Projecting where the East/West line may fall in the next realignment
One of the most important-but-overlooked parts of any realignment or playoff format is establishing who goes in the East and who goes in the West.
Through the years, the N.C. High School Athletic Association has had some interesting results. Here’s a few that stand out for me:
- In 2018, Green Hope and Panther Creek — separated by two West Cary miles of N.C. Highway 55 — met in the volleyball state championship after the latter won the West and the former won the East.
- In 2008, Douglas Byrd and Seventy-First — separated by 4 miles and two turns — met in the football state championship after Seventy-First won the West and Byrd won the East.
- Hobbton, a school east of I-95, has a western regional title in football.
- Granville Central, in the same athletic year, had a playoff football game at Mitchell and a playoff basketball game at East Carteret because it wound up in the West for one sport and the East for another.
I still remember my senior year of high school, where Western Harnett hosted Hopewell out of Huntersville in the first round of the football playoffs with a trip to Independence on the line. We didn’t understand how Western Harnett could be “West.”
Determining the East/West line can go one of two ways.
The first way, you set the line in advance.
This has always been done for individual sports and their regions, either into thirds (East, Central, West) or fourths (East, Mideast, Midwest, West) and almost always by conference affiliation (there have been times where longitude was used for individual regions, but it was quickly scrapped after coaches preferred doing it by conferences).
The other way, and this only applies to bracketed sports, is to set the field first and then divide by longitude based on who made it.
Although it was used for years, primarily in subdivided football playoffs, it set up extreme travel and unusual East/West delineations like the ones listed above. It was so bad in 2A dual-team wrestling one year that Mount Pleasant was in the East and dual-team wrestling went back to a set East/West line.
With the number of teams shrinking from more than 110 schools per classification to less than 60 (and only 32 in the case of 8A), there will be some changes in where the East/West line falls across each class, which will affect individual sports most certainly. It would also matter to bracketed sports if we retain the current model of defining East/West ahead of creating the field.
Below, I’m projecting these as the where the teams will be sorted, with a few key rules followed.
First, I never separated one school from others in its currently-projected conference (so long as they share the same classification) as that’s only happened once or twice in my 17 years of coverage. Second, I tried to make East/West as even as possible within reason. I got within 1-3 schools of difference in 8A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, and 2A. As you’ll see, trying to place a good divider in 7A and 1A was a little harder.
8A East: 17 schools — Apex, Apex Friendship, Athens Drive, Broughton, Corinth Holders, Enloe, Green Hope, Green Level, Hoggard, Jordan, Laney, Leesville Road, Millbrook, Panther Creek, Rolesville, Wakefield, Willow Spring
8A West: 15 schools — Ardrey Kell, Chambers, East Mecklenburg, Garinger, Hoke County, Hough, Mallard Creek, Myers Park, Northwest Guilford, Palisades, Pinecrest, Providence, South Mecklenburg, West Charlotte, West Forsyth
Dividing line: Between the Triad and the Sandhills.
Schools changing sides: Pinecrest and Hoke County going to the West.
JMB’s take: This one seems pretty straightforward. Pinecrest and Hoke County going to Charlotte is roughly the same distance to Wilmington. By not having any schools in the foothills or mountains, 8A stops right along I-77.
7A East: 32 schools — Ashley, Cape Fear, Cary, Chapel Hill, Clayton, Cleveland, D.H. Conley, East Wake, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Heritage, Hillside, Holly Springs. Jack Britt, Knightdale, Lumberton, New Bern, New Hanover, North Brunswick, Overhills, Pine Forest, Purnell Swett, Richmond, Riverside, Sanderson, Smithfield-Selma, South Central, South Garner, Southeast Raleigh, Southern Durham, Topsail, Wake Forest.
7A West: 27 — A.L. Brown, Ballantyne Ridge, Butler, Cox Mill, Cuthbertson, Davie County, East Forsyth, Grimsley, Hickory Ridge, Hopewell, Independence, Lake Norman, Marvin Ridge, McDowell, Mooresville, North Mecklenburg, Page, Parkland, Porter Ridge, R.J. Reynolds, Reagan, Rocky River, South Iredell, Southwest Guilford, Weddington, West Cabarrus, West Mecklenburg.
Dividing line: Same as it is now.
Schools changing sides: None.
JMB’s take: You could, I guess, move the three Durham schools to the West and get the two sides more even, but that seems weird to do when Chapel Hill (for the moment in a conference with Cary and Sanderson) and Richmond (for the moment in a conference with several Cumberland, Robeson and Harnett schools) are farther west and are more unlikely to pull their entire leagues westward.
