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By Sonny Jones

The East Bladen volleyball will learn its playoff opponent today for Saturday’s first-round game in the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs. The Eagles finished the season with a 12-6 record and in second place in the Southeastern Athletic Conference.

The 32-team 2-A East bracket is seeded based on the Ratings Percentage Index with the 10 conference champions seeded first based on RPI, then the other 22 spots based solely on RPI regardless of conference finish.

East Bladen was ranked No. 10 as of Wednesday night, but, since Midway won the league title and was seeded No. 1, it appears the Eagles will be seeded No. 14 for the playoff bracket. Ayden-Grifton, Manteo and Wallace-Rose Hill have higher RPIs than East Bladen among teams that didn’t win conference championships. That’s if I’ve figured it correctly and there are no major record changes prior to the official brackets released.

As a No. 14 seed East Bladen would host No. 19 playoff seed Washington on Saturday. It also could be North Lenoir or Clinton. We’ll see how it all works out, but one thing that is certain is that East Bladen will be in the playoffs.

• Southeastern champion Midway (22-0) is expected to be the top seed in the East. Other league teams expected to earn playoff spots are Clinton and St. Pauls.

• For volleyball, there are 52 Class 2-A, 3-A and 4-A schools and 54 1-A schools in the East, according to the NCHSAA. It’s much different for football. There are 52 schools in 4-A, 51 in 3-A, 49 in 2-A and only 33 in 1-A. That means only one 1-A team won’t make the football playoffs and there likely will be winless teams in the field. Kind of silly.

THURSDAY’S PICK TO CLICK

James Harden will have a triple-double to lead Philadelphia over the Milwaukee Bucks as the 76ers bounce back from a season-opening loss at Boston.

WEDNESDAY’S PICK: Justin Verlander, who allowed six runs on 10 hits in four innings against Seattle in his last start, will bounce back against the Yankees in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series. The Houston right-hander will strike out 10 in six innings. RESULTS: Verlander struck out 11 and allowed a run in six innings as Houston beat the Yankees 4-2. It’s Verlander’s eighth career playoff game with 10 or more strikeouts.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

• 1968 — American Dick Fosbury using his unconventional technique wins the men’s high jump gold medal at the Mexico City Olympics; “Fosbury Flop” becomes accepted as the most efficient technique.

WHAT TO WATCH TODAY

• DP WORLD TOUR: Mallorca Open, 7:30 a.m., GOLF

• MEN’S SOCCER: Aston Villa at Fulham, 2:30 p.m., USA

• PGA: CJ Cup, 3 p.m., GOLF

• FOOTBALL: Allen (Texas) High at Denton Guyer (Texas) High, 7 p.m., ESPN2

• MLB PLAYOFFS: NY Yankees at Houston, 7:30 p.m., TBS

• NBA: Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m., TNT

• FOOTBALL: Virginia at Georgia Tech, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

• FOOTBALL: Troy at South Alabama, 7:30 p.m., ESPNU

• MEN’S SOCCER: North Carolina at Florida St., 8 p.m., ACCN

• MLS PLAYOFFS: Cincinnati at Philadelphia, 8 p.m., FS1

• NFL: New Orleans at Arizona, 8:15 p.m., PRIME VIDEO