The North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 2025 boys basketball playoffs are in full swing.

On Tuesday, 128 games were played to determine which teams will play in Friday’s second round.

Here are some of the biggest storylines from round one and an early look at the games in round two.

First Round Upsets

Before anyone gets upset about games not being upsets, of the following upsets are by *seeding* only.

• There were six upsets by seed in 4A. In the west, 22-Charlotte Catholic dominated 11-South Caldwell 77-57. South Caldwell was the second-highest at-large seed. 19-Hough won a tight game over 14-Weddington, and 18-Northwest Guilford beat 15-East Forysth by 10. In the east, 27-seed Millbrook had the upset of the night as it defeated 6-seed South View 54-45. 18-seed Jordan handled 15-seed Knightdale, and 17-seed Green Level absolutely dominated 16-seed Laney, 52-27.
• In 3A, six teams seeded 20 or lower won in upsets. In the West, 24-Dudley got a three-point win on the road at West Charlotte, 23-West Henderson took down Parkwood by 12, and 21-Hibriten took down East Lincoln by 12. In the East, 20-Westover beat 13-Aycock by five, 21-Scotland downed First Flight by 12, and 22-Eastern Alamance blasted 11-South Brunswick 72-43.
• 19-Bandys crushed 14-North Surry in the 2A West by a score of 60-40. That one was a shocker since North Surry seemed to come out of the best area of 2A basketball in the state this season. Elsewere in 2A, 23-seeds East Rutherford and Hertford County both beat their 10-seeds and will face the 7-seed on Friday. 19-Southwest Onslow won a conference rematch over 14-Kinston. That 51-49 contest was also the tightest game in all of 2A.
• It’s very rare, but the 1A West went chalk in the first round. All higher-seeded teams won, a win for RPI. In the East, two 20-plus seeds won in upsets. 20-Warren County beat 13-Falls Lake by six and 23-Columbia beat 10-Triangle Math & Science by nine. Also, 19-seed Washington County defeated 14-Lakewood 72-67.

Most Dominant Performances

• In the 4A West, 2-Lake Norman, 3-Watauga, and 4-seed Mallard Creek each won by over 37 points. The matchups in thie region are going to be awesome next week. 13-seed Hickory Ridge also won by 44 and 10-seed North Mecklenburg won by 39.
• Some teams in the 4A East turned it on defensively. 1-Hoggard, 3-Richmond, 4-Southeast Raleigh, 17-Green Level, and 18-Jordan each held their opponents to under 30 points. 13-seed Rolesville put 87 points on Lumberton, 2-seed Wakefield put 81 on Cleveland, and 10-seed Overhills blasted Corinth Holders 79-33.
• The top six teams in the 3A East all won by over 33 points: 1-Terry Sanford, 2-Western Alamance, 3- Rocky Mount, 4-Fike, 5-South Central, and 6-Union Pines.
• The 3A West did not have many huge margins, but 3-North Lincoln’s 72-26 win over Crest and 6-Ben L. Smith’s 67-23 win over Lake Norman Charter stand out.
• No. 1 overall seed North Wilkes crushed 32-seed Madison 67-15 to kick off the 2A West playoffs. 2-East Burke dominated 31-West Davidson 69-29. Many suspect that these top two teams are on a collision course. 3-seed Southwestern Randolph and 4-seed T.W. Andrews also won by over 40.
• Top seeds Fairmont and Seaforth of the 2A East had similarly crushing wins over their opponents. Fairmont beat Eastern Wayne 77-20 and Seaforth took down Spring Creek 73-15. 5-seed West Craven held 28-seed Red Springs to an aburd nine points in the first round.
• In 1A, West 1-seed Bishop McGuinness won by 48, East 1-seed Perquimans won by 52, West 2-seed Cherokee won by 55, and 3-Albemarle won by 51. It’s hard to top those margins. 8-Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy’s 70-31 win over East Wilkes, a team from a strong area, is also notable.

Closest Games

• The closest game in 4A was 14-seed Topsail’s 53-50 win over 19-seed Willow Spring.
• 14-seed Erwin beat 19-seed South Point in a 45-43 photo finish in the 3A West. That region also saw four-point wins by Rockingham County over Northwest Cabarrus and by Ledford over East rowan in the 16/17, and 15/18 games. Looks like RPI was on top of it in this region.
• A couple of conference remtaches in 2A provided some thrilling finishes. 19-Southwest Onslow beat 14-Kinston by two in the East and 8-Shelby held off 25-Burns in the West by five points.
• The 1A West saw two games decided by three points: 13-Avery’s 55-52 win over 20-Andrews and 15-Carver’s 50-47 win over Mitchell.

