Badin seeded second in D-III Wilmington sectional

Rams coach said he voted his team No. 1 to lock up the second seed in the tournament.

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By Rick Cassano, Staff Writer Updated 9:00 AM Monday, February 8, 2010

FAIRBORN — Tom Sunderman gave his Badin High School girls basketball team a No. 1 vote in the Division III Wilmington sectional seeding Sunday, Feb. 7.

He stood alone in that regard, with unbeaten Madison topping every other coach’s ballot.

The Mohawks (18-0) and Rams (14-3) took the first and second seeds by wide margins in the tournament draw at Fairborn.

“Madison and us are interchangeable, I think, although Madison’s a little stronger right now,” Sunderman said. “I voted us No. 1 because I think our girls have earned it, but it was also security to make sure we locked up the No. 2 seed.”

Nine of the 13 teams in the sectional are .500 or better. Madison is ranked fourth in the latest Associated Press state poll and reached the regional final in 2008-09.

Mohawks coach John Rossi said he wasn’t upset by Sunderman’s decision to vote Badin No. 1.

“That was smart on his end,” Rossi said. “You’ve got to take care of yourself before you take care of somebody else. I thought maybe they’d get a few more first-place votes.”

The Rams are in the upper bracket and will play 11th-seeded Batavia (5-13) on Monday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. No. 10 Ripley (9-9) awaits the winner on Monday, Feb. 22.

If Badin wins twice, it will face either No. 4 Fenwick (8-10), No. 6 Carlisle (15-4) or No. 7 Springfield Northeastern (15-3) for a sectional title.

“(Fenwick coach Donn Burrows) had indicated he probably was going to come opposite us in the sectional,” Sunderman said. “He felt like sizewise he matched up better with us than Madison.”

Sunderman has already scouted Batavia and Ripley. He said Badin’s first-round opponent “has a couple shooters that aren’t bad. They’ve got some athletes at the guard position. Where I think they’ll struggle against us is post play.”

The Bulldogs play in the Southern Buckeye Conference. Batavia coach Beth Wolfer said her options, jumping in with Badin or going in the lower bracket with Madison, were equally disheartening.

“I don’t know if there’s a lesser of two evils because Badin has a great team,” Wolfer said. “I don’t think we’ll give them a very good game, but let’s see how we do. I coached at New Richmond one year and we played Badin, so I’ve seen their program and how they run things.”

Madison opens against No. 12 Clermont Northeastern (5-12) on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. Also in the Mohawks’ bracket are No. 3 Waynesville (13-4), No. 5 Fayetteville-Perry (14-4), No. 8 Blanchester (11-6), No. 9 East Clinton (10-7) and No. 13 Jamestown Greeneview (5-12).

• All brackets can viewed online at www.swdab.org.

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