By Ed Letsinger, Hacksports.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
The girls’ basketball tournament is almost through sectional play, with a couple of championship games scheduled for Monday night.
To date, the higher-seeded teams in all four divisions have continued to cruise through their respective brackets without any major surprises.
Top-seeded Lakota West defeated Turpin, 78-56, to win the Harrison Division I sectional while No. 2 Mount Notre Dame handled Kings, 58-42, for the Lakota East sectional title.
The Firebirds (22-1) and two-time defending state champion Cougars (21-2), ranked 1-2 in the state, continue on a path toward what many feel could be a rematch in the state title game. Lakota West defeated Mount Notre Dame in the season opener and it’s almost ironic to think that the two could meet again in the final game. Talk about a pair of bookend games.
Walnut Hills won its first girls’ basketball sectional title in school history last week with a 55-33 win over St. Ursula as the Eagles (21-2) continue their best season on record. Their reward, however, is a date with Mount Notre Dame in a district final on Saturday.
The Greater Miami Conference flexed its muscles last Saturday, when four teams from the league met for sectional titles. Third-seeded Oak Hills defeated No. 6 Princeton, while No. 11 Mason upset No. 6 Colerain. Speaking of Mason, if you had to place a crown on “Cinderella’s” head at this point of the tournament, it would have to be the 11th-seeded Comets (14-8), who beat No. 7 seed Mercy prior to upsetting Colerain.
Has anyone been more impressive than Division II powerhouse and top-seeded Kettering Alter? The Knights crushed Franklin, 75-26, in the opening round, and then won with scores of 86-15 and 62-17 over Stivers and Talawanda, respectively. If you’re keeping score at home, that means their closest win to date has been by 49 points. If anyone could make a case, it would be No. 1 seed Seven Hills in Division IV. The Stingers have beaten St. Bernard, 57-16, Williamsburg, 78-39, and Cincinnati Christian, 63-30, en route to their section crown.
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (22-0) kept its perfect season alive with a 48-46 win over previously unbeaten Middletown Madison (21-1) in a marquee Division III match-up last week. The Eagles continue to impress despite losing leading scorer Kaci Kust to a knee injury last month and will play Miami East for the district title on Feb. 23.
Boys’ Sectional Tournament Highlights
Top-seeded and No.1-ranked Moeller (19-1) gets its postseason underway tonight in the University of Cincinnati Division I sectional against No. 27 Walnut Hills in a game the Crusaders should win easily.
Moeller is still without leading scorer Quinn McDowell, who is nursing an injury, but the Crusaders have managed to win their last eight games without his services. Second-seeded St. Xavier opens against Kings on Friday in a Cintas Center Section I contest. Third-seeded Withrow cruised to an 89-35 win over Mount Healthy in its opener on Friday at University of Cincinnati.
No. 17 Woodward upset No. 9 Milford, 56-44, in an opening round game at the University of Cincinnati, setting up a potentially entertaining second round game match-up against No. 12 Winton Woods. The Warriors (15-5) are one of the hottest teams entering the tournament, with nine straight wins and are an underrated team at the No. 12 seed. The winner will face No. 5 Elder in a bracket that is proving to be highly competitive.
Three-time defending state champion North College Hill begins its quest for a state-record fourth straight state title tonight against Reading in a Division III sectional contest at Sycamore High School. The Trojans (13-7) stumbled down the stretch, losing three of their final seven games, but they are in a similar situation to last season, when they got hot at the right time and made their run through the playoffs.
Seven Hills (19-1) puts an area-best 19-game winning on the line Wednesday night against New Miami in a Division IV contest at Loveland High School.
News & Notes
Princeton needed to make up a regular-season game after an earlier contest against Columbus Eastmoor was snowed out, so the Vikings traveled to Louisville Saturday to play St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.) as part of the Neutral Zone Hoops Showcase. The Vikings (15-5), ranked fourth in the local coaches’ poll, more than held their own in a 56-48 loss to the Gray Bees, ranked No 3 in the country by USA Today. To put the game in perspective, St. Benedict’s defeated Moeller, ranked No. 1 in Ohio Division I, 56-45, back on Dec. 29. It was the Crusaders (19-1) only regular season loss.
St. Xavier continued its quest for a 10th straight Ohio Division I swimming title by cruising to a 425-251 win over Mason in the Southwest District championships over the weekend. The Bombers swept three relay events and Alex Smit (100 butterfly), Steven Springer (50 freestyle) and Jim Barbiere (100 backstroke) won individual titles.
Ed Letsinger is the editor of Hacksports.com.
