Five area boys teams get top seeds at sectionals

STAFF REPORT

Five area teams were voted as No. 1 seeds during the boys sectional-district basketball tournament draws on Sunday.

Warren Harding (at the Warrensville Heights site), Campbell Memorial (Salem), Newton Falls (Howland), Warren JFK (Warren Harding) and McDonald (Struthers) earned top seeds.

Eleven other teams earned top four seeds.

Again this year all teams were seeded, which determined the order in which they could go on the bracket. Only the top four seeds could pass their turn, and very few did.

Warren Harding (13-1), ranked No. 1 in last week’s Associated Press poll before losing to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, is the top seed in the Division I tournament at Warrensville Heights. The Raiders, who won that district last season, will get competition from Garfield Heights, Cleveland Heights and Cleveland St. Ignatius.

Campbell (12-3) was the No. 1 seed at the Div. III district at Salem. The other seeds were Waterloo, East Palestine and United.

Campbell lost to Ursuline in the district final last season.

Newton Falls (13-2) picked up the top seed at the Div. III district at Howland. The Tigers were followed by Maplewood, LaBrae and Pymatuning Valley.

Last season Newton Falls lost to Pymatuning Valley in the district final.

McDonald (15-0) is the top seed at Struthers’ Div. IV district. Youngstown Christian (14-3), Columbiana (11-4) and Lake Center Christian also picked up seeds.

Last year McDonald lost to Columbiana in the district championship game.

JFK (8-5) was the No. 1 seed at the Div. IV district at Warren Harding. Southington (8-8) picked up the fourth seed. Windham and Fairport Harding also earned seeds.

Windham won the district championship last year, defeating Southington in the final.

At the Div. II district hosted by Boardman, Streetsboro (14-1) picked up the No. 1 seed, followed by Poland (11-4), Lakeview (11-4) and Hubbard (11-5).

Poland won the district championship last year.

The tournament begins March 2 with first-round sectional games. The district championship games are scheduled the weekend of March 13-14 with the regional tournaments the following week and the state finals March 26-28 in Columbus.

Ursuline is the last area team to win a state championship, the Div. III title in 1994.