This week, North Carolina public school basketball kicked off its postseason play. The first round of games concluded on Tuesday and the second round will occur on Friday. While there are so many appealing things about the private school sector, it’s difficult to beat public school basketball. In addition to (usually) being more competitive in every round, there’s also much more parity in determining the champions. Any team can win on any given night. Let’s take a closer look at some of the things to look for in each classification, starting with 1A…
Top Seeds:
1- Washington County and Bishop McGuinness
2- Southern Wake Academy and South Stokes
3- Lakewood and Queens Grant
4- Voyager and Mountain Heritage
Sleepers:
Corvian Community (5)
Wilson Prep (10)
Carolina International (13)
First-Round Upsets:
Chatham Charter (16) over Woods Charter (17)
Winston-Salem Prep (19) over Andrews (14)
Bradford Prep (27) over Robbinsville (6)
East Wilkes (22) over Hiwassee Dam (11)
After one round of play, the majority of matchups played out as expected. There were four upsets, but all of the top-seeded teams remained intact. One could argue that this field is the strongest 1A group in several years. Both Bishop McGuinness and Washington County always seem to be in the mix as one of the higher seeds. Either team could emerge victorious and no one would be surprised. However, Southern Wake Academy has a lot of talent within their balanced structure; Southern Stokes always feels like an underappreciated group; Lakewood is clearly trending upward; and Queens Grant is young but might have the best roster in the classification. In looking at some of the sleepers, Corvian Community feels likely to amp things up after narrowly suffering defeat in last year’s championship; Wilson Prep has the coaching, cohesion, and pieces to make a deep run; and Carolina International has proven capable of competing with any opponent in the state. All of these teams are certainly deserving. Although one could pick a dozen different teams and make a legitimate case, it’s difficult to bet against Joe Badgett and his group at Queens Grant. As far as sleepers, don’t be surprised if Wilson Prep can make a deep run should they upset Southern Wake Academy.