On Tuesday, the North Carolina public school playoffs will resume with the third round of games. Each classification has 16 teams remaining and plenty of potential outcomes on the horizon. However, upon taking a closer look at 1A it should be easy to see the magnitude of a game like Corvian Community and Carolina International. Plenty of folks will notice that both top seeds are still alive and pushing their respective way towards a championship…but there’s something particularly intriguing about the Cardinals and Comets.
In looking at Corvian Community, we shouldn’t forget that this squad narrowly suffered defeat in the state championship just twelve months ago. They largely have the same roster construction with all of their core pieces another year older and more experienced. After starting their season 0-4, the Cardinals have been terrific going 21-3 since. Although they have a variety of guys like Doug Quarles, Andre Jackson, Demarkus Milton, Josiah Rucks, Adrian Scott, and Mike Olsen who contribute, it’ll come down to the production and leadership of RJ Moore and Malachi McCutcheon. Moore is one of the most polished, effortless offensive players in his class while McCutcheon is a smart, versatile matchup problem who should appeal to a variety of college coaches as an available senior prospect.
On the other side, Carolina International has seen some ups and downs after their exceptional start to the season. Despite that, they’ve proven capable of competing with anyone in the state. They have somewhat of a shallow rotation but clearly defined roles with the likes of KJ Shouse, Landon Griffin, and Josiah Bridges primarily leading the way. Shouse is a do-it-all cog who does everything from initiate the offense to carry the scoring load to setting the tone on the glass. He will need to perform at a high level in order for this group to advance. Griffin is a tough, physical guard who can apply scoring pressure in various ways. Guys like Kendall Salter, Rylan Leak, and Jex Gerringer also provide meaningful minutes for this squad. Given this even matchup on paper, it wouldn’t be shocking if either of these teams went on a title run following this contest.