With the Catamounts’ last-second victory over top-seeded New Hanover last Friday, the Panther Creek men’s basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 4-A state playoffs, otherwise known as the Elite Eight. Panther Creek will take on the fourth-seeded Millbrook Wildcats in Fayetteville’s Crown Coliseum tonight, Friday, March 8th, at 8:30 p.m. A win will advance Panther Creek to the first Final Four appearance in school history.

Millbrook won the CAP-8 conference outright this season with a 10-1 conference record to go along with a 20-4 overall record. Millbrook possesses a very impressive resume boasting impressive regular season wins over Apex, Broughton, Hoggard, and Knightdale – all by a double digit scoring margin. On top of Millbrook’s impressive regular season wins, the Wildcats bulldozed their way through the first three rounds of the playoffs. Millbrook demoralized Person High School 99-50 in the first round, trounced Garner 91-70 in the second round, and routed fifth-seeded Seventy-First 83-61 in the third round.

When Panther Creek defeated New Hanover, the Catamounts were able to shut down New Hanover’s leading scorer, Shawn Robinson. This gave Panther Creek an advantage because New Hanover did not have many other offensive threats, as opposed to the Catamounts, who have a very balanced offensive team. Unfortunately for the Catamounts, if one Millbrook scorer is shut down, the rest of the team will make up for that players’ absence. In other words, almost every player in Millbrook’s lineup can score. How much can Millbrook score? The Wildcats are averaging 76.5 points per game. Panther Creek’s highest scoring total this season was ninety-two points against Holly Springs. The Catamounts’ next best scoring total was eighty-two points against East Wake in the first round of the playoffs. In comparison, Millbrook has scored more than eighty-two points thirteen times this season, and has scored at least ninety points on six different occasions, including a jaw-dropping 105-point performance in a win over Heritage.

What’s at stake for the Catamounts in tonight’s matchup against Millbrook? Obviously a win clinches a trip to the Final Four, but also a very possible rematch with Apex. In a bracket that once seemed built to keep Panther Creek and Apex apart now seems like the most unlikely of scenarios for the two to renew their rivalry on the biggest stage in high school basketball. In the third round of the playoffs Panther Creek and Apex were matched up against the top two seeded teams on the Eastern side of the bracket; both won on the road with buzzer-beaters. Should Panther Creek and Apex both win tonight in Crown Coliseum, they will face off tomorrow in the Final Four to decide which team represents the East in the 4-A state playoffs. First thing’s first, however: beat Millbrook.