Sunday, February 15, 2015
Division I, Region I Canton
North Canton District: No. 14 Boardman, No. 17 Warren Harding.
Akron District: No. 4 Canfield, No. 9 Howland, No. 13 Austintown Fitch, No. 24 East.
Favorite: Canfield
No surprise here. The Cardinals didn’t lose much steam coming off last year’s district final appearance, despite losing long-time head coach Pat Pavlansky.
They returned six players with varsity experience, including leading scorers Erin Risner (13.6) and Rachel Tinkey (13.4). Their leadership has helped ease the transitions for first-year coach Matt Reel.
“It was good for them because they knew what to expect from me,” said Reel, whose Cardinals are 17-3.
“We have really good leadership and really good kids. They’ve bought in to some things that we’re doing differently and I think that’s really helped.
Canfield was ousted by last year’s top-seed, and state runner-up, North Canton Hoover. The Vikings are seeded eighth this time around, setting up a second round match-up with the revenge-minded Cardinals.
“We looked at our tournament draw and saw, more than likely, we’re going to have to play Hoover,” Reel said. “Our girls think they have a year more experience and we’re excited to see where we stack up.”
Sleeper: Austintown Fitch
The Falcons lost five seniors from last year’s team that went 21-2 and unbeaten in the league. The biggest loss was Megan Sefcick, who did everything for the Falcons averaging 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Aaliyah Sadler is the only senior this season for head coach Stacie Cepin. However they have been playing better of late, winning their last six games to close out the regular season.
Fitch lost twice in the regular season to Howland. Should the Tigers win their opener, they would host the Falcons. They always say it’s difficult to beat the same team three times in one season.
Division II, Region 5 Barberton
Austintown District: No. 1 West Branch, No. 2 Lakeview, No. 5 Poland, No. 7 Struthers, No. 9 Salem, No. 11 Hubbard, No. 12 Niles.
Orwell District: No. 6 Jefferson.
Favorite: West Branch
Melinda Trimmer and Pavin Heath.
The two leaders for the Warriors return after earning first-team all-Northeastern Buckeye Conference honors last season.
After getting ousted by the St. Vincent-St. Mary in last year’s regional final, West Branch put together a 21-1 season and a perfect 14 record in the conference. The lone loss: a January loss to the Irish.
“There’s a lot of good teams that get us well prepared for the tournament,” said Warriors head coach Walt DeShields. “Sometimes when you lose a game during the season, you look back and notice it’s the little things that make the difference.”
Expectations will once again be high as West Branch attempts to return to the regional championship. It helps they’ll be starting at home, where the senior class is 42-1 in their career.
Sleeper: Lakeview
The graduation of Lakeview’s all-time leading scorer Alli Pavlik (1,568) didn’t do much to derail the Bulldogs continued success in the All American Conference.
They won their fourth consecutive league title this year behind a more balanced scoring attack. Addie Becker (15.5), Annie Pavlansky (13.4), Jensen Silbaugh (11.6) and Abby Pavlik (10.5) all average in double figures for the Bulldogs, who escaped league play without a loss.
The only reason Lakeview (19-2) isn’t the favorite is because West Branch is also in the bracket. That said, the Bulldogs are set up for a bright future.
Division III, Region 9 Cuyahoga Falls
Ravenna District: No. 1 Newton Falls, No. 7 Champion.
Struthers District: No. 1 Brookfield, No. 2 South Range, No. 3 Girard, No. 4 Springfield, No. 5 Mineral Ridge, No. 6 Ursuline, No. 7 Cardinal Mooney, No. 8 United, No. 9 East Palestine, No. 10 Liberty, No. 11 Campbell Memorial.
Favorite: Newton Falls
This may come as a surprise to some, but Newton Falls has been the most consistent area team in Division II this year.
The Tigers began the season 6-0 and haven’t slowed down winning more than 80 percent of their games (15-3) and remaining unbeaten in conference play.
Gabby Kline leads the area in scoring at 19 points per game and is second in rebounding at 10.1 per game. She’s the motor behind a very young team — just four upperclassmen — and has the Tigers playing good enough basketball to be the favorites in Division II.
Sleeper: South Range
Tony Matisi has a lot to be proud of with this year’s Raiders team, but perhaps their strongest moment was in the first half of a game last week.
South Range went toe-to-toe with West Branch, before succumbing to the Warriors in the second half. But that was a performance against a higher-level opponent that bodes well for the Raiders in the postseason.
Division IV, Region 13 Massillon
Mineral Ridge District: No. 1 Western Reserve, No. 2 Columbiana, No. 3 Jackson-Milton, No. 4 Lisbon, No. 5 Youngstown Christian, No. 6 Lordstown, No. 7 Crestview, No. 8 McDonald, No. 9 Wellsville, No. 10 Lowellville, No. 11 Leetonia, No. 12 Sebring, No. 13 Southern, No. 14 Heartland Christian.
Orwell District: No. 2 Maplewood, No. 3 Badger, No. 4 Mathews, No. 5 Bristol, No. 6 Warren JFK, No. 7 Southington.
Favorite: Western Reserve
There’s really more than one favorite in the Mineral Ridge district, but the Blue Devils are the defending champions for a reason.
Western Reserve and Columbiana appear to be on a collision course to meet in the district final, but neither have a walk in the park to get there, according to Blue Devils coach Steve Miller.
“I know we got a tough road,” he said. “We’ll have our hands full with Crestview, who can really shoot the ball. We’re going to have to play defense and rebound.”
The top-seeded Blue Devils have a slight advantage if for no other reason than they have Aleah Hughes. The 5-foot-9 senior poses match-up problems for most teams she faces, including the Clippers. Rachel Maslach and Sydney Miller are also tall bodies who are difficult to guard.
“The matchup everybody wants, and I’ll be more than happy to have, is a rematch from last year with Columbiana,” Miller said, whose Blue Devils are on a 10-game win streak.
“They attack the basket very well and that poses problems for defenses. We work on taking charges and you’re going to have to do that in order to win.
“On the other end, I think they’d tell you we’re big and our height makes things difficult for them. We’re contrasting styles, that’s for sure.”
Sleeper: Columbiana
Ron Moschella always sets the bar high for his teams and this year’s Clippers are no different.
Point guard Baylie Mook sets the pace for this Clippers team and they tend to go as she goes. Should they get through any obstacles on the way to the district final, forwards Emily Whitmer (5-8) and Lauren Schlueter (5-8) are going to have to counter Western Reserve’s height.
Will it be enough? Only time will tell.
— Kevin Connelly, The Vindicator