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GREENSBORO -- So much for parity: All eight top seeds won Thursday, and only two games were within double figures.

Although that smashes Cinderella's glass slipper, it does set up some great matchups today, including two of the area's most talented boys teams in Northern Guilford (6-1) and Ragsdale (11-0) in the 8 p.m. nightcap.

FEEDING FRENZY: As you can imagine by the title sponsor of the tournament, pizza is plentiful in the postgame locker rooms. But so are mouths, so players have to act fast or risk staying hungry.

Page's Mitchell Oates called the scene in his locker room "a bum rush" when the food arrived, and teammate Julius Brooks, who claims to have once eaten 15 plates at Golden Corral, only got his hands on two slices.

"It isn't going to be like that tomorrow," he said.

UP AND DOWN: Grimsley girls coach Hank Bullard can sympathize with his Northeast Guilford counterpart, Brandon Apple. Both teams have showed their youth throughout the season, ping-ponging between highs and lows.

Thursday's first-round meeting between the two was pretty low for a while, as they combined for 22 baskets and 49 turnovers. Northeast had seven turnovers before its first basket, a Rashida Pugh layup with 1:48 left in the first quarter.

The Whirlies gritted out a 32-27 win.

"Every night's an adventure," Bullard said. "They fought through some stuff tonight and saw some things on the floor for themselves for a change, which I thought really helped us."

EARLY REMATCH: Bullard's team will face top-seeded Northwest Guilford today in a rematch of last year's final.

The Vikings lack the size they've had in years past -- they start only one player taller than 5-foot-9 and have one 6-footer on their roster -- but head coach Darlene Joyner likes the mobility that a smaller lineup provides.

They had a 30-6 edge in points in the paint against Greensboro Day on Thursday.

"With our offense, they're all rotating and ending up in the same spots anyway," Joyner said.

WHO IS THAT GUY? Although his team's not in the tournament field, Dudley's P.J. Hairston was in attendance and won the free-throw shooting contest at halftime of the Ragsdale-Northwest boys game.

But he had to earn it -- a kid five years his junior matched him shot for shot until Hairston, the Panthers' leading scorer, outlasted him from 3-point range.

OUTFOXED: Northwest Guilford's Andy Fox had one of the day's most spectacular plays, draining a half-court shot to beat the first-quarter buzzer against Ragsdale.

BEST HAIR IN THE FIELD: Northern Guilford's Jonathan Frye, whose curly red locks have earned him the nickname Carrot Top.

BEST NAME IN THE FIELD: Smith's Zhayuondalee Greer.

Staff writer Dioni L. Wise contributed.

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller @news-record.com