Greetings HS hoops junkies from across the springlike Piedmont! The Sadster is here to recap the Regional Semis and let you know who will be playing in the Ring Round. The Great One posted, what for him, was a lackluster 12-4 record, bringing the is overall mark to 197-42 or +/- 83%. He went 3-1 in every category, with 2-0 sweeps in the 4A and 2A West, and in the 3A and 1A East brackets. He also went 4-0 in his Upset Special picks bringing his upset record to 15-9. He is out for blood in the Regional Finals and The Ol’ Cubic Zirconia Ball has been polished and is ready to produce results! There were 2 early week games on Monday in the 3A Regional Finals and The Sadster released his predictions via X (Twitter) early Monday but they will be listed here also. The 4th round saw 2A East top seed Farmville dig a hole and just couldn’t get out enabling W. Bladen to pull off the upset. The slipper is also still fitting for 2A West Cinderella Bandys as they downed 6-seeded Lincoln Charter on the road and is continuing to play with the house’s money. Now, we will recap the Regional Semis. In the 4A West, the 3 seed North Meck advanced to their 5th straight Regional Finals appearance by routing 7th seeded Watauga. That set up Round 4 with conference rival Chambers, who posted another road “upset”, this time over the 9 seed Myers Park. This time, it’s winner-take-all in the West. In the East, #3 Sanderson shocked #2 Garner on the road to advance to face #1 New Hanover who blasted #5 Green Level. In the 3A West, #12 Huss finally beat in town and arch rival and top seed Ashbrook after 3 previous attempts, at Ashbrook no less. 11 seed Ben Smith rode a buzzer-beating three-pointer that bounced high off the glass and fell through, giving them a road upset at 10-seeded Crest. In the East, wrecking machines #1 Swansboro and #2 Southern Durham both advanced for a colossal collision in the Regional Finals. The 2A saw #1 Reidsville survive in the West to take on Bandys for a ticket to the Ring Round. In the 1A we saw the 2 seed Southern Wake roll on to face top seeded Washington County in the East. 5th seeded Corvian went into the Villains’ hideout and shocked top seeded Bishop McGuiness to move on to play juggernaut Queens Grant. Now that we have recapped the 4th round, we will now see who will move on to the title tilts and who will dream of what could have been……TO THE PICKS!!!!
4A WEST: NORTH MECK
4A EAST: NEW HANOVER
3A WEST: BEN SMITH
3A EAST: Upset Special winner SO. DURHAM
2A WEST: REIDSVILLE
2A EAST: NORTHWOOD
1A WEST: QUEENS GRANT
1A EAST: Upset Special winner SO. WAKE
There you have it folks! We have the winners so get to the Regionals and watch it happen with your own eyes. We will return Friday to give out your state title winners. Stay tuned!!!!
SAD SAM – HS HOOPS GENIUS