State championship weekend (a three-day affair!) is upon us.

The MIAA’s three-day weekend at Tsongas Center in Lowell kicks off with a pair of state finals tonight (Div. 3 girls and boys) while four games will follow on Saturday with four more to go on Sunday.

A total of 217 girls basketball and 210 boys basketball programs embarked on the tournament journey to Lowell more than two weeks ago, and the total field has been whittled down to 20.

Locally, the Pioneer boys became the first Franklin County basketball program to reach a state final since the shift to a new statewide tournament format in 2021. The top-seeded Panthers will meet No. 2 Hopedale in the MIAA Division 5 state final on Saturday at noon at Tsongas Center in Lowell.

Here’s a closer look at this year’s state basketball tournaments by the numbers:

13

Number of years since the last Franklin County state basketball champion. The 2012 Mahar boys took home the Div. 2 title, taking down Brighton 45-41.

5

Number of basketball state titles in Franklin County history. Championships on the hardwood have been difficult to come by for the area; in addition to Mahar’s 2012 title, Pioneer has two championships (1996, 1997) and Frontier also has two titles (1987, 2008). No Franklin County girls’ basketball team has ever won a state title, though the Frontier girls won the 1972 Division 1 sectional crown before the existence of a state tournament came into play in 1975.

3

Number of state title-game appearances for Pioneer prior to Saturday’s fourth trip. The Panthers won Div. 3 titles in 1996 (over Winchester) and 1997 (over Dartmouth Bishop Stang), then lost in the 1998 state final to Weston — their last appearance until this winter.

25

Number of victories for the Pioneer boys basketball team this winter. The Panthers are a perfect 25-0 entering Saturday’s MIAA Division 5 state title game against Hopedale.

336

Number of career coaching wins for Pioneer’s Scott Thayer, good for third-most in Franklin County boys basketball history behind Marty Sanderson and Gary Mullins. Thayer recorded his 300th career victory last season against Mount Greylock, and hasn’t slowed down since.

2

Number of remaining unbeaten teams in all of Massachusetts. In addition to the Pioneer boys, the Norwell boys basketball team is also undefeated at 24-0. The No. 2 seed in Division 3, Norwell will play for the state title against No. 20 Old Rochester on Friday at 8 p.m.

2 (again)

Number of 1,000-point scorers on the Pioneer roster. Seniors Brayden Thayer and Kurt Redeker have both toppled the milestone (Thayer last year and Redeker this year), and while both have already etched their name into Messer Gymnasium history, they’re looking to add a team state title banner to the walls inside the gymnasium.

11

Number of Western Massachusetts basketball teams to reach their respective Final Fours this year. It was an impressive showing from local teams, as five programs on the boys’ side (Springfield Central in D1, Taconic in D3, Monument Mountain in D4, Pioneer in D5 and Drury in D5) and six programs on the girls’ side (Springfield Central in D1, Pittsfield in D3, South Hadley in D4, Lee in D5, Hoosac Valley in D5 and Renaissance in D5) marched their way into state semifinal games. It’s the exact same numbers as last winter, where five boys’ programs and six girls’ teams reached state semis, showing the area has made their presence felt under the new statewide tournament format.