Now that the regular season of high school basketball has concluded, it’s time to focus on the postseason.
Conference tournaments begin Monday. Here is a rundown of each:
BOYS
East Central 2A Conference: The EC2A is the only area conference that finished with a pair of co-champions. Clinton, which defeated South Lenoir on Friday, and Jacksonville Northside, which defeated East Duplin, shared the league crown while the Dark Horses were given its No. 1 seed for the tournament after winning a coin toss Saturday morning.
The Blue Devils, who held a two-game lead for first place at the midway point of conference play, finished fourth and will face No. 5 East Duplin in a first round game at 8:30 p.m. on Monday. If South Lenoir wins it will face the winner of Clinton and No. 8 Swansboro in a semifinal on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The boys championship will be held at 8 p.m. on Friday. All games are at Richlands High.
Eastern Plains 2A Conference: The EP2A, which was dominated by Kinston and its run to an undefeated season in league play, will begin Monday at the highest seed, with the Vikings earning a first round bye. Kinston will host a semifinal game against either No. 4 North Pitt or No. 5 SouthWest Edgecombe at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Greene Central, which finished sixth, travels to No. 3 Wilson Beddingfield for a first round game at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. The Bruins and Panthers finished tied for third, and Beddingfield won the 3-seed after a draw.
Farmville Central, the No. 2 seed, hosts No. 7 Tarboro in the other first round game. The Rams would face that game’s winner in the semifinals at the higher seed on Wednesday.
The finals will be held at the highest remaining boys seed on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Eastern Carolina 3A Conference: North Lenoir’s boys finished the regular season tied for third with C.B. Aycock, then drew the 4-seed for the conference tournament. The Hawks will host No. 5 South Johnston at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The winner will travel to top-seeded and league champion Erwin Triton for a semifinal game at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
The finals will be held at the highest remaining girls seed on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Carolina 1A Conference: Ayden-Grifton finished tied for second with Goldsboro Rosewood, but drew the 3-seed on Saturday, giving league champ Goldsboro and the Eagles a first round bye and the Chargers a home game in the first round. They will host both first round games on Tuesday, the first between No. 4 Princeton and No. 5 Spring Creek at 6 p.m. Then Ayden-Grifton will follow against last-place North Duplin.
The Chargers-Rebels winner will face Rosewood and the Bulldogs-Gators winner Goldsboro in the semifinals at 8:30 and 7, respectively, at Mount Olive College on Thursday. The finals will be at MOC as well at 8 p.m. on Friday.
Coastal Plains 1A Conference: Jones Senior finished fifth and will open the league tournament at No. 4 Dixon at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. That game’s winner will face top-seeded East Carteret at Lejeune at 8 p.m. on Wednesday. The finals will be held at Lejeune on Friday at 8 p.m.
GIRLS
East Central 2A Conference: South Lenoir finished tied for second with East Duplin, and by virtue of a coin flip the Blue Devils won the 2-seed for the tournament. They will face No. 7 Swansboro at 4 p.m. at Richlands on Tuesday. If they win they will face the East Duplin-Richlands winner in a semifinal at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
The finals will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. All games are at Richlands High.
Eastern Plains 2A Conference: Just like the boys, Kinston’s girls dominated the league and earned a bye after an unbeaten run through conference play. The Vikings will host the winner between No. 3 North Pitt and No. 6 Farmville Central at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Greene Central’s girls finished alone in fourth and will travel to North Pitt to take on Tarboro on Monday at 6 p.m. That game’s winner will face the winner between No. 2 Beddingfield and No. 7 SouthWest Edgecombe at the higher boys seed at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
The finals will be held at the highest remaining boys seed at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Eastern Carolina 3A Conference: North Lenoir finished last in the league and will have to go to No. 2 Triton for a first round game at 6 p.m. on Monday. That game’s winner will face the winner between No. 6 South Johnston and No. 3 C.B. Aycock at the higher seed at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
The finals will be held at the highest remaining seed at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Carolina 1A Conference: Ayden-Grifton finished fourth and will travel to Princeton where it will face No. 5 Spring Creek in a first round game at 6 p.m. on Monday. If the Chargers win they will face top-seeded and league champ Goldsboro in a semifinal at 4 p.m. on Thursday at Mount Olive College.
The semifinals and finals are at MOC. The girls championship will be at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Coastal Plains 1A Conference: Jones Senior, which finished sixth in the conference, will travel to No. 3 East Carteret for a first round game at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The winner will face No. 2 Pamlico at Lejeune at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The championship will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at Lejeune.
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.