After Tuesday's draw for the state playoff brackets in girls basketball, the most compelling potential matchup was no surprise. Defending state Class 3A champion Milford Mill and Aberdeen are likely headed for their third regional showdown in four years.
Baltimore-area teams earned top-seeded spots in 16 of 32 sections. Sectional winners move on to the regional finals on March 6 for a chance at a berth in the state semifinals March 11 or March 13 at Towson University's SECU Arena. The finals will be March 14 at SECU.
Sectional quarterfinals begin Friday, but many teams have byes into Monday's semifinals. The sectional finals are Wednesday with the regional finals Friday.
Milford Mill (19-1), The Baltimore Sun's fourth-ranked team, and Aberdeen (20-2), ranked fifth, have combined to win the past three state 3A titles. Aberdeen won in 2012 and 2013.
In last year's Class 3A North regional final, Milford Mill guard Dionna White, now a senior, scored 32 points in an 80-62 Millers win after Aberdeen had beaten them the previous two years.
Center Brionna Jones, now at Maryland, scored 40 points in Aberdeen's 84-66 regional title win over the Millers in 2012. In 2013, the two did not meet in the regionals because City upset Milford Mill in the semifinals, but they played in the regular season, with the Eagles taking a 67-52 victory.
The most-loaded bracket from top to bottom that includes Baltimore-area teams is Class 3A East, the winner of which would play the North winner in the state semifinals.
Atholton, The Sun's No. 7 team, is top-seeded in Section II of the 3A East region while Mount Hebron is top-seeded and Poly is the second seed. Poly, the defending regional champion, is The Sun's No. 6 team. Last year, the Engineers nipped Atholton, 78-73, in double-overtime to win the regional title before falling to Damascus, 49-37 in the state semifinals.
Also in the East region are No. 8 City and Centennial, one of the better Howard County teams, along with Atholton and Mount Hebron. Mount Hebron is the only team to beat Atholton this season, although the Raiders later avenged the loss.
Defending state Class 2A champion Patterson Mill, ranked No. 9 in The Sun, is the third seed in Class 2A East, Section I, behind Harford Tech and Rising Sun, but is still considered the favorite because the Huskies' schedule was much more diffcult that their opponents'. Kent Island is the top seed in Section II.
Also in Class 2A, Carver A&T and Hereford earned the tops spots in their sections in the North region. Oakland Mills is first in 2A South Section I and Liberty is the top seed in 2A North Section II.
In Class 4A, Anne Arundel County foes Old Mill, ranked No. 10, and South River are the top sectional seeds in the East region. Catonsville is the top seed in 4A North Section I with Western, The Sun's 13th-ranked team, the third seed.
In Class 1A, last year's state finalist New Town, ranked No. 15, is the top seed in the North Section I. In the South region, Maritime Academy and Forest Park are the top sectional seeds. In the West region, Manchester Valley is first in Section II with defending state champ Southern, of Garrett County, first in Section I.
Unless a neutral site has been selected for the regional finals, they will be played at the homes of the Section I winners.