By eventually won 51-47.

Top Seeds Survive

• 4A East 17-seed Heritage took No. 1 overall seed New Hanover to overtime. The Wildcats pulled out a 62-52 in the extra period, but there were multiple moments of concern for Hanover during regulation. Heritage’s defensive apparatus was one of the most equipped to affect the Wildcats of the remaining teams. New Hanover will hope the game serves as a wake-up call going forward.
• 2-seed Garner also had a tough time in the 4A East. The Trojans needed free throws at the buzzer to defeat 15-seed Cardinal Gibbons.
• In the 3A East, 4-seed Person held a 9-point lead over 13-Orange at the start of the fourth quarter, but Orange fought back to make it a 3-point game. The Panthers missed a game-tying shot with .8 seconds to go and the Rockets held on for the 56-53 win.

Most Dominant Performances

• While some of the top teams in 4A struggled, others jumped on people. 3-North Mecklenburg thrashed a competitive Davie team by 40 points in the West. The West’s top seed Lake Norman beat a good Hopewell squad by 22. East 3-seed Sanderson had a strong defensive showing and a star performance by Nathan Fife to beat Millbrook 57-41. 5-Green Level’s 17-point win over 21-Leesville Road was impressive as the Pride were much stronger than their seed indicated.
• The top three seeds in the 3A East pulled off sizable wins. 1-Swansboro beat a solid South Central team 72-56, 2-Southern Durham crushed Triton 87-55, and 3-J.H. Rose had a nice 86-71 win over a strong Crostan squad. Further, 6-seed Seventy-First crushed its Fayetteville counterpart Westover by 41 points.
• 2A West 1-seed Reidsville blew out 16-North Stanly, 94-62. Kendre Harrison and Dionte Neal each scored at least 25 points. 4-Salisbury dominated a good Pine Lake Prep team 81-46 and 7-Shelby beat 10-Owen by 30. On the East side, 1-Farmville Central had the widest margin of victory with an 80-50 dub over Fairmont.
• In the 1A East, 1-Washington County and 2-Southern Wake Academy both won by 32 points. 4-Voyager Academy defeated Northside-Pinetown by 33 points.
• In what we’ll call a dominant offensive performance, 9-North Rowan beat 8-Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy 109-90 in regulation. The Cavaliers scored 25 or more points each quarter. 2-seed South Stokes beat 15-Carver 94-69.

Photo Finishes

• Watauga, the 7-seed in the 4A West, avoided a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of overtime against 10-Mount Tabor. The final score was 80-77 and the score after regulation was 73-73. Two players from Watauga scored over 25 points: junior Cade Keller (25) and senior Josiah Railey (27). Mount Tabor was the No. 2 overall team in the final 4A West RPI rankings.
• 1A East 7-seed Chatham Central beat 10-Wilson Prep in a 61-58 thriller, ending the Tigers’ hopes as a three-peat state champion.
• 4A West 5-seed Independence held off 12-Mooresville in a 48-46 defensive battle that came down to the final seconds.
• In the 4A East, 7-First Fight survived 10-E.E. Smith, 55-52.
• Catawba Valley Athletic Conference rivals 13-Lincolnton and 4-Maiden went to overtime in their fourth matchup of the season. Lincolnton prevailed with a 72-69 win.
• In the 2A East, 5-Northeastern defeated 12-Kinston in a 52-50 thriller.

Conference with the Most Teams Remaining

• The Queen City 3A/4A has the most teams standing in the 4A West, with 3-North Mecklenburg and 13-Chambers still alive.
• The Southwest Wake and Greater Neuse River are tied with two teams left apiece in the 4A East. In the third round, these sets of teams will face off. 26-Apex Friendship of the SWAC plays 2-Garner of the GNRC and 13-Clayton of the GNRC plays 5-Green Level of the SWAC.
• In the 3A West, only three conferences remain: the Mid-State, Mid-Piedmont, Big South. The Big South has three teams still standing: 1-Ashbrook, 10-Crest, and 12-Huss. The Mid-State also has three: 11-Ben L. Smith and 3-Dudley, who are set for a rematch on Tuesday, and 20-High Point Central. 15-Oak Grove and 24-Central Davidson are left from the Mid-Piedmont. Ledford, the conference champion, was bumped in the first round.
• The 3A East is led by the Coastal 3A, which has 1-Swansboro and 12-White Oak still alive.
• With 12-Lincolnton and 15-Bandys still standing, the CVAC has the most teams remaining in the 2A West. The 2A East is represented by eight different conferences.
• In the 1A East, the Four Rivers Conference still has 1-Washington County and 14-Bertie standing.
• The 1A West has 22-East Wilkes and 2-South Stokes still representing the Northwest Conference and 13-Carolina International and 3-Queen’s Grant still representing the Metro 8.

Best 3rd Round Matchups

• 4A West — (13) Chambers @ (5) Independence. Chambers might find itself in this category for each round it survives. In the final 4A West RPI rankings, Chambers and Independence ranked No. 9 and No. 8.
• 4A East — (13) Clayton @ (5) Green Level. Green Level is coming off of an impressive, dominant win over Leesville Road. Meanwhile, Clayton seems to be hitting its stride after winning by 40 in the first round and knocking off Jordan, a top contender in the East, in the second round.
• 3A West — (11) Ben L. Smith @ (3) Dudley. Easy choice here. The Greensboro rivals are set to face off for the fourth time this year. Dudley leads the season series 2-1, but Smith won the most recent matchup.
• 3A East — (6) Seventy-First @ (3) J.H. Rose. Seventy-First is the defending 3A East champ with many of those key players back. Rose has had some really hot moments in its first year under Robert Duck. After some midseason stagnation, Rose appears to have found its stride again after handling a good Croatan team. The obstacle? Seventy-First has won the first two playoff games by at least 36 points.
• 2A West — (12) Lincolnton @ (4) Salisbury. In the final RPI rankings for the 2A West, Lincolnton (No. 3) and Salisbury (No. 5) both finished in the top five. You don’t normally associate the third round with top five matchups, but that is what we’re getting.
• 2A East — (5) Northeastern @ (4) West Bladen. The 2A East is eight for eight in top seeds remaining. Among the third round matchups, Northeastern (No. 7) and West Bladen (No. 6) finished the closest in the final RPI rankings for the 2A East. These teams have both athleticism and size.
• 1A West — (7) Eastern Randolph @ (2) South Stokes. This is the third consecutive year that these teams have met deep in the 1A West playoffs. So far, its been a one to one split in terms of who wins. Neither squad has come particularly close to losing in these playoffs.
• 1A East — (5) Wake Prep @ (4) Voyager Academy is the easy choice here. The Guardians and Vikings finished as the No. 6 and No. 5 teams in the final 1A East RPI rankings. With three of the top four teams in the final RPI already out of the picture, the winner of this game has a real opportunity to get to the regional final.