Mounties Seeded Third in Western Mass Field

The Mount Greylock Regional High School Mounties earned the highest seed among the county's boys when the pairings for the Western Massachusetts tournaments were announced on Saturday.

The Mounties (17-3) are seeded third in the Division 3 field and will host No. 14 Smith Vocational (10-8) on Monday evening at 6.

"We just scouted them this week," Greylock coach Bob Thistle said. "They're a scrappy team and have two solid players. They're going to come in and work very hard. We're going to need to be absolutely prepared."

Jordan Castillo averages 18 points per game, and Sam Sharpe averages 15 ppg for the Vikings.

"The thing about the tournament, whether it's 'March Madness' at the college level or this great Massachusetts high school tournament, is that you have to be ready every game," Thistle said.

The top two seeds in the D3 bracket, Renaissance (18-2) and Granby (17-3), respectively, received first-round byes.

If the Mounties advance on Monday, they could face a third game this season against St. Joseph Central School (11-8), which is seeded sixth and takes on No. 11 Frontier (11-9) on Monday night at the Boys and Girls Club.

Mount Greylock swept St. Joe by scores of 64-61 and 63-58 in the regular season.

All three Berkshire County teams are on the same side of the D3 bracket. Seventh-seeded Lee (12-8), which handed Mount Greylock its only loss in the county this winter, plays Turners Falls (14-6) on Monday for a shot at No. 2 Granby in the quarterfinals.

In Division 1, Pittsfield (13-7) is seeded 12 and opens the tournament on Monday at No. 5 Amherst (14-6). The winner will travel to meet No. 4 Holyoke (14-6), which received a bye into the regional quarterfinal.

Taconic is seeded fourth in an eight-team field in Division 2. The Braves (12-8) host No. 5 Mahar (15-5) on Thursday night for a chance to go to the Curry Hicks Cage and play the winner of the first-round match between No. 1 Greenfield (18-2) and No. 8 Palmer (11-9).

In the other half of the D2 bracket, No. 6 Wahconah (10-10) travels to No. 3 Sabis (7-13); the winner will meet either Belchertown (12-8) or second-seeded South Hadley (13-7) in the semis.