NOTE: Here's the first look at the Playoff Picture. There may be a record or two that's off. If so, shoot me an email at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com. ... I'm hoping to have the first Walker update some time next week as some more teams qualify.

A few links to past stories before we get started:
*Here's the story from Thursday's Belchertown-Cathedral game, during which Brianna Del Valle scored her 1,000th career point.
*Here's our high school notebook from Thursday's paper, which leads with Del Valle and has a bunch of other stuff in it.
*And here's last week's notebook that I mentioned before, which leads with my take on how/why the referee scheduling should change in the tournament.

The records below don't include East Longmeadow-Ludlow game that was scheduled for Friday night.

Division 1
QUALIFIED: Amherst (13-1), Holyoke (11-2), Pittsfield (10-5), West Springfield (12-1)
CLOSING IN: Longmeadow (9-4), Northampton (9-5)
WORK TO DO: Agawam (4-10), Central (3-10), Chicopee (1-10), Chicopee (1-10), Chicopee Comp (6-7), East Longmeadow (6-7), Ludlow (2-9), Minnechaug (3-10), Westfield (4-10)
OUT: Sci-Tech (0-13)
OUTLOOK: There's certainly a chance that we could be looking at another bye to the quarterfinals for the top seed for the second straight year, as the drop from three Division 1 leagues to two rears its ugly head once again. The teams with 10 losses are obivously unlikely to win out and second place isn't an option for any of them otherwise. Comp and East Longmeadow both need to qualify to get the tournament to eight teams. The Colts have three extremely tough games left (two vs. Amherst, one at Longmeadow) and need to either win their other four games (Westfield twice, Chicopee, Agawam) or steal one of the tougher ones. It's definitely doable, but they've got virtually no room for error. East Longmeadow, meanwhile, had won six straight before falling to Northampton Thursday. The Spartans need three wins in their final six games and still have Holyoke, West Side and Northampton on their schedule. Barring an upset in one of those games, they'll need to win out against Central, Ludlow and Minnechaug. Again, it's doable, but there's no room for error.

Division 2
QUALIFIED: Athol (10-4), Belchertown (12-3), Drury (10-5), Frontier Regional (13-1), Hampshire Regional (15-1), Hoosac Valley (10-7), Mahar Regional (10-3), Wahconah (12-4)
CLOSING IN: Cathedral (8-5), Monument Mountain (9-4), Southwick (4-10), South Hadley (9-5)
WORK TO DO: Commerce (4-9), Easthampton (5-11 actually, 5-9 officially), Mount Greylock (5-9), Palmer (5-6),  Taconic (4-9)
OUT: Mohawk Trail (1-13)
OUTLOOK: It would be shocking to have fewer than 12 teams in the field here, which means four first-round games. Greylock's hopes for either .500 or second in the south took a hit in Thursday's loss to Lenox. Palmer, meanwhile, has lost an astonishing six straight after a 5-0 start. It's got what I'd consider four very winnable games left (Sci-Tech, Chicopee , Commerce twice), but will then need to knock off one of South Hadley, Cathedral, Monson, Belchertown or Hampshire to get in. (Southwick is broken down in the D3 outlook)

Division 3
QUALIFIED: Gateway Regional (11-2), Lee (13-0), Sabis (14-1), Westfield Voke (9-4)
CLOSING IN: Granby (9-7), Holyoke Catholic (6-10), Hopkins Academy (8-6), Lenox (9-7), McCann Tech (4-9), Monson (8-4), Putnam (3-12), Ware (9-5), Westfield Voke (9-4)
WORK TO DO: Dean Tech (1-7), Franklin Tech (6-6), Mount Everett (3-8), New Leadership (6-6), Pathfinder (5-4), Pioneer Regional (8-6), St. Mary (3-8), Smith Academy (7-8), Smith Voke (3-9),
OUT: Greenfield (2-12), Pioneer Christian (3-11), St. Joseph's (1-10), Turners Falls (1-12),
OUTLOOK: The longest part of putting this entire thing together was trying to work out the Tri-County records, as they haven't been posted in places as regularly as eveyone else. So if you see one that's wrong, drop me a line. Entering Friday's games, McCann, Holyoke Catholic and Putnam were all tied for first place in the Bi-County West while Southwick (D2) was a half-game back. Two of those teams get in. Smith should get to 9-8 with wins over Turners Falls and Mohawk Trail but then must defeat one of Athol, Mahar or Hopkins to get to No. 10. Otherwise, it would need Hopkins to stumble badly the rest of the way to take second in the Franklin South.