MIAA girls basketball: Hoosac Valley top seed in D-V as 9 Berkshire schools enter bracket play

On the girls side, nine of the 11 Berkshire County teams will tip off this week hunting for a state crown.

The Lenox girls finished 7-13 and McCann Tech girls were 8-12, both finishing just outside the Division V field. McCann was rated 34th and Lenox 37th. The tournament is made up of the top 32-rated teams in each of five divisions, plus teams that finish .500 or better.

There are seven local girls teams which have received preliminary-round byes into Round of 32 games at toward the end of this opening week.

Two Berkshire County girls programs will begin tournament play this evening, both will do so at home. In fact, of the 19 local boys and girls teams starting bracket play this week, only the Monument Mountain girls got the short end of a straw and must start on the road. The Spartans will wait until Saturday to do so in a Round of 32 game.

Both the Taconic boys and Hoosac Valley girls — Western Massachusetts champions over the weekend along with the Taconic girls, Wahconah girls and Hoosac boys — will represent the county as No. 1 overall seeds in the Division V tournaments. A full breakdown of the boys bracket is available here.

Coach Holly McGovern took over the storied Hoosac Valley program a year ago during the COVID-19-abbreviated local season. In her first full year with the Hurricanes, she has them right back on top. Hoosac won a state title in 2019, and after winning a sectional crown and state semifinal game in 2020, the Hurricanes were named co-state champions as the pandemic halted high school sports just before the title games were to be contested.

Hoosac beat Lee on Saturday to win another Western Mass. crown, and now they open MIAA D-V play as the top seed with a 18-3 record. Their first foe this week might be a local one.

Mount Everett earned the No. 32 spot with a 10-10 record. Coach Josh King’s Eagles were defeated by Lee in the semifinals of last week’s Western Mass. tournament. Up next for Mount Everett is a home tilt against No. 33 Old Colony in the preliminary round. The winner heads to Cheshire on Friday to take their shot at a giant.

Berkshire County goes on a string in D-V, as Taconic earned the No. 5 seed, Lee the No. 6 and Drury the No. 7. That puts those three and Hoosac in four different quadrants.

Coach Matt Mickle’s THS program is in the same shoes as Hoosac. Taconic was named co-state champions in 2020 when they were in Division II and Hoosac was D-III, and won the Class C Western Mass. title on Saturday.

Now in the same field, the Green and Gold could meet Hoosac in a Final Four game. But first, Taconic will await the winner of No. 28 Saint John Paul II and No. 27 Green Academy. Those two teams play tonight and the winner heads to Valentine Road on Friday. The top of Taconic’s bracket is No. 4 Millis.

Lee was beaten by Hoosac in Saturday’s Class D title game, but get a second life later this week. Coach Rick Puleri’s No. 6 Wildcats are waiting to see who comes west on the Mass Pike. It’ll either be No. 27 Granby or No. 38 Minuteman, who play tonight in Granby. The top of Lee’s bracket is No. 3 Hopedale.

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