En route to their state championship berth against East Mecklenburg on Saturday, the Cougars have ousted the No. 1 seed from four other conferences.

"That gets your attention," East Mecklenburg coach Jason Grube said Monday during an NCHSAA news conference involving the 16 teams that will play for state titles on Saturday.

Apex was 4-9 at one point during the season, had a seven-game losing streak and started its league season 0-4.

The turnaround began when 6-foot-2 senior guard Timmy Plummer joined the team.

He had started as a sophomore and as a junior but was academically ineligible at the start of his senior year.

"I was disappointed, and the team was disappointed that Timmy didn't do what he needed to do to be with us the entire year," Apex coach David Neal said. "But we all knew he was a special player."

Plummer didn't start immediately upon his return. Neal made it clear to him and the team that starting positions were won.

"But one day in practice, he was playing with the second team and they were killing the starters and Timmy was dominating play," Neal said. "I think, right then, everybody realized that Timmy had earned his spot."

Grube said he can relate to Apex's situation. The Eagles' leader is 5-10 point guard Malik Stith.

"If you were to take him off our team, we probably wouldn't be all that impressive," Grube said.

Neal will give Plummer the defensive assignment against Stith.

East Mecklenburg enters the final with a 24-8 record but forfeited five early wins because some paperwork was missing for guard Marc Newton, who joined the program this season.

The team has posted 25-3 and 26-4 records the past two seasons.

GRAHAM RETURNS: Graham (31-1), with a Mid-State 1-A/2-A tournament loss to Cardinal Gibbons, is returning to the 2-A girls final.

Graham returns nine players from the team that lost to Smoky Mountain in the 2007 final.

TRADITION CONTINUES: Kinston's program is in the NCHSAA state final for the 16th time.

The Vikings may be the only program in the state to have played in the final in all four classifications: 4-A, 3-A, 2-A and 1-A.

Seventh-year coach Wells Gulledge has a 169-37 record at the school and is 221-71 in his nine-year coaching career.

BEDDINGFIELD IS BACK: Wilson Beddingfield will play for the 3-A girls title for the second time in three years. The Bruins were 30-0 in 2006 and defeated Hickory Foard 64-53 in the final.

Beddingfield is led by Monique Spry (15 points, five assists) and East Carolina recruit Jean Best (15 points, seven rebounds).

APEX ON TV: Apex's 4-A boys state championship game will be shown live on Time Warner Cable's News 14 Carolina. The channel also will broadcast the 4-A girls game between Fayetteville Westover and West Charlotte.

All eight basketball championship games will be available on Time Warner's regional, free Video on Demand channel, Carolina on Demand, channel 1234.

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