Boys and Girls Basketball Playoff Brackets Set

All four Sachem basketball teams are headed to the post-season and they all received their next opponent Thursday morning when Section XI released the playoff brackets.

This is the first time that all four varsity basketball teams in Sachem have played in the same post-season.

Sachem East Girls: The third-seeded Arrows (15-3 overall, 13-1 League I) will play the winner of the Huntington/Comsewogue game, Monday at 12 p.m. Sachem received the third seed in the Suffolk County Class AA playoffs. If they win their opening round game, they'll play the winner of the William Floyd-Riverhead game. East is the defending Class AA New York State champions.

Sachem North Girls: Sachem (9-8, 7-7) grabbed the No. 15 seed in Class AA and will host Eastport-South Manor in an out-bracket game Saturday at 2 p.m. at home. The winner of that game will play No. 2 North Babylon Monday at 6 p.m.

"We are definitely excited about the fact that we have a home playoff game; we have not had one in the four years I've been coaching," said North head coach James Mellor. "We understand it's an outbracket game, but playoffs are playoffs. We are going to stick with the girls and style of play that got us here and hopefully use that home court advantage the best we can."  

Mellor said his group doesn't know much about Eastport-South Manor, so they'll concentrate more on what they can do to better themselves. 

"The girls were so excited to make the playoffs," he said, "I hope the high energy that got us our win in Central Islip carries over to Saturday's game. Our expectations will definitely have to be filled one game at a time. There are some tough teams in these playoffs and anyone can win on any given night." 

Sachem East Boys: No. 9 Sachem East (12-6, 9-5) will travel to No. 8 Central Islip, a team that North beat, 67-61, in the regular season finale this week. Game time is Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner of this first round match-up will play No. 1 Half Hollow Hills West if that portion of the bracket works itself out correctly with the higher seed beating the lowest seed.

"We have a veteran team who has worked very hard over the past year to put themselves in the position to hopefully progress in the playoffs," Sachem East head coach Jon Finta said. "Central Islip is a team one coach I spoke to said is 'probably the most talented team in League II.' We will have to play with great discipline and effort to be successful on Saturday, and we have the capability to do just that."

Sachem North Boys: No. 12 Sachem North (11-7, 8-6) will travel to No. 5 William Floyd Saturday at noon. The winner will play No. 13 Deer Park or No. 4 Copiague. Sachem went 5-2 in the second half of its league schedule with wins over co-league champs Whitman and Central Islip. Senior captain Nicky Gallina will be in the playoffs for a third time. Senior captain Doug Wirth scored a career-high 21 points on senior night and looks to build off that performance, Mullee said.

"We expect to win and advance in the playoffs," North head coach Tom Mullee said. "William Floyd is a talented team and incredibly well coached. I feel we are playing our best basketball of the year right now."

WSHR Note: 91.9 FM The Arrow will be broadcasting some of Sachem's playoff games. They'll be at Saturday's North girls game and East's girls game on Monday. Both games will be recorded and played on-air later those evenings at 7 p.m.

Sachem Patch will update this story with coach reactions when possible. And, check Sachem Patch for complete coverage of the playoffs.