WESTBROOK – While March Madness gets all the attention on the national sports scene, here in Maine the basketball madness gets under way in February.

As it is every year, the Portland Expo will be the site where some teams’ dreams of a regional title come one step closer to coming true, while other teams unfortunately will leave the floor earlier than they had hoped.

There will be a strong local flavor at the Expo this week as the Westbrook boys, the Bonny Eagle boys and the Gorham girls will all be in action as the Class A West tournament tips off on Feb. 18 for the boys and Feb. 21 for the girls. The Bonny Eagle girls also qualified for the postseason and were scheduled to face Thornton Academy in a prelim game on Feb. 16, after the American Journal’s deadline.

As the teams get ready for the playoffs, the American Journal is taking a look at all of the local teams’ seasons and what they can expect in their first round matchups.

BOYS CLASS A WEST QUARTERFINALS

Scots looking to snuff out Blazes

No. 2 Bonny Eagle

vs. No. 7 Westbrook

Feb. 19, 9 p.m.

This is the big game of the weekend for local fans as the second-seeded Bonny Eagle Scots (15-3), coming off a remarkable turnaround after last season’s 7-11 mark, will be looking to knock off No. 7 Westbrook (12-6), a team that made it all the way to the Western Maine final last season.

Scots’ Head Coach Phil Bourassa said he has been pleased at how his team has come together this season. “We have played well together as a team,” Bourassa said. “Our unselfishness has allowed us to really mesh well and find whoever is hot on any given night. The boys have bought into the importance of playing solid defense night-in and night-out.”

While the Blazes’ 2010-2011 record slipped a bit from last season’s 19-2 campaign, Westbrook Head Coach Mark Karter said he considers this season a successful one, though he concedes his team still has some room for improvement on the offensive end.

“We lost a lot of players from last year’s team; players that were counted on to do pretty much everything for us,” Karter said. “This year’s team has steadily improved since the beginning of the year, and persevered through a tough conference to gain a place in the Western Maine tournament. We have won five games in the last possession of the game, which has helped us in close games throughout the year. I also think our defense has improved throughout the year, to the point where we are second in the league in points allowed. We still struggle at times to score, which has been a battle all year and has kept us from reaching our full potential to this point.”

The Scots have the momentum heading into this prime-time matchup Saturday night, having beating Westbrook 50-45 in Westbrook on Jan. 11 and then again 60-46 at Bonny Eagle on Feb. 8.

Bourassa said that despite the difference in seeding, he expects the Blazes to give his team a very tough game based on how the teams battled in the two regular season contests. “Both were very hard-fought games that went down to the wire,” Bourassa said. “And we expect another battle on Saturday night.”

Karter said the Blazes would be up to the challenge.

“They have a very good team with some talented players. Cole Libby, and (Steve) Simonds have led them all year, and they have played particularly well against us,” Karter said. “For us to be successful against them, we will have to keep them in check – no easy task – and we will have to be able to put the ball in the hoop. It certainly will be an uphill challenge, but hopefully we can come out and be competitive and give them a good game.”

GIRLS CLASS A WEST QUARTERFINALS

Grounding Eagles is

Rams’ goal

No. 3 Gorham

vs. No. 6 Windham

Feb. 21, 2 p.m.

The Class A West girls tournament gets under way on Monday with a good local matchup as the No. 3 Gorham Rams (14-4) square off against No. 6 Windham (11-7).

The two teams come into the game with fresh memories of their opponent as the Rams topped the Eagles 58-43 in Windham on Feb. 8. The Rams swept the season series over the Eagles, having beaten Windham 56-43 on Jan. 15.

Gorham Head Coach Laughn Berthiaume said his team has been getting ready for the tournament all season, using losses as building blocks just as much as wins.

“I think the whole season has really helped us prepare for the tournament,” Berthiaume said. “Our most (Heal) point-worthy games came with back-to-back wins against Cheverus and McAuley. However, I believe we can learn more from losses sometimes. We had close losses to South Portland and Sanford in the middle of the season that helped us stress the importance of execution. In the final game of the season, Westbrook came into the game better prepared and more focused, and they beat us in every aspect of the game. I am hoping that we have learned from these experiences and we are a better team because of them.”

As for the Eagles, Windham Head Coach Jessie Cummings said she’s hoping her team’s familiarity with the Rams will be a help in the tournament.

“Having played Gorham twice this year, I think we’re already pretty comfortable with knowing their strengths and their weaknesses,” Cummings said. “Mia (Rapolla) is a big strength in their lineup, and their offense kind of generates through her. So we’ll be focusing on her stopping her. It will be important for us to maintain composure against their defense, as well. I think having seen Gorham a lot this year really benefits both teams. We’re both fresh off of playing each other, and we saw them a couple of times this summer, when we played in a league together. Each team is familiar with what other team likes to do.”

Berthiaume said despite beating Windham twice in the regular season, the Rams would not be taking the Eagles lightly.

“Windham is a very dangerous team led by all-star guard Megan Gribbin,” he said. “She is one of the best shooters in the league, and she is difficult to contain off of the dribble. We certainly need to pay attention to where she is at all times. Having said that, we know that they are a very balanced team with weapons at all positions, and they are very well coached. I think we both know each other pretty well and we will need to make adjustments from our previous games. Whichever team executes their game plan better will win, because I feel like we have similar qualities.”