Hough High chooses mascot, colors

Cornelius' William A. Hough High School, which will open in the fall of 2010, has selected its mascot and colors after allowing the public to vote on the school's Web site.

They will be known as the Huskies and will wear black, silver and white. Other nominees for mascots were Wolves and Hornets.

From their Web site:

"Attributes of a Husky: Strong, compact, hard-working and team-oriented.

"Temperament: Loving, gentle, playful, happy-go-lucky, keen, social, rather casual, high energy and very intelligent."

Future Hough High students who are interested in serving on the student committee to choose the school logo, motto and crest should e-mail Terry Barbee at t.barbee@cms.k12.nc.us. Include your name and e-mail address and/or phone number.

Wachovia Cup leaders

Wachovia Bank, a Wells Fargo company, along with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, today announced the standings for fall sports in the Wachovia Cup competitions for the 2009-10 academic year.

The Wachovia Cup award, sponsored by Wachovia and the NCHSAA, recognizes the high schools that achieve the best overall interscholastic athletic performance within each of the state’s four competitive classifications. Wachovia has sponsored the conference awards program since 1980.

The Wachovia Conference Cup, formerly known as the Wachovia Trophy, is a companion to the Wachovia Cup. The Conference Cup is awarded to schools with the best overall interscholastic athletic performance in each individual
athletic conference.

In most conferences, points are awarded based on participation and standings in conference play. Each conference determines its own method of awarding points.

Here are how Lake Norman area teams are doing in their conferences.

Southern Piedmont 1A/2A conference standings: East Lincoln 72, North Lincoln 62, Lincolnton 54, West Lincoln 42, Highland 35, Cherryville 16, Bessemer City 10, Challenger 8.

I-Meck 4A conference standings: Lake Norman 33.5, Mallard Creek 29.5, North Mecklenburg 29, Mooresville 27, Hopewell 23, Vance 14, West Charlotte 12.

See the standings for all the state's conferences at the Prep Insiders blog.

Cornelius/Huntersville youth spring lacrosse programs

The Towns of Cornelius and Huntersville will host their fifth spring season of youth lacrosse. Registration for the 2010 spring season opens Monday, Jan. 4 and will close on Tuesday, Jan. 26. The program is open to boys and girls in kindergarten through 8th grade, with divisions determined by gender and age.

Program registration will be accepted at Cornelius Town Hall or online at www.corneliuspr.org. Divisions will be formed for grades K-1st coed, Boys U-15, Boys U- 13, Boys U-11, Boys U-9, Girls Middle School, and Girls Youth.

The resident fee is $60 for the Instructional Division (K-1st) and $70 for non-residents. The resident fee for all remaining divisions is $100 and $110 for non-residents. Financial assistance is available on a limited basis.

Practices will start the week of Feb. 15 and games will begin in March, with weeknight practices and weekend games being held at locations in Cornelius and Huntersville. All participants will receive a jersey and a trophy at the end of the season. Additional equipment will be required. A copy of the participant's birth certificate is required at time of registration.

Volunteer coaches are needed for the spring lacrosse program. For more information, please contact the Cornelius PARC Department at 704-892-6031 ext. 160. Information about other recreational and athletic programs is available online at www.corneliuspr.org and www.huntersville.org.

Lake Norman teams well represented in Sweet 16

Lake Norman high schools have a very strong showing in the first regular season boys' Observer Sweet 16 poll released today.

Hopewell (8-0) is still on top and Lake Norman (5-0) moved up to second from fourth. Fellow I-Meck teams Vance (4-0) and West Charlotte (7-0) are third and fourth, respectively. North Mecklenburg (7-0) went from being unranked in the preseason to No. 8 this week.

Hopewell plays West Charlotte tonight while Lake Norman will take on North Mecklenburg.

East Lincoln made the biggest jump, moving to sixth after not being ranked in the preseason. The Mustangs open conference play at No. 10 Cherryville tonight.

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In the girls' poll, Lake Norman (4-2) fell from 12th to 16th.

West Charlotte correction

A West Charlotte score was misreported which led to a couple mistakes in the "game of the week" article in this week's Lake Norman News. West Charlotte won the one-point game against Berry, which makes them 7-0 on the season after beating Butler in double overtime last night.

