Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has sent the N.C. High School Athletic Association a proposal for how it wants to realign local schools into conferences beginning with the 2013-14 school year.
The NCHSAA realignment committee has given schools time to look at the state's proposals and is letting conferences and school systems respond. On Feb. 15, the NCHSAA is expected to release another draft.
It looks like CMS and the NCHSAA agree on what will become the new I-Meck. My guess is that it'll be called the C-Meck, as in Cabarrus-Mecklenburg - with Hough, Hopewell, Mallard Creek, Vance and West Charlotte from Mecklenburg County joining Cabarrus' A.L. Brown and Robinson. Makes sense geographically, though Brown and Robinson will likely lose some of their natural county rivals.
The other two conferences could get interesting.
I don't think CMS should cluster all its schools that don't produce Olympic sports on a regular basis in one conference. The CMS proposal smartly avoids that. Geographically, I'm not sure having Ardrey Kell, Harding and West Meck in the same conference makes sense. But Charlotte Catholic has played with Harding and West Meck for years and the schools have made it work.
No proposal will please everyone. There will always be some travel issues or team issues. I'm sure Porter Ridge, a Union County school coming into a CMS conference for the first time, wouldn't be thrilled with some of the trips it'll have to make deep into Mecklenburg County under the CMS proposal.
But overall, the proposal has some neat mixes of teams and could create some neat conference races in multiple sports.
Where's the offense?
Girls teams had some offensive problems Friday night. At halftime, Berry's girls led West Meck 10-6. Berry led 2-0 after the first quarter.
West Charlotte led Mooresville 18-14 at halftime, and the big girls game of the night between No. 1 Myers Park and No. 4 Ardrey Kell was tied at a touchdown and a field goal apiece at halftime (10-10). Both Ardrey Kell and Myers Park employed a slow-down strategy.
Well, it wasn't just the girls. At halftime Friday, South Point's boys led Ashbrook 14-4 and Sweet 16 No. 1 Olympic led Garinger 23-7 at halftime.
Nice 52-43 win over rival North Mecklenburg for Hough girls Friday. Playing their first game in sole possession of first place in the I-Meck 4A, the second-year Titans used a 15-3 run to finish the game and remain alone in first place. Brandi Arey had 19 points. Hough has won seven straight games.
North Carolina coach Roy Williams attended Friday's West Charlotte at Mooresville game. West Charlotte junior center Kennedy Meeks told the Observer last week that North Carolina was among schools seriously recruiting him.
A.L. Brown boys basketball coach Shelwyn Klutz got his 200th win against rival Northwest Cabarrus on Jan. 10. He was honored by the school Wednesday night in a special ceremony. Klutz has been Brown's boys coach for 14 years and has taught health and PE in Kannapolis schools for 20 years.
Olympic center Josh Smith, a Clemson signee, has been picked for the North Carolina-South Carolina All-Star Classic game. The game, played in March in Myrtle Beach, matches top players from both states.
Providence Day's girls, the reigning N.C. Independent 3A champs, lost a showdown in the mountains at defending 2A NCISAA champ Carolina Day this week, but the Chargers made an emphatic statement Friday night about who's the 3A favorite again.
The Chargers, No. 6 in the Sweet 16, beat No. 5 Charlotte Christian 59-32, ending the Knights' five-game win streak. Christian scored a season low in points.
The game was a rematch of the 2011 CISAA conference championship and NCISAA 3A championship games.
