There’s something to be said for jumping right into the fray. Just ask Peabody High girls basketball coach Jane Heil.The Tanners are regulars in the state tournament, but they usually draw a bye and end up waiting around for several days until their first-round opponent emerges. That wasn’t the case this year. Peabody hit the ground running with a 64-38 win over Billerica in a first-round game at home.””I’ve never played on a Monday night (the first day of tournament action) in 27 years. It was good to not have to sit around waiting,” Heil said.The Tanners had this one under control from the start, and, by the half, led 36-16. Heil said her team made good decisions all night and it paid off. She said her team had some excellent scoring opportunities throughout the game, but when the shot wasn’t there, her players didn’t force it.The Tanners also helped themselves out with good free-throw shooting. They hit 18 of 25, while Billerica went 3-for-15. Michelle Grifoni and Alyssa Manoogian each had 13 points. Tawny Palmieri had 11 points and Lindsey Consoles had 10 points.Peabody will play the winner of Classical at Lexington (being played Wednesday) in the quarterfinals.Winthrop 59, Triton 43In Division 3 North first-round play at Winthrop, Courtney Finn was on fire for the Vikings, scoring 32 points, including six 3-pointers. Katarina Mallios had 11 points and Nicole Giaquinto had seven.”We knew this was going to be a dogfight,” Winthrop coach Peter Grimes said. “Triton had beaten Ipswich by 10 points this year.”Grimes said his team started off a little slow, missing a couple of buckets on breakaways, but finished up strong with 28 fourth-quarter points.Triton had a lethal weapon in Nicole Wurdeman, who finished with 27 points.”She’s one of the best ‘big’ players we’ve gone up against,” Grimes said. “She’s of the same caliber as (Ipswich’s) Amber Smith.”The Vikings (17-4) will play the winner of Ipswich/Watertown on Saturday. Ipswich is the No. 4 seed and Winthrop is No. 5.Belmont 48, Gloucester 34In Division 2 North first-round action at Belmont, the Fishermen hung with the Marauders through the first half, but they couldn’t muster much offensively the rest of the way, scoring only 12 points in the final two quarters. Freshman Hannah Cain and Olivia Lufkin each had 10 points for Gloucester, which finishes 12-8 after going 4-14 last year.”We did a very good job turning it around this year,” Gloucester coach Jon Flanagan said.BOYS BASKETBALLFenwick 57, Ham-Wen 54In Division 3 North play at Hamilton-Wenham, the Crusaders pulled off a nice upset to earn a shot at the winner of Shawsheen/North Reading in the quarterfinals. Fenwick is the No. 13 seed and Hamilton-Wenham is No. 4.This one was up for grabs until the final seconds. Pat Eagan had a traditional 3-point play with 54 seconds remaining to put the Crusaders on top, 52-50. Nick Cotoia’s 3-for-4 shooting from the line and Alex Sachetti’s two clutch free throws with two seconds remaining put the game away down the stretch.Mike Clifford had 20 points and 15 rebounds for Fenwick. Eagan had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Cotoia had 11 points.L’field 63, Lowell Cath. 49In Division 3 North action at Lowell Catholic, the Pioneers (11-10) will travel to Trinity Catholic Saturday (7) after surviving their first test in the tournament. Mike Kennedy (22 points) and Matt Connolly (11 points) supplied the bulk of the offense. Lynnfield, which finished 5-15 last year, was up by 11 points at the half.The Pioneers are seeded ninth. Lowell Catholic checked in at No. 8.Lexington 78, Salem 46In Division 1 North first-round action at Lexington, the Witches saw their postseason come to an abrupt end.”They (Lexington) played extremely well. We didn’t play well,” Salem coach Tom Doyle said.Junior Lugo had 14 points for Salem (15-6) and Bryan Ortiz contributed 11.