For the ninth time in 11 years, Fort Loramie was voted the No. 1 seed in the Sidney Division IV sectional.
The Redskins (18-1) won a Div. IV regional title last season before COVID-19 derailed the tournament and are looking to win another this season. The top seed in the sectional nearly ensures the Redskins won’t have any challenge until a district final.
Girls tournament draw meetings were held throughout the state on Sunday. Seed voting began online early last week and concluded on Saturday. Results were tallied in preparation for Sunday’s meetings, during which teams placed themselves on their sectionals’ brackets in seed order.
Fort Loramie and neighboring rival Minster were the lone two local teams that earned No. 1 seeds, and the squads could face off in a regional semifinal. The teams met in regional finals in 2018 and 2019 and could have faced off in a state final last year.
Fort Loramie opted to go into the bottom bracket of the Sidney Div. IV sectional and the next five seeds all placed themselves in the upper bracket.
The Redskins will open tournament play against No. 12 Mississinawa Valley on Feb. 13, face No. 11 Ansonia on Feb. 18 and will face either No. 7 Fairlawn, No. 8 Triad or No. 10 Jackson Center on Feb. 22.
The Jets (5-10) will face Triad (5-12) on Feb. 13, and the winner will face Jackson Center (2-15) in a sectional final on Feb. 18. That winner will face the Redskins in a district semifinal.
If Fort Loramie advances, it will likely face Cincinnati Country Day in a district final on Feb. 27. Country Day (10-0) was voted the No. 1 seed in the Monroe D-IV sectional and lost to the Redskins 50-34 in a regional final last year.
Botkins (14-5) was voted the No. 2 seed and will get a rematch of a district semifinal from last year as a first-round game. No. 3 seed Mechanicsburg (13-4) jumped on the Trojans as a first-round opponent for Feb. 11. The Indians (13-4) beat Botkins 59-29 last season.
The winner of that Feb. 11 rematch will advance to face No. 5 Houston in a sectional final on Feb. 16, and that winner will advance to a district semifinal on Feb. 22.
Russia (11-9) was voted the No. 4 seed and will face No. 6 Riverside (12-5) in a first-round game on Feb. 11. No. 9 Lehman Catholic (8-10) will face that winner on Feb. 16 in a sectional final. The sectional final winner will advance to face Mechanicsburg, Botkins or Houston in a district semifinal on Feb. 22.
All sectional and district semifinal games will be played at Sidney High School. District final games will be played at Troy High School.
Minster earns top seed in Wapakoneta D-IV district
The Wildcats (16-1) were voted the No. 1 seed in the Wapakoneta Div. IV district and will open tournament play by hosting either No. 7 Ridgemont or No. 8 Lima Central Catholic on Feb. 18.
If victorious, Minster will play in a district semifinal on Feb. 25 and a district final on Feb. 27 in Wapakoneta.
Minster won Southwest regional titles in 2018 and 2019 by beating Fort Loramie, but the Wapakoneta district winner was fed into the Northwest regional last year. The district winner is being fed into the Southwest regional again this year, and if Fort Loramie and Minster both advance, they’ll face off in a regional semifinal.
New Bremen was voted the No. 5 seed and will host No. 9 Waynesfield-Goshen on Feb. 18. The winner will face either No. 4 Fort Recovery or No. 12 Hardin Northern in a sectional final on Feb. 20 at the higher seed’s gymnasium. The sectional final winner will advance to a district semifinal, where it will likely face Minster on Feb. 25 in Wapakoneta.
Sidney earns No. 7 seed in Dayton D-I sectional
Despite its 15-4 record, Sidney could do no better than earning the No. 7 seed in the 19-team Dayton Div. I sectional.
That’s a sign of how loaded the sectional is — eight teams had 13 or more wins heading into Sunday’s tournament draw.
The Yellow Jackets will face No. 10 Beavercreek (6-12) on Feb. 13 at Troy High School and if victorious will advance to face either No. 8 Troy or No. 9 Vandalia-Butler on Feb. 18 in a sectional final.
Anna 3rd, Versailles 6th in Dayton D-III sectional
Anna, which earned a regional title last year before COVID-19 derailed the tournament, was voted the No. 3 seed in the Dayton D-III sectional.
The Rockets (12-7) will open tournament play on Feb. 13 against No. 16 Jamestown Greeneview and if victorious will face No. 18 Dayton Northridge on Feb. 16 in a sectional final. If it advances, Anna will likely face No. 2 Arcanum in a district semifinal on Feb. 22. All games will be played at Covington High School.
The Tigers (7-12) were voted the No. 6 seed and will face the winner of No. 5 Preble Shawnee and No. 7 Tipp City Bethel on Feb. 18. If victories, Versailles will face either No. 4 Carlisle, No. 9 National Trail or No. 12 Milton-Union in a district semifinal on Feb. 22. All games will be played at Northridge High School.
