High school girls basketball tournament capsules

What: D-I Elyria Catholic District sectional final When: 7 p.m., Feb. 22 Where: Strongsville High School, 20025 Lunn Road, Strongsville For the record: Some people might call it an upset, but Lorain topping Elyria in a sectional semifinal was far from it . ... The Titans have been playing some of their best basketball as of late, having lost only once in February and four times since the start of 2018. ... With that being said, Strongsville is a far cry from Elyria. The Mustangs had been on a six-game win streak before a regular season-ending loss to Elyria Catholic District No. 2 seed Olmsted Falls. It was one of four losses for Strongsville on the season. ... Lorain is going to need to play a nearly flawless game if it hopes to win. Behm’s pick: Strongsville

No. 5 Westlake at No. 4 Avon Lake

What: D-I Elyria Catholic District sectional final When: 7 p.m., Feb. 22 Where: Avon Lake High School, 175 Avon Belden Road, Avon Lake For the record: This is one of the Southwestern Conference rubber matches that the area had hoped would come about. Both teams are 14-9 overall and 10-8 in SWC play. Both teams dominated their sectional semifinal opponent. The teams split the regular season games . ... Avon Lake dominated Valley Forge, 56-14, to bring its winning streak to three games . ... Westlake topped John Marshall, 53-14, to continue its hot streak. The Demons are now winners of seven straight and nine of the last 10 . ... Avon Lake claimed the first game in the regular season, a 47-44 overtime affair on Dec. 16, with Westlake rebounding for a 46-38 win on Jan. 31. ... The Demons boast signature wins over Bay, Olmsted Falls and Avon this season, with the Shoregals picking up key wins over Rocky River and Avon (twice) . ... If the previous showdowns are any indication, this one will be a tight game that may be a bit light on the scoring. Behm’s pick: Westlake

No. 7 Amherst at No. 2 Olmsted Falls

What: D-I Elyria Catholic District sectional final When: 7 p.m., Feb. 22 Where: Olmsted Falls High School, 26838 Bagley Road, Olmsted Falls For the record: This is another Southwestern Conference rubber match that fans have been looking forward to . ... Amherst has long been the trap-game team this season, boasting signature wins over top-dog teams like Olmsted Falls, Avon Lake and Lakewood . ... The defending district champion Bulldogs would be right to have a bit of a chip on their shoulder entering their first postseason game. Outside of a four-game losing streak midway through the season against top-notch teams, all Olmsted Falls has done is win, going 16-2 over the rest of the season for a 16-6 overall record . ... Olmsted Falls ended its regular season with a win over District No. 1 seed Strongsville, 54-51, on Feb. 14. While it was too late to be counted in the seed voting, it has to be a confidence boost for the Bulldogs . ... Olmsted Falls’ signature wins this season include Westlake, Avon Lake (twice), Avon, Berea-Midpark and Strongsville . ... The teams spit their two meetings this year, with Amherst claiming a 54-32 win on Jan. 6 and Olmsted Falls topping the Comets, 60-42, on Feb. 7.

Behm’s pick: Olmsted Falls

No. 6 North Ridgeville at No. 3 Avon

What: D-I Elyria Catholic District sectional final When: 7 p.m., Feb. 22 Where: Avon High School, 37545 Detroit Road, Avon

For the record: Avon struggled to the finish line of the regular season, dropping its final three games to finish at 13-9. That is a bit deceiving, as those losses came against a strong Lakewood team, an outstanding St. Joseph squad and arguably the hottest D-I team in Northeast Ohio right now, Westlake . ... The Eagles have turned a young squad last season that made it to the district final into a front-runner to win the district this year . ... Signature wins for the Eagles this season include Bay, Olmsted Falls, Westlake and Berea-Midpark . ... On the other side, when North Ridgeville gets hot, it looks to be unbeatable. Unfortunately for Avon, the Rangers are coming off of one such performance in their 58-34 sectional semifinal win over Midview, where Leia Smith single-handedly nearly outscored the Middies, dropping 32 points . ... The emergence of Smith makes the team even more dangerous as Cianna Bright and Cleveland State commit Izzy Geraci have already been giving opponents fits all season . ... The win over Midview increased the Rangers’ record this season to 12-11 . ... Signature wins this season for North Ridgeville include Westlake, Lakewood and Avon Lake. ... Avon has claimed both meetings of the two teams this season, winning 38-26 on Nov. 29 and then 60-40 on Jan. 29.

Behm’s pick: Avon

No. 5 Rocky River at No. 4 Holy Name

What: D-II Elyria District sectional final When: 7 p.m., Feb. 22 Where: Holy Name High School, 6000 Queens Hwy., Parma Heights

For the record: Rocky River has had a season that can best be described as a mystery. At 10-13, the Pirates’ record does not exactly instill fear in their opponents. Also, considering some of their losses, it’s easy to look past Rocky River. With that being said, Rocky River actually had quite the tough schedule, facing teams like Laurel, John Hay, Lutheran West, Lorain, Westlake and Avon Lake — in other words, three teams that earned a top-4 seed in their respective districts and five within the top-5 — along with a pair of conference games against D-III North Ridgeville District No. 1 seed Elyria Catholic and D-II Elyria District No. 2 seed Bay. In other words, make no mistake that the Pirates are much better than their record indicates . ... The Pirates and Green Wave have faced twice in Great Lakes League play this season, with Holy Name claiming a 38-34 win in the first game on Dec. 13 and Rocky River winning, 45-43, in the second showdown on Jan. 31. There is absolutely no reason that this one won’t be another close one that comes down to the wire.

Behm’s pick: Rocky River

No. 7 Keystone at No. 2 Bay

What: D-II Elyria District sectional final When: 7 p.m., Feb. 22 Where: Bay High School, 29230 Wolf Road, Bay Village

For the record: After hovering around .500 the whole season, Keystone started to put it together to close out the season, winning its last three to enter this showdown at 12-9 . ... When the Wildcats win, it’s because of defense. In their last four victories, Keystone has allowed an average of 20 points per game . ... Keystone has won seven of its last 10 games. ... Bay is another team that has put it together just in time of a tournament run . ... After hovering around .500 at the start of January, the Rockets have won seven of their last eight to finish the regular season at 14-8 . ... Keystone has had a great season and a fun end to the season, but Bay has been preparing all season for this postseason run, and the Rockets are not going to hand over the game without a massive fight. Behm’s pick: Bay

No. 6 Buckeye at No. 3 Clearview

What: D-II Elyria District sectional final When: 7 p.m., Feb. 22 Where: Clearview High School, 4700 Broadway, Lorain

For the record: This Clearview squad is a dangerous one. After a 4-3 start, all the Clippers have done is dominate games to a final regular season record of 165, including three wins in a row to close out the season and eight wins in there last 10 games . ... Of those two losses in their last 10 games, one is significant, as it came at the hands of Buckeye, 56-53, in their only meeting of the season. ... It will be interesting to see what the Clippers learned from that loss in order to turn this win-or-gohome game into a victory. ... Buckeye has had a solid season, finishing second in the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division behind undefeated Wellington . ... The Bucks topped Brookside, 68-54, for the right to play in this game . ... While the loss to Buckeye in the regular season can easily be seen as a fluke, if the Clippers did not learn for the game, history may be about to repeat itself.

Behm’s pick: Clearview Behm’s record: 11-0