By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly Sports Correspondent
This week, Needham boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, and boys’ hockey entered their postseasons. Boys’ basketball finished their season with an 18–2 record, putting them in the 3rd seed. This is an impressive climb from last year when they were the 36th seed after a 10–10 season. In that postseason, they were knocked out by 4th-seeded Central Catholic after advancing from the Preliminary with a win over 29th King Philip Regional. This year, Central Catholic holds the number 1 seed with the same record as Needham and 2nd-seeded Andover. On Tuesday, 30th-seeded Barnstable (13–7) and 35th-seeded Shrewsbury (13–7) will have played each other and the winner will be facing Needham this Friday at 7:00 in the high school gym. The winner of that game will play the winner of the matchup between 14th-seeded Bishop Feehan (13–7) and 19th-seeded Acton-Boxborough Regional (15–5).
The girls’ basketball team is entering their playoffs seeded 9th with a 14–6 record. Last year they were the 13 seed and had an 11–9 record. They beat 20th-seeded Andover but were knocked out in the next round by 4th-seeded Braintree 47–52. This year, Braintree is the 7th seed with a 15–5 record. If the Rockets face them this year, it would be in the finals. Their first postseason game will be this Friday, the 27th, at 5:00 at home, facing 24th-seeded Belmont (13–7). If they win, they will move on to play the winner of the matchup between 8th-seeded Woburn Memorial (19–1) and 25th-seeded Shrewsbury High (9–11).
Boys’ hockey finished their season with a 7–11–2 record, putting them at the 29th seed. Last year they were the 21st seed with a regular season record of 12–8, but were eliminated by the 12th-seeded Archbishop Williams High School. Archbishop is in the 12th seed again this year with a record of 9–10–2. If the Rockets play them in these playoffs, it would be in the final 8. This year the Rockets’ first postseason game will be a tough one, having gone up against 4th-seeded Arlington (17–5) on Tuesday. At the time of writing this article, the game has not yet been played, but if they won, they will advance to face the winner of the Framingham–Lincoln-Sudbury game. Framingham is the 13th seed with a 14–6–0 record and Lincoln-Sudbury is the 20th with 13–7.
The girls’ hockey team unfortunately did not qualify for the playoffs this year, coming in at the 45th seed of Division 1. Of the 52 teams in the division, only the top 32 qualify, with potentially the 33rd or 34th seed fighting in the Preliminary round. During the regular season, Needham came away with a 4–15 record and won their final game last week on February 18th when they defeated Norwood High 3–2.
The Rockets’ schedules can be found online at: www.arbiterlive.com. The tournament brackets can be found under the Tournaments section on www.miaa.net.
