Sports

Region's Teams Ranked Among State's Best

In our weekly look at media outlets' Top 25 lists, there are several teams in the region making an appearance.

Editor's Note: The following story is published in Burlington, Woburn, Reading, North Reading, Wilmington, Tewksbury, Westford and Chelmsford as they are the towns currently included in Patch's region of sports coverage.

It's one of the most wonderful times of the year. It's playoff time for high school teams across the region.

While track, swimming, wrestling and cheerleading teams have already found success in their postseason competitions, area basketball and hockey teams are just about to begin their own playoffs this week.

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But before the brackets get underway, we look back at the most recent rankings that were compiled by various media outlets in the area.

Boys Basketball

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In our last version of the rankings roundup, Division 3 North Reading didn't find a spot on ESPNBoston's Top 25, despite an unbeaten record. This week, the Hornets made an appearance.

North Reading, which toppled Shawsheen Tech to close out a 20-0 record to earn the bracket's No. 1 seed, found its way to No. 25 on the ESPN rankings.

Westford Academy utilized a dramatic 66-64 victory over 11th-ranked North Andover to vault itself from unranked all the way up to No. 19.

The Boston Globe, meanwhile, ranks North Reading at No. 10 and Westford No. 20.

Girls Basketball

No surprise here. The powerhouse Reading Lady Rockets are still No. 1 according to the Globe after polishing off a second straight unbeaten season with a pair of impressive regular season tournament wins.

Westford Academy's Lady Grey Ghosts are coming on at the right time, and as a result are No. 13 in the state according to the newspaper. ESPNBoston has not updated its girls basketball standings since last week's article.

Boys Hockey

Saturday was selection day for the Super 8 teams, and things played out just about as expected.

The local teams to make the cut were Reading at No. 5, a team that will take on No. 4 Austin Prep in the opening round. Austin Prep features skaters from Reading, Woburn, North Reading and Tewksbury, among other towns.

In the rankings, the Globe's latest update features Reading at No. 4, Austin Prep at No. 5, Wilmington at No. 12, and Chelmsford rounding out the list at No. 20. ESPNBoston's rankings were not updated since our last post.

Wilmington had Super 8 hopes, but will instead look to defend its Division 2 title beginning on Tuesday night against Stoneham.

Girls Hockey

Last, but certainly not least, is a look at the girls hockey rankings, which feature little change.

Woburn remains No. 1 in the state, according to the newspaper, as they did last week. The next local team featured is Reading, which nearly earned a tie with the Tanners last week. The Rockets come in at No. 7 in the latest poll.

Also on the list is Westford, which earned a league title this season. The Grey Ghosts are the newspaper's choice at No. 10

What's your take? Is a team from your town not getting enough love? Think someone is ranked too high? What's your prediction for the playoff run for the teams in your town? Let us know in the comments section below. Comments will be included on this article from all eight Patch sites in the region.


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