High School Sports

Cleveland, Cardinal Gibbons remain at the top, but movement across the Triangle Sweet 16

Millbrook quarterback Mason Fortune (11) runs for yardage ahead of Wake Forest’s Max Hines (5) during the first half. The Millbrook Wildcats and the Wake Forest Cougars met in a football game in Raleigh, N.C. on October 29, 2021.
Millbrook quarterback Mason Fortune (11) runs for yardage ahead of Wake Forest’s Max Hines (5) during the first half. The Millbrook Wildcats and the Wake Forest Cougars met in a football game in Raleigh, N.C. on October 29, 2021. newsobserver.com

The regular season is over, and now the real fun begins. But first, let’s see where the teams rank in the final Sweet 16 of the regular season.

There’s little surprise that the top two teams remained the same — Cleveland capped an unbeaten regular season, and Cardinal Gibbons has demonstrated its regional dominance.

Millbrook was the big jumper this week, moving into third place after an emphatic and thrilling win over Wake Forest to earn a conference title.

Hillside also made a good jump from 12th to ninth.

Here are the rankings:

Triangle area Sweet 16

RankSchoolRecordPrev.
1Cleveland(9-0)1
2Cardinal Gibbons(8-2)2
3Millbrook(9-1)5
4Wake Forest(7-3)3
5Heritage(9-1)4
6Princeton(9-0)6
7Leesville Road(7-2)8
8Middle Creek(8-2)9
9Hillside(7-2)12
10Holly Springs(7-3)NR
11Panther Creek(7-3)11
12Fuquay-Varina (7-3)13
13Sanderson(5-3)7
14South Johnston(8-2)14
15Smithfield-Selma(7-3)15
16Southern Durham(6-4)16

This story was originally published October 31, 2021 at 6:00 AM.

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