As regular season nears end, lots up in
air — especially in Northwestern Foothills 2A
HobbsDailyReport.com
A look at potential ties in the area boys’ high school basketball conference races – Friday closes the regular season – and they are PROJECTIONS based only on reviewing results and are completely UNOFFICIAL.
Seeds for conference tournaments are just that. They are NOT binding seeds for the state tournaments, and the only written-in-stone seeds for the postseason are those already assured by conference finish.
All three local conferences will meet on Saturday to finalize seeds and develop conference tournament brackets, and the scenarios addressed below may not include all potential for ties.
HobbsDailyReport.com stresses that the projections for seeds are based only on reviewing scores of games and each conference will apply North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA)-instructed guidelines for breaking those ties, which can become very complex when multiple teams are involved.
At this point, the only locked down No. 1 playoff seeds in the South Fork 2A, Northwestern Foothills and Northwestern 3A-4A, based on our review, are as follows:
- Freedom owns the No. 1 3A bid from the Northwestern 3A-4A because it has won a league title.
- Hickory owns the No. 2 3A bid from the Northwestern 3A-4A because it will finish second to Freedom… if a 3A team below No. 2 wins the conference tournament, it would move up to No. 2 and Hickory would go into the at-large pool.
- McDowell, having finished ahead of South Caldwell, owns the Northwestern 3A-4A’s No. 1 4A playoff bid. Since the Titans are not .500 or better overall, they will not be seeded among No. 1s in 4A.
SOUTH FORK 2A
East Lincoln and Maiden for first place (13-1)
They split in the regular season … they are each 2-0 against the next two teams, Newton-Conover and Lake Norman Charter … no one else in the conference would have beaten the Mustangs or Blue Devils. Net: Draw.
Newton-Conover and Lake Norman Charter for third place (8-6)
They split in the regular season … Both are winless against East Lincoln and Maiden … Depends on which team becomes the comparative record team, Lincolnton or Bandys – Red Devils swept Lincolnton and split with Bandys …Lake Norman Charter swept Bandys and split with Lincolnton. Net: N-C No. 3 if comparative team is Lincolnton; Lake Norman Charter No. 3 if comparative team is Bandys.
Bandys and Lincolnton for fifth place (5-9)
They split in the regular season… if comparative record is against Newton-Conover, Bandys gets higher seed (1-1 vs. N-C against 0-2 vs. N-C)… if comparative record is against Lake Norman Charter, Lincolnton gets higher seed (1-1 vs. LNC vs. 0-2 vs. LNC). Net: Depends on comparative team, see notes.
North Lincoln and Lincolnton for fifth place (5-9)
They split in the South Fork 2A games but North Lincoln won an overtime game in the Christmas holiday tournament, which should give the Knights a higher seed. Net: North Lincoln No. 5, Lincolnton No. 6 via third-game result.
NORTHWESTERN FOOTHILLS 2A
Bunker Hill, Draughn, Hibriten for first place (9-3)
Based on comparative records among the three, Draughn would get the top seed (3-1), Bunker Hill would get the No. 2 seed (2-2) and Hibriten would get the No. 3 seed (1-3) … Draughn swept Bunker Hill and Bunker Hill swept Hibriten. Net: Draughn No. 1, Bunker Hill No. 2, Hibriten No. 3 with conference tournament results to factor in state playoff order.
Draughn and Hibriten for first place (9-3)
They split in the regular season.. Draughn would get No. 1 seed via sweep of Bunker Hill, which swept Hibriten. Net: Draughn No. 1, Hibriten No. 2.
Fred T. Foard and East Burke for sixth place (4-8)
They split in the regular season … East Burke would get No. 6 because it has the only win between the two against the top three teams (in any order, Bunker Hill, Draughn or Hibriten). Net: East Burke No. 6, Foard No. 7.
NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A
Watauga and St. Stephens for fourth place (6-8)
Watauga would get No. 4 via having swept the Indians. Net: Watauga No. 4, St. Stephens No. 5.
McDowell and St. Stephens for fifth place (5-9)
They split in the regular season … McDowell would get No. 5 because it split with Watauga and Watauga swept St. Stephens. Net: McDowell No. 5, St. Stephens No. 6.
McDowell and West Caldwell for sixth place (4-10)
They split in the regular season … McDowell would get higher seed via 1-1 against Watauga and Warriors would be 0-2 against Watauga. Net: McDowell No. 6, West Caldwell No. 7.
McDowell, St. Stephens and West Caldwell for fifth place (5-9)
By comparative records among the three, St. Stephens is 2-1 and McDowell and West Caldwell are each 1-3. That would leave the Indians with the highest seed … McDowell and West Caldwell split, and McDowell would be in line for the next seed (1-1 vs. Watauga; W. Caldwell 0-2 against Watauga). Net: St. Stephens No. 5, McDowell No. 6, West Caldwell No. 7.
