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Happy Thanksgiving! Actually, it's the day after Thanksgiving, but I hope everyone had a great holiday, as unique as this year's Thanksgiving may have been. It's definitely odd sitting outside, socially distanced, with a limited number of family members around. But it's always good to be with family, and I hope you were able to be with yours -- or at least spend some virtual time with them.

We're thankful for all of you sticking with us at HighSchoolOT during the pandemic, and I'm thankful for my team at HighSchoolOT that has adapted to covering things in different ways, producing new types of content, and working through difficulties to cover the sports that have happened. When sports shut down on Mar. 13, I don't think any of us had a clue how different the world was going to be the rest of the year.

With vaccines around the corner -- and hopefully a light at the end of this COVID tunnel -- I hope those of us who care about high school sports will emerge with a new appreciation for them, for the dedication of the coaches and athletes, for the work administrators do every day, for the good high school sports provides students beyond winning and losing, and for the crowds we see at games. A return to normal, hopefully for the 2021-2022 school year, would be a great thing to celebrate next Thanksgiving.

REALIGNMENT PROJECTIONS

Last weekend we released our first round of realignment projections. Before I get too far into this, I want to give you some caveats & notes though:

These are subject to change. As we get more information, particularly about ISP data, it is possible we may issue new rounds of projections as we nail down the exact formula the NCHSAA will use.
These are *projections* and should not be taken as fact. Projections will have some level of error to them, they always do. So if you see your school as one of the last teams into a classification, just know you could be close to the cut off line, don't assume it's a done deal.
I did not project potential conferences. Why? It would be a waste of time. We don't know what criteria the NCHSAA will use when creating the new conferences (will there be a huge increase in split conferences, for example?), and by putting out a projection of conferences it would distract you from the data that we do know.

Our projections include a number of data points that are accessible to you, including ADM scores, state cup scores, and ISP scores -- all of which make up the realignment score for each team. We have also included interactive maps so you can see where schools in a particular classification and region are located relative to others.

You can see the full projections here. If you'd rather jump to a particular classification, follow the links below:

FIRST BASKETBALL RANKINGS RELEASED

The first basketball rankings of the 2020-2021 season were released on HighSchoolOT this week as NCISAA play is underway across the state. Carmel Christian's boys and Providence Day's girls lead the rankings.

25 teams are ranked in each poll, but here are the top 5 in each...

Girls Rankings
1. Providence Day
2. Greensboro Day
3. Gaston Day
4. Concord Academy
5. Asheville Christian

Boys Rankings
1. Carmel Christian
2. Cannon School
3. The Burlington School
4. Greensboro Day
5. United Faith Christian

To see the full rankings, click here.

CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS TO KNOW

It may be November, but NCHSAA cross country athletes are just getting into the swing of things. J. Mike Blake takes a look at some of the names you should know in North Carolina when it comes to boys & girls cross country.

This watch list previews some of the top runners in the state. There are 150 total athletes listed on the watch list. Being on the watch list doesn't mean the athlete will be named to the HighSchoolOT All-State Team though. The all-state team will have 21 representatives from the east and 21 from the west.

Around The State

Here are some high school sports stories and important links you might have missed from around the state this week:

NFHS Executive Director Dr. Karissa Niehoff is calling for a strengthening of mitigation efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as winter sports seasons begin across the country. Read her op-ed here.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is asking high schools to ban fans from games through at least December due to growing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Here's the story from Cleveland.com.
High school sports in Vermont are suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Burlington Free Press has the story.

VB: NO. 4 PROVIDENCE TAKES DOWN NO. 14 WATAUGA IN 5-SET THRILLER

Kyle Morton went to the mountains this week for a big early season volleyball match between No. 4 Providence and No. 14 Watauga. Providence managed a big five-set win in a thriller. Kyle has a complete story and video highlights.

ICYMI This Week on HSOT

No. 8 McMichael goes on the road, beats Western Alamance in 3 sets

McMichael played its second of four consecutive road matches on Wednesday night and left little doubt in the winning effort, beating Western Alamance 25-9, 25-14, 25-18.

Croatan volleyball roars past Dixon after falling behind

There was a moment late in the first set where Croatan's volleyball players seemed all too aware of the stakes surrounding their match with Dixon. Or, at least, if they were not aware of them before, they were awakened to them.

Davie sweeps East Forsyth in crucial Central Piedmont match

Davie County eased to its fourth consecutive Central Piedmont 4A Conference victory to open the 2020-2021 season. The War Eagles swept East Forsyth on Tuesday by scores of 25-16, 25-14, and 25-14.

What I'm Watching

I think the biggest thing I'm thinking about this week is what many Americans are thinking about -- will there be a huge spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations as a result of the Thanksgiving holiday? And if there is, as many expect there will be in a few weeks, what impact will it have on our every day lives? For those us invested in high school sports, how will they be impacted by any potential surge in cases?

Hopefully everyone took the needed precautions this week as they celebrated the holiday and we won't see a big spike. But the only thing we can do now is wait and see.

We'll be back next week with a lot more high school sports coverage on HighSchoolOT!

Have a great weekend.

Nick

Thank you for reading the HighSchoolOT Newsletter this week. Do you have suggestions, comments, or concerns? You can email me any time at nstevens@wral.com.

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