The Watertown girls basketball team celebrates after winning the 2016 North Section championship by beating Belmont. The teams could face off again for the North Section trophy.
After reaching the State Final last year, the Watertown girls basketball team’s road to Springfield has some familiar foes in the way, including their archrivals.
The MIAA released its girls basketball state tournament brackets Friday morning, and Watertown could have rematches against teams they played in the regular season, including playoff clash with Belmont for the third straight year.
The Raiders, which finished 14-4, received the third seed in Div. 2 North, while Belmont claimed the stop seed with a 16-4 record. There are three other Middlesex League teams in the bracket.
In the first round Watertown will host 14th seed Chelsea (8-11) on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. The winner of that game faces the winner of sixth seed Hamilton-Wenham and 11th seed Swampscott in the section quarterfinal.
Possible opponents for the North Section semifinal include second seeded Wakefield, seventh seed Tewksbury and 10th seed Wilmington.
Should the Raiders advance to the Section Final for a fifth straight season, they would likely face top-seeded Belmont. The Raiders and Marauders faced off in the tourney the past two seasons, with Watertown victorious on both occasions. Last year the teams met in the North Section Final and the Raiders won 46-41. In 2015, the teams met in the Section semifinal and Watertown won 49-40.
This season, in the teams only meeting, Belmont routed Watertown 40-22.