Final NC hoops polls: State champs No. 1 as 8-class format debuts strong
The final N.C. girls’ and boys’ high school basketball polls, at least at the top, shouldn’t much of a surprise.
The state champions are No. 1 in each of the 16 public school polls, and NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker admits she was a little worried about the first year of having eight boys’ and eight girls’ state championship games — which required starting games at the lunch hour on a Wednesday — but she was surprised at how well it turned out.
Crowds were really strong at many of the games, and many came down to thrilling last-minute finishes, including West Charlotte beating Wilmington’s Hoggard High School by scoring a basket with 0.6 seconds left.
The championships also produced several first-time winners (Southern Durham’s boys, Mallard Creek’s girls, Queen’s Grant’s boys, North Lincoln’s girls) or teams that hadn’t won in decades (North Meck’s girls). And several schools reached the finals for the first time in years.
Hoggard, for example, was back for the first time since 1970.
“We either had people who really loved it,” Tucker said, “or those who didn’t like it. You had a few in the middle. But we had some people who made the playoffs who had never made the playoffs, or teams that had never made such a deep run. Obviously having the expanded classifications certainly helped with that.”
This was the first year that the state had eight classifications, double the number of a year ago.
“We didn’t have much of choice with the eight classes,” Tucker said about early start times and weekday games, “other than spreading it out over several weeks. So you have to play early like that. And there are many state associations that do what we do. They may not have eight classes but they start early in the day, and they’ve moved to earlier in the week. We’re not doing anything that some other state associations don’t do.”
Final NC girls’ basketball statewide rankings
NCISAA
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Grace Christian (33-1), 1
2. Cannon School (24-6), 2
3. Cape Fear Academy (24-3), 3
4. Providence Day (24-6), 4
5. Concord Academy (25-8), 5
6. Rocky Mount Academy (23-3), 6
7. Charlotte Latin (22-7), 7
8. Gaston Christian (20-6), 8
NCHSAA 8A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Mallard Creek (23-6), 2
2. Hoggard (28-2), 1
3. Willow Spring (26-1), 3
4. Ardrey Kell (26-3), 4
5. South Mecklenburg (23-6), 5
6. Corinth Holders (21-6), 6
7. Northwest Guilford (20-5), 7
8. Leesvile Road (21-6), 8
NCHSAA 7A
1 North Mecklenburg (29-2), 1
2. Southern Durham (28-4), 2
3. Lake Norman (24-2), 3
4. South Garner (23-7), 4
5. Marvin Ridge (23-5), 5
6. Holly Springs (22-3), 6
7. Heritage (24-4), 7
8. Grimsley (22-4), 8
NCHSAA 6A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Northern Guilford (28-4), 1
2. Terry Sanford (22-7), 2
3. Alexander Central (25-3), 3
4. Seventy first (23-2), 4
5. West Johnston (18-6), 5
6. Vance County (21-7), 6
7. AC Reynolds (21-7), 7
8. Northern Durham (19-9), 8
NCHSAA 5A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. North Lincoln (9-21), 2
2. Southeast Alamance (29-2), 1
3. Forest Hills (24-4), 3
4. Rocky Mount (22-2), 4
5. Oak Grove (24-1), 5
6. East Lincoln (22-4), 6
7. Seaforth (20-4), 7
8. West Rowan (25-3), 8
NCHSAA 4A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Maiden (29-0), 1
2. Fairmont (25-3), 2
3. First Flight (21-2), 3
4. Pigsah (29-1), 4
5. Clinton (23-2), 5
