By Ed Letsinger, www.hacksports.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
Seedings were announced last weekend for the upcoming boys’ Southwest Ohio basketball sectional tournament that begins on Feb. 11.
To no great surprise, Moeller received the No. 1 seed in Division I. The Crusaders, 17-1 and ranked No. 1 in the state by MaxPreps.com, have played arguably one of the toughest schedules in Ohio, with their only loss to date coming to St. Benedict’s of New Jersey, ranked No. 3 in the country by USA Today.
The Crusaders, unbeaten in the tough Greater Catholic League with two games to go in the regular season, are playing out of the Cintas Center Section 2 bracket. Moeller could eventually land in the Columbus regional, which has proven to be successful in the past. Twice before the Crusaders have elected to go this route and won state titles. Fellow GCL rival St. Xavier (17-1), with its only loss of the season coming to Moeller, was awarded the second seed, followed by Withrow and Princeton.
Taft (11-6) received the top seed in Division II despite its six losses. The Senators were rewarded for playing a tough schedule and the fact they are unbeaten against Cincinnati small-division schools. Wyoming earned the No. 2 seed, followed by Clermont Northeastern and Roger Bacon.
In Division III, Deer Park (14-2) was awarded its first-ever No. 1 seed. The Wildcats are having one of the best seasons in school history to date. Three-time defending state champion North College Hill is a No. 2 seed, followed by Maderia and Ripley.
Seven Hills (14-1), one of the hottest teams in the area, earned the top seed in Division IV. The Stingers are riding a 14-game winning streak after losing their season opener to North College Hill. They own key wins over highly-ranked local teams Lockland and Deer Park and defeated NCH in a rematch. Lockland (14-1) is the No.2 seed, followed by defending state champion Georgetown and Summit Country Day.
Déjà vu All Over Again
Two-time defending girls’ Division I state champion Mount Notre Dame stumbled out of the gate this season with a record of 2-2 after its first four games. The Cougars, a consensus national top 25 program in most preseason polls, lost a tight game to top-ranked Lakota West in their season opener and were soundly thumped by Kentucky powerhouse Lexington Catholic, 81-67. The Cougars then fell out of the national spotlight and question marks arose about just how good this team really was.
Don’t look now, but the Cougars (17-2) have reeled off 15 straight wins, including a big 63-59 win over Louisville Butler on Saturday night. Butler came into the game ranked No. 22 in the country by USA Today.
If this all sounds familiar to Cincinnati hoop fans, it should. Last season the Cougars were sitting at 6-4 at the halfway point of the season and most pundits had long written them off. Seventeen straight wins later, the Cougars were hoisting their second straight state title trophy in Columbus.
“A lot of people wrote us off last year when we started out 6-4,” said Mount Notre Dame head coach Dante Harlan. “We got our hearts broken a few times and found out some days you lose and some days you win; so we were on both sides of the fence.”
The Cougars have been on the winning side of the fence this season dating back to Dec. 6, when they beat Greater Catholic League rival Mercy to start the streak.
News & Notes
- Moeller wrestlers won six of 14 individual matches on Saturday against national No. 1-ranked St. Paris Graham, but the Crusaders lost the dual match by the count of 37-18. Overall it was a respectable showing for Moeller, which is ranked No. 1 in Cincinnati and No.2 in the state.
- The Woodward girls’ basketball program won its first Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference title in 14 years on Saturday night. Despite their lofty record, the Bulldogs (17-3) have flown under the radar all season and are still unranked in the local coaches’ poll entering the final week of the regular season.
- Mercy High School senior Missy Harpenau was recently awarded national Player of the Year by PrepVolleyball.com. Harpenau, a University of Cincinnati recruit, helped lead the Bobcats to the Ohio Division I state title last November and will graduate as the school’s all-time leader in kills.
Ed Letsinger is the editor of HackSports.com.
