Prep basketball playoff pairings released

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

The North High Carolina High School Athletic Association released the pairings for this week's prep basketball state playoffs, and six area boys teams, along with five area girls teams got in.

The boys' first-round games will be Monday, and the girls' first-round games will follow on Tuesday, including one game whose host should definitely be flip-flopped.

Rosman (20-6), one of the best girls teams in the mountains, earned the Big Smoky Mountain Conference's third seed. Thanks to a split Southern Piedmont Conference, Highland Tech, with a lowly 5-20 record, earned the conference's No. 2 1-A seed. Therefore, Tech gets to host the Lady Tigers.

"We're used to it. Last year we had to travel to a two-win team," Rosman coach Joe Carrington said. "That's just the way the seeding goes. The only thing I question is that if you are in afour-team or smaller conference, things should be readjusted a little bit to have teams in larger conferences get home playoff games."

The Lady Tigers have been playing on the road for the past month.

"We've played eight of our last nine games on the road, so you could say we are true ‘Road Warriors,'" Carrington said.

Rosman knows its first-round opponent and its possible second-round opponent very well.

"We played Highland Tech at the Cherryville Christmas Tournament, and we also faced Avery (County) there, who we might face in the second round. If we get through those first two road games, we will have to go through Robbinsville, so it's a tough draw," Carrington said.

Rosman also played on the road most of last year's playoffs and ended up making it to the 1-A state quarterfinals.

In Monday's 1-A boys matchups, Hendersonville (14-9), the top seed from the Western Highlands Conference, will host wild card East Wilkes (6-18), and the WHC's No. 2 seed, Polk County (7-18) entertains the Big Smoky Mountain's fourth seed, Hayesville (14-12). The Rosman boys (9-15) got in as a wild card and travel to the Little Smoky Mountain's No. 2 seed, Hiwassee Dam (13-16).

All of the area 2-A boys teams will be on the road. West (11-12), the third seed from the Western Athletic Conference, travels to East Rutherford (17-7), the Southwestern Conference's No. 2 seed. Brevard (10-13), the fourth seed from the WAC, travels to Hibriten (18-8), the Catawba Valley's second seed, and East (9-15), which got in as a wild card, travels to the WAC top seed, Smoky Mountain (22-2).

The other two 1-A girls teams competing Tuesday are Polk County and Hendersonville. The Lady Wolverines (13-10), the second seed from the WHC, will host BSM No. 4 seed Swain County (11-14), and the Lady Bearcats (6-17) got in as a wild card and will travel to Highlands (13-13), the No. 2 seed from the Little Smoky Mountain Conference.

Two county teams will be the only ones from the area competing in the 2-A girls' bracket. North's Lady Knights (13-12) earned the WAC's No. 3 seed and will travel to Souhwestern Conference No. 2 seed East Rutherford (21-4), and West (6-17), the WAC's fourth seed, will be on the road at Bandys (19-6), the Catawba Valley's second seed.

Times for the first-round games haven't been announced yet.