Fort Loramie earns top seed in Sidney Div. IV sectional

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TROY — Fort Loramie is the top seed again in the Sidney Division IV sectional and will try to advance to a district championship game for the seventh time in the last eight years.

The Redskins (15-4, 11-0 Shelby County Athletic League) have been the sectional’s top seed six out of the last eight years and are one of three area teams voted as No. 1 seeds this year.

The tournament draw for all Ohio girls basketball teams was Sunday. Seeds are determined by votes from the head coaches in each sectional.

“Having a lot of County teams in our sectional and being undefeated in the league probably helped,” Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel said. “You’ve got to play, that’s the bottom line. You’ve got to be focused and have to play. We’ve got to continue to get better, because we’re nowhere near where we should be.”

Fort Loramie started the season 5-4, with the losses coming to Minster, Tippecanoe, New Bremen and Versailles. All four of those teams earned No. 3 seeds or better in their sectionals.

“This wasn’t an expectation after the way it started, that’s for sure,” Siegel said of the top seed. “This is a pleasant surprise.”

The Redskins will open tournament play against No. 11 seed Ansonia (5-16) on Feb. 17 at Sidney High School. With a win, Fort Loramie would advance to face No. 9 seed Lehman Catholic (8-11), which opted for a first-round bye.

A win over the Cavaliers would put the Redskins in a sectional final against either No. 5 Triad (10-9), No. 6 Houston (6-14) or No. 7 Jackson Center (7-13).

“There’s a lot of things we need to work on offensively,” Siegel said. “Defensively, we need to buckle down and play better. Just all the little things that you talk about; rebounding, passing, things like that.

“It’s not going to be easy for us. We’re young, and people have talked about that all year long. But I think having played those tough games early on taught our girls a lot of things, so hopefully we’re turning a corner.”

Jackson Center will open tournament play against Triad on Feb. 17, and the winner will face Houston on Feb. 21.

Russia was the sectional’s No. 2 seed and went into the top bracket after Fort Loramie went into the bottom bracket. The Raiders (15-5) will face No. 10 Fairlawn (3-16) in a first-round game on Feb. 17. The winner will face No. 11 Mississinawa Valley (0-19) on Feb. 20.

The biggest surprise the tournament draw came from Botkins. Mechanicsburg (13-6) earned the sectional’s No. 3 seed, and Botkins was voted No. 4.

Instead of opting to head into the bottom bracket to set up first- and second-round games against lower seeds, Botkins coach Mike Maurer chose to face the Indians in a first-round game on Feb. 17. Mechanicsburg beat Botkins 76-56 in a nonconference game on Dec. 28.

No. 8 Riverside (7-11) will face the Mechanicsburg vs. Botkins winner on Feb. 20.

Dayton Div. III sectional

Versailles (19-1) earned the Dayton Div. III sectional’s No. 1 seed while Anna (14-6) was No. 6. Versailles went into the top bracket at Covington High School, while Anna went into the bottom bracket.

The Tigers, who finished as D-III runner-up last year, will start tournament play on Feb. 17 against No. 19 Dixie. With a win, Versailles with face No. 20 Northridge in a second-round game on Feb. 21.

If Versailles wins its first two games, either No. 11 Dayton Christian or No. 12 Carlisle will be the sectional final opponent on Feb. 27.

Anna will open postseason play against No. 9 Arcanum on Feb. 17. With a win, the Rockets will face No. 14 Bethel (8-11) in a second-round game on Feb. 22.

If Anna wins its first two games, either No. 7 Preble Shawnee or No. 13 Greenon will be the sectional final opponent on Feb. 27.

Wapakoneta Div. IV district

Minster (15-3) earned the No. 1 seed in the Wapakoneta Div. IV district while New Bremen (15-4) was voted No. 3 and New Knoxville was voted No. 8.

New Bremen will face No. 9 Waynesfield-Goshen in a first round game on Feb. 21, and the winner will advance to play No. 7 Marion Local on Feb. 24.

New Knoxville will face No. 11 Upper Scioto Valley on Feb. 21, and the winner will face Minster on Feb. 24.

If both win their first two tournament games, New Bremen and Minster could face off in a district semifinal on March 1 at Wapakoneta. Minster beat New Bremen 47-44 on Jan. 18.

All first- and second-round games are at Coldwater High School.

Dayton Div. I sectional

Sidney was the bottom seed out of 17 teams and will face No. 1 Beavercreek (16-3) in a first-round game on Feb. 17 at Vandalia-Butler.

Anna’s Taylor Kauffman fights for a rebound with Botkins’ Paige Lane last Saturday. Anna is the No. 6 seed in the Dayton Div. III sectional, while Botkins is No. 4 in the Sidney D-IV sectional.
http://www.sidneydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2018/02/web1_SDN020518AnnaGbbJA-1.jpgAnna’s Taylor Kauffman fights for a rebound with Botkins’ Paige Lane last Saturday. Anna is the No. 6 seed in the Dayton Div. III sectional, while Botkins is No. 4 in the Sidney D-IV sectional. Jason Alig | Sidney Daily News
Fort Loramie, Versailles, Minster earn No. 1 seeds

By Bryant Billing

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Contact Bryant Billing at (937) 538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.

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