It seemed strange. Just strange. On the first day of the Western Class A boys' basketball quarterfinals, when the contenders usually say goodbye to those just-happy-to-be-here upstarts, there were Portland and Deering playing before a large crowd at the Portland Expo.

Portland and Deering. Really. Two of the three teams that have dominated the class since the turn of the millennium (the third would be Cheverus, for those who haven't paid attention) meeting so early.

But that's what happened because of the resurgence of South Portland (and where have THEY been for the last decade or so?) and the coming-of-age team from Thornton Academy this season.

Portland won a corker of a game, coming from behind in the second half by playing Portland basketball, which somehow coaches convince players is different from, oh, Lincoln Academy basketball, Lee Academy basketball or Stonehill College basketball.

And so it went on the first day of the rite of February. Nice crowds for the most part, enthusiasm for the most part, good games for the most part.
For the most part, it should only get better.

Portland's reward for beating Deering? A semifinal matchup Wednesday night against top-ranked Cheverus.

Friday's action at all three tournament sites was notable for an absence of upsets. Higher seeded teams won 9 of 10 games -- the exception being No. 5 Oxford Hills' 54-50 win over No. 4 Bangor in Eastern A girls.

With a total of 20 games on Saturday's schedule, there's a better chance we'll see an upset or two. And perhaps there'll be a few more dramatic finishes like the Eastern A girls' quarterfinal Friday between No. 2 Morse and No. 10 Skowhegan, in which Morse escaped with a 49-46 win on Jill Henrikson's three-point play in the closing seconds.

The Eastern A girls had the spotlight Friday in Augusta, but it's an all-boys day on Saturday, with four Western D quarterfinals, followed by four Eastern A games.

In Portland, the most interesting matchup Saturday is a Western B boys' quarterfinal between rivals Greely and Falmouth, who split their two regular-season meetings.

Later Saturday, No. 2 Thornton Academy and No. 3 South Portland will try to join Cheverus and Portland in the Western Class A semifinals. If that happens, we can look forward to a highly entertaining night of basketball on Wednesday.