I apologize for the mistake. It has been changed in the online version.

Big week for high school basketball

Hopewell Titans before Dec. 2 game against Independence -- Corey Inscoe

If you like good high school basketball, you should be in for a thrill these next two weeks.

Cannon has a big game against Oak Ridge Military Academy tomorrow night. The Cougars (4-4) have struggled some early this season, but still have two of the best players in the area in Jarell Eddie and Keith Belfield.

I-Meck conference play finally gets started this week which means there are some high-profile match-ups coming up.

But before conference play, the No. 1 (Observer Sweet 16) Hopewell boys' team and No. 9 Concord have a non-conference game Wednesday night. Then on Friday No. 8 West Charlotte visits the Titans for both team's first conference game. Then Hopewell's next game is against No. 4 Lake Norman on Dec. 17, the last game before winter break.

North Mecklenburg boys' dive into conference play this week also with a game Friday against Lake Norman and next Tuesday visit West Charlotte. North Mecklenburg doesn't quite have the talent they did last year, but have been impressive so far this season in staying undefeated in non-conference play.

East Lincoln boys' take an undefeated team to play No. 10 Cherryville on Friday.

The girls' games will be great, too, with No. 12 Hopewell and No. 13 Lake Norman meeting next week.

Expect a lot of excitement with high school basketball leading up to the holiday tournaments.

I-Meck All-Conference football team announced

I-MECK 4A 2009-2010 FOOTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE

Coach of the Year: Michael Palmieri, Mallard Creek
Offensive Player of the Year: Marquise Williams, Mallard Creek
Defensive Player of the Year: Dovonte Grant, Mallard Creek
Special Teams Player of the Year: Calvin Hunter, Vance
Punter of the Year: Michael Tart, Mallard Creek
Kicker of the Year: Michael Watson, Mooresville


Quarterbacks:
Brad Clay Senior North Mecklenburg

Running Backs:
James Cloud Senior Lake Norman
Taylor Beamon Senior Mallard Creek
Jalen Simmons Junior West Charlotte
Dondre Lewis-Freeman Junior Hopewell
Xavier Joplin Senior North Mecklenburg
Marshaun Edwards Senior Mooresville

Wide Receivers/Tight ends:
Jaquez Vanderburg Senior Lake Norman
Jela Duncan Sophomore Mallard Creek
Louis Mitchell Senior Mallard Creek
Tyler Hamilton Junior Vance
Michael Haffner Senior Hopewell
Taylor Chiesa Senior North Mecklenburg
Dalton Pierce Senior Mooresville

Offensive Linemen:
Kane Sherrill Senior Lake Norman
Chris Timmons Senior Lake Norman
Devin Flowers Junior Mallard Creek
Clearance Montgomery Senior West Charlotte
Jaquan Mobley Senior West Charlotte
Pablo Alva Junior Vance
Sean Beaty Senior Hopewell
Jonathan Jones Senior Hopewell
Anthony Hill Senior Mooresville

Defensive Lineman:
Chandler Caldwell Senior Lake Norman
Dirqual Ellis Senior Lake Norman
Lynden Pinnock Senior Mallard Creek
Brent Spisak Junior Mallard Creek
Alex Glover Junior Mallard Creek
Britton Grier Junior West Charlotte
Joseph Goodman Senior West Charlotte
Casey Ifedi Senior Vance
Malcolm Bryant Senior Vance
Kevin Hart Senior Hopewell
Latham York Junior North Mecklenburg

Linebacker:
Connor Donoghue Senior Lake Norman
Cameron Stephenson Senior Mallard Creek
Evan Strange Senior Mallard Creek
Barrett Blue Senior West Charlotte
Jarvaris Massey Senior West Charlotte
Darius Williams Senior Vance
Devonte Applewhite Senior Vance
Justin Avery Senior Hopewell
Chance Miller Senior Hopewell

Defensive Backs:
Davis Ray Senior Lake Norman
Matt Browning Junior Mallard Creek
Ardy Holmes Junior West Charlotte
Dechane Durante Senior Vance
Calvin Hunter Junior Vance
Justin Beatty Junior Vance
Donshae Joyce Senior North Mecklenburg
Barkley Torrence Senior Mooresville