Winter Sports

No question who is No. 1 seed in Division I girls basketball tourney

The regular season is done and the Bedford High School girls basketball team sits atop the Division I standings at 18-0, meaning the Bulldogs will be the No. 1 seed when the tournament begins next week.

Londonderry and Bedford will be the top two teams in the Division I playoffs.

Here’s a look at the potential field of 16 teams and where they might end up, based on our interpretation of the NHIAA’s tiebreakers. Official brackets are expected to be released on Monday.

The rest of the best

Regardless of Friday's game between Bedford (18-0) and Keene, the Bulldogs would have been the No. 1 seed when the tourney starts on Wednesday, and with Londonderry (14-3) beating Nashua South, the Lancers will be the No. 2.

Jamie Sherburne and Bishop Guertin will be the No. 3 seed.

Wins by Bishop Guertin (14-4) and Nashua North (14-4) left the Cardinals and Titans tied for third, but because BG beat North twice during the regular season - the Titans did beat the Cardinals in the Nashua Holiday Tournament - the Cardinals will be the No. 3 seed. That means North will be the No. 4 and have two home games, should it reach the quarterfinals.

Pinkertin (13-5) and Salem (13-5) played Friday with the No. 5 seed on the line, and it was the Blue Devils who came out on top, 45-40. It was Salem's fifth win in a row, while the Astros enter the postseason having lost four of six games.

It's a worst-case scenario for Pinkerton, which started the year 8-0 and 11-1. Instead of being in the top four, the Astros are the sixth seed and if they make it out of the first round, will likely go play at Bishop Guertin in the quarterfinals.

The next tier

Going into Friday night, four teams had a shot to finish anywhere between the seventh and 10th seeds, with two of those teams playing head-to-head. Winnacunnet (12-6) knocked off Manchester Memorial (11-7) to claim the No. 7 seed, capping off a regular season in which the Warriors went 8-2 after starting 2-3.

The loss proved costly for Memorial, which was in the running for a top four spot before losing its final three games. Instead, the Crusaders were passed in the standings by Trinity (11-7), which will get the No. 8 seed thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker with Memorial. Since the Crusaders ended up ninth, they'll play at Trinity in the first round.

Alvirne (10-8) also had a shot at a top four seed, but lost its final three games to fall down to 10th.

With Dover (8-10) losing to Trinity on Friday, the Green Wave switch spots with Manchester Central (8-10), which was idle, thanks to the Little Green holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. So Central will be the 11th seed and Dover the 12th.

The rest

Spaulding (6-12) went into Friday's game with Bishop Guertin locked into the 13th seed, regardless of what it or anyone else did. And Merrimack (5-13), which finished its regular season Thursday, ended up with the 14th seed when Keene (4-14) lost to Bedford.

The Blackbirds' loss meant a three-way between them, Exeter (4-14) and Concord (4-14) for the final two playoff spots. Since they all beat each other head-to-head, it goes to the second tiebreaker - rating against Division I playoff teams. Both Keene and Exeter were 2-14 against the tournament field, while Concord had just one win over postseason teams.

Since Exeter defeated Keen during the regular season, the Blue Hawks should be the No. 15 seed and Keene the 16th.