Here are my predictions for the first round of the Western D girls basketball tournament. Quarterfinal games will be played Monday and Tuesday at the Augusta Civic Center:

MONDAY

No. 3 Vinalhaven vs. No. 6 Greater Portland Christian: You have to respect the sixth-seeded Lions, if for no other reason than they have 52 students in the school and still have 14 players on their roster. Vinalhaven is always a solid team, however, and the East/West Conference teams usually fare a little better in the tournament (I know about Hyde last year; I said "usually"), so I'm going with Vinalhaven.

No. 2 Valley vs. No. 7 Rangeley: These teams always seem to meet up in the playoffs, but never this early. Valley was a very surprising No. 2 seed, going from 4-14 last winter to 12-5 this season. The Lakers, meanwhile, did well to win seven games, as they have two seniors and one junior, with the rest freshmen and eighth-graders. These teams met twice in the regular season, with Valley winning by 20 and nine points. Rangeley was unable to score more than 27 points in either game, and while I think they'll get more than that on Monday, I still think Valley will pull out a fairly close win.

Odd note: Of the four teams above, Valley has the biggest enrollment, with 90 students in the high school. And I thought my high school was small because our graduating class was 50.

TUESDAY

No. 1 Buckfield vs. No. 9 Seacoast Christian: This is supposed to be THE year for Buckfield. Last winter, the Bucks didn't lose to a Class D opponent all season until falling in overtime to eventual regional champion Hyde in the tournament. Hyde, like Eastern D champion Lee, has moved to Class C this season. Buckfield has essentially the same team as last season, and has gone 18-0. The Bucks don't have a lot of height, but neither does anyone else in the bracket. The difference in enrollment sizes is 213-37 in favor of Buckfield. This game will be closer, but the Bucks should still win easily.

No. 4 Richmond vs. No. 5 Forest Hills: The regular season matchup in Richmond was an interesting one, to say the least. Richmond won 56-47, as Forest Hills finished with three players on the court. The Tigers have seven players on their roster (the roster in the program lists eight, but one of them is Charlie Lee, the manager) and had six for that game. Forest Hills committed 25 fouls and Richmond had about 20 more free throw attempts, but the Bobcats were also banged up. Put it all together, and I don't see a lot separating these teams, but I think Richmond wins a close one.