Staff Reports

The grand finale of the spring sports season begins in earnest tonight, and the next couple weeks will feature an explosion of playoff events and tournaments.

Here’s what’s on tap through this weekend, more than enough for any diehard area sports fan.

Wednesday

Boys Tennis

The Elkin-Mount Airy dual-team playoff match originally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was pushed back to today because of rain. Play is set to begin at 4 p.m. on the Granite Bears’ home courts.

The matchup of former Northwest 1A Conference rivals has blockbuster potential. Both teams went undefeated in their respective conferences this spring. Mount Airy is ranked No. 1 in a statewide coaches poll for 1A teams. Elkin is ranked fourth.

The No. 1 singles players for each team — Elkin freshman Tyler Macy and Mount Airy senior Nick John — battled it out for an individual region championship over the weekend.

John eventually won but had to work hard for his region trophy.

The Buckin’ Elks obviously would get a boost if Macy can turn the tables this afternoon. But the Elks’ key to success is what helped the team win all of its regular season matches — depth. If players like Charlie Neaves, John Caudle, Tyler Smith, Andrew Reece, Schon Reece and Richard Gwyn can hold their own, Elkin has a shot at challenging the reigning 1A state champions, though it certainly won’t be easy.

Girls Soccer

Elkin will host its first state playoff game since reviving its girls program in 2006. The Buckin’ Elks garnered the top 1A seed from the Mountain Valley Conference, but schedule-makers didn’t do the team any favors. Elkin (11-4-2) is set to host what looks to be a solid Lake Norman Charter team (16-3). Game time is 6 p.m. at Grissom Stadium.

Lake Norman hasn’t played many public school teams and is in its first year of competing in the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs.

Starmount, which finished its regular season with an upset of West Wilkes last week, will play in the 2A brackets tonight. The Rams, a wildcard entry with a 10-9-1 record, actually have a favorable draw against third-seeded West Caldwell (14-3-1). Starmount will be on the road for this one, with the game slated to start at 6 p.m.

Softball

The Mountain Valley 1A/2A tournament has reached the semifinals, and the usual suspects could be headed for another championship showdown. Starmount and West Wilkes will play in one semifinal at 4:30 p.m. at Alleghany High School. Forbush and East Wilkes will meet in the other at 6:30.

Starmount and Forbush played for the tournament title in last year’s MVAC 2A, with the Rams topping their rivals with a late surge. Forbush beat Starmount in the MVAC tourney title game in both 2008 and 2006.

Thursday

Softball

Semifinal winners from Wednesday night will meet in the finals at 6:30 p.m. at Alleghany High. Look for another Starmount-Forbush showdown, though West Wilkes and East Wilkes have proven their mettle this season and should not be overlooked in tonight’s semis.

Friday

Baseball

The state playoffs get under way for East Wilkes, Starmount, Elkin, Surry Central and Forbush. The official brackets for the 1A and 2A tournaments had not been released as of late Tuesday night (our deadline for this issue), but area teams know generally who and where they are playing.

Starmount earned the No. 2 seed from the MVAC for the 2A playoffs thanks to last week’s tournament win over Forbush. The Rams will be at home against the No. 3 team from the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Forbush meanwhile will travel to Polk County, the No. 1 seed from the Western Highlands Athletic Conference. Polk won a coin flip with Owen for conference seeding.

Surry Central will be the No. 1 seed from the Northwest 1A/2A in the 2A brackets, hosting the No. 4 team from the Catawba Valley.

In the 1A tournament, East Wilkes will be home Friday against the No. 3 team from the Western Highlands. Elkin will travel to face the No. 2 team from the Big Smoky Mountain Conference. Reports are the opponent could be Haysville.

Boys Tennis

Elkin’s Tyler Macy and Starmount’s Corey Campbell will gun for individual state championships at the Cary Tennis Center. Both will be seeded second in singles in their respective tournaments (Macy 1A, Campbell 2A) after finishing as region runners-up last weekend.

Play begins Friday morning.

Track

The top runners, throwers and jumpers from Elkin and East Wilkes will compete for 1A state titles at N.C. A&T University in Greensboro. The meet starts at 10 a.m.

Some compelling story lines to watch:

• Can East Wilkes junior Carol Blankenship win double gold in the individual 1,600 and 3,200 meters? She’s the favorite, winning both events at conference and against regional competition. Blankenship was the 1A state cross country champion in the fall and won track gold in 2008 and 2009 as a member of East’s 4x800 relay team.

• Can Elkin’s boys 4x800 team challenge for state gold? Aaron Rabin led the charge on the final leg this past weekend to region gold. The Elks were second at state a year ago.

• How far can Justin Strickland jump? The Elkin senior, a future Western Carolina track athlete, qualified for state in the long jump and triple jump. If he competes like he did in the conference championships a few weeks ago at Ashe, Strickland could be in contention for state medals.

• How far can Samantha Dimmette and Tyler Billings throw? Dimmette, a sophomore, won the discus and was second in the shot put last weekend.

Billings placed second in the shot and fourth in the discus. He is a returning state qualifier, and that experience could pay off this year.

Saturday

Track

The 2A schools have their day at N.C. A&T University competing for state titles. Starmount’s boys could be in the hunt for a number of medals. As a team the Rams could contend for a top five overall finish. Starmount’s boys were third in the regional over the weekend.

Here are some compelling story lines from the 2A meet:

• Can Antonio McClelland do a Michael Phelps? OK, McClelland is only entering four events, not eight, but the Starmount standout has a shot at gold in all four. He won region titles over the weekend in the 300 hurdles, triple jump and long jump. He was third in the high jump, matching the eventual gold medalist in height though it took him more attempts.

McClelland won three state medals a year ago, including gold in the long jump.

• Can Starmount senior Aaron Combs realize his 800 meters dream? Combs has set his sights on gold in this event since finishing second at state a year ago. He ran a blistering pace to win the region title this past weekend. He has the fastest recorded 2A time in the state listed by NCRunners.com (1:54.96). His biggest competition could come from the mountains and Polk County’s John Spencer Wolfe, an NC State signee.

Wolfe, though, didn’t crack two minutes in his regional run over the weekend.

• Can the Rams seriously challenge for a boys state team title? If you look at a “virtual meet” run on NCRunners.com this week, Starmount has a chance. Salisbury, Kinston and Berry Academy look like the favorites, but the Rams might not be that far behind.

If athletes like Garrett Johnson (long jump, triple jump), Christian Hurt (triple), Hector Jemenez (pole vault) and MJ Bryant (shot put) have big days behind Combs and McClelland, the Rams just might make the podium as a team.

Boys Tennis

The 1A singles championships and the 2A semis and championship rounds will be played at the Cary Tennis Center. Macy and Campbell both could be playing on the second day, with a Macy-Nick John rematch possible.

Girls Soccer

Second-round state playoff games come here. An Elkin win Wednesday would mean a date against either Central Academy (12-7-1) or Cherryville (7-8-3). Elkin would host Cherryville but would have to travel to Central Academy.

Starmount would travel to West Stokes (11-7-2) if it wins Wednesday.

Forbush (22-0) will begin its quest to reach the 2A state title game for the third year in a row with a game against either Bandys (15-3) or Lincolnton (7-6-1). The Falcons have a bye from Wednesday’s first round.