Girls Basketball: No easy path for Tecumseh in sectional tournament

Fourth-seeded Arrows open against Miamisburg in Division I

When the postseason begins each season, coaches usually warn players against looking ahead to possible matchups and overlooking a known opponent. Tecumseh’s girls basketball team won’t have any other choice when postseason play begins in two weeks.

Though the Arrows (19-2) are the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Division I sectional tournament, they won’t have an easy path to advance to the districts.

Tecumseh will open the tournament against Miamisburg (4-16) on Feb. 18 at Troy. To win the sectional, the Arrows will then likely have to beat No. 8 Sidney (13-6) in a second-round game and either No. 4 Beavercreek (13-6) or No. 5 Centerville (13-6) in a sectional final.

RELATED: Tecumseh scores big win over Trotwood-Madison

“Honestly, we beat Miamisburg when we played them in regular season but we struggled a little, so I think our group already understands that you can’t overlook anyone,” Tecumseh coach Danielle Thomas said after Sunday’s seed meeting in Troy.

“We’re familiar with a lot of these teams,” Thomas continued. “We scrimmaged Beavercreek, we beat Sidney in regular season, and I’ve seen just about everybody in this bracket and am familiar with the kids we’re going to go up against.”

The Arrows start one senior, but the team isn’t inexperienced. Sophomore guards Corinne Thomas (the coach’s daughter) and Presley Griffitts lead the team with averages of 25.9 points and 19.8 points per game, respectively. Both players started as freshman last season when the Arrows won a sectional title before losing to Lakota West in a district final.

RELATED: High School highlights from Saturday, Feb. 4

“They go to big-time tournaments against some of the best players in the nation, to be honest. I don’t think they’ll be shell-shocked by it,” Thomas said of Griffitts and her daughter. “I think all our girls will be fine if we show up and play our hardest. If we play with attitude and effort, we should be good.”

• Kenton Ridge (13-8) is the No. 4 seed in the Tecumseh Division II sectional bracket and will face No. 11 Eaton (6-14) in the first round on Feb. 20.

The Cougars have won a sectional title each of the last seven seasons. Their path to an eighth would likely include No. 5 Benjamin Logan (13-7) in the second round and No. 1 Carroll (17-3) in a sectional final.

“We’ve beat Carroll the last two years in the sectional finals and we do have some experience, but each game will be a challenge,” Foulk said. “It takes just one time to beat them, and we’ve got a shot.”

• West Liberty-Salem (18-1), Cedarville (17-3) and Southeastern (14-6) are the only other area teams that were top five seeds in their sectionals.

Both West Liberty-Salem and Cedarville are No. 1 seeds. The Tigers are No. 1 in the Franklin-Monroe D-III sectional and will play Northeastern on Feb. 18. Cedarville is the top seed in the Monroe D-IV sectional and will play No. 2 Gamble Montessori on Feb. 18.

RELATED: Cedarville clinches share of first league title since 1978

Southeastern is No. 4 in the Brookville D-IV sectional and will play either Yellow Springs or Bradford in a second-round game on Feb. 22.

About the Author