Beverly, Marblehead Boys, Fenwick Girls Top North Shore Hoop Seeds

BEVERLY, MA — High school basketball tournament action kicks off throughout the state next week with several North Shore teams earning a postseason berth this fall in the playoff brackets released on Saturday afternoon.

Seedings were based on an MIAA formula including win-loss record, the margin of victory up to 10 points in a contest, and strength of schedule.

The Beverly boys basketball team's 18-6 record earned the Panthers the No. 11 seed in Division 1 boys with a first-round matchup coming up against the winner of the preliminary round game between No. 22 Bishop Feehan (10-10) and No. 48 Putnam (11-9) at a date and time to be determined as of Sunday afternoon.

The Peabody boys basketball team will put its No. 21 seed and 15-5 record up against No. 44 Medford (14-8) Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The St. John's Prep boys basketball team finished the regular season at 8-14 with the No. 23 seed and will host No. 42 Cambridge (10-10) Monday night at 7.

The Marblehead boys earned a No. 10 seed in Division 2 with an 18-4 record and will host No. 23 Pembroke (12-8) in the tournament opener Thursday at 7.

No. 15 Salem (12-5) will host No. 18 Longmeadow (12-7) in a Division 2 boys game Friday at 7.

Essex North Shore is No. 45 in Division 3 boys at 12-8 and will travel up the coast to face No. 20 Gloucester (10-10) Tuesday at 6:30.

Salem Academy Charter earned a No. 11 seed in Division 5 boys with a 16-4 mark and will host the winner of No. 22 Mount Greylock (14-8) and No. 43 Bromfield (12-8) Friday at 7.

The Peabody Veterans Memorial girls basketball team's 18-4 record bought the Tanners a No. 30 seed in Division 1 where they will host No. 35 Waltham (10-10) in a playoff opener Wednesday at 7.

The Marblehead girls were 10-7 and No. 42 in Division 2. The Magicians will travel a short distance to take on No. 23 Masconomet (13-7) to open the playoffs Tuesday at 6:30.

Bishop Fenwick was the highest-seeded girls team on the North Shore with a No. 3 ranking in Division 3. The Crusaders (13-7) will host the winner of No. 30 Quabbin (9-11) and No. 35 Lowell Catholic (10-8) at a time and date to be determined as of Sunday afternoon.

The Salem Academy Charter girls team was 16-4 this regular season and earned the No. 33 seed as well as a long opening trip to face No. 32 Pioneer Valley (12-8) Monday night at 7.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)