Local Teams Make Final Postseason Pushes As Regular Seasons Wind Down

In the words of Boston Bruins play-by-play announcer Jack Edwards, “It’s winning time.”

As regular season schedules wind down for local high school sports teams, the focus has shifted toward qualifying for state tournament play.

While a few teams — Nauset boys hockey, Nauset-Monomoy girls hockey and Monomoy boys basketball — have already secured spots in their respective state tournaments, other teams still have work to do in order to qualify for the postseason.

At Monomoy, the girls basketball team has won its past three games to improve its record to 8-7 with five games remaining. If the Sharks can maintain a .500 record or better, they will guarantee themselves a spot in the Division 4 tournament.

The girls team was ranked No. 38 in the MIAA Power Rankings released Feb. 2, though those rankings didn’t account for the Sharks’ 39-26 victory over Cape Cod Academy on Friday evening. Monomoy’s boys (11-4) have already locked up a Division 4 tournament berth and were ranked No. 23 in the Feb. 2 Power Rankings before holding off CCA for a 57-48 victory later in the day.

With a 3-10-1 record, the Monomoy-Mashpee boys hockey team was ranked No. 29 in the Feb. 2 rankings and can still qualify for the Division 4 tournament depending on how they finish in their final six games. The same can be said about Dennis-Yarmouth/Cape Cod Tech/CCA (3-13-1), which was ranked 32nd in the Feb. 2 rankings.

Although a .500 record or better guarantees a postseason berth, teams can still earn a spot if they finish among the top 32 in the power rankings, which are released weekly on MIAA.net.

The Nauset boys and Nauset-Monomoy girls hockey teams have been among the Cape’s best this winter. The Warriors boys (13-1-1) have been ranked No. 1 in Division 3 all season and will look to earn the top seed with five games remaining. The Warriors girls (13-1-1) are No. 4 in the Division 2 rankings with five games to play.

Both Nauset basketball teams are currently on the outside looking in at the Division 2 tournaments; the boys (5-9) need to win their last five games to qualify, while the girls (7-9) must go 3-1 or better in their remaining four games. The boys were ranked No. 53 in the Feb. 2 rankings, with the girls ranked No. 57.

At Cape Tech, the girls basketball team (7-10) will likely need to win its last three games to qualify for the Division 5 tournament, while the boys (8-10) can guarantee a spot with victories over Norfolk Aggie and Upper Cape in its final two contests. The Crusaders boys already cruised to a 66-47 win over Norfolk Aggie on Jan. 18, though they lost to Upper Cape, 61-38, when the teams met on Jan. 8.

Nauset’s wrestling, indoor track and field and swimming and diving teams will also have athletes qualify for the postseason action, which will be determined at a later date. Visit MIAA.net for more information about the state tournaments and Power Rankings system.