The Hopedale boys' basketball team is proving the art of selecting title contenders in the preseason is more abstract than realism.

Having played 13 games and lost but twice, the Blue Raiders are ranked third in the Telegram & Gazette's latest Division 3 poll. Lofty status for an outfit that garnered little attention - outside its own Dual Valley Conference at least - prior to tipoff.

But after 25 years at the Hopedale helm, Donald Klocek takes great comfort in knowing championship teams are forged, not annointed.

"This is all conjectural," Klocek said of the preseason guessing games played by writers, fans and, yes, coaches themselves. "I would take that, as you say, with a grain of salt. If you look historically at the success of the Dual Valley Conference in the Clark Tournament, that's always a good barometer, and in the district tournament, the (DVC) teams are very formidable. That's why I would say we take it with a grain of salt."

In other words, his reputation, which includes Clark and Central Mass. titles as recently as 1991, speaks for itself.

To date, Hopedale has made most of its noise in the competitive DVC, which it sits atop with an 11-1 record. Sutton, Nipmuc and Blackstone-Millville trail by a game or two in the loss column. Such is life in the DVC.

"It's usually balanced like that; the league is very equitable," said Klocek, who vividly recalls losing the '92 conference title on a buzzer-beating shot by BMR on the last day of the regular season. "Through the years there's been good, good balance. I think any front-runner can lose on a given night. And it's a fun league as well."

The numbers bear Klocek out. Hopedale has three conference wins - vs. Sutton, Bromfield and BMR - by a combined five points. The loss was a 23-point pasting applied by BMR.

The Blue Raiders' other defeat came against Whitinsville Christian. Besides losing its season opener, Hopedale lost senior co-captain Bryan Tattrie that evening for five games, including the BMR whipping, with a fractured right ankle.

A 6-foot-2 forward, Tattrie is flourishing since his return, averaging 16.8 points a game. Last Friday, Tattrie had a direct impact in the BMR rematch, swishing a game-winning free throw with two seconds remaining to ensure a one-point win.

Tattrie is one of two returning starters, the other being 6-4 senior center Brian Reickert, a 14.9 ppg scorer.

"They were both quality ballplayers and were Dual Valley Conference All-Stars as juniors," Klocek said. "That's what we built our team around."

The other starters are sophomore forward Tony Abbruzzese (6-3) and guards Jason Potty (5-7), a junior, and Anthony Acquafresca (5-9), a senior. Jason McCallum and Steve Jastremski, a pair of 6-2 junior forwards, generally get the first call off the bench.

WORCESTER - The field and pairings for the 55th annual Clark University Boys' Basketball Tournament were announced last night, and from looking at the schools' records, it should be quite a tournament.

Sixteen teams were selected for the tournament, which was divided into two eight-team fields based on school enrollments. Tournament action begins Sunday, Feb. 20, and continues until Saturday, Feb. 26. All games will be played at Clark University.

The tournament will feature some of the top teams in Central Massachusetts, including Shepherd Hill, Westboro, David Prouty, Bartlett, Maynard and Hopedale. Those five teams have a combined record of 58-8.

Shepherd Hill (13-1) earned the top seed for the larger schools, while Maynard (11-1) earned the top spot for the smaller schools. The seedings were based strictly on winning percentage, with head-to-head results and coin flips breaking ties.

LARGER SCHOOLS

Quarterfinal round action for larger schools opens Monday, Feb. 21, with the semifinals on Feb. 24 and final on Feb. 26. For the smaller schools, quarterfinal action opens Feb. 20 with the semifinals on Feb. 23 and final on Feb. 25.

Westboro (12-1) appears to be the favorite in the larger school field, but the Rangers won't have an easy road to the final. Westboro opens with sixth-seeded Lunenburg (7-6) and has a possible semifinal showdown with second-seeded David Prouty (12-1).

