Sportsmanship at forefront of The Brittany IX

Area girls soccer players have played with and bought their share of throughout their competitive careers. They’ll have the chance to a special ball to their collection this weekend during The Brittany for the Girls XI. The Brittany, a girls soccer showcase event in Wilson held annually in memory of former Wilson soccer player Brittany Willis who was killed in a robbery, keeps sportsmanship as the focus of the event, which features 35 matches at the Gillette Sports Complex in Wilson.

One player who best exhibits the ideals of the event from each side is awarded a game ball from their match by decision of the referees.

Five area schools will participate.

West Johnston meets Western Alamance at 7:30 Friday, while North Johnston (at 9:30 a.m. vs. Wilson Christian), Corinth Holders (at 1:50 vs. Camden County), Clayton (at 1:50 vs. New Bern) and Garner (at 4 vs. Middle Creek) all are in action on Saturday.

Proceeds from the event fund the Brittany Willis Memorial Scholarship Fund which has awarded 30 scholarships since its inception.

For a full event schedule, visit thebrittany.org.

Rivalry Friday in GNRC baseball, softball

Greater Neuse River 4A Conference baseball and softball league action picks up on Friday with matchups between Clayton and Garner and Smithfield-Selma and West Johnston highlighting the schedule.

Clayton and Garner meet at Trojan Field in softball in a matchup of potential conference championship contenders. Both have proven pitchers back in the circle in Garner’s Lauren Marbrey and Clayton’s Nicole Bond, who has signed with Northwestern University.

Defending baseball conference champion West Johnston welcomes a young Smithfield-Selma squad for a 7 p.m. contest, while the Wildcat softball team, which made the third round of the playoffs last season, meets another young Spartan nine.

Girls soccer conference races start

Conference play in the girls soccer ranks gets rolling this week in the Greater Neuse River 4A and Northern Carolina 2A. West Johnston is the defending GNRC champion and coming off of its third straight win in the Four Oaks Bank Cup, Johnston County’s girls soccer championship.

The Wildcats will be on the road for their next two matches, visiting Southeast Raleigh on March 13 and trekking to Knightdale on March 18.

Corinth Holders, which finished as the runner up in the Northern Carolina last spring, has a tough road date at rival north Johnston on March 13.

The Eastern Carolina 3A Conference’s match of note of the week is Cleveland visiting C.B. Aycock on Friday in a rematch of last year’s conference tournament championship match, which the Rams won.

Other match-ups of note

North Johnston visits fellow 2A eastern regional softball championship series qualifier Wilson Beddingfield at 6 on Thursday for the back half of their home-and-home slate this season. XXXX won the first meeting, X-X on Friday night. …

Neuse Charter’s young baseball squad will play in historic Fleming Stadium in Wilson on Thursday, taking on Greenfield School at 5. …

Princeton’s softball team tries to continue its string of high-production games when the Bulldogs host Wilson Fike Wednesday at 5.