Let the madness begin.
Seeds and brackets for the inaugural MIAA statewide basketball tournaments were finally released on Saturday to much anticipation, and seven local hoop teams (four boys, three girls) were included in the fields that culminate with state title games the weekend of March 18-20 at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell.
On the boys side, Frontier Regional earned the best seed of any local program in the Division 4 field. The Redhawks earned the No. 13 seed and will host No. 20 West Bridgewater in the Round of 32, tentatively scheduled for Friday at Goodnow Gymnasium in South Deerfield.
Randolph is the No. 1 seed in the Division 4 field.
In Division 5, the Athol boys drew the No. 29 seed and will host a preliminary round game on Tuesday. The Bears will entertain No. 36 Innovation Academy at Mallet Gymnasium, with the winner advancing to play at No. 4 Paulo Freire in the Round of 32 on Friday.
No. 15 Pioneer earned a home game in the Round of 32, and the Panthers will welcome No. 18 Prospect Hill Academy to Northfield on Friday.
Also Friday, No. 17 Greenfield just missed out on a home game in the Round of 32, and as a result will have to travel over two hours across the state for an away game at No. 16 Salem Academy Charter.
The Mahar boys were the final team out of the Division 4 field, finishing just one spot off the cut line despite winning their final four games of the season.
On the girls side, Turners Falls leads the local contingent as the No. 13 seed in the Division 5 field. That division’s bracket will include a whopping 52 teams, with all but 12 teams required to play a preliminary game on Tuesday.
The Thunder will host No. 52 Rising Ride in the prelims on Tuesday, and if they can hold serve in that game, would also host a Round of 32 game on Friday against the winner No. 20 St. Bernard’s and No. 45 Norfolk Aggie.
Franklin Tech drew the No. 21 seed in the Div. 5 field, and the Eagles will host No. 44 North Brookfield in Tuesday’s preliminary round. A win would earn a Round of 32 game on the road at No. 12 Palmer on Friday.
In Div. 4, Frontier is the No. 20 seed and will head to No. 13 Easthampton for a Round of 32 game on Friday. The two teams just played three days ago in a non-playoff tilt, a 61-49 win for the Redhawks. The winner of that game would likely play at No. 4 Amesbury in the Round of 16.