Bobcats face critical decision

The Charlotte Bobcats' brief first round draft history isn't exactly a sterling example of how to best use your picks.

With Emeka Okafor looking for big-time, long-term deal and new coach Larry Brown seeking an immediate turnaround, Thursday's first-round draft choice is a monster for the Bobcats.

Okafor's selection at No. 2 overall is probably the franchise's best move in the first round, although that won't amount to much if he bolts to another city or asks for a trade after turning down a fair offer from Charlotte last season.

I also like last year's move, trading Brandan Wright to Golden State for Jason Richardson. Richardson has really evolved as a player since he entered the league and was known primarily for his athletic ability.

The other two years have produced questionable or downright bad picks. Getting the No. 5 spot in the 2005 NBA draft was an absolute disaster for Charlotte and completely altered the direction of the franchise. Wanting a point guard, Charlotte was forced to reach for Raymond Felton after watching Deron Williams and Chris Paul go No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Williams has been a stud in Utah, and you can argue Paul deserved the NBA MVP this season. Felton hasn't been terrible, but it's tough playing in the shadows of those two players.

Adam Morrison at No. 3 overall hasn't worked out either. Morrison had an up-and-down rookie season and missed all of last year with an injury. Several scouts - and Charlotte fans - thought the Bobcats should have taken Brandon Roy. The selection of Sean May has also been a disappointment, namely due to May's injury history and refusal to get himself into serious NBA playing shape.

With that said, where should Charlotte turn this year?

There are a few options seriously worth considering:

Brook Lopez, C, Stanford
This has become the trendy pick in nearly every NBA mock draft. At 7-feet, Lopez would allow Okafor to slide into the power forward role full time, where he is more productive. Lopez may be gone but is probably the favorite if still available.

Russell Westbrook, G, UCLA
Westbrook would be a really good fit in Charlotte. He's one of the best on-the-ball defenders in the draft and could play sort of a combo, off-guard type role, spelling Felton at point and also playing some 2-guard.

D.J. Augustin, G, Texas
This would probably be a bit of a reach, but Augustin stood out big time at Texas and is already well-developed as a point guard.

Others: Most people think UCLA forward Kevin Love is going in the top-5, maybe the top-3. He reportedly canceled workouts with teams outside the top 5 ... Danilo Gallinari is a fluid Italian player who could help right away ... West Virginia's Joe Alexander would also be a great fit and bring some real toughness, but he's been shooting up the boards recently and may be gone by the time Charlotte picks.

In the soccer spirit

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I never played soccer growing up. I was strictly a basketball-baseball-backyard football child.

It's weird because youth soccer was really starting to pick up steam when I was a young'un, but I never played in my life until gym class in high school. And I was really bad. I have trouble walking upright without stumbling, so adding a ball into the mix is just a disaster in dexterity.

With that said, I've been on a huge soccer kick recently. I've watched a lot of the UEFA games and enjoyed them all. International soccer is always fun to watch, and I'm a sucker for any kind of tournament. I'd probably watch an international badminton tournament if one existed (and it might, I don't know).

In addition to that thought, I'd like to add that we have some really, really good soccer players in the area. The N.C. Soccer Coaches Association recently released its all-region teams, and Iredell County had 16 total players from all six county schools chosen.

That's pretty remarkable. And from my point of view, it made selecting the 11-member R&L All County team incredibly difficult.

Here's a list of our All-Region players, with All-County selections italicized, All-State members bold and our Player of the Year in all caps (you follow?).

Taylor Branton, West Iredell
Amanda Comer, South Iredell
Brittney Dailey, Mooresville
Alicia Danenhower, Mooresville
Rachel Gibson, South Iredell
Tara Johnson, Lake Norman
Meghan Kos, Lake Norman
Ashley Lail, South Iredell
Caroline Moffett, Lake Norman
Katie Register, Statesville
Claudia Solis, South Iredell
COURTNEY SMITH, Mooresville
Sarah Tang, Lake Norman
Lauren Vawter, Lake Norman
Sarah Ann Waugh, Statesville
Tiffany Wilson, Mooresville

Vikings will improve next year

If I were a betting man — and seeing as how I'm leaving for Vegas in about a week, I suppose I am — I'd expect a solid showing from South Iredell's "money sports" next season.

There's always plenty of turnover in the high school coaching ranks, but it has to be rare for a school to break in a brand new football, boys basketball, girls basketball and baseball coach in the same season.

Ed Masterton (football), Trey Ramsey (baseball), Brian Reese (boys hoops) and Gary W. Sherrill (girls hoops) were not only first-year coaches at South, it was their first-ever head coaching job in their respective sports.

