Update: game starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the Ocracoke School gym.
By Richard Taylor
The NCHSAA announced the state playoff brackets late Sunday, pitting ninth seeded Ocracoke boys varsity against 24th seeded KIPP Pride high school of the small Northampton County town of Gaston. That game will be at home in the Tank, 6 p.m. Tommy Hutcherson and Raul Ibarra will broadcast the game on WOVV.
KIPP Pride is 9-12 overall and 6-10 in the 1A Tar Roanoke Conference.
Should the Dolphins win this first round home game Tuesday, they will advance to the second round to play the winner of the game between eighth-seeded Lejeune Devil Pups from the military base of Camp Lejeune in Onslow County vs. 25th seeded Bear Grass Charter Bears on Feb 28.
Ocracoke easily beat Bear Grass twice this season. Lejeune has a 15-6 overall record. They were 10-1 in the 1A/2A Coastal Plains conference and won that conference championship over Northside-Pinetops 58-54 on Feb 22.
The Devil Pups beat common-opponent East Carteret 62-39 on Feb 11, whom the Dolphins upset 55-41 on Dec 14. If the Marine kids beat Bear Grass on Feb. 25, Ocracoke will face a very tough second-round match away against Camp Lejeune Feb 28.
The Dolphins crushed rival Hatteras Hurricanes 67-33 in Buxton Friday evening ending the regular season, capping Frank Moore’s sixth and final year coaching Dolphin boys’ basketball. That victory was the Dolphins sixth straight win over the Hurricanes in the last three years.
The Dolphins finished undefeated 10-0 in the 1A Atlantic Conference. Their overall record is 14-3 with an 11-game winning streak. Their only losses early in the season were to the higher 2A division teams.
