High school basketball: Two area teams claim top state seeds

A pair of Standard-area high school basketball teams entered the state playoffs this week as No. 1 seeds and will be at home for the balance of the postseason.

The Farmville Central boys and the South Central girls grabbed top seeds after they won their respective conference tournament titles on Feb. 23.

The South Central boys also won their Big Carolina Conference tourney championship but settled for a fifth seed.

Boys

The Jaguars were 25-1 entering the playoffs and riding an 18-game winning streak. They opened against a familiar opponent in No. 32 seed Ayden-Grifton.

The Tuesday tip-off marked the third meeting this season between the Eastern Plains Conference foes. The first meeting was a somewhat competitive 95-72 Jags win, though the second was a 100-47 pasting.

A-G (13-12) started the season at a promising 6-0 but entered the playoffs having lost seven of its last nine. The Chargers won a fifth-place tiebreaker game over SouthWest Edgecombe on Feb. 23, 48-27.

The other 2A boys’ combatant is the 29th-seeded Greene Central (11-14), which faced No. 4 Northwood (24-3) on the road in Pittsboro on Tuesday.

The Rams finished 6-7 in EPC play.

In 3A, the Falcons (20-3) played host to No. 28 Scotland (9-16) in their opener.

It came on the heels of SC’s three-game sweep of its opponents in the BCC tourney, including topping New Bern 66-53 in the title game.

Girls

In 3A, the Falcons (24-2) took on No. 32 White Oak (8-13) in their playoff tip-off and did so riding a 13-game winning streak.

SC toppled Jacksonville, 71-45, to put the clamps on the Big Carolina tourney crown.

In 2A, Farmville Central (10-12) earned the No. 22 seed and traveled to take on No. 11 Northwood (22-5). The Jags needed to shake a four-game losing streak to advance, which included a loss in the EPC tourney to Greene Central.

The Rams (9-17) were the No. 27 seed and hit the road to take on No. 7 East Carteret (23-2) in their opener. After their overtime win against the Jags in the EPC tournament, GC fell to North Pitt in the semifinals.