When the North Carolina High School Athletic Association basketball state playoffs begin Tuesday, five Robeson County teams will take the court with the ultimate goal of hoisting the state championship trophy on March 6.

But to accomplish that feat, they must first win in the first round, with a different challenge facing each team — some are at home, some away, some favorites, some underdogs, and one team even playing the same team they faced in last year’s opening round.

Here is a preview of the five opening-round matchups:

Leesville Road at Lumberton boys

The Lumberton boys team begins the defense of their 2020 co-state championship as they host Leesville Road in the first round in 4A.

The Pirates (10-2, 8-2 Sandhills Athletic Conference) are the No. 8 seed after finishing second in the SAC regular season and tournament. Leesville Road (8-6, 7-5 CAP-7) finished second in the CAP-7 conference behind undefeated Millbrook.

The Pride, who lost four out of five games before winning their last two games against Holly Springs and Cardinal Gibbons, have allowed more points than they have scored this season. The Leesville Road team features five seniors, although would-be senior Carter Whitt did not play this season for the Pride after enrolling at Wake Forest. Wesley Johnson, a 7-foot junior, is a key post player.

Lumberton beat two Raleigh-area schools — Apex Friendship and Garner — during their co-state championship run last year. Leesville Road reached the third round, and would have faced the Pirates in the 4A East Regional final had they defeated Pinecrest.

Tuesday’s game is at 6:30 p.m. The winner will face the winner of the Laney-Broughton matchup in Thursday’s second round.

Purnell Swett girls at Garner

The Purnell Swett girls will make their first back-to-back playoff appearances since 1996-97 when they play at Garner in the 4A first round.

The 11th-seeded Lady Rams (8-4, 6-4 SAC) finished third in the SAC Tournament last week, earning two wins in the event that helped them get into the state playoff field as an at-large.

They’ll face undefeated Garner (12-0, 12-0 South Wake Athletic Conference), whose closest games were a pair of 10-point contests in their run to the SWAC title. The Trojans are the No. 2-ranked 4A team in the state, according to MaxPreps.

The Trojans feature four double-figure scorers: junior guard Jerni Kiaku (26.5 points, 4.9 assists, 4.0 steals per game), the state’s seventh-leading scorer according to MaxPreps; senior guard Nyema Hicks (11.8 points, 2.4 assists per game); junior forward Nyah Wilkins (11.0 points, 9.3 rebouds, 4.3 assists per game); and sophomore forward Amira Ofunniyin (10.6 points, 6.4 rebounds per game).

The Rams are seeking their first second-round appearance since 1997. Garner lost to Wakefield in the second round last season.

Tuesday’s game starts at 7 p.m. The winner will play either Heritage or Hoggard in the second round.

Morehead at St. Pauls boys

Fresh off Friday’s thrilling overtime win to claim the Three Rivers Conference title, the St. Pauls boys will host Morehead in the first round in 2A.

The Bulldogs (13-1, 7-1 Three Rivers Conference) are the No. 7 seed after running through the regular season with just one blemish, a buzzer-beater loss at Fairmont.

Morehead (8-5, 8-5 Mid-State Athletic Conference) is the No. 10 seed as the 2A champion in a 2A/3A split conference. All of the Panthers’ losses came to the conference’s 3A members. Morehead has allowed more points than it has scored for the season, though they were better on the road this season with a 6-1 record.

The Panthers have won seven state championships. They lost to Currituck County in the first round last year; St. Pauls reached the third round before falling at Kinston.

Freshman Makel Smith leads Morehead in scoring (17.0 points, 3.9 assists per game). Senior Stefan McLaughlin (15.3 points, 2.5 assists) and junior Lucas Lynn (13.5 points, 5.5 rebounds per game) are also key players for the Panthers.

Tuesday’s game starts at 7 p.m. The winner will face either Heide Trask or Northeastern in the second round.

Red Springs boys at Reidsville

Another TRC team will be facing a MSAC opponent as Red Springs travels to Reidsville in the first round.

Red Springs (7-4, 6-1 TRC) nearly pulled off the unthinkable last week in a three-game stretch against Whiteville, Fairmont and St. Pauls on consecutive nights with no practice after a two-week quarantine — the Red Devils won the first two games and lost the third in overtime. The Red Devils were rewarded with a playoff berth as the TRC’s runner-up, and is a No. 12 seed.

No. 5-seed Reidsville (10-1, 7-0 MSAC) enters the postseason with a perfect conference record; their only loss came against 3A school Dudley.

The Rams lost to South Granville in the third round last year and Red Springs lost to St. Pauls in the first round.

Senior point guard Breon Pass (34.5 points, 12.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists per game) leads the Rams in points, rebounds and assists.

The teams take the court at 7 p.m. Either Randleman or Kinston will face the winner Thursday.

St. Pauls girls at Roanoke Rapids

The St. Pauls girls enter the playoffs having not lost a regular-season game in two seasons, and will face a familiar opponent in the first round at Roanoke Rapids.

The teams met in the first round last season; the Bulldogs won last year’s game 59-34.

St. Pauls (11-0, 7-0 TRC) is the No. 10 seed after the NCHSAA’s random seeding of the 10 conference champions in the 2A East Regional was unfavorable for the Bulldogs. Roanoke Rapids (9-1, 9-1 Northern Carolina Conference) is the No. 7 seed as a conference champion; the Yellow Jackets’ only loss game by two points to conference runner-up Bunn.

Both teams have been strong defensively: Roanoke Rapids has held opponents to 34.7 points per game, while St. Pauls has allowed 20.7 points per contest.

Three juniors lead the way for Roanoke Rapids statistically: forward Rylie Wade (14.1 points, 8.9 rebounds per game), guard Logan Abram (14.0 points, 3.3 assists per game) and guard/forward Ella King (12.2 points, 3.8 assists per game).

The game begins at 6 p.m. and the winner will play the winner of McMichael and North Lenoir, the latter of which would also be a playoff rematch from last year for St. Pauls.