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Sports
SATURDAY, JANUARY 30. 2010
tvillesports@yahoo. com
Unforgettable Night
Calendar
TODAY
Basketball
Carolina Prep
@DCCC
3 p.m.
MONDAY
Basketball
DCCC
@ Guilford JV
7 p.m.
Basketball
Lexington
@ E. Davidson
6 p.m.
Basketball
So. Guilford
@ Ledford
6 p.m.
TUESDAY
Basketball
E. Davidson
@ Thomasville
6 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Wrestling
Lexington
@ E. Davidson
7 p.m.
Basketball
NE Guilford
@ Ledford
6 p.m.
THURSDAY
Basketball
DCCC
@ Belmont Abbey JV
7 p.m.
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Game Report
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tviilesports@^jhoo.com
BY ZACH KEPLEY
Sports Editor
Matt Ridge is, and for
ever will be, a part of the
University of North Caro
lina basketball family. But
after Wednesday’s 101-69
demolition by Davidson
Coimty Community Col
lege over his ahna ma
ter’s junior varsity team,
he might be considered
more of a stepchild.
Having played in the
Carolina blue for two
seasons on the UNC JV
team, coach Ridge has ex
perienced the feeling of
donning a uniform with
North Carolina writ
ten across the front. On
Wednesday, he also real
ized how special it feels
to beat the program in
which he once competed.
It was a memorable
night for everyone in the
Storm community and
Ridge intends on enjoy
ing it for a little while,
but there are bigger priz
es ahead for him and his
team to claim.
“We hope when we look
back on the season it is
not the highlight,” he
said in a phone interview
on Friday. “We are trying
to keep things in perspec
tive and use it as a confi
dence builder.
As coach of the Storm,
Ridge entered the game
0-3 against the Tar Heels
— the most recent loss at
the Dean E. Smith Center
where UNC won 81-69.
North Carolina came in
undefeated, but left with
a thumping that made the
bus ride back to Chapel
HUl quite long.
Shockingly, DCCC was
up 22 at halftime, playing
one of its finest halves
of basketball to date. Ev
eryone in the budding
was aware of what the
scoreboard read during
play, except for the Storm
coaching staff.
“I honestly try not to
look at the score in the
first half,” Ridge said.
“It is funny, because at
halftime we came in and
coach (Brandon) MuUis
said, T didn’t know we
were up 22 until I walked
in here.’” I told him that
is a sign of a great coach,
because you are focused
on what we are doing and
not the scoreboard.”
Now aware of his
'We hope when we look back on the season it is not the high
light. We are trying to keep things in perspective and use it as
a confidence builder.'
— Matt Ridge
Storm head coach
team’s status. Ridge pro
ceeded to give a halftime
speech he has heard sev
eral times before.
“I told them the same
message I heard for four
years at Carolina — No
basketball game is won
or lost in the first half,”
said Ridge.
The team was slow
in response to the mes
sage to start the second
half, allowing two UNC
baskets in the first min
ute. The Storm burned a
timeout to get refocused,
and it was aU DCCC after
that. A 15-1 run doubled-
up the Tar Heels, making
the hyped up event quite
uneventful for the last 14
minutes.
Stfil not aU that wor
ried about the score.
Ridge finally looked up
at the scoreboard at the
time DCCC held its larg
est lead of the night and
was stunned at what it
read.
“We were up 80-42 and
I looked up at the score-
board and was a little tak
en back,” he said. “I think
it was the most complete
game we have played this
year.”
Defense set the tone
for Davidson. The guard
See NIGHT, Page B2
ACC BASKETBALL
BY BRYAN STRICKLAND
Durham Herald Sun
DURHAM — At what proved to
be the end of a spirited comeback
bid by Florida State on Wednes
day night, the Seminoles some
how fought for offensive rebounds
on three consecutive missed free
throws.
None of those rebounds yielded
points for FSU, and Duke senior
Jon Scheyer calmly drained a
jumper at the other end after the
last of those failed put-back at
tempts.
Florida State brought energetic
effort and defensive pressure that
have become'trademarks in re
cent seasons, but the Blue Devils
brought the same and then some
to come away with a 70-56 victory
at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Scheyer scored 22 points, Kyle
Singler added 20 despite deep foul
trouble, and Duke’s defense forced
the Seminoles into 22 turnovers
and held them to 34.5-percent
shooting in the second half.
The Noles hurt their own cause
with a 4-of-ll effort from the free
throw line after halftime.
Florida State had been on a 12-
0 run to pull within 51-47 with
nine minutes left before the flurry
of failed follows off missed free
throws, but the Seminoles mus
tered just one field goal over the
next seveni|nd-a-half minutes as
Duke answ^ed FSU’s push with a
OFF THE PORCH
Storm guard Rico Geter
takes the ball to the bas
ket against UNCs Shaun
Scott Wednesday night in
helping Davidson County
Community College de
feat the UNC junior varsi
ty 101-69. Geter pumped
in a game-high 29 points.
TIMES PHOTO/FRANK RAUCCIO
Seminoles drop ACC game at Duke
methodical 15-2 run to lead 66-50.
“After that little stretch, I looked
around at the guys and said, ‘That
can’t happen,’ ” said Duke senior
Lance Thomas, who added six
points and six rebounds. “Our
guys took that personal, and from
there we took off. We were in con
trol of the game.
“We didn’t let their 12-0 run stop
us at all. We just played really
poised and closed out the game.”
Six different Duke players
scored in the decisive push that
followed FSU’s run, helping the
No. 8 Blue Devils (17-3, 5-2 ACC)
win their 39th consecutive home
game against unranked oppo-
^^See DROP, Page B3
DICK JONES
Outdoor Columnist
The Alpen
Apex
Riflescope
It’s been almost 10
years since I’ve been ac
tive in competitive long
range shooting. One of
the things about being
involved in something
and dropping out is how
fast things change.
My last years at Camp
Perry, the standard
scope was a BR24x
Leopold. These scopes
cost about $800 then
and, while there were
more expensive scopes
available, the Leopold
BR24 worked about
as well as anything.
For a scope to work
weU for a competitive
long range shooter, it
must not only hold its
zero and be durable,
it must be able to be
constantly adjusted in
repeatable movements
and always return
back to that zero. This
is because long range
shooters have to make
big adjustments to com
pensate for buUet drop
and wind conditions and
the scope has to go right
back to the same spot
when the match is over.
I recently did an
interview with Charles
Ballard, the 2008 and
2009 F Class National
Champion. These
matches are shot at 800,
900, and 1,000 yards.
When I asked Charles
if they were stfll using
the BM4, he looked at
me like I was describing
something from the civU
war. The scope of choice
now sells for about $1,800
in the standard version
and can go over $3,000 if
you add a lot of options.
Normal shooters and
hunters don’t need as
much precision as the
guys who shoot the
length of ten football
fields and put 20 bullets
in a circle about the size
of a grapefruit. Normal
shooting situations call
for clarity, durability
and the ability to make
repeatable adjustments.
Except for the initial
sight in, it’s very un
usual to make a 10 min
ute of angle adjustment
in normal situations.
This week, I tested
the Alpen Apex series
6 to 24 scope. This is a
32 MM tube scope with
1/8 minute of angel
external click adjust
ments for windage and
elevation. The Apex
series scopes also have
the parallax adjustment
on the left side of the
scope for convenience.
See PORC^H, Page B4