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, moving onto 3A…
Top Seeds:
1- Ashbrook and Swansboro
2- East Henderson and Southern Durham
3- JH Rose and Dudley
4- Robinson and Person
Sleepers:
Ben L. Smith (11)
Seventy-First (6)
First-Round Upsets:
Fike (24) over East Wake (9)
Concord (25) over Ledford (8)
Central Davidson (24) over Piedmont (9)
High Point Central (20) over Franklin (13)
East Lincoln (19) over Hickory (14)
Westover (22) over West Brunswick (11)
Northwest Cabarrus (26) over Freedom (7)
Arguably the most competitive classification thus far, 3A has a very interesting mix of title contenders. Ashbrook and Swansboro are certainly worthy of being labeled top seeds. Outside of their lone game at the Phenom George Lynch, Ashbrook has handled business against basically everyone they face. Isaac Byers and Jamari Smith do a lot of heavy lifting as productive senior leaders. On the other hand, it might seriously be the perfect storm for Swansboro. Their veteran-laden roster can overwhelm opponents in a variety of ways. The senior grouping of Tay Tangiora, Jermaine Cunningham, Jonah Holt, and Elijah McCallister is balanced enough to alter their approach based on the opponent. That being said, anything can happen. Four single-digit seeds were knocked off in the first round, which means there’s likely more upsets on the horizon. Moving beyond the top seeds, Southern Durham is arguably the most appealing team in the field, as they have a well-structured team and the best player, Jackson Keith, in the entire classification. Additionally, it’s quite shocking to see where Ben L. Smith falls in the scheme of things, as they could legitimately win it all. They are littered with talent and typically elevate come playoff time. Swansboro and Southern Durham are my favorites. It’s really difficult to choose between these two, so we will hedge on whoever moves forward between the Pirates and Spartans.