Sixteen local teams were ranked by the New York State Sportswriters Association as basketball playoffs got underway in the Empire State on Tuesday.

There is a logjam of local teams at the bottom of the top 10 in Class C boys. Defending-champion Randolph is No. 8, Westfield is No. 9 and Panama is No. 10, while Maple Grove is an honorable-mention selection. Panama will host a prequarterfinal Thursday against Gowanda; Randolph awaits a quarterfinal date Saturday against the winner of Thursday’s Brocton-Barker game; and Westfield will take on Chautauqua Lake or Ellicottville in another quarterfinal Saturday. Maple Grove will visit North Collins on Thursday. Franklinville is also an honorable-mention choice.

Four local girls teams find themselves in the Class C girls rankings. Randolph is No. 5, Frewsburg is No. 6, Maple Grove is No. 19 and Westfield is No. 22. Maple Grove will host Gowanda and Westfield will host Chautauqua Lake in prequarterfinals tonight. In quarterfinals Friday, Randolph will host the Gowanda/Maple Grove winner, while Frewsburg will host Cassadaga Valley.

Clymer is No. 4 and Sherman is No. 7 in Class D girls. Sherman will take on Pine Valley in the first semifinal next Thursday at Jamestown Community College, while Clymer will follow that game by taking on the winner of this Friday’s quarterfinal between Panama and North Collins.

Salamanca is No. 12 and Fredonia is No. 15 in Class B boys. The Hillbillies will host Buffalo Science in a Class B1 prequarterfinal Thursday with the winner traveling to Salamanca to take on the top-seeded Warriors on Saturday afternoon. Newfane is No. 17 and Akron is No. 24, while Allegany-Limestone, East Aurora and Eden are honorable-mention selections.

Southwestern is No. 20 in Class B girls and Salamanca is No. 24. The Trojans will host the winner of tonight’s Fredonia-Medina game in a quarterfinal Friday, while Salamanca will host JFK that same night. Portville is No. 23.

Jamestown, which is No. 24 in Class AA boys, will host a Class AA1 quarterfinal Friday against the winner of tonight’s game between Williamsville North and Clarence. Timon-St. Jude is No. 8, Canisius is No. 9, Health Sciences is No. 12, St. Joe’s is No. 18 and Orchard Park is No. 22, while Frontier, Hamburg and Nichols are honorable-mention selections.

Clymer is an honorable-mention selection in Class D boys and will take on Sherman in a semifinal Monday at Jamestown Community College.

Other Western New York girls teams in the rankings include No. 2 Cardinal O’Hara and No. 14 Lancaster in Class AAA; No. 11 Starpoint, No. 12 St. Mary’s and No. 16 Clarence in Class AA; No. 8 Pioneer, No. 12 Lewiston-Porter, No. 15 Iroquois and No. 21 Williamsville South in Class A; and No. 14 Wilson in Class B.

Niagara Falls is No. 23 in Class AAA boys. No. 6 Amherst, No. 23 Pioneer and No. 28 Lackawanna are featured along with honorable-mention selections Cheektowaga, Grand Island and Williamsville South in Class A boys.

Top-ranked boys teams include: Long Island Lutheran (Class AAA) of the Association of Independent Schools, Section V’s Greece Athena (Class AA), Section II’s Catholic Central (Class A), Section III’s Marcellus (Class B), Section VII’s Moriah (Class C) and Section III’sSackets Harbor (Class D).

Top-ranked girls teams include: Long Island Lutheran (Class AAA) of the AIS, Section II’s Averill Park (Class AA), Dalton School (Class A) of the AIS, Section IV’s Newark Valley (Class B), Section II’s Greenwich (Class C) and Section IV’s South Kortright/Andes (Class D).