If there’s going to be a Newburyport vs. St. Mary’s rematch this year, it’ll have to happen in the Division 3 finals.
A potential championship game that nobody would be disappointed with.
That’s because with the release of the official MIAA pairings on Saturday, Newburyport had bumped up one spot to earn the No. 3 seed in the bracket. The Clippers (18-2) have what it takes to cut down the nets in a few week’s time, and will open their tournament run hosting either No. 35 Hudson or No. 30 Pembroke (date/time TBD). The combination of Carson Gretz (18.3 ppg, 31 3s), Cal Atherton (18.0 ppg, 41 3s), Zayd Leanna (13.6 ppg, 24 3s), Sam Craig (9.6 ppg) and Ben Corneau (4.6 ppg) is one of the best starting-5s in the state, and Ben Cormier, Thomas Thoreson and Silas Brennan give the Clippers depth off the bench.
And also making the Division 3 field was Triton (10-10), which won three of its last four games to qualify via the .500 rule and earn the No. 42 seed. Liam Friis (14.3 ppg, 50 3s), Harrison Huynh (9.8 ppg, 28 3s), Mateus Pinto (9.2 ppg) and Jason Holscher (7.9 ppg) lead the Vikings, who will travel to play No. 23 Dedham in the preliminary round on Tuesday.
Lastly, Georgetown (14-6) is very much a state championship contender as the No. 6 seed in Division 4. The Royals have won seven of their last eight heading into the playoffs, and will open their run on Friday at 7 p.m. hosting either No. 38 Broomfield School or No. 27 High School of Commerce. Irvin Zapata (11.5 ppg, 57 3s) has been the area’s best shooter this year, point guard Brendan Loewen (9.0 ppg, 18 3s) is as tough as they come, and Jalen Andujar (7.0 ppg, 22 3s), Jomar Terrero (6.8 ppg), Marcos Yones (6.7 ppg), Aleks Dimov (6. ppg) and Brady Kent (6.0 ppg, 33 3s) can all help with scoring.
Here are the complete brackets for each division that includes a local team.
Division 3
SEEDING: 1. St. Mary’s (21-1); 2. Norwell (20-0); 3. NEWBURYPORT (18-2); 4. Shawsheen Valley Tech (18-2); 5. Greater Lawrence (13-7); 6. Taconic (16-4); 7. Salem (16-4); 8. Abington (17-5); 9. Watertown (14-6); 10. Hanover (12-10); 11. Swampscott 13-7; 12. Foxborough 8-14; 13. Tantasqua (14-6); 14. Boston Latin Academy (15-5); 15. Lynnfield (14 6); 16. Lynn Classical (16-4); 17. Pittsfield (14-6); 18. Wilmington (12-8); 19. Charlestown (11-7); 20. Old Rochester (11-9); 21. Greater New Bedford (11-11); 22. Apponequet (9-11); 23. Dedham 12-8
24. Fairhaven (12-8); 25. Nipmuc Regional (13-7); 26. HS of Science and Tech. (9-11); 27. Gloucester (11-9); 28. Medfield (12-8); 29. Worcester Tech (14-6); 30. Pembroke (7-13); 31. Medway (14-6); 32. Greater Lowell Tech (11 10); 33. Falmouth (12-8); 34. Dennis-Yarmouth (12-9); 35. Hudson (11-9); 36. Norton (13-7); 37. East Bridgewater (11-9); 38. Weston (11-9); 39. North Reading (11-9); 40. Auburn (11-9); 41. Oakmont (10-10); 42. Triton (10-10); 43. Ludlow (10-10); 44. Stoneham (8-12)
Local Preliminary Round games
Tuesday, Feb. 25th
No. 42 Triton at No. 23 Dedham, 6:30 p.m.
Local First Round games
TBD
No. 35 Hudson at No. 30 Pembroke winner at No. 3 Newburyport, TBD
Division 4
SEEDING: 1. Albert D. Holland HS Of Tech (17-3); 2. Bourne (17-3); 3. Clinton (19-1); 4. Millbury (16-6); 5. Monument Mountain (18-2); 6. GEORGETOWN (14-6); 7. Lunenburg (15-5); 8. Lynn Tech (12-8); 9. Manchester Essex (15-5); 10. KIPP Academy (11-9); 11. South Hadley (15-5); 12. Hamilton-Wenham (15-5); 13. Cohasset (16-4); 14. Northbridge (13-7); 15. Littleton (11-9); 16. Tech Boston Academy (10-9); 17. Wareham (11-11); 18. Ayer Shirley (20-2); 19. David Prouty (14-6); 20. Blue Hills RVT (14-5);
21. Cathedral (11-8); 22. Uxbridge (12-8); 23. O’Bryant (11-9); 24. Wahconah (8-12); 25. Millis (8-12); 26. Greenfield (10-10); 27. HS of Commerce (7-13); 28. Blackstone-Millville (12-8); 29. New Heights Charter (16-6); 30. Sutton (10-10); 31. Rockland (8-12); 32. Frontier (12-8); 33. Assabet Valley RVT (16-3); 34. Mystic Valley (18-2); 35. Roxbury Prep Charter (12-8); 36. Hampshire Regional (12-8); 37. Gardner (13-7); 38. Bromfield School (10-6); 39. Maimonides School (8-6); 40. Smith Vo-Tech (13-7); 41. Upper Cape Cod RVT (12-8); 42. South Shore Vo-Tech (10-10)
Local First Round games
Friday, Feb. 28th
No. 38 Broomfield at No. 27 HS of Commerce winner at No. 6 Georgetown, 7 p.m.