While March Madness gets all the attention on the national scale, 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 will leave the Expo earlier than they had hoped.

There will be a strong local flavor at the Expo this week as the South Portland boys and girls and the Cape Elizabeth boys and girls will all be in action as the Class A and B West tournaments tip off on Feb. 18 for the boys and Feb. 21 for the girls.

As the teams get ready for the playoffs, the Current 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

Riots hoping to muzzle Bulldogs

No. 4 South Portland

vs. No. 5 Portland

Feb. 18, 7 p.m.

The South Portland boys draw two tough assignments in their quarterfinal game. First, they have to play the opening game of the tournament on Feb. 18. As if drawing the opening-game spotlight wasn’t enough, the No. 4 Riots have to face No. 5 Portland, a team that will be playing on their own home floor.

South Portland comes into the game coming off a 12-6 record, but two of those losses have come against the 11-7 Bulldogs, and the Riots are hoping that lightning doesn’t strike three times in a season.

Despite the fact that the Riots have dropped two games to the Bulldogs this winter, neither game was a blowout win for Portland and South Portland Head Coach Phil Conley said his team is ready for a third shot at the Bulldogs.

“Portland has beaten us twice this year, once in triple overtime, and once by five points at our place,” Conley said. “They have a very good team, but ours is good as well. We are looking forward to the matchup on Friday, and I think that the kids are confident. They know that they have had a good year, a very good year, and they are ready to go. Any game against Portland is always a battle, so I don’t think having seen them in the last week of season really has any bearing on this game. We know their players, they know our players, and we just have to go out and execute.”

Girls Class A West quarterfinals

Riots looking

to tame Lions

No. 7 South Portland

vs. No. 2 McAuley

Feb. 21, 3:30 p.m.

The South Portland girls basketball team has to wait until Monday to get their playoff run started, but that shouldn’t matter to a team that has extensive playoff experience, with a run of consecutive playoff appearances stretching back over a decade.

This season, the No. 7 Riots enter the Class A quarterfinals with a tough test right off the bat as they draw No. 2 McAuley in their first game on Feb. 21.

Coming into the game with an 11-7 record, the Riots will be looking to pull off a major upset of 16-2 McAuley, a team that beat them 43-39 on Jan. 11.

But the past doesn’t matter on Monday, and Riots Head Coach Michael Giordano will be relying on his experienced seniors against the Lions. “This is our 11th straight appearance in the Western Maine quarterfinals,” Giordano said. “Great senior leadership from our captains Abby Hasson, Stephanie McDonough and Danielle DiBiase insured that we returned to the tourney. We competed in every game we played this year, and our largest loss was by only 11 points.”

But it isn’t just the seniors that the Riots will be relying on in the playoffs, Giordano said he’s expecting big things from his younger players as well. “This was also a breakout year for our sophomore point guard Danica Gleason, who averaged 10.1 points per game and 3 assists per game,” he said.

Looking back on the earlier four-point home loss to the Lions, Giordano said he knows what the Riots have to do to get the win. “We need a great defensive effort to have a chance to upset the Lions on Monday,” he said.

Boys Class B West quarterfinals

Capers going for sweep

of the Warriors

No. 2 Cape Elizabeth

vs. No. 7 Wells

Feb. 19, 12:30 p.m.

A deep playoff run has become an annual rite of spring for the Cape Elizabeth boys basketball team. Last year, the Capers ran off a 19-2 record and went all the way to the Class B West final.

Coming into this season, after graduating 14 players over two years, the picture was a bit murkier for the Capers as the team was forced to rely on some younger players. But the Capers put together another strong season this winter, going 14-4 and entering the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in Class B West.

The Capers will be taking on a familiar foe in their quarterfinal game on Feb. 19 as they will face No. 7 Wells (11-7). The Capers have faced the Warriors twice this season and both times, Cape Elizabeth came away with the win. The first was a 60-41 season-opening win at Wells on Dec. 10 and the second was a 52-39 victory at Cape Elizabeth on Feb. 3.

Cape Head Coach Jim Ray said his team has been coming together all winter and they faced some tough tests as the regular season wound down. “We have been a work in progress since day one,” Ray said. “We’ve been trying to develop confidence and consistency in our role players. The games down the stretch for us were all tough: Greely, Gray, Wells, York, Yarmouth and Falmouth. All but Falmouth are now tournament teams.”

While the Capers beat Wells by 19 and 13 points this season, Ray knows it’s tough to beat a team three times in one year and he’s not going to let his team get overconfident. “We had two tough games with them in the regular season, and we expect the same this Saturday,” he said.

Girls Class B West quarterfinals

Capers face an unfamiliar foe

No. 7 Cape Elizabeth

vs. No. 2 Leavitt

Feb. 22, 3:30 p.m.

The No. 7 Cape Elizabeth girls will tip off their tournament run on the last day of the quarterfinal games at the Expo as they face No. 2 Leavitt on Feb. 22.

The 9-9 Capers have a tough test in front of them if they want to make it to the semifinals, as the Capers will face easily their strongest challenge of the year in Leavitt (18-0). The Hornets are undefeated, but untested against Cape’s devastating outside game.

The Capers are a young team this year, but they got off to a very strong start, winning six of their first eight games against strong opponents like Greely and Grey New-Gloucester. However, the team struggled slightly down the home stretch, going 3-7. In spite of their record during this time, there were highlights here, too, such as Cape’s thrilling 37-34 win over Lake Region on Jan. 22, avenging a loss earlier in the year.

Cape didn’t face the Hornets this season, and the two teams didn’t play any common opponents, so the Capers will hope to get familiar with the Hornets’ game quickly on Saturday.