Thoughts on all things tournament.

The TD Garden is the site for MIAA Tournament games this week.

Before I start, here are the facts of the week.

The Mansfield boys (23-3) will play Lynn English (22-2) on Tuesday, 7:15 p.m. at the TD Garden in the MIAA Division 1 state semifinal, often regarded as the mythical Eastern Massachusetts championship. If the MIAA goes by records, it may be the first time in this tournament that the Hornets will have to wear their road uniforms.

And on Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. at the Garden, Foxboro's girls (23-2) will play North Reading (16-8) in the Division 2 state semifinal. While it's Foxboro's third trip to the state semis in the last four years, it's only the second trip to Boston among those; two years ago, on their way to a state title, Foxboro's game against Pentucket was snowed out and played at Woburn High School instead.

And now, some random thoughts:

** The Final Four for the Division 1 boys' bracket is a tough one -- St. John's of Shrewsbury (21-2), Lynn English (23-2), Mansfield (23-3; 22-3 for seeding), and Springfield Central (21-1). Not sure how a MaxPreps power seeding would rank them, but Mansfield might rank third or fourth among them in a casual glance. But hey, good teams love to be regarded as the underdogs.

The toughest road to the semifinals was by St. John's, which defeated Franklin 56-55 for the sectional title. Only six teams qualified for the tourney in D1-W, and Central ousted Putnam Voke by 10 to reach this round.

** In the girls' D2 Final Four, it's Foxboro (23-2; 22-2 for seeding), North Reading (16-8), Medway (21-2) and Taconic High of Pittsfield (21-2). At first glance, Foxboro would appear to have faced the toughest tests to get to the state tourney, rallying from 12 down to beat Hingham, 57-50, for the sectional nod.

North Reading is by far the Cinderella team, rallying from a 6-6 record at the end of January to win seven of their last nine to qualify for the tournament. The Hornets (great nickname and more incentive for Foxboro) had lost their earlier two games to Pentucket before beating them in the sectional title game, 41-36.

Taconic had only seven other teams to wade through in D2-W, and beat Quabbin (by 22), Amherst (17) and East Longmeadow (7) fairly easily.

** The Central-West semifinals will be played at roughly the same time as the North-South games, the D1 boys at Worcester State and the D2 girls at Western New England College.

** Lynn English, the defending state D1 champ, is scary. The Bulldogs' only two losses have been to out-of-state opponents, losing to Yankton, S. Dak. (78-50); and East Catholic of Manchester, Conn. (58-43). Otherwise, Lynn English averages 85.0 points a game and allows only 52.1. They've scored more than 90 points 13 times and 100 or more five times. But yes, Mansfield did send them to one of their only two overtime games this year, losing up there 79-71 in December. Matty Boen scored a career-high 32 in that game to get the Hornets to the extra session.

** The biggest challenge for Mansfield will be Lynn English's height -- senior center Jean-Baptiste Mukeba, a 6-foot-9 transfer from Arizona, and 6-7 junior forward Ademide Badmus, who scored 29 against the Hornets earlier in the year.

** The only other team to take Lynn English to overtime was the top seed in the North section, Lowell, which lost in the title game at the Tsongas Center, 73-63.

** Lynn English coach Antonio Anderson played in the NCAA Final Four for the University of Memphis in 2009.

** The head coach of North Reading is Bob Romeo, the long-time head coach at Masconomet, who took charge of the Hornets this season. He split the two games with his former school.

** North Reading has scored an average of just 44.5 points a game and allowed 38.6, while Foxboro has scored 59.6 and allowed 37.7. Foxboro will bring a 13-game winning streak into the game, with one of their two losses coming to the Division 1-Central champion, Franklin.

** Mansfield has won 16 of its last 17 games and three in a row since losing to Whitman-Hanson. And yes, Whitman-Hanson laid waste to the south Division 2 field as well. They're good.

** Foxboro's Katelyn Mollica has scored 471 points this season, with her season-high of 29 coming in the tournament opener against Dighton-Rehoboth. Her growing career total is 1,186.

** Mansfield's Sam Stevens has scored 470 points this year and 772 for his career. Juniors Matty Boen (657) and T.J. Guy (623) could challenge for berths on the 1,000-point list next season.

** I will be working the cable broadcasts of both games, Tuesday's with Tom Faria for Mansfield Cable Access and Wednesday's with Mark Davis for Foxboro Cable Access. Can't wait.

** TICKET INFORMATION: Advance sale for tickets at the TD Garden games is through Ticketmaster. Tickets are $15.