Pickerington Central, Worthington Christian earn No. 1 seeds in girls basketball tourney

Frank DiRenna and Dave Purpura, The Columbus Dispatch
·5 min read

Although the girls basketball tournament draw was held Sunday, the postseason doesn't get underway until Feb. 13.

That gives teams a couple weeks of regular-season play and practices to make adjustments and fine-tune their game plans. For some squads, they'll have the added incentive of trying to win a league championship.

The only defending state champion in central Ohio is Reynoldsburg, which defeated Mason 63-56 in overtime in the Division I final. Worthington Christian was the Division III runner-up, losing to Cincinnati Purcell Marian 62-38 in the title game.

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Pickerington Central's Olivia Cooper, left, and Africentric's Samairah Thompson battle for the ball during their game Saturday at Africentric. Central won 58-48.
Pickerington Central's Olivia Cooper, left, and Africentric's Samairah Thompson battle for the ball during their game Saturday at Africentric. Central won 58-48.

Pickerington Central, Marysville lead pack in Division I

With Central preparing to pursue an eighth consecutive district title, coach Chris Wallace doesn't plan to let the players on his top-seeded team get overconfident.

The Tigers are 15-4, with all of their losses coming against out-of-state programs.

“You have to stay hungry,” Wallace said. “Being the (No.) 1 seed, everyone is coming after you, you’re being hunted. Staying hungry is something we try to challenge by having really good practice sessions. I try to make practice as hard as games (in terms of) adversity. We condition (and work on) mental stuff. We lift (weights). We work out. We do meditation.”

The Tigers open Feb. 15 at home against 44th-seeded Licking Heights. On the horizon could be a matchup with 11th-seeded Hilliard Darby or 15th-seeded Newark in a district final Feb. 25 at Ohio Dominican.

Central's top scorers are Madison Greene (15 points per game), Berry Wallace (14) and Olivia Cooper (10).

Second-seeded Marysville (18-1) opens at home against 40th-seeded Dublin Scioto on Feb. 15. Marysville is seeking its first district title after losing in finals the past two seasons to Central (2022) and Dublin Coffman (2021).

“I’m pleased with the draw,” Marysville coach Klarke Ransome said. “I like where we’re at. ... We’re playing pretty good basketball, but there’s still areas that we can continue to improve on.”

Marysville has received a balanced effort on offense, led by 10.5 points per game from Ava Wilkerson and 10.2 from Jojo Eberhart.

Olentangy Liberty, Coffman, Westerville South, Reynoldsburg, Grove City, Gahanna Lincoln, Upper Arlington and DeSales round out the top 10 seeds.

Marysville could end up facing Gahanna in a district semifinal Feb. 22, with the winner potentially meeting Reynoldsburg for a berth to the regional tournament at South.

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Granville's Ava Gossman goes up for a layup against Heath's Taliyah Holmes during a game in December. Granville earned the No. 1 seed for the Division II district tournament and could meet Heath again in a district semifinal.
Granville's Ava Gossman goes up for a layup against Heath's Taliyah Holmes during a game in December. Granville earned the No. 1 seed for the Division II district tournament and could meet Heath again in a district semifinal.

Granville, North Union, Bexley lead central Ohio in Division II

Seeking its third consecutive district championship, Granville earned the top seed for the second year in a row.

The Blue Aces (17-1) face a potential district semifinal matchup with longtime rival and ninth-seeded Heath, which would have to get past eighth-seeded Buckeye Valley in the second round. Granville defeated Heath 61-42 on Dec. 13.

Fourth-seeded Caledonia River Valley and sixth-seeded Hartley are among the Blue Aces’ potential district final opponents. That winner would advance to the Zanesville regional.

Second-seeded North Union (15-2), third-seeded Bexley (16-3) and fifth-seeded Bloom-Carroll (13-7) highlight the other bracket, which feeds into the Springfield regional. North Union, which came up to Division II this season, is enjoying its best season since 2014-15, when it went 26-2, won its most recent district title and lost in a Division III regional final.

Bexley and Bloom-Carroll could meet in a district semifinal, and that winner would see North Union if seeds hold.

First-round games are Feb. 15. The second round is Feb. 18, followed by district semifinals Feb. 22 and the two district finals Feb. 25 at Capital.

Africentric’s Rayanna Howell drives on Pickerington Central’s Rylee Bess during their game Saturday. Africentric earned the No. 2 seed in the Division III district tournament.
Africentric’s Rayanna Howell drives on Pickerington Central’s Rylee Bess during their game Saturday. Africentric earned the No. 2 seed in the Division III district tournament.

Worthington Christian, Africentric receive top seeds in Division III

Ranked first in both of the first two state polls, Worthington Christian was voted the top seed by 22 of the other 25 teams as it tries to reach its second consecutive state tournament.

The Warriors (18-1) are in a bracket that includes five of the top seeds and feeds into the Elida regional. Fifth-seeded Mechanicsburg (15-3), sixth-seeded Harvest Prep (14-4), seventh-seeded Amanda-Clearcreek (11-9) and eighth-seeded Cardington (10-6) are potential foes for Worthington Christian in the district final if seeds hold.

Second-seeded Africentric (15-4), third-seeded Fairbanks (18-3) and fourth-seeded Marion Pleasant (16-4) highlight the other bracket, whose champion advances to the Springfield regional. Africentric would not see Fairbanks or Pleasant until a district final.

Worthington Christian defeated Africentric in a district final last year, snapping the Nubians’ six-year title run.

The first round is Feb. 14, followed by second-round games Feb. 17, semifinals Feb. 20 and both district finals Feb. 23 at Big Walnut.

Baylee Mirgon averages 16.2 points for Berne Union, which earned the No. 1 seed in the Division IV district tournament.
Baylee Mirgon averages 16.2 points for Berne Union, which earned the No. 1 seed in the Division IV district tournament.

Berne Union earns No. 1 seed in Division IV

Berne Union plays in the area's first postseason game, hosting 17th-seeded Northside Christian on Feb. 13.

The winner faces 12th-seeded Millersport on Feb. 15, which is the day the other central Ohio teams in Division IV begin the postseason.

All of the Division IV teams are in one bracket. Division I is divided into four brackets, and both divisions II and III are split into two brackets.

“We felt pretty confident going in that we would be the No. 1 seed,” said Berne Union coach Matt Little, whose team is 19-0. “We’re just trying to get better every day. We won’t look too far ahead. We’ll show the kids the bracket, we’ll talk about it, but we just have to take care of business.”

Berne Union has clinched its fourth consecutive MSL-Cardinal Division title and is seeking its fourth consecutive district championship. The Rockets are led by Sophia Kline (21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds) and Baylee Mirgon (16.2 points).

“We are built on defense and our kids buy into their roles,” Little said. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who our scorers are, but our kids really buy into what’s expected of them.”

Newark Catholic is seeded second, with Fisher Catholic, Mount Gilead and Madison Christian rounding out the top five.

The district final is Feb. 24 at Ohio Dominican.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Postseason pairings set for Ohio high school girls basketball