The Hopkins Academy and Frontier Regional boys basketball teams are in similar positions – both are entering the playoffs with little postseason experience.
Hopkins returned five starters from a Golden Hawks team that just missed the postseason in coach Adam Ginsburg’s rookie campaign.
“This is this group’s first opportunity getting to play in the postseason,” Ginsburg said. “Some of them have siblings that played, but it’s really an independent experience.”
Frontier returned one starter from a Red Hawks squad that reached the semifinals.
Both finished this season strong and both earned No. 3 seeds in their respective Western Massachusetts Tournaments. Seeds were announced Saturday at the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Red Hawks (16-4), with 6-foot-10 center Peter Carey on the interior, won nine of their final 10 games and is the third behind No. 1 Narragansett (18-2) and No. 2 Sabis (12-8) in the 14-team Division 3 tournament.
The Red Hawks will host No. 14 Athol (9-11) on Tuesday. The teams met twice this season, with Frontier winning on the road, 72-56 on Jan. 7, and at home, 53-42 on Feb. 10.
“If we look past Tuesday we’ll be going home unhappy that evening. It doesn’t matter what the records are,” Frontier coach Ben Barshefsky said. “Athol played us very tough the first two times around. We’re expecting a dogfight.”
South Hadley (14-6) is the seventh seed. The Tigers will host No. 10 Mahar (10-10) in the first round Tuesday. The winner will visit Sabis on Friday. South Hadley hosted Mahar on Feb. 8 and won 64-57.
The Golden Hawks (13-7), with sharpshooter Andrew Ciaglo on the perimeter, won 6 of 8 to enter the Division 4 sectional tournament behind No. 1 Baystate Academy (14-6) and No. 2 Drury (13-7). All three teams earned a bye.
“We tried to practice and prepare during the vacation week like we were playing Monday,” Ginsburg said.
Ciaglo, who averages 21.0 points per game, has made 74 3-pointers on the season.
Hopkins will face the winner of No. 6 Ware and No. 11 Hampden Charter in the quarterfinals Friday.
“We’re in the info gathering stage, but we won’t use that until we know who we’re playing,” Ginsburg said.
Granby (10-10) earned the No. 9 seed and will visit No. 8 Duggan Academy (16-4) in the first round Tuesday. The winner travels to Springfield to face Baystate Academy on Friday. The Rams did not play Duggan this season, but they beat Baystate on the road, 66-50 on Feb. 14.
Smith Vocational (9-11), which qualified by winning a share of the Tri-County South title, will visit No. 4 Monson (14-6) in the 13-team field Tuesday.
Holyoke (11-9) is the fifth seed in the six-team Division 1 tournament. The Purple Knights will visit Commerce (14-6) in the quarterfinals on Friday. The winner will play No. 1 Springfield Central (19-1) at Western New England on March 2 or 3.
Commerce beat Holyoke 72-71 on Feb. 4.
Belchertown (9-11) is No. 6 in the seven-team Division 2 tourney. The Orioles tied for second in the Hampshire South to qualify. They will visit No. 3 Taconic (16-4), the two-time sectional champion and state finalist, Friday.
The Division 3 semifinals are March 3 or 4 at Western New England.