6A East: 30 schools — Cardinal Gibbons, E.E. Smith, East Chapel Hill, Felton Grove, Franklinton, Gray’s Creek, Harnett Central, J.H. Rose, Jacksonville, Lee County, Middle Creek, Northern Durham, Northern Nash, Scotland, Seventy-First, South Johnston, South View, Southern Alamance, Southern Lee, Swansboro, Terry Sanford, Triton, Union Pines, Vance County, West Brunswick, West Johnston, Western Harnett, Westover, White Oak, Williams.
6A West: 29 schools — A.C. Reynolds, Alexander Central, Ashbrook, Asheboro, Asheville, Ben L. Smith, Berry Academy, Central Cabarrus, Charlotte Catholic, Dudley, Eastern Guilford, Freedom, Glenn, Harding, Kings Mountain, Mount Tabor, North Iredell, Northern Guilford, Olympic, Piedmont, Ragsdale, South Caldwell, Southeast Guilford, St. Stephens, Statesville, Sun Valley, T.C. Roberson, Watauga, Western Guilford.
Dividing line: Same as it is now.
Schools changing sides: None.
JMB’s take: This is as perfect as it gets. Thirty on one side, 29 on the other, with the dividing line cutting between Guilford and Alamance counties.
5A East: 29 schools — C.B. Aycock, Cedar Ridge, Croatan, Currituck County, Dixon, Douglas Byrd, Durham School of the Arts, Eastern Alamance, Fike, Havelock, Hunt, J.F. Webb, Northeast Guilford, Northside of Jacksonville, Orange, Person, Richlands, Rockingham County, Rocky Mount, Seaforth, South Brunswick, South Granville, Southeast Alamance, Southern Guilford, Southern Nash, Southern Wayne, St. Pauls, West Carteret, Western Alamance.
5A West: 30 schools — Atkins, Concord, Crest, East Lincoln, East Rowan, Enka, Erwin, Forest Hills, Forestview, Franklin, Hickory, High Point Central, Hunter Huss, Jay M. Robinson, Jesse Carson, Monroe, Montgomery Central, North Buncombe, North Davidson, North Forsyth, North Gaston, North Henderson, North Lincoln, Northwest Cabarrus, Oak Grove, Parkwood, Smoky Mountain, South Point, West Henderson, West Rowan.
Dividing line: Between High Point and Greensboro proper.
Schools changing sides: Southern Guilford, Northeast Guilford, and Rockingham County going to the East
JMB’s take: This one’s a little tricky because, for now, High Point Central and Montgomery Central are in the same conference and Northeast Guilford and Southern Guilford are in another. You could, I guess, put all of them in the West, because a 32/27 split isn’t the worst. But so long as Rockingham County is paired with Person and the Alamance schools, they’ll for sure have to switch sides.
4A East: 30 schools — Bunn, Carrboro, Carver, Central Davidson, Clinton, Cummings, East Duplin, Eastern Wayne, Fairmont, First Flight, Graham, Jordan-Matthews, Ledford, Lexington, Morehead, Nash Central, North Johnston, North Lenoir, North Pitt, Randleman, Red Springs, Reidsville, Roanoke Rapids, SouthWest Edgecombe, Southwest Onslow, Southwestern Randolph, T.W. Andrews, Uwharrie Charter, Washington, West Craven.
4A West: 29 schools — Anson, Ashe County, Bandys, Brevard, Bunker Hill, Burns, Central Academy, East Burke, East Gaston, East Henderson, Forbush, Fred T. Foard, Hibriten, Lake Norman Charter, Lincoln Charter, Maiden, Mount Pleasant, Newton-Conover, North Surry, Pisgah, R-S Central, Salisbury, South Rowan, Stuart Cramer, Tuscola, West Iredell, West Stanly, West Stokes, Wilkes Central.
Dividing line: Somewhere between Lexington and Salisbury.
Schools changing sides: Carver, Central Davidson, Ledford, Lexington, Morehead, Randleman, Reidsville, Southwestern Randolph, T.W. Andrews, and Uwharrie Charter to the East.
JMB’s take: No other class gets more of a shake-up than this one, where 10 schools we currently consider “west” will have to come East to balance the playoff brackets. Ledford, Lexington, and Central Davidson seem like the biggest stretches, but they’re partnered (for now) in a conference with T.W. Andrews and Randleman. If all five were to stay in the West, that’d lead to 34 on one side and 25 on the other, and that’s too big of a gap.
