Warren Harding among top seeds in boys hoops tournaments

Staff report

Warren Harding returns to district tournament action in Stark County for the first time in five years, hoping its streak of success continues.

The Raiders, who put finished 17-3 and in second place in the Lake Erie League, are the No. 1 seed for the new Division I boys basketball district at Alliance High School.

Warren Harding last played a tournament game in Stark County in 2007, when the Raiders lost to Canton GlenOak in a district semifinal at the Canton Civic Center.

This season, the Raiders are the No. 1 seed at Alliance, which also features East, Canfield, Boardman, Austintown Fitch and Howland, as well as Louisville, Kent Roosevelt, GlenOak, North Canton Hoover, Lake and Green.

Warren Harding, which was the last area team to play in the state final four — in 2009 — has played in the last four district championships. Two were at Warrensville Heights and two at Solon. Last year, the Raiders lost to Garfield Heights in the district championship contest.

All of the Valley’s boys basketball teams begin postseason play this week, although East District members East Liverpool and Beaver Local have already tipped off tournament action.

Struthers (16-4) is the defending champion at the Division II district at Boardman, and will open defense of its title on Wednesday against the winner of a first-round matchup between Cardinal Mooney and Hubbard.

Poland (15-5) is the No. 2 seed and coming off a one-point win at Struthers on Feb. 17. The Wildcats won by 15 points at Poland in December.

Springfield (18-2) is the No. 1 seed at Salem and also opens against an opponent to be determined on Wednesday. South Range (16-4), which split two close games with the Tigers, is the No. 2 seed, and they could have a third meeting in the district semifinals.

Unbeaten LaBrae (20-0) and Newton Falls (17-3) are top two seeds at Howland’s Div. III sectional-district.

In Div. IV, Youngstown Christian (11-7) is the No. 2 seed at Struthers, behind Mogadore, while Maplewood is No. 3 and McDonald is No. 4 at the Harding Div. IV tournament.