NC High School Basketball Playoffs Starts Tonight! 1st Round Matchups & Predictions

NCHSAA Basketball

Below are the first round matchups for all 2A, 3A, and 4A North Carolina public high school varsity boys basketball.  The playoff brackets contains seeds 1-16 and the format is the same as NCAA’s March Madness bracket-style, with seed #1 playing #16, #2 playing #15, etc.  Each bracket includes teams from both East and West sides of the state.  In just two weeks we will crown the new state champions in each bracket.  Let’s get started with my round 1 predictions:

4A

Bracket 1

#16 Broughton (6-7) vs. #1 Laney (9-1)

Prediction: Laney is the high school where Michael Jordan went to so you know they have great tradition on the hardwood.  Those kids are still hyped up on the famous “The Last Dance” MJ documentary that aired this past year, so you know they will get it done quite easily.  Laney over Broughton

#9 Leesville Road (8-6) vs. #8 Lumberton (10-2)

Usually 8-9 matchups can be a tossup, but not this one.  Lumberton is the better team.  Lumberton over Leesville Road

#12 Rolesville (8-6) vs. #5 South Central (13-0)

South Central did nothing but win all 13 games they played this year and they got handed a #5 seed.  You don’t think they’re a little upset about that.  They will be out to prove something.  South Central over Rolesville

#13 Southeast Raleigh (8-5) vs. #4 Pinecrest (12-1)

Southeast Raleigh is a pretty good team.  Pinecrest is a way better team.  Those only two losses on Lumberton’s schedule?  They both came at the hands of Pinecrest, one by 15 points.  Pinecrest over Southeast Raleigh

#14 Richmond (7-4) vs. #3 Heritage (10-2)

This is where we see our first upset.  These are two pretty evenly matched teams that can easily go either way.  Richmond has some good wins and only lost to Pinecrest by one point earlier this season.  Heritage is coming off a loss to Rolesville and I think that carries over into this game.  Richmond over Heritage

#11 Hoggard (8-3) vs. #6 Apex Friendship (14-0)

This one’s a no-brainer.  Apex hasn’t lost a game this season in a better conference than Hoggard’s split conference, in which they didn’t even come out on top.  This one will be at least a 20-point win.  Apex Friendship over Hoggard

#10 Fuquay-Varina (10-2) vs. #7 Pine Forest (8-3)

Pine Forest seems to get a good seed here.  8-3 isn’t all that impressive.  But I think they’ll see the end of the road with this one.  Fuquay-Varina is tough.  They haven’t lost in three weeks and that was a two-point loss to the very good Apex Friendship.  Fuquay-Varina over Pine Forest

#15 New Bern (7-5) vs. #2 Millbrook (14-0)

Sorry New Bern, your season is over.  Not only has Millbrook not lost a game all year, nobody has come closer than 17 points of them all year.  That team is FOR REAL!  Millbrook over New Bern

Bracket 2

#16 Green Hope (9-4) vs. #1 Ardrey Kell (6-0)

This game could be more interesting than people think.  Green Hope is always tough and Ardrey Kell has just played six games all year.  Are they prepared enough?  And this is also interesting because it’s a East-West matchup in round one.  Green Hope has lost two in a row so momentum is not on their side.  I think Ardrey Kell pulls out a rather close one.  Ardrey Kell over Green Hope

#9 Hillside (10-3) vs. #8 Harding (5-1)

Another East-West matchup here and very similar to the other one in that Harding is in the same conference as Ardrey Kell and just played six games so far due to Covid reasons.  That’s going to catch up to them.  Hillside is battle tested and they are good.  Hillside over Harding

#12 Glenn (9-2) vs. #5 Page (12-2)

Page ended the season right with several big wins and they are usually always good.  Glenn is no slouch either, but it depends on which Glenn shows up…the one that scored 83 against West Forsyth or the one that scored 36 against RJ Reynolds.  Page over Glenn

#13 Myers Park (5-2) vs. #4 RJ Reynolds (11-1)

It’s such a shame that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools had a few weeks without games due to Covid pre-cautions because I think that is really going to impact them in the tournament.  Myers Park is a good team, but I think they’ll fall here because, like all other CMS schools, they just got back into game action last week.  RJ Reynolds over Myers Park

#14 Jordan (8-5) vs. #3 North Mecklenburg (8-0)

North Meck is the best team in this bracket and they got slighted with a #3 seed.  But it doesn’t matter.  I expect them to make it all the way out of it to face the team that makes it out of the other bracket.  The Vikings just won their 7th straight conference championship and are looking to repeat as state champs.  North Meck over Jordan

#11 Grimsley (10-2) vs. #6 Panther Creek (12-1)

I think this will be a good, back and forth game.  Both teams are pretty evenly matched, but with different styles of play.  However, Grimsley will walk away still standing.  Grimsley over Panther Creek

#10 Rocky River (6-1) vs. #7 Hough (6-2)

This one’s a matchup of two Mecklenburg County schools that both had their season shortened.  They only had one mutual opponent, which was Butler.  Rocky Ridge beat them by 18, while Hough beat them 9.  Overall, I believe that Rocky River is the better team and they will come out on top.  Rocky River over Hough

#15 South Mecklenburg (4-2) vs. #2 Independence (6-1)

I’m not sure how Independence got a higher seed than North Meck, but here they are with a sweet matchup in round one.  South Meck’s record is very unimpressive, despite the fact they’ve played just six games.  I expect a 20+ point win here for Independence.  Independence over South Meck

3A

Bracket 1

#1 Terry Sanford over #16 Union Pines

#8 Eastern Guilford over #9 East Wake

#5 DH Conley over #12 Southern Durham

#4 Rocky Mount over #13 Northwood

#3 New Hanover over #14 Cleveland

#11 Williams over #6 West Carteret

#10 Northern Guilford over #7 East Chapel Hill

#2 Southern Lee over #15 Westover

Bracket 2

#1 West Rowan over #16 Monroe

#8 AC Reynolds over #9 Cox Mill

#5 TC Roberson over #12 North Iredell

#13 Dudley over #4 Crest

#3 Hickory over #14 North Buncombe

#11 Charlotte Catholic over #6 Mount Tabor

#7 Central Cabarrus over #10 Kings Mountain

#2 Weddington over #15 Hunter Huss

2A

Bracket 1

#1 South Granville over #16 SW Edgecombe

#9 Farmville Central over #8 Hertford County

#5 Reidsville over #12 Red Springs

#13 Kinston over #4 Randleman

#3 Washington over #14 Wallace-Rose Hill

#11 Trinity over #6 James Kenan

#7 St. Pauls over #10 Morehead

#2 Heide Trask over #15 Northeastern

Bracket 2

#1 Hendersonville over #16 Ledford

#8 West Stanley over #9 Atkins

#12 Salisbury over #5 Mountain Heritage

#4 Ashe County over #13 West Caldwell

#3 North Lincoln over #14 Forbush

#11 East Lincoln over #6 North Davidson

#10 Shelby over #7 Patton

#2 R-S Central over #15 Forest Hills

Garett