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Graham guard Isaiah Lea, left, brings the ball up the court as Reidsville's Amari Badgett defends in a game last week.
Times-News
David Kehrli / Times-News, Times-News
The pesky puzzle pieces of conference realignment have shifted, in the hope of creating a better-constructed landscape for North Carolina High School Athletic Association member schools for the 2021-25 cycle.
The NCHSAA’s release Thursday of the second draft of proposed conferences features changes from the initial Dec. 10 structure, following concerns and suggestions from member schools in response to that first draft, affecting leagues for which some Alamance County schools have been designated.
“This draft represents a sacrifice of time by committee members to review and study all submitted suggestions and proposals,” NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said in an update to schools. “While the draft does not satisfy all wishes and wants of each member school, it does represent an intentional effort by the committee to be fair and consistent in its decisions relative to any changes in conferences from the initial draft.”
Eastern Alamance, Western Alamance and Williams High School remain together in a Class 3-A league with Cedar Ridge, Northwood and Orange, as previously announced in the first draft. Roxboro Person has been added to the league while Carrboro, originally slated to be in the conference, is on the move elsewhere.
Roxboro Person is currently a member of the Mid-State 3-A Conference, alongside Eastern Alamance and Western Alamance, for the final six months of the current alignment.
Cummings High School and Graham remain together as part of a Class 2-A / 1-A split conference with Chatham Central, Jordan-Matthews, North Moore and Seaforth, as announced in the first draft. Bartlett Yancey is joining those schools, making it a seven-team conference. Chatham Central and North Moore are Class 1-A schools, while the rest are in Class 2-A.
Bartlett Yancey is currently in the Mid-State 2-A Conference with Cummings and Graham for the final six months of the current alignment.
Schools affected by changes reflected in the second draft have until 4 p.m. Jan. 21 to formally appeal to the committee. Virtual appeals will be held Jan. 27 for schools in the East Region and Jan. 28 for schools in the West.
The remainder of schools in the Times-News coverage area are unaffected by the latest changes to conferences. Their league assignments are as follows:
Southern Alamance is making the jump from Class 3-A up to Class 4-A, where it will be in a league with Chapel Hill, Durham Hillside, Durham Jordan, Durham Riverside, East Chapel Hill and Northern Durham.
Eastern Guilford is in a Class 3-A conference with Greensboro Dudley, Greensboro Smith, High Point Central, Northeast Guilford, Rockingham County, Southern Guilford and Winston-Salem Atkins.
Eastern Randolph is moving from Class 2-A to Class 1-A and will be in a split conference with Providence Grove, Randleman, Southwestern Randolph, Trinity, Uwharrie Charter and Wheatmore. Eastern Randolph and Uwharrie Charter are the two Class 1-A schools in the league while the rest are in Class 2-A.
Clover Garden and River Mill will remain together in the same Class 1-A conference alongside Chatham Charter, Southern Wake Academy, Triangle Math and Science and Woods Charter.
