High school basketball: Six locals back on the court in second round

Led by a trio of No. 1 seeds in the state playoffs, a total of six local teams will be represented in tonight’s second round.

Four of those teams are at home, led by the top-seeded Farmville Central boys and the North Pitt and South Central girls. The fifth-seeded South Central boys also remain on home turf for their second-round clash.

Hitting the road with collective tough assignments are the D.H. Conley girls and the J.H. Rose boys.

Following is a breakdown of tonight’s games and opponents:

2A

Boys

Northeastern at Farmville Central

The defending state champion Jaguars boys fell right into their usual playoff groove earlier this week, sending No. 32 Ayden-Grifton out of the playoffs in a 50-point drubbing.

Farmville (26-1) won its 19th consecutive game and hosts Northeastern tonight in the second round. FC already owns a pair of victories over the team from Elizabeth City this season.

MJ Williams leads the Jags with an average of 16.0 points per game along with a team-high 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals.

Northeastern (20-8) is getting 16.2 points a game from junior Tyell Saunders and 4.3 rebounds from senior Sayvion Saunders. The Eagles saw their 11-game winning streak snapped by Hertford County in last week’s Northeastern Coastal Conference tournament title game, but then they dispatched Kinston in Tuesday’s playoff opener.

Girls

Southeast Alamance at North Pitt

The No. 1 Panthers also made their usual strong opening statement in the first round with a 66-12 shelling of South Columbus in Bethel.

Senior main cog Zamareya Jones, an N..C. State commit and McDonald’s All-American selection, poured in a game-high 26 points and Kenae Edwards added 12 in the win.

Jones averages 25.4 points per game and also leads the team with 4.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per contest. But this year, she has lots of help. Jordan Speller is not only a scoring complement but is averaging 5.6 assists and sophomore post presence Zihanna Lightfoot averages 7.8 rebounds.

No. 16 Southeast Alamance (20-7) took down Hertford County, 59-47, in the first round. Sophomore Shaniya Paylor leads the Stallions in scoring (13.8), steals (4.0) and assists (4.3), while classmate Clara LaChapelle averages 10.8 rebounds.

3A

Boys

White Oak at South Central

The Falcons (21-3) once again showed their resilience in the opening round and finished with a comfortable 76-54 win over Scotland.

Now No. 12 White Oak (21-6) heads to Winterville fresh from an opening-round win over Southern Alamance on Tuesday.

A balanced SC team is led by Ean Behm’s 12.5 points per game, Isaiah Godley’s 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals and Tobia Moye’s 3.1 assists.

White Oak is getting a steady 15.2 points per game from senior Derrick Benbow Jr., while Kaemon Noel is pulling down 9.5 boards.

J.H. Rose at Swansboro

For all of the Rampants’ late-season strides, including a first-round upset of Triton in Tuesday’s opening round, their reward in the second round is a trip to No. 1 seed Swansboro.

No. 17 Rose (16-10) toppled Triton 74-50 thanks to double-doubles from TJ Brown (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Elijah Carroll (11 pts., 11 reb., 5 steals, 3 blocks), and Justin Grimes added a team-high 17 points in the win.

Grimes was right at his team-best average of 17.4 points. The Rampants are also led by Malachi Keyes’ 6.9 rebounds per game and Malachi Green’s 3.8 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.2 blocks.

Swansboro (26-1) hasn’t lost a game since Nov. 21, 2023, at Laney in its second game of the season. The Pirates are getting 16.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game from Jonah Holt.

Girls

3A

Vance County at South Central

The top-seeded Falcons (25-2) opened the playoffs in similar fashion to the way they played the regular season in a commanding 69-44 win over White Oak in the first round.

SC boasted four double-digit scorers, including 14 points each from Brook Evans (11 rebounds) and Jaidyn Boswell, as well as 13 points from Kaelyn McCarter and 12 from Sabraya Baker.

The Falcons are led by Brooks’ double-double average of 14.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. Boswell is averaging 3.9 assists and 3.1 steals per contest.

South Central faces No. 16 Vance County (22-3), a 69-54 winner over Westover in its playoff opener. The Vipers are led by Na’Ziya Vandergrift’s 13.2 ppg. and Dashunti Hester’s 5.2 rebounds.

4A

Girls

D.H. Conley at South View

The Vikings claimed a one-point thriller at home against Jordan in a difficult 33-32 opener on Tuesday. They rode their defense and a strong first half by Ella Pierre-Louis, and now must hit the road to face South View in the second round.

D.H. Conley (17-8), the No. 9 seed in the 4A East bracket and third-place team in the Big Carolina 3A/4A Conference, advanced and travel to Hope Mills to face No. 8 South View, a 42-38 victor over Pine Forest.

Pierre-Louis is averaging 17.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks to lead Conley, while Charlazha Wilson is dishing 2.3 assists and grabbing 3.0 steals.

South View (19-7) is led by Nahmiah Aekins’ 12.2 points and 3.6 assists per game, while Jayla Blue averages 11.3 rebounds and 3.4 blocks for the Tigers.