The Northwestern girls and the Marian boys have both earned No. 1 seeds in the upcoming District 11 basketball playoffs.

The brackets for the 12 classes (six boys and six girls) were released over the weekend. The tournament starts on Tuesday with first round games.

For this year, the district has utilized an open tournament format with all teams qualifying for the postseason. However, teams had the option of opting out if they so desired.

The Times News area will have 19 teams participating in the playoffs, as the Tamaqua boys decided to opt out.

Northwestern earned its top seeding by winning the Colonial League championship on Friday against Palmerton. Teams winning league titles are moved ahead of the other teams in their class. North Schuylkill, who won the Schuylkill League crown but didn’t have as many rating points as Northwestern, is seeded second in a highly-competitive 4A field. The Tigers could meet Jim Thorpe, seeded fourth, in the semifinals if both teams win their quarterfinal matchups.

Also in the 4A field is traditional power Central Catholic, along with local teams Tamaqua and Lehighton.

The Colts, meanwhile, gained the No. 1 seed in boys Class 2 based on their rating. Because of the high seed, they will receive a bye in the quarterfinals and won’t play until the semifinal round.

The Palmerton girls would have been the top seed in Class 2A with a victory over Northwestern in the CL finals Friday, but the Blue Bombers instead settled for the No. 2 spot. With that position, they will face another area team - Panther Valley, seeded seventh - in the quarterfinal round. The No. 1 seed is Notre Dame, who Palmerton defeated during the league playoffs. Northern Lehigh is also in the 2A field, seeded sixth.

There are three area boys teams in both the 4A and 3A brackets. Of those six teams, two will face each other in the quarterfinal round.

Northwestern, seeded third, and Lehighton, the No. 6 seed, will meet again in a 4A contest. The same teams met for a non-league game during the regular season on Jan. 23, won by the Tigers. Jim Thorpe, who is on a five-game winning streak, is also in the 4A bracket, seeded fifth.

Palmerton, Panther Valley and Northern Lehigh will also be participating in the 3A tourney. The Bulldogs must play a first-round contest against Pen Argyl in hopes of reaching the quarterfinal round. The Bombers, who reached the Colonial League title game, enter the field as the No. 3 seed. The Panthers, the defending district champs, are the seventh seed in the bracket.

The Weatherly boys posted their most wins in a season since 2005-06 and have earned the third seed in Class 1A. The Wreckers have earned a bye into the semifinals, but will face a tough Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg squad in an attempt to reach the district finals.

The Weatherly and Marian girls, who just played Friday, are two of the five teams in the girls Class 1A tourney. The Wreckers are the No. 4 seed and will play a quarterfinal round game against Lincoln Leadership. The Fillies, seeded third, get a bye into the semifinals.

Both Pleasant Valley teams are in the 6A class and both will play first round games on Tuesday. The PV boys are the 10th seed in their field and face Dieruff while the girls are seeded ninth and will meet Emmaus.