Jaydian Johnson and the Red & Green are the top seed in the Section VI Class AA1 playoff bracket. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

With the release of the Section VI boys high school basketball playoff brackets on Saturday morning, it is now set in stone that the Salamanca Warriors (15-5) are the top seed in Class B1 and No. 8 Fredonia is just a prequarterfinal win away from setting up a rubber match in the quarterfinals next Saturday at Salamanca.

Fredonia (14-6) will host its only home playoff game this Thursday against No. 9 Buffalo Science (14-6) at 7 p.m.

The winner will play at Salamanca on Saturday at noon for a spot in the semifinals at Buffalo State College the following Thursday, Feb. 29.

Southwestern joins the Warriors and the Hillbillies in the Class B1 bracket, but as the lowest seed, No. 13 traveling to No. 12 Bennett on Tuesday for a first-round game at Grabiarz School at 7 p.m. The winner will take on No. 5 East Aurora on Thursday in the prequarterfinals and following that path to Buffalo State College is a quarterfinal matchup at No. 4 Akron next Saturday.

Several Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association schools in Class B2 benefitted from Salamanca moving up to B1, with MST (10-7) becoming the top seed and Eden (16-4) the second seed.

No. 5 Falconer will host No. 12 JFK on Thursday at 7 p.m. and the winner travels to No. 4 Royalton-Hartland for a quarterfinal matchup on Saturday at noon.

No. 7 Silver Creek (11-9) hosts No. 10 WNY Maritime (3-15) on Thursday and with a win will travel to No. 2 Eden on Saturday at noon.

No. 6 Allegany-Limestone also hosts a home prequarterfinal on Thursday against East Community for a trip to No. 3 Tapestry on Saturday. While No. 9 Portville takes to the road against No. 8 Wilson on Thursday for a chance to play top-seed MST.

Class B2 semifinals will be played the following Wednesday and Thursday at Buffalo State College.

Classes AA1, C and D also have local schools earning the top seed in Jamestown, Randolph and Pine Valley, respectively.

The Red & Green (16-4) dropped their final two games of the season to rival Orchard Park, but still maintained top position in the Class AA rankings and will host a quarterfinal matchup next Friday at 7 p.m. at McElrath Gymnasium against the winner of No. 8 Clarence (10-10) and No. 9 Williamsville North (7-13) on Wednesday.

Both of Jamestown’s games against the Spartans were won by a considerable margin, while the home game against Clarence was won 62-50 and on the road the Red & Green edged the Red Devils 61-57.

A victory at home would put the Red & Green in the semifinals at Buffalo State College against either No. 4 Orchard Park (16-4) or No. 5 Hutch Tech (15-5) on the following Monday at 8 p.m.

The AA1 finals will take place on March 2 at Buffalo State College at 8:30 p.m.

Defending Class C state champion and CCAA Division 1 East winner Randolph (18-2) finished the regular season with an 18-2 record and begins its title defense as the top seed next Saturday.

Despite posting the same record in Class C as Randolph, the CCAA Division 2 West champion Westfield Wolverines (18-2) earned the 3-seed, while Frewsburg (12-8) comes in as the No. 2 team after playing in CCAA Division 1 East with larger schools than D2 West. Both the Bears and Wolverines will wait until next Saturday at noon for home quarterfinal matchups.

The fourth team with a bye straight to the quarterfinals is CCAA Division 2 East champion Franklinville (14-6) next Saturday.

Six local teams begin the Class C playoffs on Tuesday as No. 10 Maple Grove (12-7) hosts No. 15 Cassadaga Valley (2-17), No. 11 Chautauqua Lake (7-12) hosts No. 14 Global Concepts (5-14), No. 12 Gowanda (9-11) entertains No. 13 Cattaraugus-Little Valley (4-16) and No. 16 Brocton (6-14) travels to No. 9 Holland (8-11), with all games starting at 7 p.m.

The hosts of prequarterfinal games on Thursday include No. 5 Panama (18-2) against either the Gowanda Panthers or Timberwolves with a chance to play Franklinville, No. 6 Ellicottville (14-6) will play either the Eagles or Gators to play Westfield, No. 7 North Collins (8-12) plays either the Red Dragons or Cougars to take on Frewsburg, and No. 8 Barker (7-13) takes on the Dutchmen or Bulldogs for a trip to Randolph.

The Class C semifinals will begin on Feb. 27 at Jamestown Community College and the finals are on Friday, March 1.

In the second smallest field of teams in Section VI, Pine Valley(9-11) claims the top seed and advances straight to the semifinals at Jamestown Community College on Feb. 26 against either Forestville (2-16) or West Valley (0-16).

The 4-seed Hornets will host the only Class D playoff game, entertaining the Wildcats in a quarterfinal on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The second semifinal on Feb. 26 is already set between No. 2 Clymer (9-11) and No. 3 Sherman (6-14) at 7:45 p.m. and the championship will be March 1 at 6 p.m.

Dunkirk (5-15) is the lone local school in the Class A2 bracket as the 9-seed and will begin the postseason on Wednesday when it travels to No. 8 Springville-Griffith (9-11) at 7 p.m. If the Marauders win they will play on Friday at top-seed Lackawanna (13-4).

The first year of Class AAA will feature No. 1 Niagara Falls going straight to a final against No. 2 Lancaster on March 1 at Buffalo State College at 6:30 p.m.

The top team in Class AA2 is Health Sciences (17-3) and Hamburg (14-6) is No. 2 team in the bracket.

Defending Class A champion Amherst (16-4) is the top seed in Class A1, while Pioneer (16-4) with the 2-seed.