The prep basketball playoffs get under way tonight.
A variety of starting times were announced for the first-round games locally.
East Rowan’s girls, fourth-seeded in a 32-team field, host familiar opponent Carson in the first round.
That 3A game will tip at 6 p.m.
Carson is the No. 29 seed.
East, the SPC regular-season and tournament champion, has a huge size advantage on Carson and has beaten the Cougars three times.
East won 56-38 and 64-48 in league games, but Carson put up a fight in a 56-49 loss to the Mustangs in the semifinals of the recent SPC tournament.
Senior Karleigh Wike, a 6-foot-4 Richmond signee and 6-3 junior Kelli Fisher lead the Mustangs (22-3).
Junior Alex Allen and senior Kate Cole are the leading scorers for Carson (12-12).
East has won 12 straight games. Carson started out 1-4 but has steadily improved.
Both coaches will remind their players that West Rowan beat Carson three times last season, but the Cougars beat West in the playoffs.
• West Rowan’s boys (11-14) got into the 3A playoffs as a No. 30 seed and will travel to Morganton to play No. 3 Freedom.
That game will tip at 8 p.m., as the Freedom girls also earned a home game.
West finished seventh in the nine-team SPC, but the revised playoff format benefited the Falcons who were seeded as an 11-11 team after dropping two non-conference losses. West’s loss in the SPC tournament didn’t affect its record.
West will be led by senior Seth Martin and junior Celexus Long, who are capable of hot shooting games.
West also will need a big game out of senior Najee Tucker on the boards if it’s going to have a chance tonight.
Freedom (25-1) is a powerful team and is ranked third in 3A. Khris Gardin leads a balanced team and was the MVP of the Northwest Conference tournament.
Freedom made 10 3-pointers in the tournament finals.
• Carson’s boys are at home tonight for a 7 p.m. 3A game against West Henderson.
Carson is seeded 16th, while West Henderson is 17th, so it’s supposed to be an even game.
Carson’s last playoff victory was in 2010.
Carson (15-11) is led by seniors Tre Williams and Colton Laws and junior Marquez McCain has been a prolific third scorer in the stretch run.
West Henderson (15-8) is led by 6-6 Nick Ours, who averages 15.9 points and has made 47 3-pointers.
Josh VanWingerden (6-3) averages 13.0 per game.
• South Rowan’s girls are home for a 3A game against Southern Guilford.
That game will tip at 7 p.m.
South (16-9) is seeded 13th, while Southern Guilford, was seeded 20th as a 13-9 team.
South is in the playoffs for the first time since 2009 and is looking for its first playoff win since 1999.
Juniors Avery Locklear and Cassidy Chipman are the leading scorers for the Raiders.
• There will be a 2A doubleheader at North Rowan tonight.
North’s girls will play at 6:30 p.m. The boys game will start around 8 p.m.
North’s 11th-seeded girls are taking on No. 22 seed Wilkes Central (15-11).
North’s girls (18-4) won the Sam Moir Christmas Classic and were champions of the CCC tournament.
North’s leading scorers are senior guard Nycieko Dixon and junior guard Demeria Robinson.
Juniors Amber Godfrey and Laken Blackburn average double figures for Wilkes Central.
• North Rowan’s boys will take on neighbor and rival Salisbury for the third time.
North beat Salisbury 69-52 and 78-50 in CCC games. The Cavaliers (16-5) are seeded seventh, while the Hornets (11-13) are seeded 26th.
North was CCC regular-season co-champion and has won the Sam Moir Christmas Classic and the CCC tournament.
Seniors Michael Connor, Michael Bowman and Kenyon Tatum and sophomore Jalen Sanders lead the Cavaliers.
D.J. Alexander has been the most consistent player for the young Hornets.
See Scoreboard for 2A, 3A and 4A West pairings.

Livingstone’s women’s basketball team will play in the 12:20 game on Tuesday in the opening round of the CIAA tournament in Charlotte.
As Southern Division champions, Livingstone’s men have a bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals.
They’ll play at 1 p.m.
See Scoreboard for pairings.

Catawba won 7-5 against Newberry on Sunday at Newman Park to win the SAC series two gmes to one.
Catawba (5-8, 2-3) got three hits from Blake Houston (South Rowan). T.J. Wharton had a three-run homer and four RBIs.
Albert Baur had four RBIs for the Wolves (9-6, 4-5).
Craig Brooks got his first win of the season on the mound. Ryan McClintock got the save.
Ethan Satterfield and Keaton Hawks had two hits each.
Catawba won’t return to Newman Park until March 14.
Catawba’s men lost to Tampa 11-5 on Sunday.
Davis Hughes scored twice for the Indians (0-2). Pete Wesselman made 13 saves.

The McCanless Couples played with a Captain’s Choice format on Sunday.
The team of Mary Seaford, Gene Seaford, Phyllis Myers and Sharon Miller took first place.
The team of Ricky Honeycutt, Harry Owens and Jan Godwin placed second.
Finishing third was the team of Treva Honeycutt, Randy Honeycutt, Don Gooodnight and David Huneycutt.
The team of Walt Kincaid, Kim Kincaid, Glenn Trexler and Frank Foster placed fourth.
• The Club at Irish Creek is hosting the Pfeiffer Invitational today and Tuesday.
The tournament features 18 teams and 96 college golfers. The field includes Pfeiffer, Queens, Catawba, Barton, Limestone, Newberry, Sandhills CC, Post, Capital, Lenoir Rhyne, Mars Hill, Erskine, Belmont Abbey and North Greenville.
Catawba’s tennis teams dropped a SAC match to Mars Hill, with the men losing 6-3 and the women falling 5-4.
Catawba also SAC matches to Queens, with the Royals taking a pair of 7-2 victories.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Okaro White scored 22 points and Florida State played stifling defense to beat Pittsburgh 71-66 on Sunday.
Ian Miller added 19 points and Aaron Thomas 14 for the Seminoles (16-11, 7-8 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won two of their past three.
Lamar Patterson led Pitt (20-7, 8-6) with 22 points. The Panthers have lost three in a row and five of seven. They are in danger of falling out of contention for the NCAA tournament after winning 15 of 16 games early.

the season.
Florida State led 37-31 at halftime. After making 13 of 24 shots in the first half, the Seminoles started the second half 1 for 11 from the field and went 7 1/2 minutes without a field goal. Despite those struggles, Florida State never lost the lead.
Pitt’s own offensive problems during that stretch were the reason for that. The Panthers could only manage two field goals during the Seminoles’ drought. They briefly tied the score at 42, but the Seminoles quickly regained control of the contest with back-to-back dunks by White, who was 7 for 13 from the field and also grabbed eight rebounds.
Pitt came back to tie the score again at 48, but the Seminoles made the big plays down the stretch. White scored nine points in the final 6:50, including a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired for a 58-52 lead that took the air out of the Panthers’ sails.
The Panthers shot 37 percent from the field. They have shot more than 40 percent just twice in the past seven games.
The Seminoles used an 11-1 run midway through the first half to begin to pull away from the Panthers. The score was tied at 18 when the Seminoles held the Panthers without a field goal for almost 5 minutes.
Miller scored five of his 12 first-half points in that stretch. White gave Florida State its biggest lead of the half at 29-19 with 4:07 to go before intermission.
Pitt, which made 10 of its 26 shots from the field in the first half, used a 7-0 run to make it 34-31 late in the half, but Thomas made a 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer for the six-point lead at the break.