Massachusetts Boys High School Basketball: 2023 Preliminary Round 

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The preliminary round of the boys Massachusetts High School basketball championships is held Monday, February 27th – Wednesday, March 1st. Teams will play a preliminary game to get into the round of 32. #32 will play #33 and the match-ups will continue for as many games as needed. 

Boys

Division 1 (48 teams) 16 games 

Division 2 (41 teams) 9 games

Division 3 (45 teams) 13 games

Division 4 (40 teams) 8 games

Division 5 (53 teams) 20 games

A few thoughts on the preliminary round:

Travel: Travel distances for a state-wide tournament can be significant. We have listed the greatest distances for the preliminary round for all divisions. 

Upsets: The excitement of the tournament is the chance for the underdog to “Survive and Advance.” We list the biggest uspets.

Margin of Victory: How close are the games. Some are big mismatches.

Match-ups: The power rankings determine the match-ups. We have listed the greatest margins of victories for this round. 

Upsets: How good are the power rankings? Check out how many upsets for each divisions. March Madness lends itself to upsets and Cinderella stories. We have listed upsets for each division. 

Overtime Games: Teams are so competitive and evenly matched at the end of the season that games can be decided in overtime – the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. 

1-point games: The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat can be seen in the closing seconds of a 1-point tournament margin of victory. There is such a fine line between moving on and going home.

Travel 

  1. 2hr 33 min 142 miles #47 Cape Cod RVT at #18 Quaboag Reginal (18) Division 5 
  2. 2hr 13min 132 miles #41 Upper Cape Cod RVT (41) at #24 Granby High School Division 5 
  3. 2hr 3 min  95 miles #37 Athol High School at #28 Hull High School Division 5
  4. 1hr 56 min 112 miles #40 Marshfield at #25 Springfield Central 56-48  Division 1
  5. 1hr 15min 59 miles  #35 Melrose at #30 South High Community 78-43 Division 2 
  6. 1hr 8min 44 miles #38 South Lancaster Academy at #27 Tech Boston Division 4 
  7. 56 min 42 miles #36 Worcester Tech at #29 Arlington Catholic 64-57 Division 3 

Upsets

  1. #42 Cambridge defeats #23 St. John’s Prep (23) 67-60 Division 1 
  2. #41 North Reading defeats #24 Abington 67-66  Division 3  
  3. #39 Reading Memorial defeats #26 Arlington 45-44 Division 1 
  4. #39 Nauset Regional defeats #26 Fitchburg 59-58 Division 2 
  5. #38 Revere defeats #27 Plymouth South 55-50 Division 2 
  6. #35 Maimonides defeats #30 Cohasset 65-57 Division 5 
  7. #34 Neighborhood House defeats #31 Mount Everett Reg 61-56 Division 5 
  8. #33 Rockland defeats #32 Watertown 50-42 Division 3 

Margin of victory

  1. 58 points #12 Greenfield defeats #53 St. Mary Parish 85 – 27 Division 5 
  2. 52 points #25 Leominster defeats #40 Chicopee Comp 87-35 
  3. 47 points #14 Holbrook defeats #51 Falmouth Academy 70-23 Division 5 
  4. 43 points #25 Mystic Valley Reg Ch defeats #40 McCann Tech 83-40 Division 5 
  5. 38 points #25 Bartlett defeats #40 Notre Dame CristoRey  92-54 Division 4 
  6. 38 points #13 KIPP Academy Lynn Co defeats #52 Rising Tide Charter 83-45  
  7. 36 points #29 Whittier RVT defeats #36 Frontier Regional 90-54 
  8. 36 points #17 Paulo Freire SJ Char defeats #48 Pathfinder RVT 71-35 Division 5 
  9. 35 points #30 South High Community defeats #35 Melrose 78-43 Division 2 
  10. 34 points #24 Norwood defeats #41 Ludlow 65-31
  11. 33 points #27 Ayer Shirley defeats #38 Smith Academy 77-44 Division 
  12. 32 points #27 Lowell Catholic defeats #38 Belchertown 74-42 Division 3 
  13. 32 points #15 Pacific Rim defeats #50 Abby Kelley Foster 71-39 Division 5  
  14. 32 points #19 Calvary Chapel defeats #46 Smith Vo-Tech 75-43 Division 5  
  15. 31 points #20 Gloucester defeats #45 Essex North Shore  76-45 Division 3 
  16. 31 points #27 Northbridge defeats #38 St. Joseph Prep 63-32 Division 5 
  17. 27 points #17 Waltham defeats #48 Concord-Carlisle 63-36 Division 1 
  18. 18 points #22 Bishop Feehan defeats #43 Putnam Vo-Tech 64-46 Division 1  

1 point games

  1. 45-44 #39 Reading Memorial defeats #26 Arlington Division 1 
  2. 67-66 #21 Peabody defeats #44 Medford Division 1 
  3. 67-66 #41 North Reading defeats #24 Abington Division 3 
  4. 62-61 OT #28 Saint John’s defeats #37 Chelmsford Division 1  
  5. 59-58 #39 Nauset Regional defeats #26 Fitchburg Division 2 

Overtime Games

  1. 62-61 OT #28 Saint John’s defeats #37 Chelmsford Division 1 
  2. 60-58 2OT #31 Blue Hills RVT defeats #34 Blackstone Valley Division 5 
  3. 2OT 69-62 #30 Groton-Dunstable defeats #35 East Bridgewater Division 3