As the North Carolina HS Boys Club season hits the home stretch, everything is on the line for the Chapel Hill Highlanders, Union County Lions, and CJRA Charlotte Tigers. 

Each of these three teams applied for a spot in this year's National Invitational Tournament, and the invitation is based on which team finishes the highest in the league. Traditionally, these three programs along with the Raleigh Rattlesnakes have been the strongest in North Carolina (Raleigh did not apply to the NIT this year.)

Predicting which of these three solid sides will end up on top is no easy task.  They take their rugby very seriously in North Carolina and every week is a test - the state boasts more than a dozen competitive teams and matches with out-of-state teams are a regular occurrence as well.

On paper, Chapel Hill is the front-runner. The Highlanders are undefeated in matrix play having already taken care of Charlotte and Union County in the regular season. But, they are likely to see at least one of them again in the playoffs, and both seem to be getting stronger as the season progresses.  The Highlanders play sound, technical rugby without a lot of errors or penalties.  This well coached team hopes their early season success will carry them through to the end.

Union County is likely the most powerful and one of the fastest sides in the state. They have a good mix of players with experience and high rugby IQ with some very athletic recent rugby converts blended in. The Lions edged out the Tigers in league play by a try, but then turned around and lost a close one (28-34) to the Highlanders this past Saturday.  For them, success will be contingent on continuing to develop their athletes into high performance rugby players - they too have the coaching staff and pieces in place to get it done.

Charlotte has had a sporadic year. In the preseason they bested Chapin convincingly, but lost to Phoenix by a try and later to Charlotte Catholic by a slim margin after leading the match. The Tigers stood up well to high school powerhouse St. Edward, allowing only 12 points, yet could not capitalize on their stout defense and failed to score despite being inside the 5-meter line twice.  In regular season play, the have fallen to Chapel Hill and Union County already but winning everything else.

All that being said, Charlotte may be the dark horse to watch in this race. This past Saturday they beat GRR #16 Raleigh convincingly 28-7.  Their are two reasons for the Tigers being poised for late season success. First, three of their starters have been out with injury since preseason. All are healthy now and on track to return after Spring Break. Second, has to do with CJRA club policy. The club director, Erik Saxon, and team head coach, Frank McKinney, have what they consider to be aces up their sleeves. The organization has a player development policy which precludes freshmen from playing varsity until mid-March. The thought process being to give these younger guys a chance to develop and get used to the speed of the high school game by getting only JV and B side minutes from November to February. Over the last couple of weeks, JV players have been given the green light to compete for varsity jerseys - the effect has been immediate and profound, including the win over previously undefeated Raleigh. The Tigers are poised to storm into the end of the season healthy and with JV players keen to earn their Tiger stripes.

Whichever of the Lions or Tigers or Highlanders comes out on top, this is a race worth watching as some great programs all know it is win-and-in scenario for the NIT. Of note, the NC Club finals is the weekend before that NIT tournament in Charlotte. And it will come right down to the wire.