Sweet 16 Week 8, Explained.
We’re back! Conference play is nearing the halfway point and we are just one month away from conference tournaments and playoff seeding. 4A East is the most wide open division in the NCHSAA and there could be anywhere from 14 to 17 Wake County schools in the playoffs.
Tier One
Millbrook (11-6)
Millbrook had a dominant week, with wins over Rolesville, Wakefield, and New Bern. There isn’t a ton separating them from the rest of the teams in tier one but this type of continued winning cannot be ignored. Colt Langdon has been on an absolute tear, putting up over 28ppg on a staggering 63% from the field over the past four games. He’s playing like the Wake County POY right now and his supporting cast is as good as ever. It’s going to take a surprise loss or a string of insane wins from someone else for Millbrook to lose this spot.
Holly Springs (12-4)
The Hawks won what was undoubtedly the game of the year in Wake County on Friday night in a 91-89 double-OT shootout against Chris Uwayo and Panther Creek. This was Micah Jones’ first game back since his ankle injury about a month ago and the Hawks coaching staff played it cautiously, not starting him and only playing him in spot minutes. He finished with 12 points and 5 assists and was clearly banged up a bit. This team has been good without Jones and they’re genuinely elite with him and the sooner he can get back to 100% the better. In the meantime, Will James has stepped into the PG role well and the Collin Kuhl/Ryan Crotty duo has been scoring in bunches.
Garner (15-2)
Garner is the hottest team in the county right now and I’m not sure if it’s close. Coming off a 7-0 start to conference play and a thrilling win against Trinity Academy over the weekend, the path to the top has been laid out for them. Another 7-0 run through the back half of the conference doesn’t seem improbable with the way they’re playing right now. They have a balanced attack with so many different two-way weapons. Tanner Mikulecky, Chris Crudup, Ghab Scott, Tay Whitner, Cam Reyes, Keaton Bloms, and about 3-4 others are all major contributors to this team. At the moment they have great synergy throughout the roster and if this continues they’ll be as tough as anyone in the East come playoff time.
Green Level (13-2)
This Green Level team looks different following their back-to-back losses over the Christmas break. They’re 3-0 in their last three and won by an average of 23.3 PPG in those games. They beat Panther Creek by 19 and Apex Friendship by 20. They have as many quality wins as anyone in the county and have only had one of their 13 wins come by less than 10 points. This unique level of dominance doesn’t really line up with the puzzling losses to Sanderson and Northern Durham on consecutive days but I digress. Israel Eatman and Isaac Ericksen are legit stars while Tye Cain has been one of the most improved players in the county. This team is a lot of fun and incredibly dangerous. They get a tough matchup with Wakefield on MLK day that should show us whether or not they deserve this Tier 1 status.
Tier Two
Leesville Road (10-3)
Leesville Road suffered a rough loss to Cardinal Gibbons before turning around and beating Athens Drive a few days later. They have a great core of Wil Murray, Grady Whitt, Hayes Oxendine, and Cole Lanford and a handful of role players have gradually improved over the course of the season as well. They are the only Wake County team to beat Holly Springs this season and they have a solid resume as far as playoff seeding goes. They have a huge week with Sanderson at home and Enloe on the road, if they manage to go 2-0 they will vault themselves into the top tier.
Sanderson (13-2)
Sanderson is still one of the more confusing teams in the county. Beating Green Level and then losing to Athens Drive a week later shouldn’t make much sense. Nonetheless, this team is 13-2 with a few really good wins. They have a great chance to boost their resume this week with games against Panther Creek, Leesville Road, and Cardinal Gibbons. Going 3-0, or even 2-1, would certainly bode well for a team that had a very weak non-conference schedule. Tommy Lyon has been an unsung hero this year, shooting the cover off the ball and providing valuable playmaking all season.
Panther Creek (10-5)
Panther Creek is one of the most talented teams in the county and has started 2023 2-2 with losses to both Green Level and Holly Springs. Their loss to Holly Springs was a heartbreaking double overtime game that ended with a game-winning transition layup by Holly Springs’ Will James. Chris Uwayo is making a compelling case for SWAC POY and finished with 38 points on Friday night. This team has a great chance to bounce back this week, with games against Sanderson, Apex, and Green Hope. Their hopes of winning the conference are almost gone now since they’re 2.5 games back of Green Level and Holly Springs.
Tier Three
Wakefield (10-6)
The Wolverines have been a pleasant surprise this season. They’ve had more breakout players than any other team, headlined by senior wing Cameron Spencer. Wakefield beat rival Wake Forest last week to secure their spot in Tier 3, finally getting a high level, quality win. They have a big game against Green Level on Monday afternoon that could see them shoot up the rankings with a win. Wakefield probably won’t beat out Millbrook for first in the NAC, but they have the best chance of anyone right now to finish second.
Wake Forest (10-6)
Wake Forest is one of the more up and down teams in the county. They’re one of two teams to beat Sanderson this year and they’ve also had 3-4 embarrassing losses. They’re as talented as any team in these rankings, with three legit stars in Jaevian Alston, Dashaun Grant, and AJ Smalls. They have solid support behind them with Nigel Lucas, Sam Frye, and Kavon Simmons as well. I’m not sure why they’ve been so inconsistent but this team can still beat anyone they match up with. They’re currently 4th in the NAC and will need to get hot soon in order to have a chance at winning their conference.