It's going to take time for the athletes to get adjusted and, maybe even more so, it takes time for the coaches to get completely settled and comfortable with what they want to do in the program.

Masterton did a respectable job this year, leading a team that battled injuries all season back into the playoffs.

The other programs struggled, sometimes mightily. The boys basketball team finished with four wins, the girls basketball team won twice and the baseball squad had five victories.

All of those win totals should increase next season, and I wouldn't be surprised to see all four of those squads advance to the state playoffs.

Spring sports season ends

Not a lot of updates recently as several county schools - in several different sports - kept advancing in the playoffs, leaving us pretty busy. But now that Mooresville baseball, Lake Norman tennis and Lake Norman soccer have been bounced from the playoffs, things have slowed. Here's a few observations on some of the area sports.

Mooresville baseball
In case you didn't catch this story, the Blue Devils were bounced from the 3A playoffs in the most heartbreaking of ways. Leading East Rowan, winners of 21 straight entering the game, by four runs entering the final frame, the Mustangs bolted out of the gate - my one obvious horse reference - and scored five times without registering an out.

It's tough to see any team end its season that way, but this was especially true considering how perfect Mooresville had played up to that point. Senior pitcher Aubrey Meadows, on the mound despite a tired arm, danced his way around an incredibly dangerous lineup for six weeks. Meadows was perfect through three innings and allowed six base runners the next three innings.

Matt Markofski again hit a big home run, and Dylan West's three-run bomb in the sixth inning appeared like it would seal the victory.

I think it's also important to note that Mooresville skipper Jeff Burchett coached a great game. There was one brilliant call he made that I never would have considered.

It was the fourth inning, the score 0-0 and East had a runner on second with two outs. A very fast runner. Clean-up batter Corbin Shive forced a 3-1 count. Burchett called for an intentional walk and the next batter grounded out on the first pitch. Just a great thinking-man's decision. On a 3-1 count, you have to throw a strike. Typically, it's a fastball. Rather than pitching a fastball for strike to an clean-up batter waiting to launch it out of the park , Mooresville took its chances with the next guy.

I also don't buy the notion Burchett left Meadows in too long. Meadows is the ace, senior leader and was a big reason why the Blue Devils even advanced that far in the playoffs. He wanted the ball, and he wanted to finish the seventh inning. You leave him in.

Mooresville has some key seniors to replace, namely Meadows, West, Markofski and Chris Beaver. But the Blue Devils have a lot of underclassmen who contributed on varsity this year along with the best JV program in the North Piedmont 3A. They could be back in the regional semifinals next season.

Lake Norman soccer
I'll admit that, before the 3A soccer playoffs started, I wasn't a believer in Lake Norman. In the two games I covered this year, I came away with the impression that this was a talented team, but not an elite one.

Wrong.

The Wildcats advanced to the regional finals - essentially the Final Four of the 3A soccer bracket - before losing 2-1 to T.C. Roberson, the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

I stand corrected.

Mooresville track
I think Mooresville's streak of winning state titles in the running sports will stretch to five next year. The Blue Devils won a state title in outdoor track (spring, 2007), cross country (fall, 2007), indoor track (winter, 2008) and outdoor track (spring, 2008).

But after a potential cross country title, which would be three in a row, I'm not sure. Mooresville's program has such incredible depth, but it will be a challenge to replace the talent they have graduating, particularly in the field events.

Mooresville/West Rowan observations

In case you missed it, Mooresville won an absolutely insane game against West Rowan Tuesday in the state baseball playoffs.

It was probably the best game I've attended this season. And if not the best, the most exciting.

Due to a variety of issues - game starting late, game ending late, computer problems and early deadline - I didn't have very much time to write my game story for the paper.

Here are a few more thoughts on that game:

Mooresville senior Matt Markofski had an absolutely monster night. He finished 2-for-3 with a whopping 5 RBI. His biggest hit of the night was also the most controversial. Markofski ripped a 3-2 hanging curveball over the left field fence in the first inning for a three-run homer that gave Mooresville a 5-0 lead.

Or did he? The ball was sailing toward the foul pole, and the home plate umpire ruled it fair. West Rowan's coaching staff and players vehemently protested the call, but it stood. I had a terrible angle for that home run and couldn't tell you what I think happened. The home-plate umpire had a tough call to make, too. Markofski belted the ball, and it was more of a line-drive home run than a towering blast. The sun produced a heavy glare at home plate, and I'm not sure the umpire got a clean look.

