High school basketball tournament draws announced

The good news keeps coming for Keystone. On the heels of Friday's Lorain County League co-championship clinching win, the Wildcats were rewarded with the No. 3 seed in the Division V tournament when the final Ohio High School Athletic Association MaxPrep RPI numbers were calculated before Sunday's boys Division III-VII district tournament draw. Keystone, which finished the regular season 17-5, is in the Northeast 2 District. The Wildcats will open tournament play at home, Feb. 28 against No. 33 seed Liberty. With a win, they will host Norwayne or Warren Champion in the district semifinals before potentially advancing to a district final at Akron Firestone."It worked out well. I am happy where we ended up," Keystone coach Jeff Holzhauer said. "We jumped in the bracket with (the No. 2 seed) Chagrin Falls. There were a couple of teams outside of the top four we wanted to avoid. We figured if we went where Chagrin Falls went, it would deter some other teams from jumping in." Holzhauer's plan worked to perfection as Norwayne, the No. 11 seed, was the only other team in the top third of the 35 teams in Division V to place itself in the bracket. Keystone's Lorain County League foes Brookside and Oberlin were the only other local schools to earn top 10 seeds in the Northeast District. The Cardinals, who shared the LCL championship with Keystone, are the No. 8 seed in Division IV and will open tournament play against No. 13 seed. On the opposite side of that bracket, No. 23 seed Firelands will travel east to face No. 14 seed NDCL. The 10 seed could possibly earn Oberlin a pair of home games in Division VI. The Phoenix hosts No. 20 Independence in a sectional final Feb. 26. With a win, Oberlin would be at home against Mineral Ridge or Rootstown in the district semifinals. If the Phoenix make it to the district final, it will have a long drive to Salem, where top-seeded Kirtland will likely await. A total of five LCL teams will open the playoffs at home, as Black River, the No. 16 seed in Division V, will host No. 21 Waynedale on Feb. 28, and No. 14 Columbia will host No. 26 East Canton on Feb. 26 in a Division VI game. No. 21 Lake Ridge, the area's only Division VII team, will travel to No. 6 Medina Christian for its sectional final. Elyria Catholic is the top local team in Division III. The Panthers drew the No. 21 seed, which was good enough to earn them a first-round home game Feb. 27 against the winner of Brush and Ashtabula Lakeside. With the OHSAA moving to seven divisions, the tournament draw is conducted over two weeks due to the lower number of teams in Divisions I and II. While Lorain County's six biggest boys programs will have to wait until next week to find out their path to a district title, the area's five Division I-II girls teams got to fill out their brackets. To win a district title Elyria Catholic would likely have to have to defeat Brush, 14-win Painesville Harvey and Garfield Heights, led by reigning Ohio Mr. Basketball South Carolina signee March Johnson. In girls Division I, Lorain and Elyria earned the No. 16 and 17 seeds out of 18 teams. No. 10 seed North Ridgeville is the top local Division II team. Not only did Rangers get a district semifinal home game against No. 13 Solon in the Northeast 8 District, they also avoided all of the top 8 teams. The top team in the bracket is No. 9 seed North Canton Hoover. "When the bracket opened up and Hoover went in I thought that was the best scenario for us, to possibly play Hoover in a district championship game," Rangers coach Amy Esser said. Esser also thought it would be an advantage if North Ridgeville made it to the district final, they would be in a familiar gym at Southwestern Conference foe Berea-Midpark. "We're used to playing in Berea so that's ideal," Esser said. Avon was the No. 19 seed and Amherst No. 29. The Eagles will open at No. 11 Lakewood while the Comets travel to Brecksville-Broadview Heights. All girls district finals are Feb. 28. The boys will play their district finals a week later on March 7. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Girls Division I and II DIVISION I Northeast 1 (Valley Forge) Feb. 25No. 16 Lorain at No. 2 Mentor (7)Northeast 3 (Wooster)No. 17 Elyria at No. 3 Jackson (7)DIVISION II Northeast 4 (Medina)Feb. 25No. 19 Avon at No. 11 Lakewood (7)Northeast 5 (Uniontown Lake)Feb. 25No. 29 Amherst at No. 2 Brecksville (7) Northeast 8 (Berea-Midpark)Feb. 24No. 13 Solon at No. 10 North Ridgeville (7)Boys Division III-VII DIVISION III Northeast 1 (North Royalton) Feb. 27No. 41 Lakeside vs. No. 22 Brush winner at No. 21 Elyria Catholic Northeast 3 (North Royalton) Feb. 27 No. 48 Midview at No. 4 Archbishop HobanDIVISION IVNortheast 1 (North Ridgeville) Feb. 27 (All games 7 p.m.) No. 23 Firelands at No. 14 NDCL No. 13 Perry at No. 8 Brookside Northeast 2 (North Ridgeville) Feb. 23No. 31 Clearview at No. 23 Holy Name (7)Northwest 2 (Mansfield)Feb. 26 No. 7 Vermilion at No. 4 Bellevue (6)DIVISION VNortheast 1 (Cleveland Heights) Feb. 28 No. 31 Wellington at No. 12 Wooster Triway (1) Northeast 2 (Akron Firestone) Feb. 28 No. 33 Liberty at No. 3 Keystone (1)Northeast 4 (Akron Firestone) Feb. 28 No. 21 Waynedale at No. 16 Black RiverDIVISION VINortheast 1 (Salem) Feb.26 (All games 7 p.m.)No. 29 Open Door at No. 2 Grand Valley No. 26 East Canton at No. 14 Columbia Northeast 4 (Salem) No. 20 Independence at No. 10 Oberlin (7)DIVISION VIINortheast 3 (Smithville) Feb. 26 No. 21 Lake Ridge Academy at No. 6 Medina Christian (7)