The first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A basketball playoffs took place after the Cherokee Scout’s press time Tuesday.
The Hiwassee Dam and Murphy boys teams had home games in the first round. Meanwhile, the Andrews boys, Hiwassee Dam girls and Murphy girls all hit the road.
The Eagles (14-12 overall) are the No. 11 seed after winning the Little Smoky Mountain Conference and hosted No. 22 Swain County (12-13), which fell to 63-58 on Dec. 2.
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The Lady Eagles (14-12) are the No. 24 seed and traveled to a familiar foe in No. 9 Highlands (18-6).
The Lady Highlanders won all three meetings between the two teams this year. Hiwassee Dam is trying to avoid the exact same end as last year, when it fell to Highlands twice in the regular season, then again in both the conference tournament and first round of the state playoffs.
The Murphy boys team (16-9) is the No. 13 seed and hosted No. 20 seed Winston-Salem Prep (14-10). The Forsyth County magnet school is a 1A power with six state championships and eight 1A West Regional championships.
They were regional runner-up to Hayesville last year, but lost three of their top four scorers from that team. Both the Bulldogs and Phoenix finished second in their conference.
The Lady Bulldogs (11-14) are the No. 27 seed and traveled to No. 6 seed East Wilkes (20-4). The Lady Cardinals captured both the Northwest Conference regular season and tournament titles this year after finishing second in the conference last year.
The Andrews boys (14-11) are the No. 19 seed and traveled to No. 14 seed Avery County (17-9). The Vikings finished second in the Western Highlands conference behind Mountain Heritage, the No. 1 seed in the 1A West.
Both teams beat Mitchell this year. Andrews knocked off the Mountaineers 43-41 in the Maroon Devil Christmas Classic, while Avery County bested them 59-46 on Jan. 12 and 56-50 on Feb. 7.