11 teams make NCISAA playoffs
Fayetteville Christian girls, Fayetteville Academy boys get top seeds
By Jaclyn Shambaugh
Staff writer FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Fayetteville Christian’s girls’ and Fayetteville Academy’s boys’ basketball teams landed the top seed in their respective NCISAA playoff brackets, which were released Sunday.
The playoffs begin Tuesday, and finals will be played at various host schools Saturday.
In first=round games Tuesday, the Fayetteville Christian boys' host St. Davids, the Northwood Temple girls' will be at home against winless John Paul II Catholic and the Fayetteville Academy girls' will play at Westchester Country Day.
The Trinity Christian boys' and girls', Northwood Temple boys', Village Christian boys' and girls' and Freedom Christian boys' also qualified for the playoffs and will play later in the week.
The Warrior girls (25-1) enter the 3-A bracket riding a 24-game winning streak, rolling through opponents without a loss since Nov. 13, when they stumbled at Cape Fear Academy.
Since then, the Warriors rolled, completing an undefeated run through the NCISAA Sandhills Conference. They won the conference tournament Friday, beating regular-season runner-up Trinity Christian for the third time this season.
“Every team is a possible competitive game,” Warriors’ coach Don Gardner said. “I just hope that we stay focused on us and that we stay humble enough to what we’re supposed to do and try to get some wins to get this whole thing.”
Winning the whole thing has been the goal all season for the Warriors, Gardner said, ever since the team, seeded fourth and granted a double-bye in the 2-A bracket in 2018, lost its quarterfinal contest.
“We’re not moving past that until we finish the season,” Gardner said. “The girls’ goal is to win the state championship, and anytime you set a goal, you do whatever you can to achieve it. Nothing’s going to be given to it, so we’ve got to go out here and do what we can to take it.”
The Warriors get a doublebye again this year and will host the quarterfinal round Saturday.
The Fayetteville Academy boys get a bye in the 2-A bracket. The Eagles will host the winner of Tuesday’s game between Rocky Mount Academy and Wayne Christian School, both unseeded, on Thursday.
Bill Boyette, who is in his first year at the helm of the Eagles after a long and successful coaching career in the public school association, said the team will use the time off to heal up some minor injury and illness.
The Eagles lost to Cape Fear Academy, a team Fayetteville Academy had already beaten three times this season, Friday in the final of the Coastal Rivers Conference tournament, snapping a 19-game winning streak.
Boyette sees some benefit in it.
“I’m not one to ever like a loss,” Boyette said. “However, I think it could help us. We had become quite complacent with a 19-game win streak, and there were games that we went in and we didn’t play four quarters. Yes, we’re a good basketball team, but once you get to where we are now, you have to be consistent and play four good quarters of basketball.”
Staff writer Jaclyn Shambaugh can be reached at jshambaugh@ fayobserver. com or 910-609-0651
Fayetteville Christian girls, Fayetteville Academy boys get top seeds
By Jaclyn Shambaugh
Staff writer FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Fayetteville Christian’s girls’ and Fayetteville Academy’s boys’ basketball teams landed the top seed in their respective NCISAA playoff brackets, which were released Sunday.
The playoffs begin Tuesday, and finals will be played at various host schools Saturday.
In first=round games Tuesday, the Fayetteville Christian boys' host St. Davids, the Northwood Temple girls' will be at home against winless John Paul II Catholic and the Fayetteville Academy girls' will play at Westchester Country Day.
The Trinity Christian boys' and girls', Northwood Temple boys', Village Christian boys' and girls' and Freedom Christian boys' also qualified for the playoffs and will play later in the week.
The Warrior girls (25-1) enter the 3-A bracket riding a 24-game winning streak, rolling through opponents without a loss since Nov. 13, when they stumbled at Cape Fear Academy.
Since then, the Warriors rolled, completing an undefeated run through the NCISAA Sandhills Conference. They won the conference tournament Friday, beating regular-season runner-up Trinity Christian for the third time this season.
“Every team is a possible competitive game,” Warriors’ coach Don Gardner said. “I just hope that we stay focused on us and that we stay humble enough to what we’re supposed to do and try to get some wins to get this whole thing.”
Winning the whole thing has been the goal all season for the Warriors, Gardner said, ever since the team, seeded fourth and granted a double-bye in the 2-A bracket in 2018, lost its quarterfinal contest.
“We’re not moving past that until we finish the season,” Gardner said. “The girls’ goal is to win the state championship, and anytime you set a goal, you do whatever you can to achieve it. Nothing’s going to be given to it, so we’ve got to go out here and do what we can to take it.”
The Warriors get a doublebye again this year and will host the quarterfinal round Saturday.
The Fayetteville Academy boys get a bye in the 2-A bracket. The Eagles will host the winner of Tuesday’s game between Rocky Mount Academy and Wayne Christian School, both unseeded, on Thursday.
Bill Boyette, who is in his first year at the helm of the Eagles after a long and successful coaching career in the public school association, said the team will use the time off to heal up some minor injury and illness.
The Eagles lost to Cape Fear Academy, a team Fayetteville Academy had already beaten three times this season, Friday in the final of the Coastal Rivers Conference tournament, snapping a 19-game winning streak.
Boyette sees some benefit in it.
“I’m not one to ever like a loss,” Boyette said. “However, I think it could help us. We had become quite complacent with a 19-game win streak, and there were games that we went in and we didn’t play four quarters. Yes, we’re a good basketball team, but once you get to where we are now, you have to be consistent and play four good quarters of basketball.”
Staff writer Jaclyn Shambaugh can be reached at jshambaugh@ fayobserver. com or 910-609-0651
