West Clermont, Purcell Marian earn top seeds in OHSAA girls basketball sectional draw
On Sunday, the Ohio High School Athletic Association had the draw for its girls basketball tournament, which starts Feb. 6 with sectionals and culminates March 9-11 at the University of Dayton Arena.
Top seeds in Southwest Ohio by division are: West Clermont in Division I, Purcell Marian in Division II, and East Clinton in Division III. The Division IV brackets have not been released as of 5 p.m. Sunday.
Cincinnati has four of the top six teams in Division I in the latest Associated Press media poll. Mason is first, West Clermont second, Lakota East third and Princeton fourth. All four are in different sectionals and can all advance to the district finals.
Purcell Marian, the 2022 Division III state champion, moved up to Division II this season and is ranked fifth by the AP. Badin is ninth.
Here are the possible paths for the area's best teams to advance from the sectionals to the district tournament:
Division I
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Lakota East Sectional 1
West Clermont, a perfect 20-0, has to get past 30th seed Little Miami (2-17) Feb. 8 and 32nd seed Hamilton (1-18) Feb. 14 to get to the sectional final. Seventh-seeded Kings (14-5) is favored on the other side of the bracket. West Clermont beat ECC foe Kings twice this year by 14 points and four points. The sectional final is Feb. 20 with the winner going to the district game at Princeton Feb. 25.
Lakota East Sectional 2
The host Thunderhawks, 18-1 and leaders of the Greater Miami Conference, got a bye and play Feb. 15 against 18th seed Mt. Healthy (13-7) or 21st seed Edgewood (9-10). Harrison, the No. 11 seed, leads the other half of the draw and plays 14th-seed Western Brown Feb. 9. No. 12 seed Lebanon (13-7) plays No. 17 Fairfield (9-11). The sectional final is Feb. 20 with the winner advancing to a district game at Princeton Feb. 25.
Lakota East Sectional 3
Mount Notre Dame, the Girls Greater Catholic League leaders and 15-4 overall, lead this bracket as the five seed. MND plays No. 26 Colerain (5-14) Feb. 11. On the other side of the draw, No. 6 Talawanda, undefeated at 17-0 and leading the Southwest Ohio Conference, plays Turpin (5-14) Feb. 11 and then would face No. 9 Lakota West (12-8) or No. 13 Milford (12-8) Feb. 16. The sectional final is Feb. 21 with the winner advancing to a district game Feb. 25 at Princeton.
Harrison Sectional 1
No. 4 seed Princeton (17-2) leads this bracket, beginning play Feb. 7 against Ursuline (4-15). No. 10 Walnut Hills leads the other side of the draw and is 13-7. The Eagles play Sycamore (7-13) Feb. 7. The sectional final is Feb. 21 with the winner advancing to a district game at Princeton Feb. 25.
Harrison Sectional 2
Mason (18-1) is the No. 3 seed and plays Anderson (1-19) Feb. 8. Loveland, 14-6 and third place in the ECC, is the No. 8 seed and favored to advance to the final on the other side. The sectional final is Sept. 21 with the winner advancing to a district game at Princeton Feb. 25.
Division II
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Middletown Sectional 1
Badin is the No. 2 seed in the bracket. The Rams (17-2) begin play Feb. 8 and are likely to reach the final, which is Feb. 14. No. 7 Taylor (14-5) plays No. 11 Wilmington (8-11) Feb. 8 with the winner playing No. 8 Indian Hill (12-5). Taylor leads the Cincinnati Hills League at 11-1 and beat Indian Hill twice this year by four and 13 points. The sectional winner goes to the district round Feb. 24 at Mason Middle School.
Loveland Sectional 1
This bracket has No. 3 seed Summit Country Day (14-5), No. 4 seed Goshen (15-6) and No. 5 McNicholas (12-8) battling it out. Summit plays CHCA (5-13) and Goshen faces Hughes (9-10) on Feb. 7. Goshen could play McNick in the semis Feb. 15. The final is Feb. 20, with the winner going to the district round Feb. 24 at Mason Middle School.
Loveland Sectional 2
Purcell Marian is the top seed in the draw, with No. 6 Batavia (11-8) the top seed on the other side of the draw. Purcell plays Wyoming (3-15) Feb. 8. The semis are Feb. 16 and the final Feb. 20, with the winner going to the district final Feb. 24.
Division III
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Wilmington Sectional 1
East Clinton, 16-2 and leaders of the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division, is the only team over .500 in their bracket. No. 10 Norwood (10-11) leads the other side of the draw. The sectional begins Feb. 11 and the final is Feb. 18, with the winner going to the district round Feb. 25 at Springfield High School.
Fairfield Sectional 1
No. 2 Cincinnati Country Day (15-3) is favored to play in the final, starting with Finneytown Feb. 8. The other side has three top teams, as No. 7 seed Seven Hills (12-3) faces No. 8 seed Deer Park (13-7) Feb. 8, with the winner facing No. 9 seed Clermont Northeastern in the semis Feb. 11. The final is Feb. 16, with the winner going to the district round Feb. 25 at Springfield High School.
Fairfield Sectional 2
Madeira, the No. 3 seed and 16-3 overall, is favored to reach the final, starting with Williamsburg (7-11) Feb. 9. The other side is loaded, with No. 4 seed Clark (16-1) facing No. 6 Madison Feb. 9, with the winner facing No. 5 Mariemont (14-6) in the semis Feb. 13. The final is Feb. 16, with the winner going to the district final Feb. 25 at Springfield.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati teams in 2023 OHSAA girls basketball sectional draws