The Blue Devils started Chris Beaver on the mound, which was no surprise. The senior was expected to get the start, and he was electric for two innings. Beaver tossed 26 pitches - 17 for strikes - in the first two innings and struck out four. He lost his control in the third inning, though. I'm not sure what effect, if any, this play had, but it warrants mentioning. Beaver gave chase to a little pop-up that landed in foul territory near the Mooresville dugout. With a small chance at catching it, Beaver - who is about 6-foot-4, 235 pounds - dove with full extension and bellyflopped to the ground. It was a great hustle play, but he started missing his location after that. Beaver worked his way through a 30-pitch third inning and gave up two runs, but was pulled after one batter in the fourth inning.

Also give credit to Aubrey Meadows, who pitched 2 2-3 innings of relief on three-days rest. Meadows had just one mistake pitch, and Carlos Bautista launched it for a three-run homer. But Meadows kept his focus and struck out five of the final 10 batters he faced and picked up the win.

NCHSAA must change playoff brackets

There are a lot of things the North Carolina High School Athletic Association does right. The NCHSAA is an efficient organization that, in part, provides newspapers with plenty of information on high school athletics throughout the year, so it's difficult to be too critical.

But one thing it has done terribly wrong lies in the pre-made 3A playoff brackets, specifically the matchups in the Western Regional for members of the North Piedmont 3A.

The NPC stretched from a seven-school league to one with 10 schools in the last two years. Brand-new institution Carson became a member in 2006-07, and East Rowan and South Rowan dropped from the 4A ranks into the NPC this past season.

As the new "half plus one" rule goes, the NPC received six automatic playoff berths for baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, softball and volleyball (half of the 10-team league is five, plus one is six).

Of those six teams, only the top seed gets a home game in the first round. Every other seed goes on the road.

The playoff brackets for the aforementioned seven sports are the same across the board. Each team that qualifies for the playoffs simply fills in a slot on brackets released weeks in advance. For example, the Piedmont Triad Conference's No. 1 team always hosts the Mid-Piedmont's No. 4 team in the first round; the Big South Conference's No. 2 team always hosts the Mountain Athletic Conference's No. 3 team.

Of the nine conferences that boast 3A teams and therefore have a No. 2 seed in the Western Regional, a whopping seven host a first-round game. Of those seven, five host a No. 3 seed.

The only two leagues that must send a No. 2 seed on the road to play another No. 2 seed are the NPC and Southwestern Conference. The Southwestern Conference is typically regarded as one of the weakest across the board and has only four schools.

Of the six different teams seeded No. 3 from their respective conference, four get a slightly easier draw and play a No. 2 seed while two play a No. 1 seed. Again, the NPC's third-seeded team gets a top-seeded, tougher opponent on the road.

The NCHSAA adopted the "half plus one" rule to add more teams to the playoffs - which is more money that lines the state association's collective pockets - but isn't giving teams from the NPC a fair shake. Iredell County schools should not bear the brunt of adding two new teams by a faulty set of playoff brackets.

Starting next season, the NPC's No. 2 seed should host a first-round game and the NPC's No. 3 seed should draw a No. 2 seed in the first round.

South Iredell's first inning

Here is what South Iredell's first inning looked like during Tuesday's softball game against Bessemer City.

1. Kasey Kerley slap single
2. Laci Graney single (Kerley moves to second)
3. Devan Poff fly out to left field (Kerley tags up to third)
Graney steals second
4. Kathleen Pasquarella reaches first on a fielder's choice (Kerley scores, Graney moves to third)
Laci Graney scores on wild pitch, Pasquarella advances to second
5. Amber Graney single (Pasquarella scores)
6. Kayla Kerley single (Amber Graney to second)
7. Kelsey Spangler walk (Kayla Kerley to second, A. Graney to third)
8. Kayla Jones triple to right field (A. Graney, Kayla Kerley, Spangler score)
9. Kendall Honeycutt single to left field (Jones scores)
Honeycutt advances to second on wild pitch
10. Kasey Kerley slap single to center (Honeycutt to third)
11. Laci Graney to first on fielder's choice (Honeycutt out at the plate, Kerley to second)
12. Devan Poff single to center (Kerley scores, Graney to second)
13. Kathleen Pasquarella reaches second on error (Laci Graney, Poff score)
14. Amber Graney flies out to left field

I've never seen a team, in baseball or softball, send 14 batters to the plate in one inning. So many of those hits were on the first pitch, too.

The Vikings as a team found themselves in an unusual zone, and they made the most of it. If they do the same during the playoffs, they'll be an incredibly tough out.