SALISBURY — North Rowan’s second-seeded boys, the defending champions, and top-seeded Salisbury are the most likely finalists  in the Sam Moir Christmas Classic.

Neither program  is a stranger to championship night. Salisbury has been in the final 20 times and has won 14, including a recent four-year run of dominance from 2007-2010.

North Rowan has reached the title game  in each of the last four   seasons under coach Andrew Mitchell  and claimed  titles in 2011 and 2013. North Rowan  has been a champion eight times and  has qualified for the final 14 times since the event began in 1971.

North Rowan’s Jalen Sanders (19.1 ppg.) and Salisbury’s Deshawn Troutman (15.5 ppg.) are outstanding junior guards and team leaders, but  there are some potential roadblocks to a Salisbury-North Rowan matchup.

Both of the co-favorites have lost twice already,  and while both are good, both are beatable. One of Salisbury’s setbacks came  on a last-second shot at  fourth-seeded Carson.

Salisbury comes in riding a four-game winning streak and was elevated to the top seed when North Rowan lost a tough home game on Monday against perennial 1A champ Winston-Salem Prep.

“I think this loss is exactly what we needed,” Mitchell said after the setback. “If we hadn’t lost, I believe  we would’ve gone to the tournament and struggled.”

North Rowan also came into the tournament off a loss in 2013  (a 67-49 thrashing by Mooresville) but  rolled  in the tournament, including a 20-point championship-game triumph against Carson.

The addition of Mooresville to the tournament makes it an  eight-team field, eliminates the first-day bye for the No. 1 seed and guarantees every team three games. Mooresville features familiar faces. The leading scorer for the Blue Devils  is Corban Usry (13.4 ppg.), a junior guard who began his career at Salisbury.  Mooresville’s No. 2 scorer Christian Holbrook (10.0 ppg.) played for South Rowan last season.

Mitchell likes the eight-school bracket.

“It made a big difference in past years if you were seeded first or seeded second,” Mitchell said. “The top seed only had to win two games. Now everyone has to win three, so seed really doesn’t matter.’

Fifh-seeded West Rowan is the only team in the field that  has played third-seeded Mooresville this season. The  young Falcons lost a 67-65 thriller to the Blue Devils.

Experienced boys coaches will be part of the event. West Rowan’s Mike Gurley has won four  Moir titles, while Salisbury’s Jason Causby  and Davie’s Mike Absher have won three each. Mitchell has won two with North Rowan’s boys and also won two at the helm of Salisbury’s girls .

The 24-game tournament  begins on Saturday at Catawba’s Goodman Gym, continues Monday and concludes on Tuesday.

Tournament seeds are based on  records:  1. Salisbury (8-2), North Rowan (6-2), 3. Mooresville (5-3), 4. Carson (5-5), 5. West Rowan (5-5), 6. Davie (3-5), 7. East Rowan (3-6) and 8. South Rowan (2-7).

Carson beat West Rowan in a head-to-head matchup. That SPC victory gave the Cougars the No. 4 seed, although the only difference between being No. 4 instead of No. 5 is wearing a home jersey.

The Carson-West Rowan rematch to conclude the first round should be exciting. Carson is looking for its first tournament championship after reaching its first final last season. West Rowan has won 10 titles but hasn’t taken a championship since 2005 and hasn’t made the final since 2008.

Five different players have led Carson in scoring in a game this season, including freshman Jamarius Hairston.  West Rowan has gotten double-figure outings from seven different players, including freshmen Caleb Mauldin and Martavio Rankin and sophomore Kortez Weeks.

Davie surprised people by winning twice in the tournament last season and has four starters back.

East Rowan has quite a bit of talent for a No. 7 seed. The Mustangs have struggled to mesh so far, but they should have point guard Bravon Goodlett (concussion) back for the tournament.

South Rowan senior Lavon Hill figures to  be one of the best players in the event. Hill scored 33 points against Concord and has consistenly put up 20s.

The first-day matchups:  Mooresville vs. Davie (10:30), North Rowan vs. East Rowan (1:30), Salisbury vs. South Rowan (4:30) and Carson vs. West Rowan (7).

Davie, East Rowan, Salisbury and Carson have the  benefit of having their girls and boys teams play back-to-back in the first round.

Tournament passes are $20 for adults and $15 for students. Daily admission is $8 for adults and $6 for students 12-18 and $3 for ages 6-11.