By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

WARWICK - In last year’s Division I playoffs, Woonsocket High had an early exit. After finishing 8-10 during the league season, the Villa Novans never even made it to the preliminaries, getting knocked out by Chariho in a qualifying round.
It could be slightly different this time around.

Woonsocket enters the postseason this year as the No. 2 seed behind four-time defending state champion Bishop Hendricken (17-1) and earned a bye in the opening round after finishing atop the standings in D-I North at 16-2 (20-2 overall). The Villa Novans will hit the hardwood on Friday (9 p.m.) at CCRI-Warwick when they battle No. 10 seed Cranston East (8-10) in a quarterfinal tilt. The Thunderbolts pulled off a minor upset by defeating seventh-seeded East Providence, 82-79, in a triple-overtime, opening-round game on Wednesday.
In the only time that the two teams met - a Jan. 25 contest - Woonsocket had one of its lowest offensive outputs, but still pulled out a narrow 46-41 victory. Since that win, the Villa Novans have won seven of their last eight games, including a 71-59 victory over Cumberland in their regular season finale.
Junior Antjuan Jones (17.5 ppg.) and senior Mike Akinrola (14.8 ppg.), who rank second and fourth in the area, respectively, power an offense that has racked up more than 1,300 points this season. Woonsocket is the only league opponent to put a blemish on Hendricken’s record with its 62-59 triumph at Savaria Gymnasium on Jan. 18.
Thanks to a big game from senior Jeff Holmes, No. 8 seed St. Raphael Academy will also play a quarterfinal game on Friday. Holmes scored all 11 of his team’s points in overtime Wednesday night as SRA defeated South Kingstown, 62-57, in an opening round game. He finished the night with a game-high 22 points.
The task ahead for Holmes and Co. will be a bit more difficult on Friday night. The Pawtucket squad will match up against the top-seeded Hawks in the quarters at CCRI-Warwick (4:30 p.m.). The lone game that the two teams played on Jan. 29, Hendricken beat SRA, 64-54, at Alumni Hall.
A pair of local Massachusetts’ squads will also be busy on Friday. In the quarterfinals of the Division 2 Central Sectionals, No. 4 seed Uxbridge (16-5) host fifth-seeded Nipmuc Regional (14-5) at 7 p.m. Led by high-scoring senior Tyler Patch (30.3 ppg.), Seekonk takes on Patriot League titlist Scituate in the Division 3 South Sectionals at 7 p.m. The Warriors (17-3), a No. 5 seed, downed Carver High, 63-50, in an opening-round game Wednesday. Scituate (17-2) enters the quarterfinal tilt as a No. 4 seed.
The area was wiped out of the Division II playoffs with Lincoln, Shea and East Providence suffering opening-round setbacks Wednesday night.
North Smithfield, Burrillville, Central Falls and Mount St. Charles have all qualified for the Division III playoffs, which will probably be the most competitive of all three leagues.
Central Falls, which lost to Feinstein in the finals of the 2005-06 season, is the No. 1 seed, posting a record of 17-2 this winter. North Smithfield, Moses Brown and Prout are at 16-4 and Mount St. Charles is at 14-6.
The top-ranked Warriors begin action on Sunday with a quarterfinal game against No. 8 seed Burrillville (8-12) at 6 p.m. at CCRI-Warwick. Mount St. Charles, which has won its last 10 games, takes on Prout at 7:30 p.m. On Monday, No. 3 seed North Smithfield battles sixth-seeded and defending champion Juanita Sanchez at 6:30 p.m., also at CCRI.