Staff report

The NCHSAA released the brackets for the basketball state playoffs on Saturday.

The seeds are known. The matchups — and in some cases, rematches — are set.

The first four rounds will be played on the home court of the team with the better seed.

First-round games are Tuesday.

Regional finals and state championship games will be played with a Final Four atmosphere in Winston-Salem at Joel Coliseum.

As expected, the West Rowan, North Rowan and Salisbury girls are in the playoffs, along with the boys teams from Salisbury, North Rowan, Carson and West Rowan.

The only Rowan team on the bubble — the East Rowan girls — did not make it. The Mustangs finished 32nd in the RPI rankings, but were bumped out of a 32-team playoff bracket by teams (West Charlotte, Piedmont) with lower RPIs, who were automatic qualifiers based on conference standings in split leagues.

Playoff schedule

Salisbury is seeded second in the 2A West bracket and will play at home Tuesday against No. 31 Anson, following the Salisbury girls game.

The Hornets (23-3) have won 16 in a row and won the Central Carolina Conference regular season and tournament.

Wake Forest recruit Juke Harris averages 32.5 points per game and is on the verge of becoming Rowan County’s all-time scorer for boys basketball.

Anson (14-12) played in a split 2A/3A league.

Undefeated Reidsville, the No. 1 seed, will be the team to keep an eye on, as the Hornets start their playoff march. As the No. 2 seed, the Hornets can play four home games if they keep winning.

Lexington is in the 2A West bracket. Seeded 24th, the Yellow Jackets play at No. 9 Monroe in the first round.

North Rowan (14-12) is the No. 20 seed in the 1A boys bracket and will have a 225-mile trip to the mountains to play No. 13 Andrews (18-7).

As the top 1A finisher in a split 1A/2A league, Thomasville was seeded as a conference champ and is the No. 5 seed in the 1A West bracket. The Bulldogs host No. 28 Allegheny in the first round.

 

CCC girls

Salisbury, the winner of the last two 2A state championships, is the No. 6 seed in the 2A West bracket. As the top 2A finisher in the split 1A/2A CCC, the Hornets (18-7) were seeded as a conference champ. Their first-round opponent will be No. 27 East Davidson. The Hornets have beaten East Davidson three times, although the Hornets did not have an easy game with the Golden Eagles in last week’s CCC tournament. Salisbury won 57-47 thanks to a career-high 30 points by Jamyrah Cherry.

North Wilkes is the top seed in the 2A West bracket.

North Rowan (23-3) has won a program-record 18 in a row but still was behind six teams in the 1A West RPI rankings and is only a 7 seed. The Cavaliers will host No. 26 Andrews in the first round. Andrews, a mountain team with a 10-14 record, will be making a long road trip.

Albemarle, a team North Rowan beat twice, is the 4 seed. The No. 1 seed in the 1A West bracket is Mountain Heritage. The No. 2 seed is two-time defending champion Bishop McGuinness.

 

SPC boys

As expected, the South Piedmont Conference got six teams in the 3A West bracket.

Defending state champ Central Cabarrus, coached by former North Rowan and Catawba player and coach Jim Baker, has a good chance to go undefeated again. Hickory is the No. 1 seed, based on RPI, but Central Cabarrus, seeded second, has to be the favorite.

Central will get four home games.

The rest of the SPC teams are on the road in the first round.

No. 20 Robinson is at No, 13 West Henderson. No. 21 Concord is at No. 12 Ashbrook. No. 22 Northwest Cabarrus is at No. 11 Kings Mountain.

Carson (15-9) is seeded 23rd and will play at No. 10 Asheboro (22-3), which finished second behind Central Davidson in league play, but just beat Central Davidson by 15 on Friday to win the Mid-Piedmont Conference Tournament.

Asheboro’s senior forward Jerquarius Stanback averages 24.6 points per game and shoots 62 percent.

No. 29 West Rowan is at No. 4 Southern Guilford (26-1). The Falcons (12-12) struggled down the stretch, losing five of their last six.

Southern Guilford hasn’t lost since December and won the regular season and the tournament in the Mid-State Conference.

SPC girls

West Rowan (25-1) is seeded second in the 3A West bracket, based on RPI, but the Falcons have a good chance to win another 3A state championship. As the No. 2 seed, West is assured of four home games as long as it keeps winning and the Falcons won’t play any road games. If they do win four, they’ll head to the neutral Joel Coliseum for the regional final.

That’s good news for West fans who had to make a trek to McDowell County for the regional final in 2023.

West will take on a familiar opponent in Tuesday’s first round. Central Cabarrus, the fourth-place finisher in the South Piedmont Conference, has been blown out by the Falcons three times this season. Central has a pretty good team, but has struggled to deal with West’s pressure defense.

The No. 1 seed in the 3A West bracket is AC Reynolds, an Asheville team.

Also in the 3A West bracket from the SPC are Robinson and Northwest Cabarrus.

Seeded 15th, Northwest plays at home against No. 18 North Lincoln on Tuesday. If the Trojans win, they’ll be facing West Rowan again. The Trojans do match up better with the Falcons than Central Cabarrus does.

Robinson is seeded 12th and hosts No. 21 North Buncombe in the first round.