MORE DRAW COVERAGE
» After Moeller and Princeton, D-I is wide open
1. An interesting rematch: Fairfield (7-13), the No. 18 seed, and Northwest (12-8), the No. 16 seed, will meet in a Division I opener at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, at Lakota West.
Yes, these two teams met early in the season at Northwest, with the host Knights dominating the fourth quarter en route to a 58-44 victory.
Southwest Ohio Conference champion Northwest, under the direction of former Badin coach Nick Argentati, has grown accustomed to playing Butler County teams … the Knights are 6-3 in those matchups this year.
2. Three's a crowd: Three of the top five seeds in the Division II Dayton sectional draw are in the same Trent Arena 1 bracket.
Dunbar (15-4) is No. 1 and will be a solid favorite to reach the sectional final, though the Wolverines will likely have to go through No. 9 Thurgood Marshall (8-13), which took competitive 69-64 and 69-61 losses against Dunbar this year.
The top half of the bracket is filled with winning records. No. 5 Ross (13-7) plays No. 8 Clinton-Massie (12-7) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, at Fairmont, with the winner getting No. 2 Fenwick (14-5) on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m.
Ross passed four times before going on the board at the draw.
3. Mohawks-Arrows III: If the seeds hold true, the Madison Mohawks and Preble Shawnee Arrows are headed for a third meeting in the Division III Vandalia Butler 2 sectional.
Fourth-seeded Madison (18-3) figures to beat No. 12 Stivers (9-11) and No. 13 Twin Valley South (9-11) to reach the sectional final. No. 6 Shawnee (14-5) only has to win one game to get there, and that opponent is No. 7 Dayton Christian (14-5).
The Mohawks are riding a 14-game winning streak and have knocked off the Arrows twice along the way, 41-32 on Jan. 6 and 50-45 last Friday.
MADISON VS. PREBLE SHAWNEE
4. Keep an eye on New Miami: That's right. The Vikings are 7-14, but they're the highest-seeded team in the Division IV Cincinnati 2 sectional at No. 3.
Jared Lee’s Vikings will open against either No. 6 Cincinnati College Prep Academy (8-13) or No. 9 Miami Valley Christian Academy (2-16) at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 at Taylor.
A win would send New Miami into a sectional final against either No. 5 Oyler (7-11), No. 7 Middletown Christian (4-16) or No. 8 Felicity-Franklin (2-18).
The last time the Vikings made it to the district tournament was 2002-03 under Kevin Lakes.
5. Road tripping to the Schott: The state tournament will be held March 22-24 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus. Here is the schedule by division:
Division I — Friday, March 23, semifinals (Region 4 vs. Region 1, 5:15 p.m.; Region 3 vs. Region 2, 8:30 p.m.); Saturday, March 24, championship (8:30 p.m.)
Division II — Friday, March 23, semifinals (Region 8 vs. Region 7, 10:45 a.m.; Region 6 vs. Region 5, 2 p.m.); Saturday, March 24, championship (5:15 p.m.)
Division III — Thursday, March 22, semifinals (Region 9 vs. Region 12, 5:15 p.m.; Region 11 vs. Region 10, 8:30 p.m.); Saturday, March 24, championship (2 p.m.)
Division IV — Thursday, March 22, semifinals (Region 15 vs. Region 13, 10:45 a.m.; Region 14 vs. Region 16, 2 p.m.); Saturday, March 24, championship (10:45 a.m.)
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