CONCORD — Central Cabarrus High moves up to 4A competition this fall, but that doesn’t mean the Vikings and rival West Rowan, which will still be 3A, have seen the last of each other on the basketball court.

Central boys coach Scott Brewer reports that the Vikings and coach Mike Gurley’s Falcons will tangle home-and-home the next two seasons.

“We’ll be playing this year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving,” said Brewer. “The college kids will be home and they can come see it. It’ll be a big crowd. It’ll be a happening.”

Only West-North Rowan has produced as many exhilarating games in recent years as Central-West. West fans will never forget the one in Mount Ulla in which Scooter Sherrill’s falling-into-the-crowd 3-pointer in the closing seconds sent the game into overtime for an eventual Falcon win.

Or Central’s win over West in the regional finals that triggered a Vikings’ state championship.

The Vikings, who have lost much of their depth to the new Robinson High School in Cabarrus County, probably didn’t need the loaded Falcons on this year’s schedule since they’ll already be fighting uphill battles against West Charlotte and Independence, among others, in their new conference.

“But I put it up to the kids,” said Brewer. “Everybody wanted to play West. It’s just such a fun game.”

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RECOVERING:Brewer’s top player, 6-foot-2 senior guard Nathan Cranford, is expected to commit to a Division I school in the early-signing period.

The left-handed Cranford suffered a collapsed lung last season. He missed one West game entirely and played at roughly half-speed for half of the other one after returning from his medical problems.

Fortunately, Cranford is nearing 100 percent recovery.

“Nate looks good. He’s got his weight back and he’s got his bench press back to 315 pounds,” said Brewer, who recently took his team to Wilmington for a grueling three-games-per-day camp where it took on powers like Fayetteville 71st. “Nate still hits he wall endurance-wise, but he says that wall moves back a little more each time we play.”

Brewer will need Cranford at his best to compete in 4A. The Vikings will be good, but they’ll be small. Brewer plans to start three players under six feet tall, two of them under 5-8.

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MORE VIKES:Brewer says Jeremiah Buck, the feisty redhead whose last-second layup sunk West in Hickory, turned down several CVAC-level D-II schools and will attend UNC. Buck, who finished in the top 10 in his graduating class, may try out for the Tar Heels’ jayvee team.

Another ex-Viking, whom West fans will remember is 6-7 shooter David Hardy.

Hardy walked on at UNC Charlotte, made the squad and is expected to get playing time this season.

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TOURNEY TIME:Brewer and the other Cabarrus County coaches are excited that they’ll have their own six-school (counting Robinson) county Christmas tournament this year.

With Central and Mount Pleasant leaving the fold, the Pfeiffer Invitational may have to scramble to fill its field.

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GIRTY GAINS GROUND:South Rowan football star Tore’ Girty will be attending Fork Union Military Academy this fall, following in the footsteps of fellow Raiders Carlos Dixon (basketball) and Andre Neely (football), who got a boost toward Division I careers after a year at the Virginia prep school.

Girty’s dad, Felix, said Tore’ was the second-fastest (4.4 seconds for 40 yards) at a 67-player tryout recently.

The Girtys have had contacts with UNC, East Carolina and Elon, among others, so there’s a good chance you’ll see Girty in D-I in 2002.

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FULL HOUSE:Last time we checked on former West star Antwan House, a star on the Falcon team that reached the state finals in 1999, he was headed to Wingate. But things didn’t work out with the Bulldogs and House played this past season at Brevard Community College in Cocoa, Fla.

“It was a chance to get away from home and to better myself,” said House, who will return for his second season in the fall.

Spotted at the Salisbury Y in a mega-pickup game that included NBA player Bobby Jackson, House, 6-6, looks to be much stronger and jumping higher and quicker than in his high school days. He hopes to transfer to a D-I school after one more year at Brevard.

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PROPST UPDATE:Tony Propst, who was a terrific basketball guard and football quarterback (1997) at South, is now a student at Charlotte’s Johnson C. Smith University.

Propst didn’t get any breaks after high school. He was the unfortunate victim in a shooting incident and also suffered several injuries. These days, he just plays roundball to stay in shape.

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PADGETT ON PROWL:You have to feel for Northwest football coach Glen Padgett, who spent a year at Salisbury High before getting an offer from the Trojans and returning to his Cabarrus roots. He’s entering his third season at Northwest.

With the realignment that begins this fall, Padgett finds himself in a seven-team conference (North Piedmont) that includes powers A.L. Brown, Mooresville, West Rowan and Statesville.

No one minds the competition or the crowds. But two playoff berths out of that group? Let’s get serious.

“Mooresville won 13 last year; West won 12; Kannapolis won 11,” groaned Padgett. “Then you’ve got Statesville that won seven games and we won seven. Some very good football teams will be staying home this year.”

Padgett says he submitted a plan for a new playoff structure in 3A, but it didn’t pass.

Probably because it makes too much sense.

Padgett would like to see the league champs and the runners-up from each of the West’s half-dozen 3A leagues get automatic berths. The other four teams in the 16-team state playoff field would be the “at-large” teams, regardless of conference, based on a points system.

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SUMMER HOOPS:Northwest Cabarrus High hosted a 10-team summer basketball league for girls this week.

Among the entries were two teams from Salisbury High and Concord, plus one each from A.L. Brown, Northwest Cabarrus, Robinson. Parkwood, Mooresville and Central Cabarrus.

The consensus top three teams were A.L. Brown, Northwest and Central.

That powerhouse trio lost one game each in the first two days of play. The Wonders beat Central, but lost to Northwest. Central handed the Trojans their loss.

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WONDER UPDATE:A.L. Brown’s girls are going to get a massive boost from freshman inside player Kim Milhouse and from a rejuvenated Tomekia Powell, a 6-1 player who looks like she’s been in the weightroom since the minute last season ended.

Guard Elise Stanback, who hurt in a knee in last season’s state playoffs, also looked fine. She was bouncing around as well as ever, blowing people away on fastbreaks and tossing lobs to the Wonders’ twin towers.

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RAIDER UPDATE: James Greene’s South girls, who have taken a few lumps in recent years, will have more experience than anyone in the county this season.

The Raiders have played well in summer camps, although there is some concern about a knee injury to rising senior center Brittney Gaddy.

Greene also warns that East’s Mustangs are going to be very good after seeing them this summer.

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READY: Robinson High girls coach Tasha Pullen was Doug Wilson’s assistant at A.L. Brown last season. She’s taking on a tough assignment, as she’ll have no seniors in her first campaign at the new school, which will draw a mixture of students from Concord, Central and Northwest.

“We’ll be mostly sophomores,” said Pullen. “We’re excited about it, but nervous.”

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RECRUITING UPDATE:Central Cabarrus’ willowy left-handed guard Evan Miller, who is also a .500-hitting force on the Vikings’ softball dynasty, is being recruited by a host of schools.

Miller, who can shoot, pass and handle — as well as hit — says UNC Greensboro is high on her list. A number of Southern Conference schools — including Furman, East Tennessee State and Davidson — are interested.

Softball or basketball?

“It just depends on what I can get,” said Miller.

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BREAKFAST CLUB:Keeping score at the Northwest girls camp was Kristin Waffle, the former Trojan star who went to Catawba last fall.

“It’s a nice school, but things didn’t work out for me there,” said Waffle.

She plans to go to UNC Wilmington this fall.

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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com .