Now, it’s hockey’s turn.

While local basketball is done for the year, high school hockey takes center stage this weekend, starting with the defending champion BG girls team on Friday facing Bishop Brady-Trinity at Hudson’s Cyclones Arena in the quarterfinals.

In boys tourneys, Guertin is the lone local Division I entry, and the Cards topped Pinkerton 1-0 in the prelims on Wednesday and were to head to Saint Anselm College on Saturday in the quarterfinals vs. No. 2 Bedford.

Also, playoffs were to begin Saturday for the Merrimack Tomahawks in Division II, and Hollis Brookline-Derryfield and Pembroke-Campbell boys teams in Division III.

The above three were to start Saturday as they jumped right to their quarterfinals. Merrimack, No. 7 at 9-9, was to face No. 2 Oyster River (15-3), at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center in Durham.

Hollis Brookline-Derryfield is hoping to get back to the finals in Division III, and the No. 2, 15-3 Warriors were set to host Kearsarge-Plymouth at 5 p.m. Saturday at Conway Arena. Pembroke-Campbell, seeded fifth at 10-7-1, was to visit No. 4 Lebanon-Stevens-Mt. Royal Saturday as well.

Here’s a look at how the tournaments could shake out:

BOYS

DIVISION I

The Cardinals, should they win Wednesday night, would get No. 2, 15-2-1 Bedford on Saturday.

But anything in hockey is possible, so the Cards definitely aren’t looking past Pinkerton, whom they beat 4-0 back on Feb. 19. In that game, Guertin scored two shorthanded goals at Skate 3, so things could have turned the other way in a hurry. And the Astros finished the regular season with a big 2-1 win over arch rival No. 5 Londonderry

“I think we have to get a lot more shots on net,” Bishop said. “Go harder to the net. Too many shots came from the perimeter (in the first meeting), we have to get in there and get the dirty goals.”

BG is led offensively by John Mantone, Logan Vogel and Brian Jenkins.

The Cards may have gotten a bit of a break by finishing seventh and avoiding top seed, 16-0-2 defending champion Concord in a potential quarterfinal. Guertin split with Bedford this season, and had to be ready for a physical game. The Cards were aggressive in a 4-0 win at Skate 3 over the Bulldogs back on Jan. 22, but lost 3-1 at Saint A’s on Feb. 2.

“When we played at their place, they came out physical and we had three guys knocked down,” Bishop said. “One guy (forward Johnny Mantone) got knocked out of the game. In the first shift of that game, (the Bulldogs) came out banging. They didn’t take any penalties, they just came out banging. That’s the way they play in their building, so we’ve got to know it’s coming.”

Concord is clearly the tourney favorite, but have tied top four teams Bedford and Hanover of late, who go in with 9-0-1 and 7-0-1 records respectively down the stretch.

“No question they are the best team,” Bishop said of the Tide, while noting the ties.

Meanwhile, his Cards have juggled lines to get more depth. “We got four goals the other night (in the 4-4 tie with Trinity), and three of the four came from the second and third lines,” Bishop said, “which is huge.”

The semis are Wednesday, March 9 at Manchester’s JFK Coliseum, with the finals Saturday, March 12 at SNHU Arena in Manchester at 5 p.m.

THE PICK: Concord over BG. Cinderella Green and Gold slippers, until the final.

DIVSION II

The Tomahawks, led by the play of Eliot Medlock and Brayden Guagliumi, won three of their last five games and gave Division I Keene a hard time in a one-goal loss in their regular season finale.

But Oyster River could be a problem, as they lost to the Bobcats 7-0 back on Jan. 22 but gave them a better battle in a 3-1 defeat back on Feb. 2 in Durham. But OR goes into the tourney having won their last nine, having outscored the opposition 56-10 during that span.

But in tourney hockey, anything can happen. The ‘Hawks will certainly be well rested, with over 10 days in between games.

The favorite is obviously top seed St. Thomas (18-0), which has a bye all the way to the semis March 9 at Concord’s Everett Arena.

In Merrimack’s bracket, should it advance, either No. 3 Portsmouth-Newmarket or No. 6 Goffstown would await.

Of the seven teams in the tourney, five are from the seacoast.

THE PICK: St. Thomas over Oyster River. Go with the team that’s given up just 25 goals all year.

DIVISION III

Defending champion Berlin-Gorham goes into the tourney as the No. 1 seed at 17-1, and would seemingly have great chance at going to the semis with a quarterfinal Saturday vs. No. 9 Kennett, but you never know.

The Warriors, though, look really, really good, led by Jesse Gertz, Tate Flint, Paul Vachon and Conor Sanborn – really, you can pick anyone from the roster. They beat Kearsarge-Plymouth twice, 5-2 and 4-1, during the season, and coach Joel Sanborn said recently how motivated the Warriors are to get another shot at the title after losing to B-G in last year’s finals.

“We’ll need to take care of the puck in our defensive zone and bury our chances when we get them,” Sanborn said, “and stay out of the penalty box.”

Could Pembroke-Campbell, led by Campbell senior Nate Perry, make it to the semis? Sure, they lost twice to LSMR , but by one goal both times, 3-2 and 2-1. Tough to beat a team three times, right?

The semis are next Wednesday at Plymouth State, with the final on Saturday, March 12 at 12:15 p.m. at SNHU Arena.

THE PICK: HBDS over B-G. Why not?

GIRLS

The prevailing theory is the two best teams are the Cards and No. 3 Hanover, whom BG handed its only in-state loss the other night. No. 1 Oyster River-Portsmouth might have something to say about that; they felt they let one get away when the Cards rallied to beat them 4-3 two weeks ago in Hudson on late goals by top scorers Jenna Lynch and Julie McLaughlin. But they did lose also to Hanover.

Guertin wasn’t looking past Friday for a potential semifinal rematch next Tuesday in Concord despite beating Brady-Trinity 9-3 during the regular season.

“We battled hard during the regular season,” Cards coach Phil DeVita said. “Obviously you’re going to take each game one at a time.”

Guertin lost to No. 3 Hanover (14-4) 5-1 on Feb. 1 and enjoyed that big win up north last Saturday. Concord is the fourth seed at 14-4 and three of the Tide’s four losses have been to the three teams above them, but all by two goals or less. So this tourney is more wide open than first thought.

THE PICK: Hanover over ORP. Tough call with BG in the semis, but the (John) Dodds Squad looked tough a month ago.