NJSIAA field hockey: Central, Lenape earn top seeds

As we wind down the regular season and get set for the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament final on Saturday, the pairings and seeds for next week's sectional tournaments were finalized on Friday. First-round games are scheduled for Monday through Thursday.

Here are the draws which house teams from the Open Mike area. All pairings and seeds are unofficial until a 24-hour review period.

Hunterdon Central (15-5) in North 2, Group 4 and Lenape Valley (13-5-1) in North 1, Group 1 are the only area teams to receive No. 1 seeds.

Warren Hills (15-3-1), last year's Group 3 runner-up and North 2, Group 3 champion, drew the No. 4 seed for this year's sectional tournament. The Blue Streaks, who have won 10 sectional titles and are 58-37 overall in the postseason, will host No. 5 Princeton in a first-round matchup. The only other time Warren Hills faced the Mercer County school in the postseason was 1972 -- a 3-0 win at home for Princeton.

Another 2012 sectional champion, West Morris, which lost 6-4 to Warren Hills in last year's Group 3 semifinals, drew the top seed in the North 2, Group 3 bracket.

There are two local matchups in the opening rounds with No. 5 Hackettstown at No. 4 Voorhees in North 1, Group 2, while No. 10 North Warren visits No. 7 Newton in North 1, Group 1. Newton won both regular-season meetings -- 4-1 at home on Sept. 18 and 1-0 in Blairstown on Oct. 21.

North 1

Group 4

9-Union (3-15) at 8-Westfield (3-11-2), winner to meet 1-Bridgewater-Raritan (16-1)
12-North Hunterdon (1-14-1) at 5-Columbia (6-9-2)
13-Hackensack (1-13) at 4-Morris Knolls (11-5-1)
11-Phillipsburg (2-12-2) at 6-Randolph (7-8-1), winner to meet 3-Ridge (13-7)
10-Watchung Hills (3-13-2) at 7-Livingston (3-9-2), winner to meet 2-Montclair (11-2-4)

Group 3

9-Montville (9-7) at 8-Roxbury (5-8-3), winner to meet 1-Northern Highlands (16-1)
5-Sparta (10-7-1) at 4-Wayne Valley (9-5)
11-Demarest (0-14-1) at 6-West Milford (10-7), winner to meet 3-Passaic Valley (10-6)
10-Mount Olive (4-12-1) at 7-Vernon (8-8), winner to meet 2-Wayne Hills (15-1)

Group 2

9-Lakeland (6-8) at 8-Summit (10-4-2), winner to meet 1-Parsippany (17-1)
5-Hackettstown (12-6) at 4-Voorhees (14-4)
11-Parsippany Hills (0-13-2) at 6-Ramsey (12-4-1), winner to meet 3-High Point (14-1-3)
10-River Dell (6-9-1) at 7-Chatham (9-8), winner to meet 2-West Essex (15-1)

Group 1

9-Belvidere (5-9-3) at 8-Boonton (9-9), winner to meet 1-Lenape Valley (13-5-1)
12-Pequannock (2-13) at 5-Wallkill Valley (8-11), winner to meet 4-Mountain Lakes (10-6-1)
11-Butler (7-11) at 6-Whippany Park (8-9-1), winner to meet 3-Kittatinny (8-7-3)
10-North Warren (4-12-2) at 7-Newton (6-11-1), winner to meet 2-Westwood (9-7)

North 2

Group 4

9-Old Bridge (2-13-2) at 8-Hillsborough (6-13), winner to meet 1-Hunterdon Central (15-5)
5-Monroe (8-9-1) at 4-West Windsor South (11-7)
11-Piscataway (1-15-2) at 6-Montgomery (9-8-1), winner to meet 3-South Brunswick (8-3-4)
10-Franklin (6-9-2) at 7-West Windsor North (7-10), winner to meet 2-East Brunswick (15-3-1)

Group 3

9-Morristown (9-7-1) at 8-Middletown South (7-4-2), winner to meet 1-West Morris (17-1)
5-Princeton (12-4-1) at 4-Warren Hills (15-3-1)
11-Millburn (5-10-2) at 6-Hightstown (9-4-2), winner to meet 3-Hopewell Valley (13-3-1)
10-Middletown North (5-8-2) at 7-Ocean Township (12-3-1), winner to meet 2-Mendham (13-3-1)

Group 2

9-Somerville (1-15-3) at 8-Delaware Valley (8-9-1), winner to meet 1-Rumson (14-0-1)
5-Matawan (7-7-1) at 4-Johnson (12-6-1)
6-Raritan (8-11) at 3-Holmdel (9-3-2)
7-Cranford (6-10) at 2-South Plainfield (17-2)

Group 1

9-Metuchen (9-8) at 8-New Egypt (7-7-1), winner to meet 1-Shore (16-0-1)
5-Bernards (14-4) at 4-South Hunterdon (15-3)
6-Keyport (11-3-1) at 3-Madison (17-0)
10-Florence (7-6-1) at 7-Glen Ridge (9-5-1), winner to meet 2-Bordentown (13-2-1)