Alvirne's Garrett Hall (10) and Nashua North's Robinson Rodriguez will both be in action in the Division I prelims on Wednesday night, North homve vs. Londonderry and Alvirne at Bishop Guertin. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

The pairings are out. Now it’s time to play the games.

If weather doesn’t cause a problem, the local tournament schedule begins tonight for three local basketball teams: the Souhegan and Milford boys basketball teams in the Division II prelims as well as the Alvirne High School girls team in Divsion I.

Wednesday will be a big day for local Division I boys basketball teams as there will be two all-local games (Bishop Guertin-Alvirne, and Nashua South-Merrimack) and all five teams in action, including the winners of 14 straight, Nashua North.

Hockey fans can take a breather, no boys teams will be playing until Saturday, and the Bishop Guertin girls will be on the ice Friday night.

The finals for hockey are all on Saturday, March 11 at Manchester’s SNHU Arena, at times to be determined. All the boys and girls hoop finals are at UNH on Sunday, March 12, same deal, times tba.

So let’s take a look, by sport and division:

BOYS BASKETBALL

DIVISION I

The rumors were true, Nashua North, despite a 17-1 mark, are seeded third due to rating vs. tournament teams and will square off against No. 14 Londonderry (6-12) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

The Titans, who are led by senior guard Jayden Montgomery but will miss their leading scorer Trevor Labrecque for the tourney (knee), beat the Lancers in Nashua 84-55 back on Jan. 27. It’s quite possible there could be a quarterfinal rematch between North and No. 6 Exeter on Saturday here in the quarters. The Blue Hawks (13-5) host 8-10 Goffstown in the prelims. A potential semifinal opponent is No. 2 Pinkerton, whom along with Exeter the Titans did not play.

As for the all local matchups, they could lead to an all city quarterfinal. No. 4 Nashua South (14-4) will host No. 13 Merrimack (7-11) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., while Bishop Guertin (No. 5, 13-5) hosts No. 12 Alvirne (7-11) at 7 p.m.

South beat Merrimack two weeks ago at the Belanger 66-43 while the Cards won at Alvirne, 84-71 on Feb. 3.

A win by both South and BG would put the Cards at South on Saturday, and BG handled the Panthers 70-66 at the Belanger on Jan. 3. As for the semis, top-ranked Bedford (17-1, only loss to North) would likely await.

A fun tourney, for sure.

DIVISION II

The defending champs, the Sabers of Souhegan, have done pretty well, going 16-2, getting the No. 3 seed. Tonight at 7 they’ll host the tourney’s last seed, No. 14 Oyster River (5-13) whom they beat 69-49 in, of all games, their season opener. Souhegan can stay at home with a win and on Friday host either No. 6 Coe-Brown (13-5) or No. 11 Bow (9-9) in the quarters. They beat Bow twice and CB once, all by double figures. A semis trip looks likely, and a possible rematch with No. 2 Pembroke, who bested the Sabers back on Jan. 20 by 13.

In the other bracket locally, Milford (7-11) is No. 13 and scheduled to visit No. 4 Manchester West (15-3). The Blue Knights beat the Spartans 75-52 on Feb. 10. If the Spartans can pull off the road upset, they would go to either No. 5 Pelham or No. 12 Kingswood in Saturday’s quarters. Tough road for the Spartans, but that’s why they play the games.

Laconia is No. 1 at 17-1 and is the only team with a first-round bye. The semis are at evidently a top secret (for now) location next Tuesday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

DIVISION I

Does anyone think the Cards won’t make the finals? At 18-0, BG crushed potential Friday night quarterfinal opponent No. 9 Concord, 74-36, but did not play Dover, both 10-8.

No. 4 Goffstown (15-3) or No. 5 Pinkerton (14-4) are the likely semifinal opponents, and BG beat both 73-47 and 75-30, respectively.

No. 2 Portsmouth (17-1) and No. 3 Bedford (16-2) will battle it out in the other bracket – unless the No. 13 Alvirne Broncos (8-10) pull the huge upset in tonight’s scheduled 7 p.m. game. The Frank Girginis-coached Broncos bowed to the Bulldogs 59-21 just last Tuesday.

