Pickerington Central among No. 1 seeds in boys district
Two area boys basketball teams advanced to the state tournament last year, and one raised the trophy every player across Ohio dreams of hoisting.
The first step to Dayton took place Sunday, when hundreds of teams participated in district tournament draws.
In the Central District, defending big-school champion Pickerington Central, Ready, Africentric and Northside Christian earned the No. 1 seeds in divisions I, II, III and IV, respectively. Central defeated Centerville 55-48 in last year's Division I final and Africentric was a Division III semifinalist, falling to Ottawa-glandorf 53-48. Postseason games begin Feb. 21. Central (15-3) is the top seed for the second consecutive season and third time since 2017.
At No. 8, Hilliard Bradley (13-5) is the next-best seed in Central's bracket. Liberty (18-2) earned the second seed, the best in the program's 20-year history. Olentangy Orange (17-2) and Westerville North (16-2) are third and fourth.
If seeds hold, potential regional semifinals would pit Central against North and Liberty against Orange.
Rounding out the top eight seeds are Dublin Jerome (15-4), Gahanna Lincoln (16-3), Pickerington North (14-4) and
Bradley.
The Division II district tournament could have two champions from the CCL, which has three teams seeded in the top five.
Ready is the top seed, Watterson is third and Hartley is fifth. Caledonia River Valley is seeded second and Bexley is fourth.
Watterson (11-8 overall, 2-4 CCL) has won eight district titles under coach Vince Lombardo, with the last coming in 2021.
Africentric's district bracket includes third-seeded Columbus Academy and sixth-seeded KIPP Columbus. Academy (15-2) is seeking its first district title since 2012.
Academy's MSL-OHIO rival, Worthington Christian (16-2), is the second seed. The Warriors advanced to the state title game in 2021, losing to Cleveland Heights Lutheran East 61-56.
Top-seeded Northside Christian (16-3) and second-seeded Patriot Prep (13-6) slotted themselves in opposite brackets that will feed to the Ohio University and Kettering Fairmont regionals.