The East regionals start Tuesday with the 4-A girls and 3-A boys.

Southeast Raleigh, Millbrook, Northwood and Northern Durham girls begin play while Chapel Hill, Millbrook, Wakefield and Northwood boys start play.

A showdown of one-loss Millbrook and one-loss Green Hope leads the 4-A lineup, while a Chatham County rivalry is renewed in the 2-A ranks as Northwood visits Jordan-Matthews.

Winners of Friday's sectional final (third round) will advance to next week's East regionals in Fayetteville. See the rest of the NCHSAA girls basketball playoff match-ups in the East by clicking "Read More" below.

Undefeated Garner remains atop the N&O boys high school basketball rankings.

Durham Hillside plays at Green Hope in a NCHSAA 4-A East girls basketball game on Wednesday night. The girls basketball playoffs enter the second round on Wednesday night.

The second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association boys basketball tournament will be played on Wednesday night.

Northern Durham (21-3), the Piedmont Athletic 4-A regular-season champion, looks to be the team to beat in its NCHSAA 4-A girls basketball sectional.

Tri-Nine champion Middle Creek (22-4) and Cap Eight champ Wakefield (22-3) are in the same sectional bracket. Both cannot get to the regional in Fayetteville.

The Cap Eight 4-A Conference girls basketball tournament continues tonight with semifinal games at Broughton.  The boys semifinals will be Thursday night at Broughton.

The Eagles felt confident with their season on the line Tuesday night against the Wakefield Wolverines. They played more like a team with everything to gain rather than everything to lose, which was the right mentality for the Eagles as they held on for a 62-55 victory in the first round of the Cap Eight 4-A Conference Tournament.

“Our mentality now is we’re swinging for the fence,” coach Pina Baker said.

Enloe (7-18) entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed knowing it needs to win the tournament to make the state playoffs. The Eagles will play Sanderson at Broughton today at 7 p.m. Wakefield (12-10) has already reached the playoffs.

“We’re excited to have another opportunity,” Baker said.

Here’s a breakdown of each boys first-round games on Tuesday.

 (8) Heritage at (1) Wakefield, 7 p.m.

Wakefield has struggled of late with its defensive pressure in allowing teams to score points late. That cost the Wolverines two games late in the conference season, but they were still able to win the regular season title. Heritage has struggled this season, and the Wolverines should be able to reach the semifinals.

(5) Sanderson at (4) Enloe, 7 p.m.

These two teams are the most difficult to figure out in the Cap Eight. Sanderson has great guards, but struggles to rebound. Enloe has the best player in the conference in Marcus Walker, but yet they have troubling losses. The Spartans did just enough to earn the final playoff spot last week, and maybe that momentum can get them a win over Enloe. That being said, the Eagles still have the talent to win this tournament.

(7) Leesville Road at (2) Broughton, 7 p.m.
Broughton has played consistent all year long. They played decent defense this year that has kept them in every game. The only problem the Caps have is if they rely too much on their three-point shooting. If the Caps make their three-pointers and don’t turn the ball over, they can also win this tournament with the home crowd behind them. Leesville Road could pull an upset if forward Quinton Marshall takes over the game offensively.