Boys Lacrosse: Playoff predictions, top players, team favorites, upset alerts
The N.C. High School Athletic Association boys lacrosse playoffs began Wednesday with some opening round games, but everyone's in action this Friday and Saturday.
In this playoff preview we hand out bracket superlatives, give four favorites and one dark horse for each bracket half, and even make championship predictions (that we're sure nobody will have any problem with and will be shocked if any of them don't pan out, right?).
We also listed the top 10 players in each bracket half. Many of these players are candidates for our all-state teams that are released a few weeks after the regular season. There's a first, second, and third team of 20 players each, plus an honorable mention team of 40.
Quick links
- Preseason Watch List (Insider)
- Class of 2024 recruits
- End-of-regular-season rankings
- Last year's 4A title (Cardinal Gibbons over Charlotte Catholic
- Last year's 3A/2A/1A title (Lake Norman Charter over Northwood)
- Last year's all-state team
- Last year's final rankings
Enjoy the rest of this column below:
4A East breakdown
Bracket Superlatives
Best second-round matchup — (13) Broughton going to (4) Topsail figures to be a good one. Both were ranked in the top 25 almost the entire year.
Best chance at a second-round upset — Understanding that many times a lower seed winning isn't truly an upset, let's go with a checks-all-the-boxes upset. (19) Apex is battle-tested and playing an undefeated (3) Heritage. Not the easiest way for the Huskies to start the playoffs.
The hardest road — (1) Green Level. It's a tough call, but we'll pick the Gators, who probably don't love the possiblity of playing Middle Creek in the third round.
The easiest road — It's not all sunny days for the Crusaders, but (2) Cardinal Gibbons is on the opposite side of the bracket as the following ranked teams: No. 4 Green Level, No. 10 Middle Creek, No. 20 Broughton, No. 22 Topsail, and No. 24 Ashley.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (2) Cardinal Gibbons
Favorite #2 — (1) Green Level
Favorite #3 — (9) Middle Creek
Favorite #4 — (3) Heritage
Dark horse — (10) Holly Springs
Our top 10 players in the bracket
- Mason Bader, Apex Friendship (M)
- Jackson Spells, Green Level (A)
- Josh Smith, Green Level (FOS)
- Wes Cohn, Athens Drive (LSM)
- Roman Baranello, Holly Springs (G)
- Dylan Axman, Middle Creek (G)
- M.J. Folan, Holly Springs (D)
- Weston Thomson, Pinecrest (A)
- Justin Conly, Cardinal Gibbons (A)
- Landon Greenberg, Middle Creek (M)
4A West breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best second-round matchup — (8) Myers Park hosting (9) Ardrey Kell is a rematch from their lone conference head-to-head match which Myers Park won 12-11 alllllllllll the way back on Feb. 29!
Best chance at a second-round upset — (14) Weddington has more losses than most teams still alive, but check who they've played! The Warriors could take down (3) Northern Guilford.
The hardest road — (4) Marvin Ridge would need to defeat the two best teams in the Triad in back-to-back rounds just to possibly see Charlotte Catholic in the fourth round.
The easiest road — (3) Northern Guilford needs to survive Weddington and they could waltz into the fourth round. Then it gets tough with Lake Norman or Hough.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (1) Charlotte Catholic
Favorite #2 — (2) Lake Norman
Favorite #3 — (7) Hough
Favorite #4 — (4) Marvin Ridge
Dark horse — (8) Myers Park
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Jack Ransom, Charlotte Catholic (A)
- Mason Adams, Myers Park (FOS)
- Topher Accetta, Hough (A)
- John Torpy, Lake Norman (G)
- Cole Stankavage, Ardrey Kell (A)
- Brendan Deberardinis, Lake Norman (M)
- Mark McMahon, Charlotte Catholic (D)
- Dylan Murphy, Lake Norman (D)
- Caden Cinotti, Hough (M)
- Jack Nicolette, Marvin Ridge (SSDM)
3A/2A/1A East breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best second-round matchup — A classic 8-9 battle with (8) Seaforth hosting (9) Western Alamance is pretty good.
Best chance at a second-round upset — There aren't many options here, but let's go with (13) Swansboro at (4) Union Pines.
The hardest road — (2) Croatan's path to the East final could mean wins over Terry Sanford, Northwood, and First Flight — a difficult task.
The easiest road — (3) First Flight has a bracket half that features several teams it's already beaten this year.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (1) Orange
Favorite #2 — (3) First Flight
Favorite #3 — (8) Seaforth
Favorite #4 — (2) Croatan
Dark horse — (11) J.H. Rose
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Connor Kruse, Orange (M)
- Alden Cathey, Orange (LSM)
- Evan Keuhnel, Western Alamance (A)
- James Flanagan, Northwood (G)
- Brady Geddes, Swansboro (M)
- A.J. Pease, Carrboro (M)
- Katie Wolter, Orange (G)
- Aidyn Rombalski, Union Pines (FOS)
- Carson Fortunes, Northwood (M)
- Graham Myers, Croatan (G)
3A/2A/1A West breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best first-round matchup — (9) Cornerstone Charter at (8) Atkins is pretty much a coin flip.
Best chance at a first-round upset — Going to go with a shot in the dark here at (10) Lincoln Charter at (7) Hickory.
The hardest road — (1) CSD will have to go through either Lake Norman Charter or Christ the King before reaching the West final.
The easiest road — (3) Bishop McGuinness gets to avoid CSD, Lake Norman Charter, and Christ the King. Not bad.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (1) CSD
Favorite #2 — (4) Lake Norman Charter
Favorite #3 — (5) Christ the King
Favorite #4 — (2) North Lincoln
Dark horse — (7) Hickory
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Jack Dalton, Lake Norman Charter (A)
- Colton Davis, CSD (FOS)
- Luke Fenderson, Christ the King (A)
- Miles Fuehler, Bishop McGuinness (A)
- Braedon Chayes, Pine Lake Prep (A)
- P.J. Flynn, Christ the King (G)
- Conner Habeeb, Cornerstone Charter (A)
- Weston Black, Atkins (D)
- Tyler Price, Lake Norman Charter (A)
- Matthew Cetrone, Bishop McGuinness (A)
Championship and regional final predictions
Locations, dates named for NCHSAA spring sports state championships
NCHSAA
4A East: (2) Cardinal Gibbons over (1) Green Level
4A West: (1) Charlotte Catholic over (2) Lake Norman
4A championship: Cardinal Gibbons over Charlotte Catholic
3A/2A/1A East: (1) Orange over (3) First Flight
3A/2A/1A West: (1) CSD over (6) Pine Lake Prep
3A/2A/1A championship: CSD over Orange
NCISAA (brackets not released yet)
D1: Cannon School
D2: Greensboro Day
