Match Point

The picture to your left, as the headline suggests, is professional wrestling star John Cena in a Hilton Head Island High School football shirt.

Bluffton High School tennis coach Bob Brown has won this year's No-Cut Starfish Award for South Carolina, as presented by the United State Tennis Association.

So what exactly is the award for? The USTA website says No-Cut schools offer all student-athletes a spot on the roster regardless of ability while its policy "sends a message that developing kids is important to the coach and the school." A release said Brown was chosen because of "his excellence in coaching and his No-Cut philosophy."

When the final seconds of Hilton Head Island High's 3-1 loss to Fort Mill in the Class 3-A soccer state championship game ticked away, so too did the spring high school sports season in the Lowcountry.

Which means it's naturally time to talk football.

We still have more than two months before Bluffton officially moves to Class 4-A and B.J. Payne gets his inaugural season underway with the Seahawks. But plenty will still be happening between now and then, namely with the Bobcats.

One of the downsides of large events like track and field is that we don't get the opportunity to showcase a lot of the local athletes that finished at or near the top of their respective events. So here are a handful of quotes from a few that didn't make it into Sunday's edition....

Battery Creek's Gretchen Brown, who took home the gold in the 100 hurdles:
"We've been training hard to do what we had to do to take state. (My expectation) was to win state all along."

Five lacrosse players at Hilton Head Island High racked in lacrosse awards this week, highlighted by Nick Bautista, who was named South Carolina's 2012 Midfielder of the Year.

Bautista, who led the Seahawks to a 10-5 record and a berth in the Lower State championship, was naturally also named to the first team all-state squad at midfield.

But the awards may not be done pouring in for Bautista just yet. Coach Joe Monmonier said the senior is up for All-American honors, but that the nationwide team will not be named until later this month.

We'll have a full story on this in tomorrow's edition of The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette, but I wanted to let you all know that Jerry Faulkner has been named the new boys basketball coach at Hilton Head Prep.

Athletics director Rich Basirico made the official announcement today, as Faulkner will replace Bob Sulek as coach of the Dolphins. Sulek, who came to the boys after a successful run with the girls team, resigned earlier this month after going just 4-23 in his only season at the helm.

The Hilton Head Island High boys lacrosse team travels to Fort Mill later this afternoon for a clash with the Yellow Jackets in the second round of the state playoffs.

I spoke with coach Joe Monmonier, among others, about what the Yellow Jackets bring to the table. Fort Mill, which knocked off Spring Valley 13-7 in the playoff opener, earned the No. 2 seed in the Lower State bracket after an 11-3 regular season. Here are some quotes on tonight's game...

Three area teams are geared up for the first round of the Class 3-A lacrosse playoffs, which are set to begin tomorrow night.

The Hilton Head High boys are the only team that will host in the postseason lidlifter, as the Seahawks will take on visiting A.C. Flora tomorrow at 6 p.m.

Joe Monmonier’s team, which is led by senior Nick Bautista and sophomore Nate Jones, carries a 8-4 record into the tournament. A.C. Flora was scheduled to play the Seahawks back on Feb. 24 but the game was cancelled due to rain.

We're back again for another thrilling week of March Madness basketball. It sure does seem like this week has dragged as we've waited on the Sweet 16 to begin, doesn't it?

Let's start with The Island Packet/Beaufort Gazette leader board in our March Madness challenge. Whitney144 currently leads the pack with 102 points while ananda44 is just two points back. There is a six-way tie for third place following those two. The IP/BG sports writers in Stephen Fastenau and yours truly aren't far behind.

The last two days of the NCAA Tournament have been unprecedented, to say the least.

And no, I'm not talking about Friday's shocking upsets. I'm talking about my bracket.

If you read this blog a few days ago, you'll remember that I openly called out my lack of March Madness bracket success. But, hey, I didn't do so bad this time around.

Nope, 23-9 isn't too shabby at all. Especially considered that the “bracket busters” didn't bust my brackets (I'm talking to you, Missouri).