The Merrimack Valley Conference continues to prove that its arguably the top public school conference in Massachusetts after the MIAA released its latest Power Rankings on Tuesday.
In boys basketball, four of the top nine teams are from the Valley. Girls hoop has two of the top nine, in boys hockey, three teams crack the top 11 in its respective division and in girls hockey, three represent the top 11 teams in the state.
Not bad, eh?
Once the regular season ends, the top 32 ranked teams in each division automatically qualify for the post-season, as will teams ranked after 32, and have a .500 record or better.
In Division 1 boys basketball, North Andover is ranked No. 4 with its 7-2 record. The Scarlet Knights are followed by No. 5 Lawrence (7-3), No. 7 Andover (7-3) and No. 9 Central Catholic (6-3). Haverhill (3-6) and Methuen (5-4) are ranked 23rd and 24th, respectively.
In Division 3, Greater Lawrence is ranked No. 50 at 5-3 and Whittier Tech is No. 65 and on the outside looking in with a 4-5 record.
In girls basketball, Andover stands in at No. 8 with its 8-1 record with 7-2 Central Catholic right behind at No. 9. After that comes No. 27 Methuen (6-3) and No. 29 North Andover (4-5), while Lawrence (2-7) and Haverhill (2-6) need a second-half surge to qualify for post-season play.
In Division 3, Whittier is No. 40 with its 5-4 record and in Division 4, Greater Lawrence is No. 45 with a 6-3 record.
In boys hockey, Central Catholic (5-5-1) is ranked No. 11 with Andover at No. 24 with a 4-4-1 record. In Division 2, North Andover is at No. 7 (6-4-0) and Amesbury/Whittier (3-5-0) would be the No. 32 seed.
In Division 3, Methuen is at No. 5 sporting an 8-0-2 record, and Haverhill sits at No. 31 with a 3-6-0 mark.
Finally in Division 1 girls hockey, Methuen/Tewksbury is at No. 9 with a 6-2-0 record, followed by No. 10 Andover (4-2-1), No. 11 HPNA (5-4-1) and then Central Catholic needs some help with its 2-6-0 record.
Granite State of Mind
In New Hampshire at the unofficial midpoint of the year, three of the four area boys hoop teams are entrenched in the Division I playoff mix.
Pinkerton Academy, at 8-0, sits on the top of the pile, one of two unbeatens (7-0 Bedford) remaining in the D-I field.
Fifteen teams will qualify for the postseason in D-I with just one bye, so the February 9 showdown with the Bulldogs at the Hackler Gym will be the marquee game in the state this regular season.
Both Salem and Windham, each at 4-3, stand in a five-way tie for seventh. Home court for the first round – seeds two through eight – is the goal for them.
The Bedford and Pinkerton girls are two of the three remaining unbeatens in D-I, along with Londonderry.
Both 6-1 Windham and 5-2 Salem will spend the second half of the slate jockeying for playoff position.
In Division II, both Timberlane Regional (4-4) and Pelham (3-3) will be doing the same, hunting a home playoff opener.
There are no unbeatens in the wide-open D-II boys ranks, as Pelham (5-1) is one of five clubs with one loss in the standings.
In boys hockey, Windham (5-2) sits in a three-way tie for fourth. Both Pinkerton and Salem are right there in the D-I chase.
The 7-0 Pinkerton girls are one of three unbeatens in Division I.
Twitter: @JamiePote