TAUNTON — Two teams — the Case and Bristol-Plymouth boys basketball teams— are heading into different directions this winter.

The playoff-bound Cardinals recently punched their ticket to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament. It will be the first time for Case (11-7) in the playoff-type atmosphere game since the start of the pandemic in 2020 when they participated in a shortened South Coast Conference tournament.

The Craftsmen made the state tournament the last two seasons but was bounced in the Division 3 preliminary round each time. Last year, they won the Mayflower Large division (16-4) for the first time since 1979.

"We started off playing OK and we got better toward the middle," said B-P head coach Tim Plante, whose team dropped 7-11 on the season after losing to Cardinals 66-37 on Thursday. "Towards the end, we started playing harder teams and [they're] tough for us. They play a different brand of basketball."

Read more from Steven Sanchez at hearldnews.com.