The latest Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s winter sports power rankings, which were released Friday morning, are just a snapshot of where Berkshire County and Western Massachusetts teams rank among the high schools in the Commonwealth.
Those ranking did, however, decide on the brackets for the eight-team Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference basketball tournaments that are due to start next week.
There are four classes in the PVIAC Tournament for both boys and girls. Berkshire County teams are in Classes B, C and D. No school in the county is large enough to play in Class A.
The Taconic boys and the Pittsfield girls are the top seeds in their respective Class B tournaments, while the Hoosac Valley girls are No. 1 in Class D.
The eight-team tournaments will begin with quarterfinal play on Monday. The semifinals will be held either Wednesday, Feb. 22, or Thursday, Feb. 23.
Some of the game times were determined early Friday afternoon. Others were either not determined by press time or will be set over the weekend.
The eight championship games will be played on Saturday, Feb. 25. Class A and B will be held at Westfield High School, while Class C and D will be played at Holyoke High School. The only change would be if one school has two teams in different classes playing for a title. That school would play both games at the same site.
For example, the Taconic boys are in Class B and the girls are in Class C. If both were to advance to the championship game, they would play at the same location.
The cutoff for the MIAA state tournament is Thursday, Feb. 23. So there will be two more power rankings before the brackets for the five-division state tournaments are unveiled.
Girls tournament
Emma Meczywor and the Hoosac Valley girls are the top seed in Class D, and will open tournament play at home Monday night.
MARC J. WRZESINSKI — EAGLE CORRESPONDENT
The Pittsfield girls are ranked 14th in the MIAA Division III rankings, while Wahconah is fifth in Division IV. But the PHS power rating is 5.8700 to Wahconah’s 5.8485, which puts the Generals on top of the Class B bracket.
The Generals will open at home against eighth-seeded Belchertown on Monday at 4 p.m., in the first game of a doubleheader. Wahconah will open at home against No. 7 Mahar. Tip-off in Dalton is at 5 p.m., also with the boys game to follow. PHS and Wahconah are on a possible collision course to face each other in the Class B championship game. The Warriors are defending Class B champions.
The Springfield International Bulldogs are top-seeded in Class C, and they will get to host eighth-seeded St. Mary’s of Westfield in a quarterfinal. The winner of that game will face the winner of the game between No. 4 Taconic and No. 5 Renaissance. That game will be played at Taconic. The Thunder are the defending Class C champions.
Girls Basketball Stats
Top scoring players, through Feb. 9, 2023.
| No. | Player | Team | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Duquette | Pittsfield | 20.9 |
| 2 | Emma Goewey | Everett | 18.9 |
| 3 | Grace Wigington | Wahconah | 18 |
| 4 | Olivia Gamberoni | Wahconah | 17.1 |
| 5 | Natalie Lewis | Monument | 16.2 |
| 6 | Charlotte Coody | Greylock | 15.1 |
| 7 | Taylor Garabedian | Hoosac | 12.2 |
| 8 | Macey Tatro | McCann | 11.3 |
| 9 | Ashlyn Lesure | Hoosac | 11.3 |
| 10 | Mia Puleri | Lee | 11.2 |
| 11 | Alyssa Russell | Drury | 10.7 |
| 12 | Alivia Mauer | Lenox | 10.4 |
| 13 | Alex Hudson | Taconic | 10.2 |
| 14 | Emily Steuernagle | Everett | 10.1 |
Drury is the sixth-seed and will travel to No. 3 Franklin Tech on Monday at 7 p.m.
Hoosac Valley, the No. 4 team in Division V statewide, is No. 1 in Class D. The Hurricanes, who are defending Class D champs, will open the PVIAC tourney with a home game against eighth-seeded Ware. It is the first game of a doubleheader with a 5:30 p.m. start
Lenox is the No. 2 seed and will host seventh-seeded Hopkins Academy. Lenox and Hopkins split their regular-season results. That game is also Monday at 4 p.m.
Mount Everett is the fifth seed and will play at No. 4 Pioneer Valley, Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Western Mass. Quarterfinals
All games Monday, Feb. 20
(Seeds in parentheses)
Class B
Boys — (8) Mahar at (1) Taconic, 6:30 p.m.; (5) Monument Mountain at (4) Wahconah: 7 p.m.; (6) South Hadley at (3) Pittsfield, 6:30 p.m.; (7) Belchertown at (2) Springfield ICS, 7 p.m.
Girls — (8) Belchertown at (1) Pittsfield, 4 p.m.; (5) South Hadley at (4) Pope Francis, 5 p.m.; (6) Frontier at (3) Easthampton, 6 p.m.; (7) Mahar at (2) Wahconah, 5 p.m.
Class C
Boys — (8) McCann Tech at (1) Paulo Friere, 6 p.m.; (5) Lenox at (4) Drury, 6:30 p.m.; (6) Athol at (3) Mount Greylock, 6:30 p.m.; (7) Renaissance at (2) Greenfield, TBD
Girls — (8) St. Mary’s at (1) Springfield ICS, 5 p.m.; (5) Renaissance at (4) Taconic, 4 p.m.; (6) Drury at (3) Franklin County Tech, 7 p.m.; (7) Greenfield at (2) Palmer, 6 p.m.
Class D
Boys — (8) Baystate Academy at (1) Pioneer Valley, 6 p.m.; (5) Duggan at (4) Granby, 7 p.m.; (6) Mount Everett at (3) Hoosac Valley, 7:15 p.m.; (7) Smith Academy at (2) Hopkins Academy, 7:30 p.m.
Girls — (8) Ware at (1) Hoosac Valley, 5:30 p.m., (5) Mount Everett at (4) Pioneer Valley, 4:30 p.m.; (6) Turners Falls at)(3) Monson, 5:30 p.m.; (7) Hopkins Academy at (2) Lenox, 4 p.m.
