BOSTON, Mass. — We learn a lot about the top MIAA teams when they gear up for February break tournaments.
It's the last chance to make an impression before the state postseason, and every team wants to be hitting their stride.
My spot for the week was Emmanuel College for the Board 27 Comcast Tournament. I watched five of our top eight ranked squads face off as part of the eight girls teams in attendance. Some results played out as I predicted — but to be honest, a few left me surprised.
Here are my five biggest takeaways from a team perspective, which will help shape my understanding of the playoff picture.
MORE: 15 individual standouts from the Comcast Tournament
Foxboro proves itself against the best
Entering this weekend, I anticipated a long-awaited No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between Bishop Feehan and Medfield, provided the two powers won their semifinal games.
Then Foxboro beat Medfield, 63-59. Then they beat Bishop Feehan, 61-56.
The Warriors were already statewide frontrunners, but the way they won both games by starting strong early, staying poised through back-and-forth middle quarters and coming through in the clutch, was eye-opening. Against Medfield, they leaned on ball movement and guard play to match the tempo of the opposing Warriors. Then against Bishop Feehan, they let Addie Ruter's size lead to buckets and other advantages. Kailey Sullivan shined through it all, averaging 29 points in the tournament.
"Beating Medfield was huge, and then being able to beat Feehan too, I think it a sends a bit of a message. We're really excited," Sullivan said.
Around Sullivan's stardom, the Warriors have a skilled center in Ruter and a versatile forward beside her in Ava Hill. They also boast two high-motor guards in the backcourt — Adrianna Porazzo and Alaysia Drummonds — who run a lot of the offense while plays get designed around Sullivan. Division 3 is going to be a battle with St. Mary's and Norwell also contending, but it's hard not to view Foxboro as a repeat favorite.
"Those were not just statement wins, but they were good confidence builders for us, because we know the quality of those teams that we just played," Foxboro coach Lisa Downs said. "The Hockomock was not a bad league at all this season, but to face those two teams back to back — that caliber of talent — it's nothing but helpful to go forward."
Wachusett's young core is growing up fast
I had kind of written off Wachusett as a true Division 1 title contender early because they graduated seven seniors, and almost their entire rotation, from last year's runner-up squad. But the Mountaineers (19-1) have yet to lose in-state and got just the test they needed against Central Catholic in their bracket championship.
Wachusett trailed, 39-32, early in the fourth quarter, but made up the gap with defense and transition buckets to wrestle away a 46-44 win. Coach Jim Oxford told the team multiple times in huddles about the importance of that adversity and their subsequent response.
"This was good for us, because Central Catholic's a different kind of team (with) how hard they play, with the intensity they bring. So we needed to see that," he said postgame. "For a neutral site, that crowd was pretty aggressive and noisy, and they didn't feel like they were getting a fare whistle on the floor, so all those things are good adverse situations for us to have to overcome right before we go into the postseason. One thing my kids can do is to start to get down on themselves when certain variables arise that they have a hard time dealing with. So we're working on that. I thought today they were fine."
In the two victories, Wachusett had each of its top three stars step up. Teegan Lanpher, a sophomore, scored 24 points to lead against Norwood and came up with the final two buckets against Central Catholic. Juniors Jaelynn Scott (17 points) and Sophie Gibbons (12 points) powered the win against the Raiders.
"We just got to keep the same mentality through the whole game," Lanpher said after beating Central Catholic. "We're always thinking win, win, win and score, so that's what we just kept thinking. At halftime when we were down, we just knew that we had to keep our composure and keep going."
Central Catholic could upset the D1 race
Raiders head coach Casey Grange called this final stretch of the season "hell week." Central Catholic had lost three games straight before the Comcast Tournament, including against Bishop Feehan, and had Woburn, Wachusett and Londonderry (N.H.) left on the schedule.
Though they went 1-1 in Boston, the Raiders proved they can hang with the Division 1 titans, defeating unbeaten Woburn in a physical, 47-41 contest and taking Wachusett down to the wire in a 46-44 loss. This is a group, led by Kerri Finneran and Aniela Kwo, that simply outworks opponents. Central Catholic doesn't have an explosive athlete or microwave scorer, but wins on the boards, defends extremely hard and relentlessly competes.
"We were kind of in a bad way on a three-game losing streak, but I have to credit my players that continued showing up and battling in practice," Grange said after the Wachusett loss. "I think we got a big win the other day (against Woburn) and tried to ride that into today. I thought we definitely came to play; we just made a couple of mental errors at the end of the game, and you can't make many mistakes against Wachusett."
Bishop Feehan's supporting cast is crucial
Everyone looks to the Shramrocks' backcourt of Charlotte Adams-Lopez and Maddy Steel first, and with good reason. They're two of the best in the MIAA and have guided Bishop Feehan through its recent dominance the last three seasons. But the group around them was largely inexperienced before this winter, and they've collectively stepped up.
Mollie Mullen might be the squad's best 1-on-1 defender, and she's a threatening pull-up scorer. Lily Singer is now a center who can reliably anchor the defense and knock down 3s. Samantha Carlson, at 5-foot-5, has become a capable secondary ball-handler and starting guard.  Then Shannon LaMorticelli and Addison Frenette provide hustle and versatility as bench wings.
The Shamrocks have more impact rotation players than I honestly expected, and that keeps them as my Division 1 favorites even though they lost to Foxboro.
Medfield and Woburn shouldn't get discouraged
The two championship contenders suffered their first in-state losses of the season at Comcast. But though the results stung, Medfield and Woburn both competed until the final minutes. We learned a lot about how they dealt with their most significant adversity of the winter so far.
Medfield put itself in a 13-0 hole against Foxboro to start the game, a stark contrast to the fast starts the Warriors typically run out to. But they battled back and were dead even for most of the rest of Saturday. It was the best Izzy Kittredge game I've watched this season, as she scored 22 points and punished a tentative Foxboro frontcourt. Medfield struggled against a Foxboro perimeter defense that was able to keep up with its ball movement, but that's a good learning experience against some other potential tough postseason defenses.
Woburn, meanwhile, went to battle in a loss to Central Catholic that was defined by physicality and pressure. I thought the Tanners struggled at times with how tightly the Raiders swarmed them in the half-court; their 41 points in the loss is a season-low. But they didn't let that affect their defense, which held strong. Now it's about finding ways to free up easier shots on offense.
