Stoneham Earns Top Seed and Will Host Essex Friday

Winners of seven straight, defending Division 6 North champion Stoneham will begin its pursuit of a state title Friday with a first-round matchup at home against Essex Tech. Game time is 6:30 p.m. The pairings were released Sunday afternoon.

The Spartans earned the No. 1 seed with a 7-0 record. Essex is 4-3 and is the No. 8 seed. Stoneham is the highest scoring team in EMass at 40.1 ppg. Essex can also put points on the board, averaging 30.7 ppg this fall. Essex earned a playoff berth by winning its last three games after a 1-3 start to the season.

Should Stoneham avoid an upset, they'd play the winner of the game between Bishop Fenwick and Greater Lowell.

The complete Division 6 North field with records and final ratings:

1. Stoneham (7-0) 20.29; 2. Hamilton-Wenham (5-2) 16.57; 3. Northeast Regional (16.29) 16.29; 4. Bishop Fenwick (6-1) 16.00; 5. Greater Lowell (6-1) 15.86; 6. Ipswich (6-1) 15.17; 7. Austin Prep (4-3) 12.57; 8. Essex Tech (4-3) 12.00.