The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association state basketball playoffs are set to kick off at the end of the week and, to go along with that, the brackets for this year's tournaments were released on Tuesday afternoon.
Howard County boys and girls basketball teams are split up between the 2A, 3A and 4A classifications. Region play officially begins on Friday, but most of the top seeds have received first-round byes and will not open play until the beginning of next week.
The team with the better seed will be the host school, unless otherwise noted. Atholton's girls team won't have any "home" games, for example, despite being the top seed in its section because of ongoing renovations to the team's gym.
Here are the breakdown of seeds and opening round match-ups pertaining to Howard County:
2A South Boys
Section I: 1. Oakland Mills (Bye); 2. Patuxent (Bye); 3. Marriotts Ridge; 4. Calvert; 5. St. Charles; 6. Hammond.
First round games: Hammond at Marriotts Ridge; St. Charles at Calvert
Section II: 1. Largo (Bye); 2. Frederick Douglass (Bye); 3. Gwynn Park (Bye); 4. Friendly; 5. Southern (AA).
First round game: Southern at Friendly.
3A East Boys
Section I: 1. Centennial (Bye); 2. City (Bye); 3. Mt. Hebron; 4. Poly; 5. Long Reach; 6. Digital Harbor.
First round games: Digital Harbor at Mt. Hebron; Long Reach at Poly.
Section II: 1. River Hill (Bye); 2. Reservoir (Bye); 3. Atholton (Bye); 4. Glenelg; 5. Wilde Lake.
First round game: Wilde Lake at Glenelg.
4A North Boys
Section I: 1. Dulaney (Bye); 2. Southwestern (Bye); 3. Catonsville; 4. Kenwood; 5. Mergenthaler; 6. Perry Hall.
First round games: Mergenthaler at Kenwood; Perry Hall at Catonsville.
Section II: 1. Springbrook (Bye); 2. Sherwood (Bye); 3. Blake (Bye); 4. Howard; 5. Paint Branch.
First round game: Paint Branch at Howard.
2A South Girls
Section I: 1. Oakland Mills (Bye); 2. St. Charles (Bye); 3. Calvert; 4. Hammond; 5. Marriotts Ridge; 6. Patuxent.
First round games: Marriotts Ridge at Hammond; Patuxent at Calvert.
Section II: 1. Largo (Bye); 2. Frederick Douglass (Bye); 3. Gwynn Park (Bye); 4. Friendly; 5. Southern (AA).
First round game: Southern at Friendly.
3A East Girls
Section I: 1. Mt. Hebron (Bye); 2. Poly (Bye); 3. Centennial; 4. City; 5. Digital Harbor; 6. Long Reach.
First round games: Long Reach at Centennial; Digital Harbor at City.
Section II: 1. Atholton (Bye); 2. Glenelg (Bye); 3. River Hill (Bye); 4. Reservoir; 5. Wilde Lake.
First round game: Wilde Lake at Reservoir.
4A North Girls
Section I: 1. Catonsville (Bye); 2. Southwestern (Bye); 3. Western; 4. Perry Hall; 5. Dulaney; 6. Mergenthaler; 7. Kenwood.
First round games: Mergenthaler at Western; Dulaney at Perry Hall; Kenwood at Southwestern.
Section II: 1. Paint Branch (Bye); 2. Howard (Bye); 3. Sherwood (Bye); 4. Blake; 5. Springbrook.
First round game: Springbrook at Blake.