High School Basketball Playoffs Start Friday

The girls basketball team has been awarded the third seed in the 4A West region of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association championship tournament and will face either Clarksburg or on Monday after receiving a bye in the first round.

"We are looking forward to playoffs," first-year coach Lindsey Zegowitz said. "The girls have been working hard all season and are confident in one another going into playoffs. I couldn't have asked for a group of better girls."

The Wildcats are coming off of a season in which they were 17-3 overall, with 9-1 division record that tied them with for the Montgomery 4A South title. Led by the scoring of junior Kristen Larrick and the leadership of seniors Samantha Stadnik and Samantha Boyd, WJ is riding a nine-game winning streak going into the playoffs.

Also in the 4A West regional bracket, the girls are seeded 13th and will play at fourth-seeded on Friday. The Barons finished a disappointing 2-20 this season and were winless within their division. B-CC met the Blazers once already this season, losing 46-22 at home in December.

The girls went 5-17 this year, a three-game improvement over last year's record that was mostly due to the standout play of freshman point guard . They are seeded 13th in the 3A West region and will face fourth-seeded on the road Friday night. The Titans faced the Screaming Eagles twice already this year, losing both times.

In the boys tournament, B-CC is the seventh seed in the 4A West region and will host 10th-seeded on Saturday at noon. The Barons beat the Vikings in both of their previous meetings this season.

B-CC will be without second-leading scorer Phil Brooks, who is out for the season after knee surgery to repair a completely torn anterior cruciate ligament. In Brooks' absence, coach David Breslaw will have to rely more heavily on high-scoring senior forward Ghedalia Gold-Pastor and senior guard Nigel Crayton to carry the Barons in the playoffs. 

The WJ boys are the 13th seed in the 4A West region, and will travel to face fourth-seeded on Friday night. The Wildcats were 11-9 on the season, and split their two earlier meetings with the Patriots. Senior Ryan Lynch leads WJ in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game.

At Einstein, the boys team managed just two wins in coach 's first year at the school. They are seeded 11th in the 3A West region and will travel to face sixth-seeded on Friday. The Titans lost both of their previous meetings with the Wolverines this season.

The MPSSAA playoff tournament will run for two weeks, with the state championship games being played on March 10. The girls finals will be held at RAC Arena on the campus of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, while the boys finals will take place at the Comcast Center in College Park.