, is ranked No. 1 in the state by the N.C. High School Tennis Coaches Association.

Cap-8 sweeps challenge

The Cap-8 came out the clear winner in the Cap-8/SWAC Challenge, hosted by Millbrook Saturday, with its boys soccer teams taking all three games. Leesville Road downed Holly Springs 3-1, Broughton handled Middle Creek 5-2 and Millbrook defeated Apex 4-1.

Leesville Road (3-4-1) was sharp against Holly Springs (4-5), winning the ball off the Golden Hawks with ease. Robert Bailey had a brace in the victory Saturday and Luca Menozzi added the other.

“Whatever we are, we’re in shape. ... We really had a focus on moving with the ball, cutting down the number of touches ... and I thought it paid off the ball,” coach Paul Dinkenor said. “We did not hog the ball, we did not over-dribble, we had vision and we exploited the space.”

Broughton (6-0-1) hadn’t played a game in almost a week and a half and was ready for action, scoring early and often against Middle Creek (6-1-1).

“We had a game canceled last Thursday, and it’s been 10 days since we had played, and the guys were chomping at the bit, sick of practicing, ready to go against somebody else,” Broughton coach Craig Brannon said. “Sometimes that can go the other way, but we’ve been battling each other.”

Millbrook (7-1) showed some mental toughness after giving up a tying goal late in the first half. Millbrook scored three goals in the second half against Apex (3-2-1), which shows maturation from the past two years.

Chapel Hill stops defending champs

Caroline Murphy had to wait more than three years for it, but that just made it all the more sweet when she banged in the winning goal for Chapel Hill in a 1-0, sudden-death victory against field hockey rival East Chapel Hill (3-1) on Wednesday.

The Tigers (4-0) got possession almost from the start of the 7-on-7 overtime and went straight at the goal. East Chapel Hill goalkeeper Lydia Treml blocked an initial shot with her knee pads, but the ball bounded out to the edge of the striking circle, away from East’s defenders. Murphy, a senior midfielder, pounced on the ball and one-timed her shot from just inside the circle, sailing it low past multiple players and off the backboard at the rear of the goal just 42 seconds into the overtime.

“It was a beautiful shot,” Treml said. “There was nothing anyone could do.”

The win was Chapel Hill’s first against East Chapel Hill in 10 tries, but as the Tigers celebrated their win, no one on either team could recall how long it had been since Chapel Hill had defeated East.

“I don’t remember,” Murphy said. “I’m just glad we won.”

W.E. Warnock

Conference notes

Greater Neuse River 4A

The addition of a pair of talented freshmen to an otherwise senior-laden team has been a huge success for Clayton this volleyball season. And with youngsters Maya Gray and Riley Kerigan helping lead the way, the winning ways continued as the Comets swept host Garner 25-19, 25-11, 25-21 in Greater Neuse River 4A action on Thursday at South Garner.

With the victory the Comets (11-0, 4-0) set a school record for wins to start a season. Garner fell to 4-7 and 2-2.

Clayton has dropped only four sets all season.

“This is a good group,” Clayton coach Marlon Lee said. “From Day One we didn’t miss a beat. We’ve got two awesome freshmen and 10 seniors who are great leaders. There has been a lot of energy. They work hard and get along. We’re just going to keep setting goals and try to win a championship.”

Clayton hosts Johnston County rival Cleveland in a nonconference game on Monday before returning to conference play on Tuesday at West Johnston.

Mike Potter

Two Rivers 3A

South Johnston opened the Two Rivers 3A Conference girls golf schedule of matches Tuesday in an ideal way: getting what is believed to be the school’s first win in a league golf match.

The Trojans finished at 142 in the nine-hole match at the Country Club of Johnston County, edging Corinth Holders by four shots. Schools count their three lowest scores to determine a team score in girls golf.

South had its top-three players all finish in the top seven individually, led by Sydney Wheeless’ 42, a 48 from Mackenzie Honeycutt and Anna Weaver’s 52.

Triton’s Kathryn Elliott and Corinth Holders’ Peyton LaBonte shared medalist honors with matching rounds of 4-over-par 40.

D. Clay Best

This story was originally published September 11, 2016 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Prep notebook: Green Hope girls tennis snaps Panther Creek’s 52-match win streak."