High school basketball rules the day

Because of a prior commitment at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, the North Sectional basketball tournament – generally a piece of cake in terms of logistics – has been thrown for a loop this year.Games are scattered around in different venues, and different days. All the Division 1 sectional finals were played Friday night at the TD Garden. Today, the Divisions 2, 3 and 4 finals are taking place, but Thursday, the MIAA threw another logistical challenge to hoop fans everywhere when it changed the Salem-Reading Division 2 North final to Woburn High (it is still at 8 p.m.).The reason is that the organization was worried that Emmanuel College’s gym – site of the other North finals – would not be able to accommodate crowds from both schools.The Witches got to the finals by clawing their way out of a sub-bracket that included No. 2 Masconomet and Dracut, which they defeated, 70-67, in overtime Wednesday in the semifinal thanks to Raphy Medrano’s three-point buzzer beater.The Witches tied the game with two crucial three throws with 10 seconds to go, and then got a turnover to set up other winning shot.Three other players to watch out for are Sean Linehan, Derek McIntyre and Antonio Reyes.Reading brings a balanced attack to the table, and the Rockets needed all of it to put down Classical Wednesday, 68-67. Their three biggest weapons are Trey Jones (who can really shoot the trey), Brian Bourque and Kenny Reed.DIVISION 4 NORTH BOYSWinthrop vs. New MissionAt Emmanuel, noonThus far in the tournament, the Vikings, behind Northeastern Conference all-star Dino Mallios, have reeled off impressive wins over St. Clement and Manchester-Essex. Things might be different today, as New Mission has been just as impressive – not just in the tournament, but all year long. The Titans rolled through their regular-season schedule, losing only to East Boston (68-66) and to Madison Park (66-59) in the Boston City tournament (Madison Park went on to defeat Brockton Tuesday night in the South sectionals).The Vikings have played their share of tough non-league games too. They’ve defeated both the Division 2 (Salem) and Division 3 (Tech) North finalists, and all three of its losses came against Division 1 foes (English, Classical and Malden).Aside from Mallios, the Vikings have had big seasons from Mark Jenkins and Jared Bingham.DIVISION 3 NORTH GIRLSFenwick vs. PentucketAt Emmanuel, 2 p.m.The Crusaders would appear to be in for a tall order today when the 24-0 Sachems come calling.Pentucket lost in this game a year ago, to Swampscott, and the Sachems have been thinking of nothing but getting back to the final, and winning, since. And they’re led by nifty point guard Erin McNamara, who torched Swampscott en route to getting back to the final. That road also included a win over St. Mary’s in the semifinal.Fenwick hit a low point in its season just before the Presidents Day weekend North Shore Invitational Tournament, losing a lopsided game to St. Mary’s. But the next day, the Crusaders came back to beat Masconomet in the opener of the invitational, and then capped off their resurgence with a 64-49 win over Danvers.In the tournament, they came in at No. 7, and certainly had their work cut out for them, beating the Nos. 2 (Ipswich) and 3 (Stoneham) seeds handily.The Stoneham game was a bit more tense than coach Tim Harrington might have liked, but thanks to Lizzie Trainor (18 points) and with help from Sarah James and Erin Botticelli (10 each) they managed to hang on.