When the dust and snow settled from this week's Round of 16 matchups across the state, Berkshire County was left with an impressive seven teams fighting on into the Round of Eight.

The Round of Eight serves as the MIAA State Tournament quarterfinals, meaning the lucky seven will all suit up this weekend hunting a Final Four trophy and banner, along with the right to be one win away from a trip to Lowell.

The state championships are again tentatively scheduled for the Tsongas Center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Barring any Redhawks teams needing the arena, the MIAA will contest 10 championships across five divisions March 13, 14 and 15. 

The Round of Eight has some extra intrigue here in Berkshire County courtesy of a pair of Division V rivalry games. While five county teams will play their quarterfinals in the Berkshires, there'll only be three games.

Two of those games are slated for Bucky Bullett Gymnasium in North Adams. There, the twin No. 1 seeds of Drury High School will both host archrival Hoosac Valley.

The Drury boys have looked every bit the 1-seed in winning two state games by 26 and 36 points. Meanwhile, No. 8 Hoosac also held seeded serve in winning two games in Cheshire. Now, the Hurricanes of first-year coach Matt Larabee will take their third shot at Drury this season. In fact, Hoosac hasn't beaten the Blue Devils since Feb. 15, 2024, during the season that eventually saw the 'Canes reach the D-V Final in Lowell.

That's a string of four straight losses that includes a 50-47 Drury win in the Round of 16 last winter, also at Drury. The two meet Saturday at 4 p.m.

It's a double-edged sword of what should be a high-drama and higher-attendance night in North Adams, while also the tough situation where only one of Drury and Hoosac will be in the Final Four, despite the fact that both are playing like teams capable of making it all the way.

The same goes for the girls matchup Friday night at 6 p.m.

No. 1 Drury cruised through 413 matchups with Mohawk and Ware without breaking much of a sweat. But now the sweating can start because the opposite end of the court is going to be populated by girls who have a state championship ring back home.

After back-to-back state titles, the Hoosac Valley girls are the No. 9 seed and had to go out and beat Western Mass Class D champion Granby behind 18 points from Genevieve Lagess. Next, they'll try to continue giant slaying with the Western Mass. Class C champion Blue Devils.

No easy task, even for a team with the pedigree of Hoosac. Drury beat Hoosac twice in the regular season and boasts a defense that's allowing 24.2 points over five playoff games.

An easy way for Drury to get the rest of the state to take it seriously as the No. 1 seed? Take the two-time reigning champs off the board decisively.

Friday night will also see a Final Four trophy handed out under the dome at Pittsfield High.

The No. 2 Generals have responded resoundingly from their loss in the Class B championship game, holding Tantasqua and Tewksbury to 53 combined points. Meanwhile, 1,000-point scorer Harolyn Castillo has taken it upon herself to put up 41 points over the two wins.

The next hurdle on the road to Lowell is a a familiar one, at least in jersey. In the now five years of the statewide tournament, PHS with have hosted North Reading four times. The first two times, the Hornets ended Pittsfield's season. Then the Generals trounced NR 53-17 in the Round of 16 last winter on their way to the Final Four. The Hornets make their annual trek tonight at 6 p.m.

North Reading has won two state games by 20-plus, but this PHS train only has one stop on the line, and that's along the Merrimack River not on East Street.

The Lenox girls and Wahconah boys will have to both be road warriors to claim their trophies this weekend.

For Lenox, enemy territory is nothing new. The 12th-seeded Millionaires went into Lee and put an abrupt end to the No. 5 Wildcats' postseason, canceling out a 10-point deficit by winning the fourth quarter by 17. It was just Lenox's seventh win this winter, but this isn't the same team that was getting knocked around in December and January. 

If the Millionaires can extend their upset umbrella to include No. 4 Saint John Paul II Friday night, with a 5:30 p.m. tip, they'll travel west on the Pike from Cape Cod with a Final Four trophy and likely get to stay put. The winner of their matchup gets the winner of Drury-Hoosac in the Final Four. And those two teams? Lenox split with Hoosac and came off their win over the Hurricanes to take top-seeded Drury into overtime.

The Wahconah boys have proven a lot to themselves, Berkshire County and the state, but they're not going to want to stop there.

After fading from the Berkshire League race and falling out of the Class B Tournament in a quarterfinal upset, Wahconah came out in the D-IV bracket with renewed vigor. Jake Wasuk, Jack DuCharme and Sam McLaughlin have more than 22 points across the two games, while Cooper Calvert — the team's leading scorer on the season — has 18. 

Two teams from Greater Boston rode to Dalton and were denied entry to the next round. Now it's the 8-seed Warriors' turn to travel the length of the state. They'll be at No. 1 Wareham on Saturday at 7 p.m. to face a program with as much pedigree as anyone. Wareham won the D-IV state title in both 2023 and '24.