One of the weekend's storms hit the area near N.C. 55 and Avent Ferry Road in Holly Springs, and the devastation was still apparent the next day. Parts of Avent Ferry Road were blocked off and nearly every house on either side of the highway had a tarp on the roof and someone cleaning tree limbs in the yard.

The intersection is about a mile away from Holly Springs High School, which had some of its athletic fields damaged by the storm's fury.

"Most of the damage was there at the softball field ... it took a pretty big hit," said Holly Springs athletics director Andy Wheeler.

Wheeler inspected the damage Saturday evening after the storm passed through.

At the Golden Hawks softball field, nearly the entire outfield wall was flattened. The top of the dugouts and the batting cage suffered damage, too. The school's tennis courts had a bar fly off a section of fence. The high winds made it lean it outward.

They were the only two fields noticeably affected.

Aside from some debris, the tennis courts are still playable. The school's tennis season is close to its end anyway, with the conference tournament beginning next week.

The same can't be said of the softball field.

Wheeler said he would start to repair the damage this week- particularly the outfield wall. There are still two more weeks of regular-season softball left after spring break, with playoff games to follow.

Fixing the wall in this case means replacing it.

"All the poles are bent, broken and pulled out of the ground," Wheeler said. "We've got several options. I don't know that we could get that one fixed but maybe what we could do is go with some temporary fencing."

Wheeler said he would work with the town, which also uses the field, as well as Wake County school system to find the best solution.

"We definitely want it fixed by the time our girls come back to play," Wheeler said.

Wheeler said he would also inspect the scoreboards and lights at each facility. The school did not have power Saturday after the storm, which is why they have not been tested yet.

Still, Wheeler said given the proximity of the tornado, the school was fortunate to not suffer damage at any of its other fields.

"It could be worse," he said. "We're pretty lucky."

Apex lacrosse: The number of Apex girls lacrosse players who will be playing in college increased to five last week.

Defender Sarah Gioconda signed with Lenior-Rhyne, while goalie Asia Moore did the same with Jacksonville University. The Cougars are undefeated and ranked as the No. 1 girls lacrosse team in the state by laxpower.com.

From Tri-Nine to Fayetteville State: Two members of the Tri-Nine Conference's boys basketball first team will be teammates for the next four years after each signed with Fayetteville State.

Anthony Shelton of Cary and Quentin Underwood of Holly Springs made their plans official last week.

Underwood averaged 16.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game this year. Shelton averaged 16.1 points per game.