The road to the Division 3 North girls basketball final is full of potential potholes, but two local teams will try and navigate their way through and around the hazards beginning Monday.Swampscott and Winthrop spent the regular season battling for supremacy in the Northeastern Conference South. The Big Blue took that round with a 15-1 record (17-3 overall), but Winthrop will be vying for the bigger prize and the Vikings will do it with a scary lineup that includes 1,000-point scorer Courtney Finn, Kristen Finn, Katarina Mallios and Nicole Giaquinta..The Vikings, under coach Peter Grimes, will test the waters first with a first round game against Triton Monday at Winthrop (7). Swampscott will play the winner of Stoneham at Wilmington Thursday at Swampscott (7).If Swampscott, the No. 3 seed, can get through its first game, it could face Pentucket in a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which the Big Blue lost. Pentucket, the No. 2 seed at 18-2, is waiting on the winner of Newburyport-Presentation of Mary Academy.The Big Blue are coming off a loss to Lowell in their final regular season game. The Red Raiders, who won Division 1 in the Spartan Classic, are the No. 2 seed in Division 1 North and Swampscott led that game for three quarters.”We had a great game against Lowell,” Swampscott coach Jack Hughes said.”They could be the best team in the state.”Hughes said he’s hoping to ride some of that momentum nto the tournament.”I think Division 3 is a real tough division,” Hughes said. “You have Winthrop, Pentucket, Ipswich (Division 2 winner in the Spartan Classic), Pope John (No. 1 seed at 19-1). Wilmington had a very good year and Stoneham come from a very strong league. There are a lot of good teams.Whether it’s Stoneham or Wilmington, the team that gets the first crack at the Big Blue will have to find a way to stop Tara Nimkar (18 points per game), Allie Beaulieu (15 points per game) and Kara Gilberg (12 points per game).Peabody will try and make some noise in an always tough Division 1. the Tanners launch their 2008 tournament campaign Tuesday at home against Billerica. Coach Jane Heil has seen Billerica play and has an idea what to expect.”They have a speed edge and we probably have a height edge, but I don’t think either will be the determining factor,” Heil said.The Tanners ended their season with losses to Lowell and Reading in the Spartan Classic. Heil is hoping to right the ship against Billerica.”We’re kind of in a funk with cold shooting. We had two losses (at the end of the season). We’re just not playing up to our potential, but I think if we turn it around, we can make a run at it.Peabody is the No. 5 seed with a 15-5 record. Billerica is seeded 12th (10-10).Division 2 will feature a couple of Northeastern Conference teams. Gloucester, after winning only four games last year, qualified with a 12-7 record. The Fishermen are the No. 12 seed. Danvers, at 12-8, is the No. 13 seed.Gloucester will play Belmont Monday at 7 p.m. at Belmont and Danvers will face Lincoln-Sudbury Monday, also at 7.