With the majority of the high school basketball tournament out of the way, boys high school hockey teams now get to step into the local sports spotlight, as the regional quarterfinals begin today. Three area teams made the postseason, but they all have difficult matchups in the quarterfinals.

Thornton Academy is the two-time defending Class A state champion, but had to replace 17 seniors after last year’s title. The fifth-seeded Trojans opened the season with back-to-back wins ”“ including a 3-1 victory over traditional Eastern Maine power St. Dominic ”“ but failed to win consecutive games the rest of the season.

The Trojans went on the road to beat Lewiston, the No. 1 team in Eastern Maine, 8-4 late in the season, in what was their most impressive win of the season. The Blue Devils exacted revenge less than a week later, beating Thornton 5-4 on TA’s home ice.

Thornton swept two games apiece against rival Biddeford and the West’s No. 3 team, Gorham, but dropped both games to its quarterfinal opponent, No. 4 Cheverus.

The Stags easily slid past the Trojans 6-2 at Biddeford Ice Arena early in the season and edged them 3-2 in the rematch.

A core of seniors and juniors lead Thornton, but the season-long progression of sophomore goalie Andrew Huot helped buoy the Trojans late in the season.

The Trojans are coming off a season-ending tie against Falmouth.

Falmouth’s second-seeded Yachtsmen are hosting No. 7 Biddeford in the quarterfinals. The Tigers fell by five-goal margins in both regular season meetings against Falmouth ”“ 7-2 at home and 5-0 on the road ”“ in a span of nine days. Biddeford head coach Rich Reissfelder said he is hoping a third meeting yields different results.

Reissfelder noted that the Yachtsmen have a tendency to take penalties, thanks to their fast pace and physical play. After struggling on the power play for much of the season, the Tigers found a groove on the man-advantage as of late that they hope continues in the playoffs, said Reissfelder.

“Because they’re fast and big and aggressive, they end up taking some penalties, and we actually have to capitalize on that,” he said. “Five-on-5, it’s going to be an uphill battle for us, but if we can take advantage of a man-advantage, then we have to.”

Reissfelder also said having senior Jon Fields in the net could help level the playing field against the favored Yachtsmen.

“That’s a huge benefit,” Reissfelder said of having a talented, veteran goalie like Fields. “He gives us a chance to sneak up on some teams and catch them in the end.”

The other local team to make the postseason is the Noble/Wells co-op. The Knights made it in as the ninth and final playoff team, and beat No. 8 Bonny Eagle to make the quarterfinals. The prelim win was an historic one for the 2-year-old co-op.

“This is our first playoff victory in Noble/Wells history, so these kids obviously are riding some momentum there,” said Noble/Wells head coach Keith St. Cyr. “They’re proud of their achievement, and they should be.”

The Knights’ reward for beating the Scots is a date against No. 1 Scarborough. If facing the Red Storm wasn’t already a tough task, the Knights didn’t have a chance to face them during the regular season.

“It’s very difficult with the schedule that we have, because we didn’t really face what you would call a tier-1 team in our division,” said St. Cyr. “So it’s going to be another level, another speed for these kids that they’re not used to.”

Biddeford and Noble/Wells both play quarterfinals today, with the Tigers facing Falmouth at Family Ice Arena in Falmouth, and the Knights traveling to Saco to duel with Scarborough at MHG Ice Centre. Thornton will play Cheverus tomorrow afternoon at Portland Ice Arena.

— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.