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By Brian Plasters, Staff Writer 11:34 PM Thursday, February 11, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — A few area schools have separated themselves from the boys basketball pack as tournament time nears.

The tournament draw is Sunday, Feb. 14, which could either be a happy Valentine’s Day or just another lonely night watching tape for a few of the area coaches.

The deadline for coaches to vote is noon Saturday, so Saturday night’s games will have no bearing on the sectional voting. Every school gets a seed and the higher seeds get to choose their paths first.

Here’s a division-by-division look at what should be coming Sunday.

Division I Dayton: Springfield (12-3) will be near the top of the 22-team supersectional.

The top seed will likely go to Wayne (13-2). Trotwood-Madison (12-3) will compete with Springfield for the second seed.

It’s going to be close because both teams beat similar opponents.

Tecumseh (10-4) is more difficult to place. The Arrows beat Vandalia Butler (11-5) but lost to Northmont (9-7) and Troy (10-4). The Arrows should be somewhere in the top third of the sectional.

Division II Springfield: Graham (14-3) should earn its third top seed in as many seasons. The Falcons are 11-1 against other teams in the sectional and have clinched the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division title.

It gets tricky after that.

Shawnee (9-4) has good wins against Tippecanoe (11-4), Butler, and Urbana (10-6), but lost twice to Kenton Ridge (11-4). Kenton Ridge also beat Tipp, but lost to Urbana and Bellefontaine (9-6) twice. Tipp is the only CBC team to beat Graham.

This makes my head hurt. We’ll wait to see how that shakes down Sunday.

Division III Dayton: It looks like Middletown Madison (16-0) will get the top seed. Anna (14-2) and Miami East (11-3) have comparable records to Greeneview (12-3).

Also watch out for Hamilton Badin (9-7), which competes in the tough Greater Catholic League.

Triad (6-10) was bumped up to this sectional this season.

Division IV Troy: Jefferson (12-5) and Southeastern (14-1) are contenders for the top seed.

The Ohio Heritage Conference champion Trojans certainly have the upper hand in winning percentage. Their only loss is to Kenton Ridge.

Jefferson has strong wins against Northmont and Harvest Prep, and plays a difficult schedule with several Division I teams.

Catholic Central (8-6), Yellow Springs (11-2) and Emmanuel Christian (11-4) should all fare well at the top of the sectional.

Division IV Piqua: Mechanicsburg (8-7) won’t be near the top of this sectional. But the Indians can usually find some tournament magic: Just ask Jackson Center, the No. 2 seed the Indians beat last season.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0366 or bplasters@coxohio.com.

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