Christ School boys basketball plays on ESPN2

North Carolina's most successful private school had a national-television audience Friday night as four-time defending 3A/Private School champion Christ School (Arden) played national power Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) on ESPN2 at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.

It won't be the last time in Cameron for Christ center Marshall Plumlee or Oak Hill point guard Quinn Cook, who have both committed to Duke. Plumlee had 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, but Cook scored a game-high 26 and added seven assists as Oak Hill won 78-64. Oak Hill, which is ranked 17th in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 boys basketball rankings presented by the Army National Guard, led by 16 at the half and was never threatened.

"It's a tremendous experience and we're privileged to come and play at a place like this with so much history and mystique," Plumlee told the Durham Herald-Sun. "I'm just upset that we weren't able to perform better. We struggled."

McDONALD'S ALL-AMERICAN HAILS FROM N.C.
Despite the Oak Hill loss, Plumlee can console himself with the fact that he was named one of 24 McDonald's All-Americans. The 7-foot center, whose brothers Miles and Mason currently attend Duke, averages a double-double with 11 points and 10.2 rebounds, to go along with 2.6 blocks a game.



"It's a tremendous honor, a true once in a lifetime opportunity," Plumlee told the Ashville Citizen-Times. "It surprised me, but it's something I've been working for."

The Citizen-Times reports that Plumlee wasn't a star coming into high school — he averaged fewer than two points a game his freshman year.

"It's a tremendous lesson for young kids who aspire to be great," Christ School coach David Gaines told the paper. "So many kids want instant gratification, but I've watched Marshall's passion and enthusiasm for getting better."

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}WINTER TRACK SEASON ENDS OUTDOORS
Track fans were treated to an odd sight Saturday in Fayetteville — indoor events taking place in the cold outdoors.

For 24 years the indoor track and field season had culminated in an indoor track championship meet on UNC's campus. But the Eddie Smith Field House, the only indoor facility in the state, was under construction and unavailable this season.

Options included moving the event out-of-state, or canceling the state meet entirely. Eventually the NCSHAA decided to have the meet outdoors and call it a "winter track championship."



Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh) senior Sarah Rapp swept the distance events in the 1A/2A/3A girls meet, earning gold medals in the 1,000, 1,600 and 3,200-meter events, and scoring 30 of Gibbons' 36 points. That was enough to edge runner-up Marvin Ridge, which scored 34 points.

"I'm just glad they had this meet," Rapp told the Raleigh News & Observer. "I wouldn't have wanted to miss a meet because we didn't have the indoor meet in my senior year."

The boys 1A/2A/3A winner was defending champion Asheville. Wakefield (Raleigh) dominated the 4A girls meet, but Knightdale bested Wakefield 62-44 to win the 4A boys meet.

WRESTLING DYNASTY AT PARKLAND
There were some familiar winners Saturday in the wrestling dual team championships.

4A Parkland (Winston-Salem) capped off an undefeated 41-0 season with its fifth straight state title, while 2A Croatan (Newport) and 1A West Wilkes (Millers Creek) also defending their titles from last year.

The exception was in 3A, where Orange (Hillsborough) defeated Robinson (Concord) 34-27 to reverse the result of last year's final match.



Parkland won its first eight matches in a 52-12 defeat of New Bern, and coach Maurice Atwood doesn't expect the team to slow down any time soon.

"If my guys do what they have to do, as we have the last five or six years in the offseason, it will be very difficult to beat Parkland the next three years," Atwood told the Winston-Salem Journal. "Anything is possible, but I am loaded with underclassmen and my freshman class ended up being the best I ever had."

CHAMPIONS CROWNED IN THE POOL
Kip Darmody of Providence (Charlotte) was the star of the boys 4A swimming and diving state meet, winning four titles and being a part of two 4A state records as his team won the championship.

The records came in the 100 backstroke (48.84 seconds) and 200 freestyle relay (1:25.01), and he also won the 200 free and swam the lead leg on the 400 relay. He will swim for Texas next year.

Ollie Clayton-Lucas of Sanderson (Raleigh) broke a 21-year 4A record in the 50 free (20.53) and also won the 100 free.

Apex won the 4A girls crown behind Jessica Godlewski and Hayley Tomlinson, who both won one individual and two relay events.



Some familiar faces stayed on top in 3A — Charlotte Catholic (Charlotte) won its 10th straight girls title, while Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh) won its fourth consecutive boys title.

Tuscola (Waynesville) sophomore Katy Stringfield broke 16-year-old meet records in the 200 free (1:50.45) and 500 free, while Bobby Bittner of West Carteret (Morehead City) was the most outstanding boys swimmer after winning the 100 fly and 100 back.

In 1A/2A, Carrboro (Chapel Hill) dominated the boys meet, totaling 358.5 points to win by 177.5. Raleigh Charter edged out the competition in the girls meet, posting 227 points to edge Lake Norman (216 points) and Carrboro (215 points).

Harold Gutmann covers the state of North Carolina for MaxPreps.com. He lives in Durham and can be reached at haroldgutmann@gmail.com.