"We're a deep team this year and the kids are playing very solid basketball," said Westboro coach Dick LaDuke, who surpassed 300 career victories last month. "We'll be pressing full-court and playing lots of man-to-man defense. This team really gets after our opponents."

David Prouty suffered its first loss of the season last week to Millbury, but the Panthers are still a solid contender for the title. "We're looking forward to a good tournament," said Prouty coach Rich Cushing, whose team opens with 7-6 Clinton. "We haven't been winning our games by a lot of points, but our kids have been making the big plays at the right times."

BIG TOURNAMENT

Top-seeded Shepherd Hill opens with eighth-seeded Oakmont (7-6) and coach Dean Packard expects a big tournament from his team. "We've been averaging 75 points per game and allowing about 52," Packard said. "We go about 12 (players) deep and our kids know how to win."

Fourth-seeded Bartlett (11-3) and fifth-seeded Blackstone-Millville (8-3) round out the larger school quarterfinals.

In the smaller school field, seventh-seeded Millbury (8-5) could upset the field. The Woolies are coming off a double-figure victory over David Prouty last week and are one of the hotter teams in the Southern Worcester County League. Millbury opens with second-seeded Hopedale (11-2).

Top-seeded Maynard (11-1) opens with eighth-seeded Grafton (6-7). The Tigers have one of the best scorers in Central Massachusetts in guard Jarreau DeLeon (23.8 ppg) and a pretty good frontcourt, too.

"I'm a little uncomfortable being the top seed with all the strong coaches and teams here," Maynard coach Paul Howes said. "But our kids are playing well and they're looking forward to the challenge."

The other quarterfinal-round matchups will feature third-seeded Sutton (10-3) against sixth-seeded Leicester (8-5) and fourth-seeded Nipmuc (10-3) against fifth-seeded Uxbridge (10-4).

WORCESTER - When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Or, as Sutton found out in its Clark Tournament Smaller Schools semifinal against Hopedale last night: When the referees take away your press, find another way to win.

The third-seeded Sammies did that last night, turning to the outside-inside combination of Andy Niedzwiecki and Mark Donovan to squeak past the second-seeded Blue Raiders, 52-50, and into the Smaller Schools championship game at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow against top-seeded Maynard.

Niedzwiecki bombed away from outside, draining four three-pointers en route to a game-high 21 points. Donovan was a cool 6 for 6 for 12 points, hitting on a series of short jumpers and spin moves in the lane.

Sutton (16-3) opened the game with its usual fullcourt zone trap press, and while it forced Hopedale into 10 first-half turnovers, it led the Sammies directly into foul trouble. The Blue Raiders were shooting one-and-ones just 4:21 into the game.

"They (the referees) were really calling it close, and really took that part of our game away from us," said Sammies coach Steve Romasco. "In the second half, we went to some gimmick defenses and waited for someone to step up and Andy and Mark certainly did that."

And because Niedzwiecki and Donovan stepped up, the Sammies, in the Clark Tournament final for the first time since 1988, will be looking for their first Clark crown since 1958.

"I thought the refs were trying to do us in in the first half," said Niedzwiecki, who admitted he didn't shoot that well, canning just four of 13 from behind the three-point arc. "We were happy to be tied at halftime. We knew we had to get it going in the second half."

Sutton did, scoring 31 points in the final 16 minutes, but Hopedale stayed right with the Sammies.

"We managed to match them basket for basket," said Hopedale's Brian Reickert, who poured in a team-high 16. "I knew it wasn't going to be a blowout, and I had a feeling it was going to be whichever team scored the last two would win. Unfortunately for us, it was them."

Reickert put Hopedale ahead, 50-47, with an eight-foot jumper with 1:44 to play, but Donovan came back with a pair of bank shots to put Sutton ahead, 51-50, with 42.1 econds left. After the Blue Raiders missed a shot, Sutton's Brian Houlihan sealed the victory by canning the front end of a one-and-one with 3.8 seconds to play.

For Hopedale (14-5), Bryan Tattrie scored 11 points and Jason Potty added 10.