NCAA bid on the Horizon?: Let March mania begin. The Wright State men’s basketball team opens the Horizon League tournament Friday night after a first-round bye. Third-seeded WSU (19-11) gets the winner of No. 6 Youngstown State (16-14) and No. 7 Loyola (15-15). The game will be played at Valparaiso. A win puts Wright State in the semifinal on Saturday against Detroit. The Horizon League title game — and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament — follows on Tuesday hosted by the highest remaining seed. Valpo and Detroit are the top two seeds.

Demonz can ice Dashers: The Dayton Demonz can close out their best-of-five semifinal series with the Danville Dashers with a victory Friday. Dayton won the first two games at Hara Arena, 7-5 and 5-1, to take a 2-0 series lead. Heading home isn’t necessarily good news for the Dashers. They have the Federal Hockey League’s two longest home losing streaks this season. The Demonz boast three of the FHL’s top four road winning streaks.

Play ball: The Dayton and Wright State baseball teams join forces to host the UD/WSU Tournament on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Wright State (3-5) hosts Bryant on Friday and Bradley in a doubleheader on Saturday at Nischwitz Stadium. Dayton (3-4-1) hosts Bradley on Friday and Bryant on Saturday at Woerner Field. The hosts get together Sunday at Woerner Field at 2 p.m.

High school hoops heat up: It’s the sweet 16 on the girls side this week as the four divisions enter regional tournament play with both the semifinals and championships. Still vying for a trip to state are Centerville, Fairmont and Mason in Division I, Carroll, Chaminade Julienne and Clinton-Massie in D-II, Anna, Madison and Miami East in D-III and Fort Loramie, Marion Local, Mechanicsburg and Tri-Village in D-IV. The boys battle for district championships this week with all games at the University of Dayton Arena. D-IV plays on Tuesday, D-III on Thursday, D-II on Friday and D-I on Saturday. Visit www.swdab.org or www.ohsaa.org. for brackets, times and more info.

Racing expo gears up: It’s a sure sign that spring is just around the corner. The Race Cars and Future Stars Expo revs up the Miami Valley Centre Mall in Piqua this Friday through Sunday. Sprints, late models, stocks, drag racers and quarter-midgets are among the wide variety of cars on display at the popular event now in its 10th year. Information booths featuring area tracks and racing clubs also participate, along with memorabilia dealers. Drivers are available to sign autographs through the weekend. Admission is free.