While many of the teams heading into this weekend’s quarterfinal rounds of the basketball tournaments will opt to have a scrimmage game against another tourney-bound team, usually in a different class, for preparation, the top-seeded Cheverus boys will not.

Coach Bob Brown said his team will get better preparation running regular practices this week. In that way, Brown can control what he wants to work on and the pace at which he wants to work.

“I’ve never been a big fan of scrimmages with other teams in the week leading up to the tournament,” said Brown. “Part of it is injury, plus, I don’t really want to take the time to arrange it. And besides, no one wants to scrimmage us because no one plays our type of defense so they wouldn’t get anything out of it.”

Brown said the Stags’ second unit gives the starters as good of a workout, if not a better one, than any scrimmage would.

“Our second group plays a lot during games. If I want them to play a certain defense against our first team or run an offense, I just tell them and it’s done.”

Practices can get monotonous in January, but not usually in the week leading up to the tournament or during the tournament as anticipation keeps teams focused.

Even with an 18-0 record and few tight games, the Stags have plenty of things they have to work on, Brown said, to get to the form he wants.

As all the participants point out, every team is 0-0 heading into the tourney.

What happened from early December to last Friday has no bearing on what could happen, starting this Friday.

Basically, Brown is still teaching basketball to his players. It might be 18 games into the season, but the preparation remains the same.

With 40-plus years in the business, he knows what works for him.

“Most coaches do like to scrimmage,” he said. “I’m not saying I’m right. I guess I’m just old school.”

MARIA CURIT of Biddeford had a poignant ending to her Portland Expo track career. First, she broke her own record in the senior 400 with a time of 1:01.2. Then she was awarded the Angie Abraham Award in recognition of her stellar four-year career.

As an added treat, Curit was presented the award by her father, Brian, an assistant with the Tigers. It was an emotional moment for the Curits.

Brian said Maria will attend Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., where she plans to run track.

PRIOR TO THE 80th running of the SMAA boys’ track championship Saturday, there were three awards handed out. Chris Bowden of Westbrook received the Jim Dyer Award, given to a performer who exemplifies someone who works hard and gives his best.

Renaldo Lowry of Deering won the Jim Daly Award for being a top performer during the regular season while David Kahill of South Portland received the coach of the year award.

GREELY HIGH’S girls’ basketball team finished 14-4 to enter the Western Class B tournament ranked fifth. It lost to No. 1 York (twice) and No. 3 Lake Region (twice).

Last Friday’s 33-30 loss to the Lakers was, said Coach Bill Goodman, a microcosm of the team’s season. The Rangers looked great at times, playing smart defense and running some offensive plays for easy baskets.

But at other times, they were lost. The Rangers committed 27 turnovers in the game.

What Goodman likes most about his team is its attitude.

“This team, as dysfunctional as it looks sometimes, doesn’t give up,” he said. “We were down eight or nine points and came back to take the lead. That’s my team. What you saw tonight is what you’re going to get.

“We can have moments of great basketball and moments of not-so-great basketball.”

Goodman said he was pleased with the record. But he quickly added, “We can get better. And we have a week to get better.”

AMY VACHON, the coach at McAuley, was obviously disappointed in her team’s performance in a 38-35 loss to Deering on Thursday. It cost the Lions the top spot in Western Class A. That went, instead, to Deering with McAuley finishing second.

But Vachon said in the end, it didn’t matter which team ended up No. 1.

“One or two, once you get to the tournament, it really doesn’t matter,” she said. “Every team is good.

“I would have loved to gone in No. 1. I would have loved to go undefeated. Didn’t happen. You’ve got to learn from it and go from there.”

THE GIRLS’ HOCKEY playoffs got off to a competitive start. Three of the four games featured one-goal differentials, and the other was tied after two periods.

The big upset featured fourth-seeded Biddeford upending top-seeded Scarborough 2-1 in overtime. Tigers goalie Emily Brassley, in her first year on varsity, stopped 36 shots as Biddeford was outshot, 37-14.

Cheverus goalie Taylor Witham, in her first year as a starter, nearly stole a game, too. She made 22 saves but her teammates could not come up with a goal in a 1-0 loss to York.

Greely beat Winslow 3-2 to get back to the East regional final. The Rangers lost to Lewiston 4-0 in the 2009 title game.

Now Greely will be facing another state favorite, St. Dom’s. The Saints got a scare from fourth-seeded Leavitt/Edward Little, trailing 1-0 after the first period, and tied 2-2 after two.

But St. Dom’s outshot the Red Hornets 19-1 in the final period and won 4-2.

Wednesday’s regionals finals — York vs. Biddeford, and St. Dom’s vs. Greely — will be at the Portland Ice Arena, starting at 5 p.m. The Maine Principals’ Association is expected to announce today the order of the games.

IN BOYS’ HOCKEY, the most anticipated regular-season game will be Wednesday night at 6 p.m. when unbeatens Biddeford (13-0-2) and Lewiston (14-0-2) meet at the Colisee in Lewiston.

They last played on Dec. 15 in Biddeford, resulting in a 2-2 tie.

Biddeford is coming off an exciting 6-4 win over South Portland on Saturday. The Tigers led 4-0 until the Red Riots scored the first four goals of the third period to tie it, before Biddeford pulled away.

Lewiston is coming off an 11-0 win over Edward Little. 

— Staff Writers Tom Chard, Mike Lowe and Kevin Thomas contributed to this report.