Bishop Guertin hockey players start to celebrate in the final moments of Saturday's quarterfinal win over Bow at Skate 3 in Tyngsborough, Mass. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

t’s time to play the Survivor Game, tourney style, again.

And when it comes to the local high school winter sports postseason, there are just three teams left.

Step right up Bishop Guertin boys hockey, Merrimack-Hollis Brookline-Derryfield boys hockey, and Milford girls basketball.

You are it, and Wednesday is your big day.

After the last half a week, unfortunately there were more casualties than survivors. Going into quarterfinal action that started Thursday with the Bishop Guertin girls, the Cards, the Hollis Brookline boys hoop, the Nashua South boys hoop, and the Alvirne-Milford boys hockey teams suffered unkind cuts.

The three basketball teams fell to teams they had beaten during the regular season: the Concord-Christian girls, the Sanborn boys (HB in Division II) and, of course, the Exeter boys, which not only ended Nashua South’s title hopes but also Panther standout Josh Caruso’s memorable South career. He’ll now move on to Saint Anselm College in the fall.

But now it’s time to take a look at the three survivors, and how things coud shake out for them in the semifinal round:

BISHOP GUERTIN BOYS HOCKEY

Division I Semis: No. 2 BG (16-3) vs. No. 6 Exeter (11-7-1), Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. at Manchester’s JFK Coliseum.

The Cards are the area’s hottest team. They’ve now won 12 straight games, not having lost since Concord beat them 6-1 back on Jan. 18 at Skate 3. The Cards two weeks later avenged that loss with a 2-1 overtime win and now everyone is salivating over a rubber match in the finals.

Not so fast. BG has to face Exeter, which upset No. 3 Keene in the quarters, and the Blue Hawks have lost twice to BG: 7-3 at Skate 3 in late January but then the gap was narrowed to 2-1 at Phillips Exeter just over two weeks ago.

But what has made BG so good? It’s their depth, the ability to roll out four effective lines.

“I just think we’ve got numbers,” Cards longtime head coach Gary Bishop said. “Our top two lines are all pretty quick. We’ve got one guy with 28 points, one with 21 and the next one has 17 or 18. We’ve got six guys with at lead 18 points.”

For example, sophomore Ryan Mogielnicki has 15 goals playing on the second line.

Guertin also doesn’t mind the small ice at JFK; it’s actually right up their alley. The Cards, who won it all two years ago, would love to get back to the finals.

“It’s good for us, because we’re physical,” Bishop said. “We bump into people and run into people, so I don’t mind it at all.”

It’s just a team that’s on a roll.

“We’re going so strong right now, we’re hot,” Cards senior captain James Mantone said. “Everybody’s having fun. What else can you ask for? Playoff hockey.”

MHBDS BOYS HOCKEY

No. 5 MHGDS (12-5-2) vs. No. 1 Spaulding (16-3), 5 p.m., Concord’s Everett Arena.

The WarHawks are making the most of their first year as a co-op, and they do live dangerously, with seven one-goal games during the season and their OT win over Goffstown in the quarters. They’re led by Alex Gertz, Will Farrell, Jackson Woods, and their mainstay goaltender of the last couple of years, James Brew.

The WarHawks lost to Spaulding 4-0 at Manchester’s West Side Arena back on Jan. 11. But beware, Red Raiders: They lost to Goffstown 3-0 just two weeks before beating them in OT in the quarters.

MILFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL

Division II Semifinals: No. 2 Milford (16-3) vs. No. 3 Derryfield (17-3), 5 p.m. Wednesday at Pinkerton’s Hackler Gym.

These two teams played a classic, the Spartans pulling out a 37-35 regular season win back on Feb. 18 that basically helped earn them a first-round bye. That is part of a current seven-game winning streak.

Milford has a host of key players, from junior point guard Shea Hansen to seniors Avery Fuller, Ellianna Nassy, Claire Cote and Lulu Maguire.

Head coach Mike Davidson has revived what had been a dying program a few years ago, and this is likely his best team.

But make no mistake. They’re not just glad to be here. Before the start of the Nashua Holiday Tournament, which the Spartans won for the second time in three years in late December, Davidson said “There are two trophies we want to win, the one in December and the one in March.”

“Some teams believe ‘everything is gravy’ from here on in,” he said the other night after beating Coe-Brown in the quarters. “These girls don’t think that way. We know Derryfield will be coming hard at us, but we’ve met every challenge that has come our way, and I expect we’ll be ready come Wednesday.”