Broughton, Chapel Hill and Durham Science & Math all advanced to Saturday's N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A, 3-A and 1-A dual-team tennis championships with semifinal road wins on Thursday.

Broughton (19-0) defeated previously unbeaten Greenville Rose (13-1) by a 5-1 margin. Chapel Hill (16-5), the No. 2 seed from the Carolina 3-A Conference, claimed its fourth straight road win by defeating Wilson Fike 6-0.

Undefeated Durham Science & Math defeated Williamston 6-0.

Broughton and Chapel Hill, which beat Cardinal Gibbons earlier in the week, were to play Saturday in the 4-A and 3-A classification championships, respectively, at the Burlington Tennis Center. (The matches were too late for today's Chapel Hill News. See www.newsobserver.com or this weekend's editions of the News & Observer for results.)

A set up

Chapel Hill coach Nick Walker says the Tigers' 6-0 victory at Wilson Fike actually started on Tuesday when Chapel Hill upset favored Cardinal Gibbons.

"We just picked up from where we left off, " Walker said of the 6-3 quarterfinal victory. "That match against Gibbons was a tremendous match, and it was very emotional. The match took three and a half hours, and we came away with a lot of momentum. I had hoped that we would keep that same focus, and we did."

Gibbons defeated Chapel Hill in matches 5-4 and 6-2 during the season and claimed the Carolina 3-A title, thus dropping the Tigers to the second seed and sending them on road trips to Eastern Wayne, Thomasville Ledford, Gibbons and Fike..

Despite sweeping all the singles matches, it wasn't easy.

Tori Helpingstine took the No. 1 singles match 7-5, 7-5. Kelsey Wrenn won at No. 6, 1-6, 6-4, 10-3. Helpingstine and Hannah Kimbrough won the 3-A state doubles championship last weekend, and Walker said they had been on a tear since.

"They are just playing great, " he said.

Walker said he was pleased that his team would have the experience of playing in a state dual-team championship.

"The NCHSAA does a tremendous job of making it a very special event for the players, " he said. "I am especially glad that our seniors will have a chance to experience this. These girls have won some big matches before, but getting to the state finals as a team is something really special."

Carrboro ousted

Greene Central (22-6) rolled past Carrboro 9-0 in the 2-A Eastern final. The Jaguars had beaten Carolina Conference rival 5-4 earlier in the week to go the deepest into the NCHSAA tournament in school history under coach Patti Fox.

"I was very proud of my girls today, " Greene coach Donald Clark said. "We came out very sharp and held off a second set rally by a good Carrboro team."

Greene Central has a deceptive record. It lost twice to Eastern 3-A semifinalist Cardinal Gibbons, twice to 3-A Eastern finalist Wilson Fike and once to 4-A finalist Broughton.

Red Wolves howl

In Beulaville, Chelsea Howlett dished out 30 assists as Cedar Ridge beat East Duplin 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-12) to earn a shot at the state 2-A volleyball championship. The Red Wolves (25-4) were to face North Surry (32-0), which swept Randleman in the West Regional final, on Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum in the title match.

Taylor Thompson led Cedar Ridge with 12 kills. Emily Holmes added nine kills. Siarra Cates made seven digs and LeeAnne Maultsby served up six aces.

CHHS, East advance

Chris Gillespie scored two goals to give Chapel Hill all the offense it needed against Rockingham in the first round of the 3-A state soccer playoffs. Jamie Dell and Chipper Root each had a goal and assist for the Tigers, while Alex Steiner also notched a goal.

East Chapel Hill was one of three PAC-6 teams in the 4-A playoffs, and the Wildcats survived a long road Wednesday and shut out Lumberton.

The Wildcats had two goals waved off by offside calls, one in the 26th minute of the first half by Chris Jacques, the other in the second half in the 50th minute by Henry Roberts.

East Chapel Hill was to play Saturday at Broughton.

See "Scoreboard" for more details.

It does happen

The NCHSAA handed a one-game suspension to the head referee of the Oct. 23 football game between Purnell Swett and Pinecrest high schools. With Swett driving to the Pinecrest 3-yard line in the final minute, game officials failed to stop the clock as they moved the chains on a first-down conversion; after the next play at the goal line, officials failed to get the ball ready for play even though Swett players were lined up to spike the ball and kill the clock. The result was time running out and Swett losing 22-20.

Cyclones take hill

Smith Middle School ended its OPAC football season last week with a 22-6 win over Culbreth, giving the Cyclones a final record of 7-1 and making them kings of the hill after topping all their district rivals.

Smith's defense came up big, with Damian Lee recovering a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown that tied the game at 6-6. In the second half, Smith twice drove inside the Culbreth 10-yard line, only to throw interceptions. With a 1:30 left in the game and Culbreth stuck inside its own red zone, Smith's Devon Gattis picked off a pass and returned it for what proved to be the winning points. Lucas Christy found Aaron Smith wide open in the corner of the endzone to tack on a two-point conversion. On the next series, M.J. Craig returned an interception 50 yards for a TD that snuffed out Culbreth's last chance.

"The game was much closer than the score indicated, " Smith coach John French said. "This was a great win for us, and I'm happy that the guys could close the season out with a win and the best record in Smith's history."

Smith played without one of its key players -- multi-talented Quole Wilson -- who was ill Wednesday. Craig (45 yards), Darius Allen (37) and Lee (26) split running back duties, while Christy passed for 63 yards. Smith led all receivers with 37 yards.

Gattis made 10 tackles, two sacks and an interception to lead the defense. Allen had eight tackles, and Ezavian Dunn, Ben Smoots and Aaron Smith each chipped in with three tackles.

