Petersburg and East Hardy were voted No. 1 seeds in their respective regions, and Frankfort, Keyser and Union have first-round home games in the West Virginia boys regional playoff brackets revealed Thursday.
The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) moved away from using a sectional format beginning last season.
The WVSSAC has opted instead to seed all region teams and divide them into two brackets, with each of the eight subregion champions per class advancing to the state tournament.
While some regions are unbalanced and have teams one win away from a state tournament berth, all area boys teams are two wins from states.
Petersburg (14-6) is the top seed in Class AA, Region II and hosts No. 8 Philip Barbour (5-16) on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m.
If victorious, the Vikings would play the winner of No. 4 Braxton County (14-6) and No. 5 South Harrison (11-10) on Thursday, March 12, in the subregion finals.
In the region’s other bracket, Frankfort (13-9) welcomes No. 7 Berkeley Springs (12-7) on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m.
No. 3 Lincoln (10-11) hosts No. 6 Moorefield (7-14) on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m. in the subregion’s other first-round matchup.
In the Class AAA, Region II playoff bracket, No. 3 Keyser (12-10) is home facing No. 6 Hampshire (1-20) in the first round on Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m.
The winner will head to No. 2 Robert C. Byrd (13-7) on Tuesday, March 10, in a state tournament qualifier.
East Hardy (18-4), on a quest for a fourth straight state tournament appearance and riding a 13-game win streak, has been awarded the No. 1 seed in Class A, Region II.
The Cougars play host to No. 8 Harman (2-7) to open their playoff slate on Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m.
The winner of that matchup faces the victor of No. 4 Union (9-11) and No. 5 Tygarts Valley (8-12), a contest slated for the same date and time.
The subregion final would be played on Wednesday, March 11.
In the other subregion, No. 6 Paw Paw (9-11) heads to No. 3 Tucker County (13-8) in the first round on Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m.