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Centerville, Wilmington, Anna, Jefferson grab top seeds for boys hoops tournament
BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNEY DRAW
FULL OF SURPRISES AT WRIGHT STATE
Centerville, Wilmington, Anna and Jefferson earned No. 1 seeds at the Divisions I-II-III-IV sectional-district boys high school basketball tournament draw at Wright State University’s Ervin J. Nutter Center on Sunday, Feb. 8.
The Elks, Hurricane, Rockets and Broncos will attempt to measure up to their top billing beginning with the Feb. 23 start of the tournament season as February fever spills into March mania.
The powerful Greater Western Ohio Conference took the top four seeds in Division I with Centerville earning No. 1 with more overall points although No. 2 Trotwood-Madison generated more first place votes. Wayne is No. 3 and Fairmont No. 4.
Centerville coach Jim Staley had the future on his mind when he took his spot on Dayton’s Section 2 upper bracket. The Elks open against Stebbins on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 5:30 p.m. at UD Arena.
“It’s all about looking down the road,” Staley said. “By going there, we won’t have to play Princeton, Middletown or Moeller until the regional if we get that far.”
If Centerville and Trotwood-Madison avoid upsets, they’ll meet for a district championship on March 14 at UD Arena.
WILD DAY IN DIVISION II;
LIKE FOOTBALL, THERE
WAS LOTS OF PASSING
Joe Petrocelli is in his 45th season as Alter’s only head coach, and he hasn’t seen anything like what he witnessed on Sunday.
Bellbrook, Chaminade Julienne, Oakwood and Franklin passed a combined 18 times — including 13 straight — during the Division II boys basketball tournament draw at Wright State University’s Ervin J. Nutter Center.
“For 13 teams (in the D-II tournament at Lebanon High School), that was a lot of passing,” Petrocelli said. “I couldn’t keep up with it after a while. That was very strange, as odd as I’ve seen.”
The top four seeds — state-ranked Wilmington, Thurgood Marshall, Dunbar and Alter — quickly spread out on the board with Wilmington and Dunbar going into the lower bracket, and Marshall and Alter opting for the upper bracket.
That’s when all the passing began. Carroll finally broke the ice by going into the lower bracket and Oakwood followed suit. Franklin and CJ eventually went to the upper bracket, and Bellbrook chose the lower.
“This is one of the best sectionals, if not the best sectional, in Southwest Ohio this year,” tournament manager Joe Roberts said. “We’re looking forward to having them in Lebanon and putting on a nice show for everybody.”
Wilmington (15-1) takes on the Bellbrook-Little Miami winner; Marshall (13-3) faces the CJ-Valley View winner; Dunbar (9-5) hooks up with Monroe; and Alter (11-3) meets the Franklin-Hamilton Ross winner.
“It was an interesting draw,” CJ coach Joe Staley said. “We came into it believing we could play with any four of the top seeds. We were kind of open to who we got in with. It’s the tournament. You’ve got to beat some people.”
The Divisions I, III and IV draws weren’t as mystifying as D-II.
After D-I top seed Centerville claimed its spot in Dayton’s Section 2 upper bracket, No. 2 seed Trotwood-Madison slotted into Dayton’s Section I lower bracket.
Centerville and Trotwood-Madison are on a collision course to a district showdown.
“We wanted to play against Dayton teams,” T-M coach Mark Baker said. “We haven’t done a lot of scouting of the Cincinnati teams, so we don’t know a lot about them. We just felt our best chances are against teams from Dayton.”
The Jefferson Broncos, top seeded in Division IV, are the masked marauders.
“We’ve got two kids (Michael Butler and David Pritchett) with broken noses and both are wearing face masks,” coach Art Winston said. “I’m excited to start. It’s about keeping focus because we haven’t won our league yet. Once we finish that up, we can start preparing for the tournament.”
Anna and Miami East locked up the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in Division III.
“(The Anna Rockets) certainly earned that No. 1 ranking,” East coach Allen Mack said. “They are the team to beat — not only in the sectional, but district and regional as well. Obviously, we didn’t want to play them early.”
The 15-2 Rockets’ only losses are against New Knoxville and Sidney Lehman.
“The fans get all excited about the records,” Anna coach Matt Meyer said. “But as a coach, you’re worried about the next game. As soon as you win one, you’re worried about the next one.”
DIVISION IV COACHES IN PIQUA
FORCED TO RE-DRAW AT 7 P.M.
The 13 head coaches in the Division IV boys sectional basketball tournament at Piqua High School made a difficult discovery on Sunday.
The draw wasn’t over when they thought it was over.
Coaches from Botkins, Bradford, Covington, Fairlawn, Fort Loramie, Houston, Jackson Center, Sidney Lehman, Mechanicsburg, Riverside, Russia, Triad and Troy Christian held their draw at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Just when many of them were settling down to supper, tournament director David Palmer called them back for a re-draw at 7 p.m.
An apparent administrative snafu led to the coaches using the wrong bracket. Palmer discovered the mistake and had the coaches return to do it all over again.
Sidney Lehman, Jackson Center, Fort Loramie and Russia remained the top four seeds.
Shock waves
Fairmont coach Hank Bias was “a little surprised” the Firebirds were seeded fourth in Division I.
“But we beat West Carrollton (No. 6 seed) and Northmont, and played Wayne and Trotwood tough,” he said. “After the first three seeds, I’m not sure there’s that much difference between a lot of us. It’s just a matter of who plays well that night.”
Long layoff
Meadowdale, the No. 5 seed in D-I, plays its final regular season game on Wednesday, Feb. 11. It doesn’t play in the tournament until March 4 — a 20-day layoff.
“I hope we can find some consistency in those three weeks off,” Coach Felix Turner said. “Some nights we can beat anyone, and other nights we’re bad.”
Watch out for …
• No. 1 seed Wilmington in Division II. The Hurricane (15-1) has won five straight since suffering its only loss at Lakota West (68-64) on Jan. 20.
• No. 4 seed Alter in Division II. The Knights (11-3) are riding a nine-game winning streak.
• No. 9 seed Northridge in Division III. The Polar Bears (11-4) have won five straight.
East is a beast
The Miami East Vikings are back, thanks to head coach Allen Mack.
“We’ve had two packed houses with Arcanum and Troy, and it’s fun to be a part of that,” he said. “Our kids have worked really hard to get to this point. I also have a veteran staff and that’s been a part of being able to have some success.”
Sleepless night
The tournament never gets old for Eric Bradley, the Wilbur Wright High School legend who serves as an assistant to Stivers coach Carlos Roberts.
“I love it,” Bradley said. “I look forward to it. I couldn’t sleep last night just thinking about it, and I’m just the assistant coach.”
Did you know …
Al Wahle, the father of Carroll boys coach Dennis Wahle, played high school basketball in Cincinnati against Alter coach Joe Petrocelli.
Al played for St. Xavier, while Petrocelli played for Purcell.
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