The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Tournament brackets unveiled
Mentor, Gilmour, Perry, Lake, Beachwood, RH among top seeds
Seeds have been selected, brackets have been drawn and in two weeks time, the boys basketball postseason will be here.
The district sites for each bracket will be determined at a later date as the Northeast District Athletic Board will determine which locations fit geographically.
The News-Herald Coverage area is well-represented in all three Division I brackets. Mentor leads the way as it earned the No. 5 seed. The Cardinals followed No. 3 seed Nordonia and No. 4 seed Hoban into the bracket.
Mentor opens play with a home game against North on Feb. 22.
Riverside, who earned the 14 seed, elected to be in the second of three district brackets and was immediately followed by 15 seed Twinsburg. The two meet Feb. 22 with the winner advancing to play No. 11 seed Dover in a sectional final.
“We’re in that weird spot where we have that middle-of-the-pack group where we have a good pick spot to pick from but there are a lot of talented teams in this pool,” Riverside coach Matt Grendel said after his team’s win over University on Feb. 4. “It’s always a challenge when we have to seed other teams, especially with how tight the groups are this year. When we know where we are and what we have to prepare for, that is half of the battle over.”
The top half of the final Division I bracket has several teams familiar with each other. Brush earned a 12 seed and selected a first-round bye and into the sectional final. To advance, the Arcs will have to defeat either 20 seed Chardon or 21 Mayfield, both of whom present interesting challenges for the Arcs.
Whichever team walks out of that clash of former WRC foes will be rewarded with a district semifinal against St. Vincent-St. Mary.
The two brackets in the Division II East pool presented teams with some interesting draws. One of which was No. 9 seed Madison and 10 seed NDCL in a sectional semifinal on Feb. 21. The winner plays either No. 7 seed Ravenna or No. 19 seed Niles McKinley.
In the second bracket, sixth-seeded Gilmour slotted into the bottom half, along with No. 5 seed Girard. The Lancers open at home against No. 27 seed Field. Also in the bottom half of the bracket is No. 12 seed Hawken as it hosts No. 15 seed Youngstown East.
With three brackets in Division III, teams avoided Lutheran East as they looked for alternate routes to get to regionals. The Falcons selected the second bracket, which meant the other two filled up quickly.
Both second-seeded Perry and fourth-seeded Beachwood selected opposite sides of the first bracket. If the seeds play out, the two would meet in a district final. The Bison took a bye to the sectional final, where they play either Garrettsivlle or Crestwood, while the Pirates also are into the sectional final, and they welcome East Palestine on Feb. 24.
In the third bracket, third seed Lake Catholic is the top-seeded team in the bracket, and host Mineral Ridge in a sectional semifinal on Feb. 21. Also in the top half of the bracket are CVC Valley foes Berkshire and Kirtland lock up in a sectional final on Feb. 24 with the winner to districts.
The bottom half of the bracket has No. 8 seed Chagrin Falls, which is also into the sectional final where it plays host to Wickliffe on Feb. 24. The winner will most likely meet Cardinal Mooney in a district semifinal.
A similar story played out in Division IV, where Richmond Heights picked a bracket and then everyone else chose around it. The Spartans will host a sectional final against either Lake Ridge or Rittman on Feb. 24.
In the third bracket for Division IV, third-seeded Cornerstone selected the top half of the bracket, where it host Urban Scholars Academy on Feb. 21 and, if it wins, would advance to a sectional final against Bloomfield on Feb. 24.
“We’re in that weird spot where we have that middle-of-the-pack group where we have a good pick spot to pick from but there are a lot of talented teams in this pool.”
— Riverside coach Matt Grendel