DIVISON II

Milford had a great 14-4 season but ended up in sixth after losing out in a three-way tiebreaker with Laconia and Hanover. They will host No. 11 Derryfield (9-9) on Wednesday at 7 p.m., whom they beat twice, 57-33 and 43-27. A win would likely send them to No. 3 Pelham (16-2) on Saturday – but the Spartans beat the Pythons 55-47 back on Jan. 17. Pelham hosts Plymouth in their first round game.

Hollis Brookline fought hard to finish 12-6 and grab the No. 7 seed, and that gets the Cavs a 6 p.m. home game Wednesday vs. No. 10 Oyster River (11-7). The flip side is the Bobcats beat HB at home 52-39 on Jan. 30.

A win and HB would likely travel to face the winner of a game involing another local, Souhegan. The 5-13 Sabers grabbed last seed, No. 15, and will travel to face No. 2, 17-1 Kennett. If they don’t win and HB does, the Cavs will follow the same trail Saturday.

Bow meanwhile, is the top seed at 18-0, and as Milford coach Mike Davidson said a couple of weeks ago, “It’s Bow’s tournament to lose.”

But both HB and Milford are in the same bracket, and wouldn’t an all-local semi be nice?

BOYS HOCKEY

DIVISION I

The Cards get the No. 3 seed, finishing at 13-5, and in Saturday’s quarters will play the winner of Wednesday’s prelim between No. 6 Bow and No. 11 Pinkerton. They played fairly close games with both, beating Pinkerton 4-2 and Bow 4-1.

They avoid Concord in a potential semifinal, and would play No. 2 Windham (14-4), whom they beat earlier in the season 2-1. Or, if there’s an upset, it could be one of the two prelim opponents whom the Jags await, No. 7 Londonderry or No. 10 Hanover. BG actually lost to the Lancers 4-3 back on Feb. 8 and beat Hanover 2-0 on Dec. 17.

The semis are at Manchester’s JFK Coliseum on Wednesday, March 8. If BG makes them, they’d play at 7:30 p.m.

DIVSION II

With only a seven-team tourney, it’s pretty simple for No. 4 Merrimack (11-6-1): Beat No. 5 Goffstown (10-6-2) in Saturday’s home quarterfinal at 3:30 p.m. at Manchester’s West Side Arena, and they’re in the semis against top-ranked St. Thomas (13-4-1) on March 8 at Concord’s Everett Arena at 5 p.m.

Merrimack actually lost to Goffstown 2-1 on the road 10 days ago, and lost to St. Thomas 6-5 back on Jan. 28. Those are their only defeats in a 9-2-1 stretch that followed a three-game losing streak.

DIVISION III

Hollis Brookline-Derryfield (12-6), also seeded No. 4, has a similar simple mission to return to the semis at Plymouth State: Beat No. 5 Kingswood (10-6-2) Saturday at 7 p.m. at Nashua’s Conway Arena. If that happens, the Warriors will face No. 1 Belmont-Gilford (17-1) next Wednesday, March 8 at 5 p.m.

The Warriors split with Kingswood, losing 7-3 at Conway and winning 4-3 just over a week ago on the road.

They also split with Belmont-Gilford, losing 5-1 on Jan. 11 but handing them their only loss 2-1 on Feb. 11.

In the other bracket, Pembroke-Campbell is seeded third (14-4) and takes on No. 6 Kennet (9-8-1) Saturday at Everett Arena. No. 2 Berlin Gorham (15-3) is the potential semi oponent, and P-C spit with B-G this season. They beat Kennett twice in two one-goal affairs, 2-1 and 4-3.

GIRLS HOCKEY

Bishop Guertin is the top seed at 13-2-3 and will face the winner of today’s scheduled prelim between No. 8 Keene-Monadnock-Fall Mountain (10-8) and No. 9 Lebanon-Stevens-Kearsarge (9-8) on Friday night at 8 p.m. at Skate 3 – not Cyclones, where the Cards played the majority of their home games.

If they win that, they will be in the semis very likely against No. 4 Bishop Brady-Trinity-Londonderry (13-4) or No. 5 Concord (13-4) at 5 p.m. next Tuesday at Concord’s Everett Arena. They would love to face the Brady co-op after it ruined their Senior Night with a 4-1 win.

Hanover, St. Thomas-Winnacunnet-Dover and Oyster River-Portsmouth will all fight it out in the other bracket.

The Cards beat the Keene co-op 9-0 and opened the season with a 6-3 win over the Lebanon co-op.