Enloe (11-4)
Enloe is currently dead last in the CAP-6, sitting at 0-3. Their struggles are odd considering how good they’ve been this season. Ethan Montague is a legit star, averaging about 20 PPG. Owen Pederson has emerged as a key piece and Gift Moses is nearly averaging a double-double. They have a great 6-7 man rotation and play more as a team than almost any other school. Enloe has a great chance to grab a few quality wins this week, with games against Ravenscroft, Broughton, and Leesville Road. They had hopes of winning conference in the preseason and they’ll need to turn it around soon in order to do so.
Tier Four
Athens Drive (9-7)
Athens Drive started the year 2-5 and frankly looked horrible. They’ve managed to turn their season around and are 7-2 in the games since, making them one of the hottest teams in the county. Jani Vanholten has been much better during their hot streak, pushing his averages up to 9 PPG, 5 RPG, and 2 SPG. The recent return of Zyion Cooper has also helped them with added depth on the interior. The Jaguars currently sit tied for first in the CAP-6 and should have a couple good tests this week, with games against Douglas Byrd, Broughton, and Cardinal Gibbons.
Apex Friendship (10-6)
Apex Friendship’s 9 game winning streak finally came to an end last week with an upset loss to Middle Creek. The Patriots followed that up with a 20-point blowout loss to Green Level. This team needs a good week to keep their conference hopes alive, currently sitting at 3-4 and in 4th place in the SWAC. Noah Toster, Mous Diop, and Drew Weschler continue to be a very solid core, leaving room around them for young guys to fill in. Freshman Jadon Green and sophomore Kendall Lanier could both be prime candidates to take major steps up in usage and production down the stretch of conference play. Apex Friendship has Pinecrest and Green Hope on back to back days to start the week before a big time showdown with Holly Springs on Friday night. A successful week would vault the Pats right back into the top 10.
Broughton (7-9)
Broughton has had a rough go of it recently, losing five in a row before a blowout win over Cardinal Gibbons ended their skid. Their record does not accurately reflect their talent level as a team, given they play an extremely difficult schedule, highlighted by the John Wall Holiday Invitational that they host annually. Hayes Carlin and Manning Lasso have been an all-conference level players, McCallum Wright has had a great second half of the year so far, and they have a solid supporting cast around them, headlined by James Parrish. Broughton has Enloe and Athens Drive this week and a winless two games would surely see them drop out of the top 16, while an undefeated week would see them shoot back into the top 10.
Fuquay-Varina (8-7)
The Bengals righted the ship after their shocking conference loss to SE Raleigh last week, winning both conference games this week (against Cleveland and Corinth Holders) and almost upsetting local private school powerhouse Raleigh Christian Academy. Fuquay-Varina was up 22 points in the first half against the RCA Eagles, before losing by 12. Although the result is upsetting, that level of dominance and offensive explosiveness hasn’t been seen from this team all year. Is it a fluke or a sign of what’s to come? I guess we’ll see. Individually, Dylan Setzer is back shooting like he was to end 2022 and Jake Hart is making an extremely compelling case for the best guard in the county.
Cardinal Gibbons (6-10)
Cardinal Gibbons is currently in first for the WTF team of the year award. Blowing out Leesville Road before getting blown out by Broughton a few days later is a sign of a confused team. Connor Higginbotham has been on fire recently, finally getting his feet back under him after an early-season injury. His teammates aren’t so lucky with rumors that Elijah Omar and Xavier DeBerry will both miss the remainder of the season due to injury. The guard rotation is stretched thin right now and we’ll see if they figure it out in the long run. Outside of their confusing results, this team still has the talent to win their conference so do not be fooled by their record. Last week’s win over Enloe and this week’s win over Leesville Road were not flukes.
East Wake (8-6)
East Wake managed to sneak back into the rankings thanks to a five-game win streak and severe struggles from other unranked teams, specifically SE Raleigh (see below) and Knightdale, who both had rough weeks. This East Wake team has started conference play 5-0 and has only scored more than 40 in one of those wins. They use tough defense to stifle their 3A opponents and grind out wins. This strategy should hold up for the rest of their regular season and it will be interesting to see if they can slow down some of the better 3A East teams in the playoffs. Sophomore Ben Fox has emerged as a legit starter and as someone that is playing his way into our 2025 rankings.
Outside Teams to Monitor
Southeast Raleigh
SE Raleigh had a tough week, going 0-3 and dropping out of our rankings. They currently sit tied in 3rd place in the GNRC with Clayton at 4-3. They have two winnable games this week against Cleveland and Corinth Holders that could get them back on track and into the playoff picture.
Bottom of the SWAC (again)
Cary, Green Hope, Middle Creek, and Apex have all struggled with consistency this year. All four teams have at least one quality win and multiple high-level players. At some point this season, at least one of these teams will need to break from the pack and grab hold of 5th (maybe 4th) place in the SWAC. Right now it looks like Cary is most likely to do that as they’re tied with Apex Friendship for 4th at 3-4. Sam Martin of Apex is still making a case for SWAC POY, nearly averaging a double-double and Green Hope’s Grayson Cuffe has seriously broken out and could help the Falcons make a push back into the playoff picture.