PLAY-IN TEAMS

(seeded 7-10 by winning pct.)

ANDOVER (13-5-2)

Record vs. Watch List: 3-4-1 RPI: 8 … SOS: 13

Why the Golden Warriors: Talk about a Cinderella story. Chris Kuchar returned behind the Andover bench just last Friday, and his inspired troops proceeded to rattle off huge wins against Waltham, Arlington and St. John's. Add in a win last night at Newburyport and the Warriors should be pretty confident about their first-ever Super Eight berth.

ST. MARY’S (12-6-4)

Record vs. Watch List: 3-2-1 RPI: 14 … SOS: 12

Why the Spartans: St. Mary's will prove to be an interesting case. The Spartans went 1-0-1 vs. Hingham and handed BC High its only loss since December. However, they also lost to Franklin, went 0-1-1 against Newburyport and finished second in the Catholic Central behind Austin Prep, losing 6-1 last week. The guess here is the big wins will carry more weight than the various bumps in the road.

ARLINGTON (12-5-4)

Record vs. Watch List: 1-4-1 RPI: 9 … SOS: 11

Why the Spy Ponders: The defending Super Eight champions probably will be sweating things out this morning, but they can hang their hat on a win against Austin Prep and a strong nonleague schedule. It's hard to see enough teams having a better case than Arlington to keep the Ponders out.

AUSTIN PREP (13-7-1)

Record vs. Watch List: 1-7-1 RPI: 10 … SOS: 19

Why the Cougars: One would think winning the Catholic Central would be more than enough. However, AP lost to both Arlington and St. John's, and despite the split of the season series with St. Mary's, this could be a battle to the end to see if the Cougars make the cut. The guess here is they will.