Coach Austin Kingsolver will take his Manchester Greyhounds in Division VII district tournament play as a #6 seed with a home match up against South Gallia on February 20. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
North Adams earns #2 seed in Division VI
First-year head coach Adam Barr and his West Union Dragons will open Division V district tournament action on February 17 with a home quarterfinal contest with Wellston. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The Ohio High School Athletic Association made major changes in the divisional breakdown for a number of sports for the 2024-25 school year and the changes to the basketball divisions are about to go into effect. With girls postseason play beginning this week, it was time for the Southeast District to announce the boys district basketball tournament pairings, which they did last Sunday afternoon. The four boys squads from Adams County are scattered between three divisions, West Union in Division V, North Adams and Peebles in Division VI and Manchester in Division VII.
In Division V, first-year head coach Adam Barr has tripled the Dragons’ win total from last season and their current 6-14 record earned then the #16 seed on the district bracket. Even with the lower seed, the Dragons will get a home tournament game on February 17 as they will play host to #17 seeded Wellston (4-13) in a 7 p.m. tip off. This contest is what the NCAA calls a “play-in” game as a win will send West Union into the district quarterfinals on February 21 on the road at #1 seeded Minford (16-1).
In Division VI, another first-year head coach, North Adams’ Austin McCormick, has led his team to a 15-5 record, currently perfect in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference at 12-0. The successful season earned the Green Devils the #2 seed on the Division VI bracket and their first postseason action will come on February 21 at 7 p.m. on their home courts in Seaman. In that district quarterfinal, the Devils will face the winner of #15 seeded Federal Hocking (3-15) and #18 seeded Portsmouth Clay (2-17).
The Devils will be heavily favored in that match up and a win will propel them into the district semifinals on February 26 at 6 p.m. at Jackson High School. A district semi win would send the Devils back to the Convo at Ohio University to play for their third consecutive district championship on March 2 at 2 p.m.
”We ended up getting the two seed and we are happy with that,” said Coach McCormick. “When you get to tournament time it’s do or die and you have to bring your ‘A’ game every single night. We played an extremely tough non-league schedule to go along with the fact that the SHAC was highly competitive this year, which we hope will pay off in the tournament when we face adversity. You know everyone you’re going to face is a quality opponent and it’s just about doing your best every night to survive and advance.”
Also on the Division VI bracket you will find Coach Josh Arey and his Peebles Indians. At the time of the draw, the Tribe stood at 8-10 and will be the #11 seed, meaning they will be on the road on February 21 for a district quarterfinal game at Southeastern Ross (14-6), the #6 seed. Coach Arey’s squad certainly has the ability to win that Tony opener and if they do, they will move to the district semifinals on February 26 at Jackson, facing the winner of #3 seed Symmes Valley (13-6) and #14 seeded Huntington (6-14). That contest will have a trip to the Convo for the District finals on March 2, where they could conceivably face off with North Adams.
“Our road is going to be tough,” said Coach Arey. “Southeastern is very good and past them Symmes Valley has played well all season. We have to concentrate on one game at a time and just play consistent basketball.”
Finally on the Division VII bracket sit Coach Austin Kingsolver and the Manchester Greyhounds. The Hounds, winners of six of their last seven outings, are currently 11-10 and will be the #6 seed in Division VII. That earns the Hounds a home district quarterfinal on February 20 at 7 p.m, battling #11 seeded South Gallia (3-14). A win at the Hound Pound will move Manchester into the district semifinals on February 26, played this year at Waverly High School, not the Downtown Gym everyone is familiar with come tournament time. That semifinal will be against the winner of #3 seed Racine Southern (15-3) and #14 seed Sciotoville East (1-12). That 7 p.m. tip off in Waverly will have a trip to the district final at the Convo on March 2 on the line.
“I like our draw,” said Coach Kingsolver. “I think we are in a good position to compete every night and potentially make a run. We’ll just take it one game at a time and see what happens.”
All of the Southeast District boys’ tournament brackets can be found at https://www.ohsaa.org/Southeast-Sports-Tournaments/Basketball-Boys.