6. Hibriten (28-1), 6
7. North Johnston (23-4), 7
8. Lake Norman Charter (23-4), 8
NCHSAA 3A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Goldsboro (28-2), 1
2. East Surry (25-4), 2
3. Northwood (21-5), 3
4. North Wilkes (19-6), 4
5. North Stanly (22-4), 5
6. Surry Central (23-4), 6
7. James Kenan (20-5), 7
8. Wheatmore (20-5), 8
NCHSAA 2A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Cherokee (29-1), 1
2. Pamlico County (26-3), 2
3. Bishop McGuinness (24-3), 3
4. Gates County (24-4), 4
5. Queens Grant (26-4), 5
6. Roxboro Community School (19-3), 6
7. East Wilkes (24-2), 7
8. Avery County (20-5), 8
NCHSAA 1A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Wilson Prep Academy (26-3), 1
2. Robbinsville (17-2), 2
3. Falls Lake Academy (19-2), 3
4. Andrews (19-10), 4
5. Northside-Pinetown (17-6), 5
6. TJCA (21-6), 6
7. Phoenix Academy (19-7), 7
8. Jackson Day (18-6), 8
Final NC boys’ statewide basketball rankings
NCISAA
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Greensboro Day (36-2), 1
2. Forsyth Country Day (29-3), 3
3. Greenfield (28-5), 4
4. Concord Academy (29-3), 2
5. Providence Day (23-7), 5
6. Caldwell Academy (21-10), 6
7. Gaston Christian (27-7), 7
8. Davidson Day (23-12), 8
NCHSAA 8A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. West Charlotte (23-6), 1
2. Hoggard (23-7), 2
3. West Forsyth (26-1), 3
4. Laney (21-10), 4 5. Apex Friendship (22-5), 5
6. Leesville Road (21-6), 6
7. Ardrey Kell (20-8), 7
8. Hough (20-7), 8
NCHSAA 7A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Southern Durham (29-3), 1
2. Mooresville (27-3), 2
3. North Mecklenburg (25-5), 3
4. Cardinal Gibbons (26-3), 4
5. Marvin Ridge (22-6), 5
6. Hickory Ridge (24-6), 6
7. Garner (16-13), 7
8. West Mecklenburg (18-10), 8
NCHSAA 6A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Northern Nash (25-3), 1
2. Kings Mountain (15-13), 2
3. Charlotte Catholic (25-5), 3
4. E.E. Smith (20-6), 4
5. Ben L. Smith (24-6), 5
6. Mt.Tabor (23-5), 6
7. West Brunswick (19-11), 7
8. J.H. Rose (19-6), 8
NCHSAA 5A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Hunter Huss (26-2), 1
2. Fike (23-6), 2
3. Jay M. Robinson (25-4), 3
4. S.E. Alamance (24-6), 4
5. Hunt (18-5), 5
6. East Lincoln (22-5), 6
7. Hickory (21-5), 7
8. N.E. Guilford (20-10), 8
NCHSAA 4A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Salisbury (24-7), 2
2. Reidsville (23-2), 1
3. Washington (24-6), 3
4. Central Davidson (20-7), 4
5. Lexington (19-7), 5
6. Southwest Edgecombe (18-8), 6
7. Lincoln Charter (21-7), 7
8. Eastern Wayne (19-9), 8
NCHSAA 3A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Kinston (22-3), 1
2. Walkertown (20-9), 2
3. Martin County (25-5), 3
4. East Surry (21-6), 4
5. Farmville Central (26-1), 5
6. Northwood (21-5), 6
7. Lincolnton (19-10), 7
8. Piedmont Community (24-5), 8
NCHSAA 2A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Queens Grant (35-3), 1
2. Warren County (14-10), 2
3. South Stokes (24-5), 3
4. Voyager Academy (22-8), 4
5. Bishop McGuinness (22-6), 5
6. Franklin Academy (20-8), 6
7. Murphy (22-4), 7
8. NW Halifax (20-5), 8
NCHSAA 1A
Rk., School, Class., Prvs.
1. Vance Charter (23-2), 1
2. Thomas Jefferson (20-13), 2
3. Southern Wake (24-6), 3
4. Jackson Day (21-10), 4
5. Andrews (18-11), 5
6. Northside-Pinetown (24-4), 6
7. North Edgecombe (21-8), 7
8. Chatham Charter (18-8), 8
This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Final NC hoops polls: State champs No. 1 as 8-class format debuts strong."
