Local Teams Make Final Postseason Pushes As Regular Seasons Wind Down

It’s crunch time for the Lower Cape’s high school teams with state tournament aspirations. 

 As teams prepare for the final week of the regular season, all eyes are on the MIAA power rankings to determine how much additional work needs to be done. 

 The Nauset boys hockey team can breathe a sigh of relief knowing its postseason future is secured, as the Warriors (15-0-1) have earned the top spot in each installment of the power rankings, which use a mathematical formula to determine state tournament seedings. 

 Teams are judged on a rating system that adds their margin of victory with the average of their opponent’s ratings. The top 32 teams automatically earn a spot in the hockey and basketball tournaments, though teams can also qualify for preliminary-round games if they finish below 32 but hold a .500 record or better. 

 Like Nauset, the Monomoy-Mashpee boys hockey team cruises into the final week of the season knowing its postseason dreams are secure. The Sharks (10-7) clinched a trip to the Division 4 state tournament with a 7-4 victory over the Dennis-Yarmouth/Cape Cod Tech/Cape Cod Academy co-op squad on Feb. 5. 

 Monomoy-Mashpee was ranked No. 30 in the power rankings released last Friday, while D-Y/CCT/CCA (6-9-0) was ranked No. 23 among Division 4 teams. 

 The Nauset-Monomoy girls team appears primed for a return to the Division 2 state tournament. The 13th-ranked Warriors hold a 9-8-1 record with a road trip to Sandwich (6:30 p.m. Wednesday) and a home game against Smithfield (Rhode Island) at 7 p.m. Saturday remaining on the regular-season schedule.

 On the hardwood, the Nauset boys basketball team (4-12) was ranked No. 58 in Friday’s Division 2 rankings, while the Warriors girls squad (1-15) was ranked No. 67. The Monomoy boys basketball team (4-12) was ranked No. 31 in Division 4, while the Sharks girls (8-7) were No. 33.

 Cape Tech’s boys basketball team (10-7) has clinched at least a preliminary-round appearance in Division 5 and were No. 59 in Friday’s rankings. The Crusaders girls team (8-9) ranked No. 36 and still has work to do but controls its own destiny with three games remaining.

 Visit miaa.net to view the power rankings and learn more about the ratings system that is used to determine state tournament seedings.