MIAA releases statewide tournament brackets for basketball, hockey

Holyoke fans cheer after a basket from Jamil Rodriguez (12) en route to his 1,000th career point earlier this season against Northampton in Holyoke.

Holyoke fans cheer after a basket from Jamil Rodriguez (12) en route to his 1,000th career point earlier this season against Northampton in Holyoke. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

Staff Reports

Published: 02-24-2024 3:35 PM

Seeds and brackets for the upcoming state basketball and hockey tournaments were announced on Saturday.

The South Hadley girls basketball team earned the best seed of any local school, checking in at No. 3 in the Division 4 bracket.

Here’s a breakdown of the local teams (all dates and times are TBD):

Boys basketball

Division 2 (3 teams)

Holyoke leads the way on the boys side, as the Purple Knights (13-7) drew the No. 8 seed and received a bye into the Round of 32. The club will host the winner of No. 25 South High Community and No. 40 Masconomet.

Northampton drew the No. 26 seed while Amherst is No. 30 in the Division 2 field.

The Blue Devils (10-10) will host No. 39 Duxbury in the preliminary round, while the Hurricanes (9-11) will host No. 35 Plymouth South. The winner of the Northampton/Duxbury game heads to No. 7 Sharon, and the Amherst-Plymouth South winner will play at No. 3 Pope Francis.

Division 4 (3 teams)

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No. 20 South Hadley leads the local seeds in Division 4, as the Tigers (11-9) will host No. 45 South Lancaster Academy in the preliminary round with the winner going to No. 13 New Heights Charter.

No. 28 Frontier (10-10) hosts No. 37 Madison Park Vocational with a trip to No. 5 Manchester Essex on the line in the Round of 32.

No. 42 Hampshire (10-10) drew a road trip to No, 23 Hamilton-Wenham in the preliminary round.

Division 5 (3 teams)

No. 9 Granby leads the way in a 46-team Division 5 bracket, and the Rams (15-5) will host the winner of No. 24 Avon and No. 41 Atlantis Charter in the Round of 32.

No. 31 Hopkins Academy (6-14) will host No. 34 South Shore Charter in the preliminary round, with the winner heading to No. 2 New Mission.

No. 37 Smith Academy (10-10) gets to stay in Western Mass. when it plays at No. 28 McCann Tech in the preliminary round. The winner goes to No. 5 Mahar in the Round of 32.

Girls basketball

Division 2 (1 team)

No. 7 Northampton put together an outstanding season, and the Blue Devils earned a bye into the Round of 32. They will meet No. 26 Hingham in their tournament opener.

Division 4 (4 teams)

No. 3 South Hadley (18-3) leads the way, as the brand-new Western Mass. Class B champions have home court advantage all the way through the state semifinal round if they make it that far.

The Tigers get the winner of No. 30 Saint Bernard’s and No. 35 Wareham in the Round of 32.

No. 11 Frontier (16-4) draws the winner of No. 22 Lunenburg and No. 43 Tri-County RVT in the Round of 32, while No. 14 Easthampton (14-7) will host either No. 19 Hamilton-Wenham or No. 46 Bristol County Agricultural. The Eagles could set up a rematch with South Hadley in the Round of 16, as the two teams played in the Class B quarterfinals last week.

No. 25 Hampshire Regional (8-12) hosts No. 40 Greater Lawrence Tech in the prelim with the winner heading to No. 8 Sutton in the Round of 32.

Division 5 (3 teams)

No. 22 Granby (11-9) is the top local team in the Division 5 field, and the Rams will host No. 43 Calvary Chapel Academy in the prelim with a spot in the Round of 32 against No. 11 Hopedale on the line.

No. 30 Hopkins Academy (3-17) will host a state tournament game as well, as the Golden Hawks welcome rival Smith Academy (10-10), the No. 35 seed, in the prelim. The winner goes to No. 3 Lenox in the next round.

Hockey

Two local boys hockey teams earned spots in the Division 3 field, and both will play on the road in the preliminary round.

Amherst (12-7-1) is No. 35 in the bracket, and will travel to play at No. 30 Melrose (4-15-1) in the opening round with a spot in the Round of 32 on the line.

Easthampton (12-8-0) is No. 38 in the bracket, and the Eagles head to No. 27 Foxborough (9-11-1) for a prelim contest.

The Pope Francis (12-7-2) girls hockey team, which includes several Hampshire County players, drew the No. 8 seed in the Division 1 field and will open with a home game against No. 25 Arlington (7-11-2) in the Round of 32.

Longmeadow (11-4-1) is the No. 6 seed in the girls Division 2 field, and the Lancers host No. 27 Leominster (11-8-0) in the Round of 32.