Girls basketball: Central earns No. 2 seed in tournament

Catholic Central High School junior Serenity Castle is guarded by Cedarville sophomore Ciara Horney during their game on Wednesday night at Jason Collier Gymnasium. Michael Cooper/CONTRIBUTED

Credit: Michael Cooper

Credit: Michael Cooper

Catholic Central High School junior Serenity Castle is guarded by Cedarville sophomore Ciara Horney during their game on Wednesday night at Jason Collier Gymnasium. Michael Cooper/CONTRIBUTED

SPRINGFIELD — The Catholic Central High School girls basketball team was awarded the No. 2 seed in the Division IV Brookville sectional, the highest seed the Irish have received in over 20 years.

“It was one of our main goals this year to put us in a position to get a good seed and put us in a favorable position in the tournament,” said Irish coach Brandon Peterson. “It was big for us.”

The Irish (13-5) will play Ohio Heritage Conference South Division rival and 10th-seeded Southeastern (2-9) for a third time at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 at Brookville High School. The winner will play sixth-seeded Troy Christian at 5 p.m. on Feb. 16.

Tri-Village earned the No. 1 seed in the draw and opted for the bottom bracket. No. 3 seed Bradford and fourth-seeded Covington followed the Irish to the upper bracket.

The Irish fell to Bradford in a district semifinal game in 2019.

“We’re trying to finish the regular season strong and get prepared for the tournament,” Peterson said. “It’s one of the reasons we scheduled teams like Lebanon and Minster. We feel like it’s those teams who will really prepare us for (the postseason).”

Catholic Central is seeking its first district berth since 1998.

“It’s the only picture that’s on the wall (at the school),” Peterson said.

The Southwest District tournament draw for all four divisions was held last weekend. All brackets can be viewed at OHSAA.org/swdab.

Here’s a look at the other sectional tournament draws across the area for the other three divisions:

Division I

Tecumseh (15-4) was awarded the fifth seed in the D-I, Dayton 3 district at Vandalia Butler High School. They’ll play No. 9 Xenia at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 13. The winner will play No. 11 seed Franklin at 8 p.m. Feb. 16.

If the seeds play out, the Arrows face a rematch with No. 2 seed Centerville in a district semifinal game at 7 p.m. Feb. 22.

No. 18 Springfield (1-9) will play top-seeded Wayne at 11 a.m. Feb. 13 at Troy High School in the D-I, Dayton 1 district.

Division II

Urbana (10-8) earned the No. 5 seed in the D-II sectional at Tecumseh High School. They’ll play Greenville in the lower bracket first round at 4 p.m. Feb. 13. No. 13 Shawnee (0-11) will face No. 3 seed Trotwood-Madison at noon on Feb. 13. The winner of those games will play in a district quarterfinal game at 8 p.m. on Feb. 18.

No. 7 Graham (8-11) will play the winner of No. 4 Eaton and No. 11 Bellefontaine at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 18.

In the upper bracket, Kenton Ridge (7-8) earned the No. 6 seed. They’ll play Stivers at 8 p.m. Feb. 11. The winner will play top-seeded Tippecanoe at 8 p.m. Feb. 16.

Eighth-seeded Northwestern (5-8) will play the winner of No. 2 Carroll and No. 12 Benjamin Logan at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 16.

The lower bracket district semifinal is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., followed by the upper bracket district semifinal game at 8 p.m.

Division III

Undefeated West Liberty-Salem (17-0) was selected the No. 1 seed in the D-III sectional at Covington High School. The Tigers will face Meadowdale at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at Covington High School. With a win, WLS will play No. 19 Northeastern (1-13) at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 18.

Greenon (5-11) earned the No. 15 seed and will play eighth-seeded Waynesville at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 13.

Greeneview (4-12) was selected the No. 16 seed and will face No. 3 Anna at noon on Feb. 13.

Division VI

In the D-IV sectional at Sidney, Mechanicsburg (13-4) earned the No. 3 seed. They’ll face second-seeded Botkins in its opening game at 8 p.m. on Feb. 11 at Sidney High School. The second through sixth seeds all entered the upper bracket once top-seeded Fort Loramie chose the lower bracket.

No. 8 seed Triad (5-12) will play seventh-seeded Fairlawn at noon on Feb. 13.

In the D-IV Monroe sectional, Cedarville (9-6) earned the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye. They’ll play the winner of No. 7 Cincinnati College Prep and No. 8 Miami Valley Christian at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 16.

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