Falcons finish high

Across town, under the lights at East Chapel Hill's Wildcat Stadium, Phillips beat Hillsborough Stanback 20-8 to end up 5-3 -- the best football season for the Falcons in more than 10 years.

Izzy Settles proved once again to be strategy unto himself, scoring all three Phillips touchdowns for a second week in a row. Javaughn Davis and Jeremy Hubbert supplied strong support in the backfield.

But one downer for Phillips came in the season's closing seconds, when QB Ian Levin went down with a shoulder injury as he tried to kill the clock. No word on how long his recovery will take.

All full

Spaces in the upcoming Uwharrie Mountain Run have proved to be about as precious as U2 concert tickets. Bull City Running of Durham has taken over organization of the annual run through the hills of the Uwharrie hills, and within 15 minutes of BCR opening registration on Nov. 1, all 500 available spots were taken.

Locals from here have done extremely well at the event. Six of 2009's 18 top-three male and female finishers in the three distances were from Chapel Hill-Carrboro, and the Trailheads are the defending team winners. Between the two of them alone, Dave and Joan Nesbit Mabe have won the Uwharrie 8-mile nine times since 2003.

This year's event will be run Feb. 6, with proceeds benefiting the Land Trust for Central NC.

Heels help Eagle

UNC fans are being encouraged to join the Carolina football team in making a donation in honor of Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich. The 2008 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Herzlich was diagnosed last spring with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that typically affects young adults and children.

Carolina football players and coaches will make personal donations to the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Center for Cancer Center for Sarcoma Research in Herlich's name. They also have a goal of raising at least $10, 000 for Sarcoma Research at UNC Lineberger. Carolina fans can contribute bidding Nov. 6-16 on any of four auction items to be posted on TarHeelBlue.com including: a VIP trip and executive passes for two to the Carolina vs. LSU game on Sept. 4, 2010; a VIP experience (dinner, personal tours and sideline passes for four) at the 2010 Carolina Football Spring Game on April 10, 2010; an authentic Carolina football helmet autographed by Butch Davis; or a Carolina football autographed by Davis.

Winning bidders will receive a letter from UNC Lineberger acknowledging their donation for tax deduction purposes.

Also, representatives of the UNC Dance Marathon will be selling "Turn it Blue" and "Touchdown to a Cure" wristbands prior to the UNC-Miami football game on Nov. 14. Proceeds from those ales and all online donations in honor of Mark Herzlich at www.unclineberger.org will also go to research.

Davis and the Tar Heel football team will present Mark Herzlich with a check prior to the Boston College football game in Chestnut Hill, Mass., on Nov. 21.

Ex-Charger makes all-conference at Queens

Former Northwood forward Katherine Johnson, of Chapel Hill, was one of three Queens University of Charlotte players who have been named All-Conference-Carolinas. Joining her on the first team announced last week were Queens senior goalkeeper Kristen Kornacki and freshman forward Kristen W right, the league's rookie of the year.

Johnson previously was named All-Conference during her freshman year, when she was a top forward for the Royals. While playing at Northwood, she was the Chargers' leading scorer and named all-conference four years running and team offensive MVP two years.

The daughter of Karen Fisher and Stuart Johnson, she's majoring in corporate communication with a psychology concentration in Charlotte.

Nearing post-season

North Carolina's No. 2-ranked men's soccer team was at Clemson on Friday night in the regular season finale for both teams. The Tar Heels were 12-2-2 (4-2-1 ACC) after a 2-1 win at Elon, and they were playing Friday for at least a share of the ACC regular-season title for the first time since 2000 -- should they win over the Tigers (5-10-1, 2-5-0 ACC).

The annual ACC tournament kicks off Tuesday at Cary's WakeMed Soccer Park.

Women off and running

Freshman Tierra Ruffin-Pratt led five Tar Heels in double figures as No. 5 North Carolina topped Division II Francis Marion, 105-64, Thursday night at the Dean E. Smith Center. Ruffin-Pratt added seven rebounds, four steals and three assists on the night for UNC, which will play its second and final exhibition Nov. 10 against Carson-Newman. FMU's Shannon Singleton- Bates had a game-high 28 points to lead the Patroits.

North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell says Jessica Breland's Hodgkin's lymphoma has gone into remission, though it's still unclear whether the senior will be able to play this season.

Quotable

"Parts of it were very, very difficult for me. I said some things and told some things in there that I'd never really shared with anybody other than my wife. It was quite emotional getting through it. It's nice to have the book out and finally start getting some feedback. I did get five text messages today from people who had bought the book and thought it was pretty good."

- UNC Basketball Coach Roy Williams

on his book 'Hard Work', co-written with local author Tim Crothers, and available in stores now.

Briefly ...

NCAC and East Chapel Hill swimmer Luke Hoffer has been accepted at the U.S. Naval Academy and plans to swim next year at Annapolis. ... CHHS and defending state champion East Chapel Hill both won their semifinal matches, 5-0, Friday to set up a decisive rematch Saturday for the state championship in field hockey. They split wins during the regular season. (See www.newsobserver.com or this weekend's editions of the News & Observer. For results of Saturday's match.) ... Culbreth Middle School has dedicated its field concessions building to the memory of former teacher and coach Tom Knowlton. The stand at Culbreth's athletics field and track was paid for, designed and built by four families who formerly had children at Culbreth. ... USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team will face Korea in a five-game series in July 2010, with at least two of the games scheduled to be played in Cary and two in the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.