It’s Tourney Time!!! NCISAA 1A Bracketology
It’s that time of year again! The NCISAA state tournament is upon us and brackets have been released, which brings plenty of excitement to teams around the state. Over the next few days we will take the time to look…
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Continue ReadingIt’s that time of year again! The NCISAA state tournament is upon us and brackets have been released, which brings plenty of excitement to teams around the state. Over the next few days we will take the time to look over some potential matchups and give our own form of Bracketology for each division. Let’s begin with the NCISAA 1A division which always has a nice amount of teams with talent and familiar faces.
- The #1 overall seed went to the Greenfield Knights and rightfully so, they come into the playoffs with a record of 29-4, defeating both the #2 and #3 seeded teams this season. They are the favorite to win state but of course they have some potential matchups in the quarterfinals (Grace Christian), semis (UFCA) and championship (Northwood or Trinity) that could be challenging. What makes Greenfield so dangerous, is the fact that you never know which player is going to strike because they have a ton of weapons. Juniors Creighton Lebo, Dji Bailey, Trey Pittman, and Jacari Outlaw all have had some big time games this season.
- Trinity Christian comes in at #2 and will have a chip on their shoulder as they recently came up short in their conference tournament after winning the regular season championship. The loss of Greg Gantt due to season ending surgery has definitely played a role in the struggles of TCS but we fully expect them to bounce back and have a strong state tournament. Look for DJ Horne and Talton Jones to have some big time games for the Crusaders, Horne is headed to Illinois State while Jones is still unsigned.
- Northwood Temple at #3 is one of the most dangerous teams in the field as it seems they have caught fire as of late. They came into their conference tournament as one of the lower seeds, and went on to beat: Freedom Christian, Trinity and Village to win the conference championship. The difference for the Eagles as of late has been their shared responsibility of scoring the ball, Junior Guard Jamahri Harvey and Senior Guard Charles Page have both been putting up double figure scoring on a regular basis lately. Then you throw in the fact that Northwood is getting outstanding play from one of the top players in the state in Guard Josh Nickelberry who took home Conference POY and Tournament MVP awards, and you have a dangerous state tournament squad.
- The Burlington School got somewhat of a low seed at #6 considering the fact that they won 23 games on the year, so they will be a team to keep a close eye on. They have some size and players that can score the ball at a pretty high level, but most importantly, they have players that can and will defend at a high level.
- Cape Fear Christian at #7 is a team that can be pretty dangerous, as they feature one of the better scorers in the area in Senior Guard EJ Bethea. Anytime you have a team that is as disciplined as CFCA you have to be intrigued with what they can do during state tournament time.
- Last but not least at #8 is the Grace Christian out of Sanford, NC. They finished the regular season with a record of 22-11, and are another team that can be dangerous when tournament time comes. They have good guard play in senior backcourt Nate Yow and Evan Cheek,as well as good size up front with Senior Julian Steinfield and Junior Allan Taylor.