2025-26 Winter Playoff Preview

February 21, 2026
• Everything you need to know heading into the postseason. 

This winter, boys and girls basketball, as well as boys hockey qualified for the postseason. Girls hockey did not make the tournament after finishing the season 4-15.

Needham boys basketball is making their 12th straight playoff appearance, and as the No. 3 seed, they are the highest ranked Rocket team in the postseason. The team put together an impressive 18-2 regular season, averaging 64.6 points per game, while allowing just 54.2. Led by their senior class, they are having their best season since 2022-2023, when they reached the state championship but fell to North High School in Worcester, 73–64.

Their ability to get hot from behind the three-point line with senior Ben Marino, combined with a strong inside presence from senior Foster Wilinski, makes this team dangerous and sets them up for a deep postseason run. In 12 out of their 20 games, they’ve shot 33% from three, with a high of 52% and a low of 14.3% against BC High just nine days ago. In those games, they’ve forced 12.3 turnovers a game and average 6.8 steals, while committing 11.4 turnovers themselves. 

They will host the winner of No. 30 Barnstable vs. No. 35 Shrewsbury for their Round of 32 matchup with the date and time to be announced.

Girls basketball also put together a strong regular season, finishing 14-6. After starting the season 9-2, with those two losses coming from top-ranked Bishop Feehan, the team struggled down the stretch, going 5-4 in their last nine games. They earned the No. 9 seed in the tournament and average 53.1 points per game, while allowing 44.4. 

Similar to the boys, they have the ability to get hot from behind the arc, and their defense is very strong. Senior Eva Andrews is a force inside, averaging 11.1 points 12.1 rebounds per game, while one of her co-captains, Hannah Levine, is scoring 12.7 points a game. In 14 of their 20 regular season games this year they are shooting 27.2% from three and force 17.3 turnovers a game. 

The Rockets will host No. 24 Belmont for their first round matchup on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 4:45 p.m. If they win that game, they will play the winner of No. 8 Woburn Memorial vs. No. 25 Shrewsbury.

On the ice, boys hockey will look for their first playoff win since 2018. But, it won’t be easy for the Rockets, who finished the season on an eight game losing streak, bringing their regular season record to 7-11-2. Senior Joey Saratella leads the team in scoring with 11 goals on the season, but the team averages just 2.2 goals a game, while allowing 3.6 to opponents. They will face a tough challenge on the road as the No. 29 seed against No. 4 Arlington on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. 

The Needham Channel will be at the first round games for boys hockey on Feb. 24 and girls basketball on Feb. 26. Those broadcasts will be recorded and air the following day, but be sure to check out our X page TNC_sports for live updates.