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Second Season
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West Branch’s Rebekah Zets (24) looks to put up a shot over Marlington defender Katie Reed (11). The No. 2 seeded Warriors open postseason play tonight against the Hubbard Eagles during the Division II tournament at Austintown Fitch High School.
Most of the top seeds in high school girls basketball tournaments begin postseaon play this week
The first day of area girls basketball tournament play didn’t provide many surprises, but that could change this week as sectional action heats up at all the sites for area teams.
The Division II tournament, hosted by Austintown Fitch, begins tonight with No. 3 seed Struthers (18-2) taking on Salem, followed by No. 2 West Branch (18-2) playing Hubbard. The Wildcats have eliminated the Warriors in each of the last two tournaments, including year’s district championship game. They could meet again in a district semifinal.
The favorite among the coaches is unbeaten and top-seeded Ravenna, while Canfield (13-7), the No. 4 seed, begins play on Wednesday.
Also in Div. II, Lakeview garnered only a No. 5 seed at the Pymatuning Valley tournament despite a 16-4 record this season. The Bulldogs begin tonight against Painesville Harvey, with the winner facing No. 3 seed Perry on Thursday.
In Div. III, No. 1 seed Ursuline (13-7) had a first-round bye at Mineral Ridge and will play in the opening game on Thursday against LaBrae.
No. 2 seed United (17-3) will play Campbell Memorial tonight, after Brookfield (14-6) and Champion (11-9) face off in what could be one of the top first-round matchups this season.
On Jan. 9, Brookfield defeated Champion 63-46 on the Warriors’ home floor.
The Div. IV sectional-district has a new home, at South Range High School, and play continues there tonight.
Columbiana (6-14) takes on Wellsville (10-10) in the first game at 6 p.m., followed by No. 1-seeded Lowellville (18-2) against Sebring (3-17).
In the Div. I tournament, Howland (20-1) advanced on Saturday with an impressive win over Kent Roosevelt, setting up a sectional final against Warren Harding (12-8) on Thursday at Ellet High School in Akron.
The Tigers beat the Raiders 58-47 on Dec. 5.
Boardman (4-16) has the difficult task of taking on defending state champion Twinsburg in a first-round game on Wednesday, with the winner of that game drawing East on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Austintown Fitch (11-9) also took a bye, and will play the winner of Walsh Jesuit and Aurora on Saturday afternoon.
All of the sectional tournament games will be completed on Saturday, with most of the district semifinals scheduled for Thursday, March 1.
The only exception is at South Range, where the Div. IV district semifinals will be played on Wednesday, Feb. 29.
All of the district championship games are scheduled for Saturday, March 3.