Girls basketball tournament brackets set
The Ohio High School Athletic Association held its draw on Jan. 29 for the upcoming postseason tournament.
Here’s where area teams landed:
West Holmes is the top seed in the Div. II East District and will host No. 17 Cambridge. In the Knights’ half of the bracket is No. 3 Indian Creek while No. 2 John Glenn is in the other half.
After its Feb. 15 game, West Holmes would face the winner of No. 10 Morgan and No. 11 Dover on Feb. 18. Carrollton is the fourth seed while Steubenville is fifth and New Philadelphia sixth. District semifinals are Feb. 22 and the final Feb. 25.
Hiland is in the Div. IV East District, where it was seeded second. The Hawks will host No. 14 Toronto on Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. and would play the winner of No. 8 Malvern and No. 11 Steubenville Catholic Central on Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. No. 4 Strasburg is the highest seed in Hiland’s bracket for the Feb. 22 district semis. Top-seeded Hannibal River is in the other half of the bracket, with the district final on Feb. 25 at 1 p.m.
Garaway is seeded seventh in the Div. IV East District and will host No. 12 Caldwell on Feb. 16. A win there would advance the Lady Pirates to a Feb. 18 game against the winner of No. 16 Conotton Valley against the winner of No. 1 River-No. 17 Bridgeport.
In Div. I, Wooster, seeded 17th, will open on the road at No. 14 North Ridgeville on Feb. 16. Should the Generals win, a game at No. 2 Magnificat looms on Feb. 21 at Medina in a district semi — Magnificat faces the winner of No. 22 Lorain and No. 26 Firestone in its opener. The district final is Feb. 24.
The only other single-digit seeds in Wooster’s bracket are No. 8 Rocky River and No. 9 Wadsworth.
The Div. III Northeast District has a large local contingent including the top three seeds: No. 1 Smithville, No. 2 Waynedale and No. 3 Chippewa. The field also includes No. 7 Loudonville, No. 8 Norwayne, No. 10 Triway, No. 15 Orrville, No. 17 Tuslaw, No. 19 Northwestern and No. 22 Hillsdale.
In the Northeast 3 bracket, the Golden Bears will host Northwestern in the first round on Feb. 15, the winner advancing to meet No. 21 Mapleton on Feb. 18, while Norwayne will host No. 14 Black River on Feb. 15, the winner going to No. 6 Columbia on Feb. 18. Chippewa is in the bracket’s other half against No. 23 Manchester on Feb. 15 and with a win would host No. 18 Garfield Heights Trinity. District semifinals are Feb. 22 and the final Feb. 25, all at North Ridgeville Academic Center.
In the Northeast 4 bracket, Smithville will face No. 20 Wellington on Feb. 15, the winner advancing to play No. 16 Fairless on Feb. 18. Loudonville will take on No. 12 Canton South on Feb. 18, setting up a potential district semi against Smithville on Feb. 22. Triway and Tuslaw will meet for the third time in the other half of the bracket on Feb. 15, with the winner going to No. 9 Cuyahoga Heights on Feb. 18. Hillsdale will go to No. 4 Warrensville Heights on Feb. 15, with Orrville awaiting the winner on Feb. 18. District semifinals on Feb. 22 and the final on Feb. 25 are at Wooster High.
In Div. IV the Northeast District includes No. 3 Dalton, No. 8 Rittman and No. 9 Central Christian. Dalton will open tourney play by hosting 11th-seeded Oberlin on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m., with the winner meeting No. 10 Open Door. A win there would send the Bulldogs into the Feb. 22 district semis at Norwayne, where they would meet the winner of No. 7 East Canton and the No. 2 Waterloo-No. 4 Canton Central Catholic winner.
In the other half of the bracket, Central Christian will take on the winner of Lake Ridge Academy and Mogadore on Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. — at home if Lake Ridge wins, on the road if No. 5 Mogadore prevails — while Rittman will be at St. Thomas Aquinas on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m., with a Feb. 18 trip to No. 1 Richmond Heights to the winner.