By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — State tournaments for the basketball and hockey seasons are nearly here.
Wakefield’s girls’ and boys’ basketball teams and boys’ hockey team have officially qualified for their respective tournaments.
Seedings are expected to be released by the MIAA on Saturday. Preliminary rounds will likely take place between Monday and Wednesday next week with first rounds expected to start by Thursday.
The following are seeding projections based on the MIAA’s latest power ratings published on Feb. 24. Those ratings are still subject to change before the MIAA’s final seedings are released.
Boys’ Hockey
The Warriors concluded their regular season with a 1-1 OT tie against Danvers yesterday to finish the regular season at 10-9-1.
Wakefield was ranked 9th in the latest Div. 2 power ratings. Based on previous MIAA state brackets, Wakefield will host a first round matchup against the No. 24 seed which is currently projected to be Westboro whose record at the time of the last rankings was 9-7-2. As it stands, the winner would set up a round of 16 matchup against the winner of No. 8 Walpole (11-7-2) and No. 25 Beverly (8-10-1).
Along with Westboro and Beverly some more potential teams who could be seeded to meet Wakefield in the first round are Wilmington (5-13-1), North Attleboro (9-10-1) and Auburn (9-9-2).
The top five ranked teams in Div. 2 are Tewksbury (16-2), Gloucester (16-4), Canton (18-2-1), Duxbury (11-8-2) and Masconomet (14-4-2).
Girls’ Basketball
The Wakefield High girls’ basketball team finished the regular season at 14-6 and have earned at least a share of the Middlesex League’s Freedom Division championship.
Now the question is, will the Warriors get to host a first round state tournament game?
The Div. 2 girls’ basketball bracket will include over 40 teams. The top 32 ranked teams make it regardless of record and any team over .500 automatically qualifies. The final bracket could have as many as 44 or 45 teams.
Wakefield’s strong season means they won’t have to worry about the preliminary round. They were ranked 17th in the latest D2 rankings, which in most brackets is a frustrating seed. The top 16 teams typically get to host a first round game. The latest rankings had the No. 16 seed as Amherst-Pelham (16-3) setting up a first round matchup between the Warriors and Hurricanes. Amherst-Pelham, located right by the UMass Amherst campus, is about a two-hour drive from Wakefield.
Some more teams in the 14-20 range that Wakefield could potentially see in the first round include Newburyport (17-2), Westboro (15-4), Nashoba (14-6), Bedford (14-6) and South High Community (18-1).
The top five teams in Div. 2 are Norwood (20-0), Medfield (16-3), Oliver Ames (17-2), Walpole (16-4) and Whitman-Hanson (18-2).
Boys’ Basketball
The boys’ hoop team finished the regular season at 11-9. They were ranked 29th in the latest Div. 2 power ratings.
The boys’ bracket is likely to be even bigger than the girls’ basketball tourney with the potential for over 45 teams which would mean seven or eight preliminary round games to get the tourney down to 32 teams for the first round.
Wakefield will be playing in one of these preliminary round games likely either Monday or Tuesday. They will also likely be hosting it.
Projecting preliminary round matchups is very difficult without knowing how many teams will officially qualify. If Wakefield’s 29 seed holds, they could be hosting teams in the 34 to 40 range which as of the latest rankings include Dighton-Rehoboth (14-6), Westwood (12-10), Charlestown (11-6), Melrose (11-9), Newburyport (13-7), Plymouth North (11-8) and Masconomet (10-8).
This would likely send the winner on the road to meet a top five seed, specifically No. 4 which in the latest D2 rankings was Burlington (15-5) who beat Wakefield twice this season.
The rest of the top five D2 teams are Malden Catholic (17-2), Mansfield (18-4), Leominster (14-4) and Pope Francis (14-6).
Follow us on Twitter @Wakeitemsports for official brackets and Wakefield tournament dates, locations and times.
