ALBEMARLE — While the Yadkin Valley Conference and Rocky River Conference tournaments wrapped up on Friday, the postseason continued for six Stanly County high school basketball teams in the state playoffs.
Three boys’ teams (North Stanly, Albemarle and West Stanly) and three girls’ teams (North Stanly, Albemarle and Gray Stone) received a bid to play in Tuesday’s first round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2021-22 championships.
North Stanly’s boys (19-8, 10-2 YVC) were given a No. 17 seed in the 2A bracket and traveled to face the No. 16 East Surry Cardinals (17-7, 9-3 Foothills), where the Comets suffered a 59-44 loss.
With a 78-65 loss to Robinson (22-3, 12-0) on Friday, the Comets fell just short of winning the YVC championship but were granted another chance in the postseason. Albemarle’s boys (11-13, 5-7 YVC) also lost to Robinson in the conference tournament, falling by a score of 100-63 in the semifinals.
In the 1A bracket’s opening round, the No. 30 Bulldogs lost to the Uwharrie Charter Eagles (18-7, 8-4 PAC-7) by a margin of 63-51.
Meanwhile, West Stanly’s boys (12-11, 7-3 RRC) received a No. 31 seed in the 2A bracket and played second-seeded Lincoln Charter Eagles (22-4, 10-0 Catawba Shores), where the Eagles came out on top 85-46. The Colts had previously lost to Parkwood (13-14, 6-4 RRC) 64-48 in last week’s RRC semifinals but still earned a state playoff spot.
Out of the six Stanly teams to make the playoffs, only one of them is coming off a conference championship victory. The North Stanly girls (20-3, 10-0 YVC) defeated Albemarle (18-7, 7-3 YVC) 70-46 in Friday’s YVC championship, capping off an undefeated conference slate.
The No. 7 Comets hosted the 16th-seeded West Wilkes Blackhawks (9-15, 3-9 Foothills) in the first round of the 2A bracket, where the Blackhawks came away with a 57-52 win.
Hoping to bounce back from their championship loss to the Comets, Albemarle’s girls received a No. 8 seed in the 1A bracket and defeated the No. 25 Blue Ridge Early College Bobcats (8-14, 2-4 Smoky Mountain) 77-56.
Lastly, the No. 28 Gray Stone Day girls’ team (8-12, 4-6 YVC) traveled to face the fifth-seeded Bishop McGuinness Villains (21-6, 10-0 Northwest Piedmont) in the 1A bracket; the Knights sustained a 68-20 loss.
The Knights lost to Robinson 39-31 in the first round of the YVC tournament.
South Stanly’s boys (5-20, 4-8 YVC), Gray Stone Day’s boys (0-19, 0-12 YVC), and West Stanly’s girls (7-19, 4-6 RRC) did not receive a playoff bid.
The second round of playoff action is set for Thursday night, followed by the third round on Saturday and the fourth round next Tuesday.