Div. 1 tourney set to start
Top teams all gunning for a title
Conventional wisdom would indicate that losers of Super 8 play-in games would automatically become the favorites in their brackets after dropping back down into the Division 1 tournament. Recent results have not bore that out, however, as over the last five years, eight sectionals have featured teams taking a second bite at the apple and just one has raised a trophy — Duxbury last season.
Reading and Hingham will be looking to buck that trend this winter as the top seeds in Div. 1 North and South. Both will need to rebound from deflating losses on Sunday night, with the Rockets falling to Burlington late in regulation and the Harbormen getting bounced by Framingham in double overtime.
Reading faces a road in the North fraught with Catholic programs that had their Super 8 aspirations come up short but don’t lack in talent. The Rockets could meet one right away in Austin Prep, one of two possible intratown Catholic vs. public matchups in the quarterfinals along with Shrewsbury and St. John’s, while St. Mary’s or Central Catholic may await the semis.
Fellow Middlesex Leaguers Belmont, Melrose and Woburn have all proven themselves capable of playing with the state’s best at times, while the MVC/DCL 1 will be a factor as well with Waltham, Westford Academy and Andover.
Hingham won’t have to navigate a minefield full of Catholics in the South as Archbishop Williams is the only one in the 13-team draw. The Harbormen also get a bit of a break as the lone team with a bye in the quarters.
Familiarity rules the first round as four of the seven games are between leaguemates — Natick and Milton and Braintree and Walpole from the Bay State Conference, King Philip and Franklin from the Hockomock, and Barnstable and Falmouth from the Cape and Island.
Natick in particular may have something to prove as it was the final team on the chopping block for the Super 8 field, getting edged 4-3 in the voting by Reading for the last wild card spot. The defending Div. 1 champions look dangerous again as well as Duxbury comes in off an impressive 3-0 win over Austin Prep to close out the regular season. DIVISION 1 NORTH Winner: Austin Prep Runner-up: St. John’s (S) Sleeper: Andover
Best opener: St. Mary’s vs. Central Catholic
Possible upset: St. John’s
(S) over Melrose:
DIVISION 1 SOUTH Winner: Natick Runner-up: Hingham Sleeper: Marshfield
Best opener: Marshfield vs. Wellesley
Possible upset: Archbishop Williams over BridgewaterRaynham