Coach Sidney Pell and her Peebles Lady Indians are the #2 seed in the Southeast District Division III sectional tournament brackets. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Could DIII see Peebles-North Adams, Round 4?
Defending their Division III district title, Coach Rob Davis and the North Adams Lady Devils are the #5 seed on the Division III sectional bracket. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It is said that as a person ages, the seasons of life just seam to fly by faster and faster. It also seems that the same can be said about high school basketball seasons as another one has just flown by as the regular seasons for our local squads are in their final weeks and the path through the postseason is now visible. The four high school girls squads in the county are in the final week of their regular season and as of last Sunday afternoon, now know where they will begin tournament action.
The process for filling out the brackets is significantly different this time around with the inclusion of the RPI ratings that determined seeding, a system that is confusing to many fans but is now being used to make the high school tournament process more similar to that of the NCAA. Also different is the use of more neutral sites for sectional contests, different from the past where higher seeds hosted sectional match ups. No matter what changes are now in place, the whole thing comes down to one thing, “Win and keep playing”.
On the Division III girls brackets, Coach Sidney Pell and her Peebles Lady Indians with their 18-2 record at the draw are the #2 seed, earning a first-round bye and a spot in a sectional championship game on Thursday, February 15. Peebles will face off with the winner of a February 12 battle between #23 seed Rock Hill and #26 seed Northwest. Either Rock Hill or Northwest will meet the Lady Indians on February 15 at Portsmouth High School, with that sectional crown on the line.
If the Peebles girls claim that sectional crown, they will move to the district semi-finals on February 24 at the Waverly Downtown Gym, facing the winner of #11 seeded South Point and #14 seeded Southeastern.
“I don’t know much about our possible opponents,” said Coach Pell. “Northwest will be a little easier to get tape on because of who they have played. Rock Hill has had some close game with some pretty good teams. If we get past them, we had Southeastern in the regular season so we’re good scouting that one and South Point looks pretty good on paper. We have two really rough regular season games this wee so we haven’t been looking ahead a whole lot.”
The #5 seed on the Division III bracket belongs to Coach Rob Davis and his North Adams Lady Devils, the defending district champions. The Lady Devils also earned that first-round bye that automatically places them in the sectional finals. North Adams will be in action on Saturday, February 17 at Waverly High School, facing the winner of a February 12 match up between #20 seed Piketon and #29 seed Crooksville. If the Lady Devils grab another sectional title, they will move to the district semis on February 24 at 12:45 p.m.in the Waverly Downtown Gym. facing the winner of the sectional final between #8 seed River Valley and #17 seed Chesapeake.
“We hoped to stay away from Portsmouth on the bracket and that happened,” said Coach Davis. “We scrimmaged Piketon in the preseason but I don’t really know anything about Crooksville.”
A closer look at the Division III bracket will show fans the possibility of a Peebles-North Adams match up in a district championship game on March 2. That would be the fourth meeting of the two rivals this season, with Peebles winning two of the first three, though it looks like the Lady Devils will win the big school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
Also in Division III and the #27 seed are first-year head coach Jacob Stout and the West Union Lady Dragons. The Lady Dragons will be playing what in NCAA terms is a play-in game on Monday, February 12, facing a familiar conference opponent, the Eastern Lady Warriors. The game will be played at Eastern with a 7 p.m. scheduled tip-off. The Lady Dragons and Lady Warriors met twice in the regular season, with the Lady Warriors coming out on top in both contests, If West Union wins that opener, they will advance to the sectional finals on February 15 at Piketon High School, facing the #3 seeded Portsmouth West Lady Senators.
The final Adams County girls squad can be found on the Division IV bracket. first-year head coach Jordan Johnson and the Manchester Lady Greyhounds. The Lady Hounds are the #13 seed and will be battling #4 seed Symmes Valley in a sectional final on February 17 at 4:30 p.m. at Northwest High School. If Manchester springs the upset, they will move to the district semi-finals on February 22 at Wellston High School.
“Although we are a #13 seed we do have two weeks to prepare,” said Coach Johnson. “Our primary focus for the tournemant is to be playing our best basketball. Symmes Valley is a tough match up and they’re having a great season with an impressive record. We embrace this game as the underdog and we feel that our seeding doesn’t quite reflect what we are capable of. If we play with pride and honor, we will live with the result.”
The full Division III and IV girls brackets can be found a thttps://www.ohsaa.org/Southeast-Sports-Tournaments/Basketball-Girls and the RPI rankings can be found at https://www.ohsaa.org/MaxPreps-RPI.
