Sports

Teams Throughout Region Crack Top 25 Lists

ESPN Boston and the Boston Globe's published rankings feature several local teams.

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.

The state tournament is made to determine how teams stack up against one another. But until that time comes in just over a week, there’s another way to figure that out.

Several local media outlets compile weekly rankings for boys and girls teams in both hockey and basketball. And multiple Patch towns in the area are represented in the rankings posted in recent days by ESPNBoston.com and the Boston Globe.

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Putting together the most impressive showing of the region’s teams is Reading. The Rockets are the top-ranked girls basketball team by both media outlets while each has Reading boys hockey at No. 4 in their rankings. In addition, the Lady Rockets hockey team comes in at No. 7 on both lists.

Boys Basketball

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No teams in the current Patch region of Reading, North Reading, Wilmington, Tewksbury, Burlington, Woburn, Westford and Chelmsford crack the Top 25 on ESPN Boston.

Among ESPN Boston’s Last 10 Out are unbeaten North Reading (19-0) and Westford, which now sits at 15-4.

The Globe, meanwhile, shows a little more love for the unblemished Hornets. North Reading ranked at No. 10 as of Feb. 10, when the team was 17-0 before winning a pair of games in recent days.

Girls Basketball

Coming as a surprise to no one, the Reading girls basketball team is No. 1 in both polls. Thanks to a win this week that improved the team to 18-0 on the year, the Lady Rockets are on a 43-game winning streak as they hope to win a second straight state title.

Both polls agree on Reading’s positioning, as well as Westford’s. The Grey Ghosts sit at No. 13 on ESPN Boston along with in the Globe poll.

Boys Hockey

Things are much busier for the region in the hockey polls.

In addition to Reading at No. 4 on ESPN Boston, Division 2 defending champion Wilmington sat at No. 12 this week, Chelmsford is at No. 17, and Burlington has bounced back after a tough start to hop to No. 22.

Things are slightly different according to the Boston Globe. The newspaper agrees that Reading is No. 4, but has Wilmington at No. 11, Chelmsford at No. 19 and Burlington outside of its Top 20.

Girls Hockey

The polls agree on one thing. The Woburn girls hockey team is the best in the state.

Both ranking lists have the unbeaten Tanners atop them, with appearances in both by Westford as well.

The Lady Grey Ghosts, now 13-3-1 after drubbing Chelmsford on Saturday, are slotted by ESPN Boston at No. 25. The Boston Globe puts Westford in at No. 11.

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 rest of the way? 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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