*Check out the complete 1A playoff brackets on the Cherokee Scout’s Facebook page.
.
Raleigh – For the second time in three seasons, the Murphy girls basketball team will be the No. 1 seed in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A West playoffs.
The Lady Bulldogs (23-3 overall) played No. 32 seed Elkin (8-15) in the first round Tuesday night, the results of which were not available until after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press.
If Murphy wins its first-round game, it will host the winner of No. 16 seed Mitchell (12-10) and No. 17 seed East Wilkes (19-7) in a second-round game Thursday. Murphy and Mitchell would be a rematch of the last two 1A West Regional finals, which the Lady Bulldogs won 63-62 and 60-46, respectively.
Murphy was the No. 1 seed in 2020, but last year had to win four road games on its way to a second straight state championship. The Lady Bulldogs aren’t the only Smoky Mountain Conference team to earn the No. 1 seed in the bracket, as Hayesville (22-0) is the top seed in the boys bracket.
Hiwassee Dam girls basketball (11-13), which qualified for the playoffs as the No. 26 seed, took on No. 7 Highlands (16-9) in the first round Tuesday. The Little Smoky Mountain Conference foes have met three times this year, with the Lady Highlanders taking every game, including a 55-32 win in the conference tournament final Thursday. Highlands has won all three meetings by an average of 22.6 points per game.
On the boys side, Hiwassee Dam (13-8) is the No. 8 seed and played No. 25 Robbinsville (12-12) on Tuesday. This is another recent rematch for the Eagles, as the Black Knights bested them 63-51 at Hiwassee Dam on Feb. 9.
The Andrews and Murphy’s boys teams both made the playoffs and were rewarded with the two longest trips in the 1A West Region. The No. 21 seed Bulldogs (11-13) traveled 262 miles to take on No. 12 seed Bishop McGuinness (19-8), while the No. 22 seed Wildcats (12-12) traveled 255 miles to No. 11 seed Mount Airy (18-5).
Both the Villains and Granite Bears are under-seeded, as they finished seventh and fifth in the state’s RPI rankings. However, since both teams finished second in their respective conference, they were seeded behind teams that won their conference or finished either in the top three or had an overall record of .500 or better as a member of a split 1A/2A conference.
Mount Airy was also the regional runner-up last year, falling to Lincoln Charter in the Final Four.