Before we get started, I just want to point out that there are a number of differences in overall record in our official record-keeping and the information given to the MIAA by the Ads. There is a chance that something was incorrectly posted by a newspaper or something, but the main issue seems to be incorrectly submitted info to the tournament committee. That makes things extremely difficult for the committee and leads, I’m sure, to mistakes. It’s unfortunate.

I’m sure that’s what happened in the Ludlow-Central situation on Saturday, when everyone was shocked to hear that Central got the four seed ahead of Ludlow, including the Lions coach. That was eventually fixed by the committee, thankfully.

For instance, in Division 2 alone there are two incorrect records in the top four as Mohawk is listed as 19-1 (they are 18-2) and Monument at 17-3 (they are 16-4). There are more throughout the brackets. The records that were used for our Walkertology, the ones posted below and in the Gazette on Monday are all correct to the best to our knowledge. If you see something wrong, drop me a line at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.

One last thing, I’m not sure what happened at the bottom of Division 2. Last year, Gateway got in because it was in the Tri-County and Hampshire got in via the Sullivan Rule. In that bracket last year, Hampshire was placed last and Gateway was second-to-last. This year was the same situation, but Gateway was placed last and Hampshire second-to-last. I think this makes more sense, in fact, and asked the committee about it afterward, but the reasoning didn’t seem to be that they were righting a wrong. In fact, it sounded a lot like they thought this was Gateway’s first year in the TCL, which, of course, it wasn’t.

DIVISION 1
No. 9 Amherst (10-10) vs. No. 8 West Springfield (11-9)
Head to head: Did not play this season
Players to watch: Amherst guards Alyssa Leonard and Jenna Klaes and center Mariah Lesure; West Springfield center Annie Siemanowski and guard Monica Acevedo
Winner gets: No. 1 Minnechaug (17-2)
Notes: Incredibly, Amherst played 17 games against tournament teams and squared off against eight of the other nine teams in the D-1 field. The only one the Canes didn’t face: West Side. Amherst looked good down the stretch and appears to finally be healthy. If they can rebound with the Terriers, they will be in good shape.
Pick: I’ll be a homer and go with Amherst in a close one.

No. 10 Chicopee Comp (10-10) at No. 7 Agawam (12-8)
Head to head: Did no play this season
Players to watch: Comp guards Ashley Assarian and Kellie Dwyer; Agawam center Mackenzie Doyle
Winner gets: No. 2 East Longmeadow (18-2)
Notes: The Colts really struggled against Amherst in the finale and it’s hard to see how they can match up with Doyle in the middle. They’ll need to really improve their team rebounding and the guards will have to get hot from the outside to pull off the win.
Pick: Agawam

DIVISION 2
No. 9 Hoosac Valley (12-8) at No. 8 Drury (14-6)
Head to head: Teams split the season with road team winning each game
Players to watch: Hoosac’s Courtney Delratez and Sam Lebeau; Drury’s Taylor DeSanty
Winner gets: No. 1 Palmer (20-0)
Notes: I love that this one ended up working out, as these schools are huge rivals and this will be a big deal in Northern Berkshire county. DeSanty is the school’s top career scorer and I’d love to see her get a crack at Palmer’s defense.
Pick: Drury

No. 10 Belchertown (12-8) at No. 7 Athol (16-4)
Head to head: Did not play this season
Players to watch: Belchertown guard Katelyn Cavanaugh and post players Kierstin Del Valle and Briana Del Valle; Athol guard Catie Brighenti
Winner gets: No. 2 Commerce (18-2)
Notes: Belchertown’s struggles against good backcourt defense will be the key here, as the Orioles must limit their turnovers to beat a very hot Red Raiders squad, which ended the season 7-1. If they take care of the ball, their inside advantage could be the difference.
Pick: Athol

No. 11 Mount Greylock (10-8) at No. 6 Wahconah (14-6)
Head to head: Warriors beat the Mounties 49-30 in Cheshire on Jan. 19.
Players to watch: Greylock’s Sarah Brink and Kim Houston; Wahconah’s Darcey Sullivan and Sara Hamilton
Winner gets: Winner of Gateway-Mohawk
Notes: Another Berkshire matchup, with the Warriors coming off a huge win over Monument Mountain in their regular season finale. A Wahconah-Mohawk quarterfinal could be fantastic.
Pick: Wahconah

No. 12 Frontier Regional (11-9) at No. 5 Mahar Regional (17-3)
Head to head: Mahar swept two-game series by total of 39 points.
Players to watch: Red Hawks guards Amanda Koldy and Mel Stier; Mahar guard Mary Kovacevic and forwad Genny Averill
Winner gets: Winner of Monument-Hampshire
Notes: Tough matchup for the Red Hawks, who could have jumped on an unsuspecting opponent early with their defensive pressure, but the Senators will know all about Frontier after two regular season games. The Red Hawks are very young and just the experience of reaching this point will pay off huge for the program down the road.
Pick: Mahar

No. 13 Hampshire Regional (5-15) at No. 4 Monument Mountain (17-3)
Head to head: Did not play this year
Players to watch: Hampshire guard Ashlee Moussette; Monument guard Mare McCormick and Keelynn Harris
Winner gets: Winner of Mahar-Frontier
Notes: One of the more interesting games of the day, as Monument may be better than a four seed and Hampshire is definitely better than a 13 seed. The Red Raiders played 14 games against Division 1 teams and certainly won’t be overwhelmed by anything thrown at them here, but this is a tough trip and a tough matchup.
Pick: Monument

No. 14 Gateway Regional (11-7) at No. 3 Mohawk Trail (18-2)
Head to head: Did not play this year
Players to watch: Gateway’s Kaila Arsenault; Mohawk’s Johanna Miner and Kelsey Schmidt
Winner gets: Winner of Wahconah-Greylock
Notes: A Tri-County team in the Division 2 field just can’t compete, let along against a Mohawk team that started the season with 17 straight wins.
Pick: Mohawk

DIVISION 3
No. 11 Pathfinder (10-10) at No. 6 Smith Academy (13-7)
Head to head: Did not play this year
Players to watch: Smith forwards Abeni Davies and Andrea Klepacki and guard Allison Slysz
Winner gets: No. 3 Ware (14-4)
Notes: This was probably the perfect result for Smith, which is back in the tournament after X years away. They get a very winnable game to get their feet wet in the tournament before heading to a more difficult matchup, but still winnable, at Ware. Even better than a bye in this situation.
Pick: Smith

No. 10 Franklin Tech at No. 7 McCann Tech (11-9)
Head to head: Did not play this year
Player to watch: McCann guard Nhi Nguyen
Winner gets: No. 2 Monson (16-4)
Notes: McCann has battled all kinds of adversity this year, but will almost certainly cruise here.
Pick: McCann

No. 9 Lenox (6-14) at No. 8 Putnam (18-2)
Head to head: Did not play this year
Players to watch: Lenox’s Natalie Allen and Emma Poore
Winner gets: No. 1 Lee (15-5)
Notes: I’d have been more likely to pick Putnam if it beat a non-Tri-County team this year, but that season finale loss to Granby made it impossible.
Pick: Lenox