AUGUSTA — As it turned out, the fact that the Western Class D boys tournament confirmed its seedings was in itself a bit of an upset, given that higher seeds were ripe for the picking in the other tournaments hosted by the Augusta Civic Center.

If Class D continues to hold form, top-seeded Forest Hills and second-seeded Valley will get to renew their rivalry with a regional championship on the line. But first, both teams will have to get past formidable semifinal foes.

Valley (15-4) opens the Wednesday morning session at 10 a.m. against No. 3 Hyde (15-4). Both teams are coming off impressive quarterfinal victories. The Phoenix opened their game against Searsport with an 11-0 run and cruised to a 64-41 victory over Searsport.

Senior guard Kiefer Cundy scored 18 points to lead the Phoenix and had plenty of support from Andrew Palermo (14 points off the bench) and Antoine Montgomery (13 points).

This is a very different Hyde team than the one the Cavaliers edged, 50-49, in the regional final last season. Fortunately, Valley played the current edition of the Phoenix twice this season, having lost to the Phoenix , 47-30, on Jan. 8 in Bath, then beating them, 55-45, in its season finale on Feb. 6.

“We played our best game of the season (Feb. 6), but we’re going to have to play better to beat them again,” Valley coach Luke Hartwell said. “They looked very good (against Searsport).”

Hartwell’s team had a little bit harder time in its quarterfinal with Vinalhaven, The Cavaliers let the Vikings hang around for about three quarters before the core of veterans remaining from last year’s team — Cody Laweryson (17 points), Collin Miller (13 points) and Chase Malloy (10 points) — helped them pull away in the fourth quarter.

Top-seeded Forest Hills’ 79-48 quarterfinal against North Yarmouth Academy was never in doubt, thanks mainly to a dominating performance by Ryan Petrin. The senior forward scored 38 points as the Tigers (19-0) overpowered the Panthers.

As anyone who has followed the Tigers knows, they aren’t reliant on Petrin to duplicate that performance. And coach Anthony Amero isn’t worried he will try, either.

“He’s one of those kids that, next game, he could score two points. He doesn’t care,” Amero said.

Fellow senior Matthew Turner scored 20 points against NYA. Brandon Ouellette, another senior, had an off shooting day, but is capable of leading the team in scoring, while a fourth senior, Tanner Daigle, helps Petrin hold down the paint.

Both Petrin and Daigle will be important in containing Tim Yeaton, Seacoast Christian’s 6-foot-1 center who scored 16 points, virtually all of them inside in the Guardians’ 49-39 quarterfinal win over Richmond.

Seacoast Christian (17-2) saw Valley’s 11-0 start and raised it five points against Richmond. The Guardians let up after that and let the Bobcats get as close as three points in the second half before pulling away.

Forest Hills and Seacoast Christian did not meet during the regular season.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33