Two of the area?s top girls basketball teams ? English and Swampscott – have drawn opening-round byes in the MIAA North Sectional tournament, and won?t see action until next weekend.
English, the No. 2 seed in Division 1, completed a 19-3 season last Monday with a win over Peabody in the St. Mary?s Spartan Classic. The Dogs also finished their season unbeaten in the Northeastern Conference. They?ll play the winner of the first-round game between Billerica and Acton-Boxborough Friday (7) at the Cavanagh Fieldhouse.
The Bulldogs, who have never won a tournament game, could possibly play Salem in the next round. The Witches, No. 6 at 14-5, open the tournament Tuesday at home (7) against Cambridge. The two teams met only two weeks ago, with English winning convincingly in a game that saw Jeanette Anderson score her 1,000th career point. But for that to happen, Salem would have to beat Cambridge and then tackle No. 3 Central Catholic in Lawrence.
Also in Division 1 is Beverly 10-10 Beverly, seeded 12th in the 12-team field. The Panthers travel to Somerville Tuesday (7).
In Division 2, the field is rather crowded, with 15 teams vying for the sectional title. Tops among them locally is No. 8 Bishop Fenwick (14-6). Technically, the Crusaders have a home game, but it?ll be played at Salem State Wednesday (7) against No. 9 Concord-Carlisle.
A win earns the Crusaders a date with top-seeded Brighton (16-1) Friday at Boston Latin Academy.
Danvers and Gloucester, both of whom compete in the Northeastern Conference, are 13th and 14th respectively, and each come in with 12-8 records.
The Falcons will travel to Reading Monday night (7) while the Fishermen will be at Westford Academy (7), also on Monday.
Four of the 14 teams in Division 3 are from the North Shore area. The top seed is Pentucket, and right behind the Sachems are the Swampscott Big Blue. The two teams have had a fairly extensive tournament history in the last two years, but both times they?ve faced each other, Pentucket?s come out on top. However, in a tournament over Christmas vacation, the Big Blue got one back.
Swampscott?s only league loss this season was to English, and its only other defeat came Thursday night at Lowell ? which is the No. 1 seed in Division 1. The Big Blue will have to wait until Saturday to test its mettle, against either Wilmington or Weston. The game will be in Swampscott at 7 p.m.
St. Mary?s (16-6, including, at one point, a seven-game winning streak) is seeded fifth. The Spartans get a home game out of the deal, and it?ll be Monday night against Winthrop ? a team that went to the Tsongas Arena (site of all the sectional finals) last year. The Vikings are seeded 12th at 10-10.
The other area team is Lynnfield (10-10), which plays Thursday night (7) at Presentation of Mary.
St. Mary?s, if it?s to win the North, would have to defeat Pentucket in a semifinal while Lynnfield could conceivably face Swampscott in the other semi.
The sectional finals will be played Saturday, March 7, at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell.