Three Vineyard high school teams have made it into the winter sports playoffs and have their first matchups later this week.
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association announced the winter tournament brackets on Saturday. The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School boys hockey team, girls hockey team and boys basketball team all emerged as the higher seeds for their initial playoff games and will play at home.
The boys hockey team, the tournament’s eighth seed, are the first Island team to play, taking on 25th-ranked Fitchburg at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Martha’s Vineyard Arena.
The girls hockey team, the 15th seed, will play the 18th seed Norwood on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
The boys basketball team, which has gone on to a 17-3 record this season and garnered the 14th seed, will play the 19th-seeded Norton at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Athletic director Mark McCarthy said Monday he was confident that all the Island teams could all come away victorious.
“I think we got some pretty good draws,” he said.
The girls hockey team played one of the best hockey games in recent memory against Norwood last week, losing narrowly 4-3, according to Mr. McCarthy.
“If we play another five minutes, it could have been 5-4 us,” he said. “I think they have a good shot of beating them this time.”
Boys hockey has not played Fitchburg this year. The mainland school plays in a different part of the state, meaning the Vineyarders don’t have much of a scouting report. But Mr. McCarthy said that home ice could give the Islanders an advantage.
Mike Joyce, the boys basketball coach, has a better idea about his Norton opponents, though and would have the team ready, according to the athletic director.
“Mike knows that team pretty well and will be prepared,” Mr. McCarthy said. “I like our chances in this first round.”
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