The Fike High varsity girls basketball team amped up its mission to win its first 3-A Quad County Conference regular-season championship with a 78-31 rout of South Johnston in the Fike gym on Thursday evening. Still smarting from their only conference loss three games ago to archrival Hunt, the Golden Demons, benefiting from Southern Wayne’s second league loss to East […]
WT – Top Sports

Fike flustered by throwback Trojans
The Fike High varsity boys basketball team did not fare well in its second 3-A Quad County Conference test against the throwback style played by South Johnston in the Fike gym Thursday night. Brilliant free-throw shooting and fundamental execution in a no-hurry tempo vaulted the Trojans to a 60-41 conquest of the victory-starved Golden Demons. South Johnston swished its first […]

AREA ROUNDUP: Hunt girls cruise past Spartans for fifth straight win
The Hunt High girls basketball team is on some kind of a roll right now. Behind a balanced scoring attack and staunch defensive effort, the Warriors breezed by visiting Smithfield-Selma, 49-10, Thursday night for their fifth straight win. The Warriors improved to 7-10 on the season, and most importantly, 6-3 in 3-A Quad County Conference play. Hunt zipped out to […]


Fike scores big in Greater Wilson Rotary Club raffle
The Fike High athletics program picked up a major victory without stepping foot on a field, court, mat or pool Thursday afternoon. At the second Greater Wilson Rotary Club raffle drawing to benefit the athletic programs of Wilson County high school and middle schools, held at Something Different Cafe, the Golden Demons were the lucky last school standing, earning a […]


Atkinson makes smooth transition to officiating
Jeremy Atkinson’s first evening as a high school basketball official over a large section of eastern North Carolina could well have been his last. Atkinson drove his car to North Pitt High School for his first assignment. He arrived in plenty of time but, at game time, he discovered he was by himself. For one reason or another, the other […]


Area Calendar, Jan. 27-28
Friday, January 27 High School Varsity Boys Basketball Sallie B. Howard at Iron Academy, 5:15 p.m.; Community Christian at Greenville Trinity Christian, 6:30 p.m.; Beddingfield at Goldsboro, 7:30 p.m.; Wilson Prep at NW Halifax, 7:30 p.m.; Fike at Smithfield-Selma, 7:30 p.m.; Louisburg at Southern Nash, 7:30 p.m.; Ayden-Grifton at Greene Central, 7:30 p.m.; SW Edgecombe at North Pitt, 7:30 p.m.; […]


Panthers hire Frank Reich over Steve Wilks as head coach
CHARLOTTE — Frank Reich is returning to the Carolina Panthers as their coach, more than 27 years after starting the franchise’s first game at quarterback in 1995. The Panthers announced Thursday they’ve agreed to terms with Reich to become the sixth head coach in franchise history. An introductory news conference was set for Tuesday. Reich was chosen among nine candidates […]


Final 4 NFL teams all feature offensive-minded head coaches
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Chris Foerster had spent nearly two decades as an assistant in the NFL when he first crossed paths with Kyle Shanahan long before he became one of the NFL’s most-accomplished play-callers. Shanahan was in his third year as an offensive coordinator in the NFL when Foerster joined head coach Mike Shanahan’s staff in Washington as offensive […]


Rybakina, Sabalenka to meet in Australian Open women’s final
MELBOURNE, Australia — What all seemed so different, so daunting, even, about trying to win a Grand Slam title to Elena Rybakina a little more than six months ago is now coming rather naturally. And if she can win one more match, she will add a championship at the Australian Open to the one she collected at Wimbledon. Rybakina, a […]


Cyclones avoid scoring snafu with first win
Just when an aging sports journalist of 50-plus years thinks he’s seen it all on the high school scene, he unexpectedly discovers otherwise. The latest observed first occurred last Thursday night at Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf’s Barney Williamson Gym — the home court for some of the Community Christian School basketball games. The Community Christian varsity girls […]


Farris & Thomas Law Attorneys Student-Athlete of the Week: Kaden Taylor, Sallie B. Howard School
Kaden Taylor has been a vital cog for his Sallie B. Howard School varsity boys basketball team this season, making him this week’s Farris & Thomas Law Attorneys Student-Athlete of the Week. Playing as the “sixth man” for the Eagles, Kaden came off the bench to help spark Sallie B. Howard to home wins over Wake Prep and Iron Academy […]


Panthers’ Aycock a catch for Mount Olive
North Johnston High has sent its share of quality baseball players to the University of Mount Olive over the past few years. While maybe not yet fully qualified as a “pipeline,” the connection between the programs grew stronger last week with the official signing of Panthers senior catcher Carter Aycock by the NCAA Division II Trojans. Aycock will join 2022 […]


Focus your energy on the positive
During a Wilson Forward annual meeting, one of the guest speakers talked about “cradle-to-grave” communities. The term may sound morbid, but it is really quite the opposite. These are communities that serve multiple generations from youngest to oldest, and even offer ways for these generations to intermix in different places. It was during this meeting that I began to view […]


Tobs name Tony Rosselli new coach
When the 2023 summer collegiate baseball season kicks off for the Wilson Tobs, the team will be under new leadership in the dugout. The Coastal Plain League club announced Monday that it has hired Tony Rosselli as the new manager, replacing Harry Markotay, who left the Tobs after three years in the role following the team’s loss to the Savannah […]



Area Calendar, Jan. 26-27, 2023
Thursday, January 26 High School Varsity Boys Basketball Trinity Academy at Greenfield, 7 p.m.; Smithfield-Selma at Hunt, 7:30 p.m.; Spring Creek at North Johnston, 7:30 p.m.; South Johnston at Fike, 7:45 p.m. High School Varsity Girls Basketball Spring Creek at North Johnston, 6 p.m.; Smithfield-Selma at Hunt, 6 p.m.; South Johnston at Fike, 6:15 p.m.; C.B. Aycock at East Wake, […]


NFL playoffs: Mahomes shrugs off pain, plans to play
Patrick Mahomes has a very sore right ankle. Jalen Hurts has a bum right shoulder. Even so, neither quarterback is complaining in the lead up to Sunday’s NFL conference championship games. Mahomes went through a normal morning walkthrough Wednesday and then headed out for an afternoon practice with the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs, four days after a Jacksonville […]


Beltré, Mauer eligible for Baseball Hall of Fame next year
Scott Rolen is headed to the Hall of Fame. Next year, make way for another star third baseman. Adrián Beltré highlights the first-time eligibles for 2024. While Rolen’s election Tuesday capped an impressive six-year rise in his vote total, Beltré has a good chance to go in on the first ballot. Although he was never an MVP, he finished his […]


Hurricanes top Stars in OT to win matchup of 1st-place teams
DALLAS — Martin Necas scored 1:34 into overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars in a matchup of division leaders Wednesday night. Sebastian Aho had a short-handed goal and Brent Burns also scored for the Hurricanes, who lead the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The game-winner was Necas’ 19th goal this season. Dallas […]


Bruins climb Gators out of Neuse 6 cellar
The Beddingfield High varsity boys basketball team will not tip off the second half of conference play attempting to escape the basement in the 2-A Neuse 6 Conference. The Bruins staged their exit Tuesday night in the Beddingfield gym with a resounding 88-43 victory of Spring Creek in a clash of the only Neuse 6 teams without a conference win. […]