Conference Storylines

• The Four Rivers 1A/2A crushed it: Gates County, Martin County, Washington County, and Perquimans left the league without a playoff blemish.
• What the Metro 4A accomplished by getting seven teams into the playoffs is impressive in its own right. Three of them won in the first round: Grimsley, Northern Guilford, and Northwest Guilford.
• All six teams from the Northwest 3A/4A made the playoffs and four of them won: Watauga, Freedom, Hibriten, and Alexander Central.
• The Mountain 3A/4A got seven teams in and saw four of them win: North Buncombe, Erwin, A.C. Reynolds, and McDowell.
• The Central Piedmont Conference did well in the 4A boys playoffs but got crushed in the girls playoffs. East Forsyth lost at home and Reagan and Mouhnt Tabor were blown out by over 27 on the road. The only positive takeaway was Davie’s 81-39 win over Asheville.
• The Big Carolina 3A/4A went 3-1 with only J.H. Rose falling. The Sandhills 3A/4A went 3-1 with only Pinecrest falling. The Central 3A went 3-1 with only Williams falling. The Northern Lakes 2A/3A flexed some muscle by going 3-1 with only Vance County losing. The Southeastern 2A went 3-1 with only Red Springs losing.
• Three teams from the Mid-State 3A entered and all three remain: Rockingham County, Ben L. Smith, and Dudley.
• Both teams from the DC-VI that made it, Chapel Hill and Jordan, started slow but won easily over Wake County opponents Broughton and Knightdale in the end.
• Mixed bag for the Mideastern 3A/4A: Topsail, New Hanover, and Hoggard each won, but Laney, South Brunswick, West Brunswick, and Ashley were blown out. But getting seven teams into the playoffs, even from a split conference, is notable.
• The United 8 3A/4A did not have a good first round. Only Seventy-First won, and won big at that, but Cape Fear, Gray’s Creek, Lumberton, and South View each lost in disappointing fashion.
• Another conference that had a bad night was the South Piedmont 3A. Five teams got in, but only Jay M. Robinson won. Central Cabarrus, Lake Norman Charter, East Rowan, and Northwest Cabarrus each game up short. The Western Foothills 3A went 1-3, with only North Lincoln winning. North Iredell, Foard, and East Lincoln each fell.
• The Triangle North 1A was another league in which only one team won. Roxboro Community advanced to the second round while Oxford Prep, Eno River Academy, and Vance Charter all fell.
• The Foothills 2A was pretty good on Tuesday, finishing 4-2 as a collective. They are gauranteed to be down a team after the second round, though, as Surry Central and North Wilkes are about to face off.
• The Catawba Valley 2A had a mixed showing, especially as it pertains to how it fared against the other top 2A West conferece, the Foothills. Bandys dominated North Surry on the road, but Newton-Conover fell to Surry Central by 10. Lincolnton lost to Lincoln Charter of the Catawba Shores Conference, but Maiden and East Burke took care of business against the others.
• Four teams from the Central Carolina 1A/2A entered and only one survived: Lexington, which had to beat another team from the Central Carolina.
• All three teams that made it from the Mountain Foothills 7 1A/2A advanced: Polk County, East Rutherford, and Hendersonville.
• The charter schools of the Central Tar Heel 1A were wiped out in a Thanos snap. All four teams that made it were eliminated in round one.
• It was also not a good night for the Triangle-area charter schools of the Super Seven 1A/2A. Of the five teams that made it, only Wake Prep Academy won.
• The Smoky Mountain Conference struggled in the boys basketball playoffs and didn’t do much better in the girls. Only Cherokee won while Robbinsville, Murphy, Hayesville, and Andrews each dropped road games. In the Little Smoky, both Hiwassee Dam and Highlands came away with wins.

The Best Second Round Matchups

• 4A East — (13) Rolesville @ (4) Southeast Raleigh. No girls game in the region will have more talent on the floor than this game. Rolesville, the defending state champion, has had some bumps in the road this year, especially against conference foe Wakefield. But if there’s any double-digit seed in the region that can make a run to the title, its Rolesville. A huge factor in this one: despite their level of talent, Southeast is made up alomst entirely of sophomores and freshmen. Rolesville has a considerable experience advantage.
• 4A West — (13) Hickory Ridge @ (4) Mallard Creek. Hickory Ridge is not your average 13-seed. The Ragin’ Bulls have played against and competed with some of the top teams in the area. In the recent conference tournament, Hickory Ridge fell to No. 2 overall seed Lake Norman by just 12 points, as opposed to the 20-plus point losses they had in the first two games. That Lake Norman team beat Mallard Creek earlier in the year by eight points. On the flip side, Hickory Ridge lost big to North Mecklenburg, a team that Mallard Creek beat two out of three times.
• 3A East — (14) Jacksonville @ (3) Rocky Mount. Jacksonville had to share a conference with 5-seed South Central this year, while Rocky Mount didn’t face too much opposition when it came to winning the Big East 2A/3A. According to MaxPreps, Jacksonville is the No. 67 team in North Carolina and Rocky Mount is the No. 50 team in North Carolina. So, this one could be closer than the seeds would lead you to believe.
• 3A West — (11) North Buncombe @ (6) Ben L. Smith. North Buncombe had the top RPI of any of the 3A West at-large teams and BLS is coming off of a dominant win over Lake Norman Charter. North Buncombe finished at No. 8 in 3A West RPI, while Ben L. Smith was No. 6. This one could be good, but it is a long trip for North Buncombe to Greensboro.
• 2A East — (12) Southeast Alamance @ (5) West Craven. Despite the seed difference, Southeast Alamance is a favorite in this matchup. However, West Craven has been hot, winning its past nine games. The Eagles are coming off of the best defensive performance in this year’s playoffs as they held Red Springs to nine points in the first round.
• 2A West — (13) Maiden @ (4) T.W. Andrews. This could be an outstanding matchup. Both of these teams put up 73-plus points and won by over 37 points in round one. In the final 2A East RPI, Maiden finished No. 7 and T.W. Andrews finished No. 6. This is the best matchup in the state by RPI finish.
• 1A East — (12) Pamlico County @ (5) Roxboro Community. It’s a Pamlico team that has contended with some of the best in the East, including larger classification schools, against one of the last remaining undefeated teams in Roxboro Community. Pamlico finished No. 8 in the final 1A East RPI and Roxboro finished No. 6. As a sign of a potential upset, Pamlico is ranked 40 spots ahead of Roxboro in MaxPreps’ computer rankings for North Carolina.
• 1A West — (9) Queen’s Grant @ (8) Thomas Jefferson Classical. This charter school matchup could be good. Both teams won by at least 25 points in the first round. In the final 1A West RPI rankings, Queen’s Grant finished No. 12 and TJCA finished No. 8.