South Charleston coach Gary Greene was more tickled about getting an extra day off than his team's seed Friday.

The Black Eagles received the No. 2 seed in the eight-team Class AAA state tournament as the West Virginia School Activities Commission released the coaches' seeds. (See Page 2B for seeds and state tournament pairings.)

SC (23-1) has been the No. 2 state-ranked team since the preseason in both the Associated Press and state coaches' association polls.

The Black Eagles (23-1) will face No. 7 Bridgeport (19-4) at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals at the Charleston Civic Center. If SC wins it wouldn't play again until Friday's semifinals.

"It's nice if you're fortunate enough to play on that first day and get a day off,'' said Greene, who has SC in the state tournament for the second straight year. "I think the pressure of playing down there and the nerves ... you hopefully get by the first day and have a chance to scout some people.''

SC's path to the state title game is anything but easy. The Black Eagles are in the same bracket as No. 3 Parkersburg South (19-3), and if both win their opening-round game they would clash in the semifinals. SC and South didn't meet during the regular season.

"I think all eight teams down there you've just got to prepare every day,'' Greene said. "When you get into that second round it's not going to matter who you're playing.''

Defending state champion North Marion (21-1) as expected earned the top seed after holding onto the No. 1 ranking in both the AP and state coaches polls since December.

Three-time state runner-up Huntington earned the No. 4 seed, followed by Martinsburg (No. 5), Wheeling Park (No. 6), Bridgeport (No. 7) and Ripley (No. 8). Ripley, which earned just its third state berth in school history, is the only sectional loser of the eight seeds to advance to states.

North Marion will play Ripley (17-8) at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in the state tournament. The Class AAA portion of the state tournament resumes Thursday with Huntington (17-4) taking on Martinsburg (17-4) at 11:15 a.m. and wraps up with South and Wheeling Park (18-5) at 7:15 p.m.

With North Marion and Huntington in the same bracket, a win by both in the opening round would set up a semifinal rematch of last year's state title game.

Class AA seedings

Summers County was rewarded for an outstanding season, earning the top seed in Class AA.

The Bobcats (25-0) are the three-time defending state champions and led both polls wire-to-wire. Summers rolled through its regular-season schedule with ease and then steamrolled through the postseason, winning three games by an average margin of victory of 50 points.  

Scott received the No. 2 seed after being ranked second in both polls since the preseason behind Summers. Tolsia, which beat Scott for the section championship, is the No. 3 seed followed by Westside (No. 4), the only other undefeated team in the state in all three classes, Ravenswood (No. 5), which returns to states, Oak Glen (No. 6), Liberty Harrison (No. 7) and Frankfort (No. 8), the only school in the field with a losing record. Frankfort and Scott are the only sectional losers to earn a state berth.

All four Class AA quarterfinals will be played Thursday. Tolsia (19-6) and Oak Glen (16-8) open things up at 9:30 a.m., Scott (20-4) faces Liberty Harrison (13-8) at 1 p.m., Summers takes on Frankfort (8-12) at 5:30 and Westside (21-0) squares off with Ravenswood (17-5) at 9.

Summers and Westside are in the same bracket, so if both win their opening-round games it would set up a clash of the state's only unbeaten teams in the semifinals.

Tolsia and Scott are also in the same bracket and a win by each in the quarterfinals would set up a rematch of the section final that the Rebels won 43-39.

Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at tatkin...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4811.