Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The McKinleyville girls will host Middletown on Wednesday night as part of a doubleheader of playoff action with the Mack boys.

By Ray Hamill — As expected 13 local teams have been included in the brackets for the North Coast Section basketball playoff tournaments, which get under way on Tuesday night.

Seven H-DN girls teams have qualified, along with six boys teams and all but three will open the postseason at home.

Four local girls have been included in the 14-team Division-4 girls bracket, with the possibility of two all-local quarterfinals if all four can win their openers.

The No. 3 St. Bernard’s girls received the highest seed of the four and will open at home to No. 14 Cloverdale on Wednesday night.

If they win, they will host the winner of the game between No. 6 Arcata and No. 11 Fort Bragg, which will take place at Fort Bragg, also on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Piedmont received the No. 1 seed in the bracket, with Branson No. 2 and both will have an opening-round bye.

The No. 4 Del Norte girls will host No. 13 Ygnacio Valley in their opener on Wednesday night at 7, with the winner advancing to play the winner of the game between No. 5 McKinleyville and No. 12 Middletown.

The Panthers will open at home at 7 p.m. on Wednesday as part of a doubleheader with the Mack boys, who are seeded No. 6 in their bracket and will open at home against No. 11 Kelseyville on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Also in the Division-4 boys bracket, Big 5 champion Arcata received the No. 5 seed and will open at home against No. 12 Middletown on Wednesday at 7 p.m., while No. 8 Fortuna will host No. 9 Healdsburg, also on Wednesday at 7.

In Division 5, No. 9 St. Bernard’s will open on the road at No. 8 John Swett on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

In Division 6, the South Fork boys are seeded No. 3 and will play No. 14 Potter Valley on Wednesday at 7 p.m., while Ferndale is seeded No. 8 and will open at home against No. 9 Calistoga, also on Wednesday night at 7.

John Harding and the South Fork boys are seeded No. 3 in Division 6.

The Ferndale girls, meanwhile, received the highest seed of any local team and are seeded No. 1 in Division 6.

The Wildcats, who are the top-ranked D-6 team in the state, have an opening-round bye and will open against either No. 8 Quarry Lane or No. 9 Tomales on Saturday.

The Eureka girls are seeded No. 4 in Division 3 and will open on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at home against  No. 13 Elsie Allen.

And rounding out the local contingent, the Hoopa girls are seeded No. 12 in Division 5 and will open on the road at No. 5 Head Royce on Tuesday night at 7.