3A East: 29 schools — Ayden-Grifton, Bartlett Yancey, Beddingfield, Eastern Randolph, Farmville Central, Goldsboro, Greene Central, Hertford County, James Kenan, Kinston, Louisburg, Martin County, McMichael, Midway, NCSSM-Durham, North Moore, Northeastern, Northwood, Pasquotank County, Pender, Princeton, South Columbus, South Lenoir, Spring Creek ,Trask, Wake Prep, Wallace-Rose Hill, West Bladen, Whiteville.
3A West: 30 schools — Bessemer City, CHASE, Draughn, East Davidson, East Rutherford, East Surry, Hendersonville, Lincolnton, Madison, Mount Airy, Mountain Heritage, North Stanly, North Wilkes, Owen, Patton, Piedmont Community, Pine Lake Prep, Polk County, Providence Grove, Shelby, Surry Central, Thomasville, Trinity, Union Academy, Walkertown, West Caldwell, West Davidson, West Lincoln, West Wilkes, Wheatmore.
Dividing line: Splits Randolph County somewhere between Grays Chapel and Ramseur.
Schools changing sides: McMichael and Eastern Randolph going to the East.
JMB’s take: This seems about right. Eastern Randolph is currently in a league with North Moore and Northwood and I can’t see either being “West.” You could make a case for Bartlett Yancey and McMichael to stay in the West, but this is too nice of a balance. Besides, in the past, McMichael and Eastern Randolph have been in the East for playoffs.
2A East: 31 schools — ALA-Johnston, Bertie, Camden County, East Bladen, East Carteret, East Wake Academy, Eno River, Franklin Academy, Gates County, Henderson Collegiate, Hobbton, Holmes, Lakewood, Lejeune, Manteo, North Duplin, Northampton County, Northwest Halifax, Pamlico County, Perquimans, Raleigh Charter, Research Triangle, Rosewood, Roxboro Community, Southside, Tarboro, Triangle Math & Science, Union, Voyager, Warren County, West Columbus.
2A West: 28 schools — Albemarle, Alleghany, Avery County, Bishop McGuinness, Bradford Prep, Cherokee, Cherryville, Christ the King, Cornerstone Charter, Corvian Community, CSD, East Wilkes, Elkin, Gray Stone Day, Hayesville, Highland Tech, Langtree Charter, Mitchell, Mountain Island Charter, Murphy, North Rowan, Piedmont Classical, Queen’s Grant, South Stanly, South Stokes, Starmount, Sugar Creek Charter, Swain County.
Dividing line: Same as it is now.
Schools changing sides: None.
JMB’s take: This one’s just about perfect using our current dividing line. I don’t expect too many changes.
1A East: 33 schools — Ascend Leadership, Bear Grass Charter, Cape Hatteras, Central Carolina Academy, Chatham Central, Chatham Charter, Clover Garden, Columbia, Discovery Charter, East Columbus, Eastern School for Deaf, Excelsior Classical, Falls Lake, Hobgood Charter, Jones, KIPP-Pride, Mattamuskeet, Neuse Charter, North East Carolina Prep, North Edgecombe, Northside of Beaufort County, Ocracoke, Oxford Prep, River Mill, Rocky Mount Prep, Sallie B. Howard, Southeast Halifax, Southern Wake, Vance Charter, Washington County, Weldon, Wilson Prep, Woods Charter.
1A West: 25 schools — Andrews, Bethany Community, Blue Ridge Early College, Bonnie Cone Leadership, Carolina International, College Prep & Leadership, Highlands, Hiwassee Dam, Jackson Day, Millennium Charter, Nantahala, NC Leadership Academy, NC School for the Deaf, NCSSM-Morganton, North Stokes, Phoenix Academy, Robbinsville, Rosman, South Davidson, Summit Charter, Thomas Jefferson, Tri-County Early College, Triad Math & Science, Valor Preparatory, Winston-Salem Prep.
Dividing line: Same as it is now.
Schools changing sides: None.
JMB’s take: This one was hard for me, and I ended up with the biggest gap between East and West, a 33/25 split. But you can justify this a number of ways besides “it’s crazy to put Falls Lake in the same bracket as Hiwassee Dam if you can avoid it.” A lot of 1A East teams don’t field as many sports as their 1A West counterparts, so it makes sense that they need more programs to help fill out the bracket. This also helps avoid the most drastic travel complications (360 miles one way gets cut down to 281). For now, it comes down to how the NCHSAA handles the proposed league of River Mill, Clover Garden, Excelsior Classical, Falls Lake, Discovery Charter, and Woods Charter. Moving those six to the West makes it 31 in the West and 27 in the East.
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Source: highschoolot.com