Ohio high school boys basketball playoffs: Top seeds, best potential matchups, star players, predicted district winners in Division 2
By Ryan Isley | Photo by Jeff Harwell
The tournament draw was released Sunday for the Ohio high school boys basketball playoffs, and though the regular season isn't over yet, we'll break down the divisions region by region, district by district over the next few days.
Division 1 was up first, and now here's No. 2.
DIVISION 2
Region 5 - Canton
District – Youngstown
Top Seeds: Youngstown Chaney (1), Perry (4), Poland Seminary (7), Ashtabula Edgewood (9)
Best potential matchup: Chaney vs. Perry in the district final. Fresh off winning its conference championship, Perry would be looking to knock off the top seed in the bracket.
Star Power: Ross Dedo (Poland Seminary); Josiah Gonzalez (Chaney); Devin Reese (Streetsboro)
Predicted winner: Perry
Region 5 - Canton
District – Stow
Top Seeds: St. Vincent-St. Mary (1), Lutheran West (8), Buckeye (9), Cloverleaf (15)
Best potential matchup: Lutheran West vs. Buckeye in the district semifinals. Most teams tried to avoid this bracket to keep from facing STVM. These two teams took the challenge of the district and could face each other for a shot to upend the defending state champions.
Star Power: Sencire Harris, Ramar Pryor (STVM)
Predicted winner: St. Vincent-St. Mary
Region 5 - Canton
District – Ashtabula
Top Seeds: Louisville (2), West Branch (3), Marlington (5), Struthers (6)
Best potential matchup: Louisville vs. West Branch in the district semifinals. In a bracket with numerous higher seeds, the two top seeds would meet in the semifinals, not the final.
Star Power: Will Aljancic, Hayden Nigro (Louisville); Riley Heckert (Hubbard); Connor Evanich (Marlington)
Predicted winner: Louisville
Region 5 - Canton
District – Canton
Top Seeds: Glenville (4), Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (5), Padua Franciscan (6), Tallmadge (7)
Best potential matchup: CVCA vs. Tallmadge in the district final. CVCA has bounced back from two losses in the middle of January with four straight wins heading into the draw, while Tallmadge has won three in a row, including avenging its last loss of the season against Highland.
Star Power: Darryn Peterson (CVCA); Collin Dixon, Aaron Gergely (Tallmadge)
Predicted winner: Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy
Region 6 – Bowling Green
District – North Ridgeville
Top Seeds: Akron Buchtel (2), Gates Mills Gilmour Academy (3), Brookside (10), Akron East (12)
Best potential matchup: Buchtel vs. Gilmour Academy in the district final. Buchtel cruised to the Akron City Series title (both regular season and postseason), while Gilmour has lost just once in the last five weeks.
Star Power: Khoi Thurmon (Buchtel); Ryan Mueller, Brandon Rose (Gilmour)
Predicted winner: Akron Buchtel
Region 6 – Bowling Green
District – Millbury
Top Seeds: Toledo Central Catholic (1), Sandusky (2), Tiffin Columbian (3), Rossford (4)
Best potential matchup: Toledo Central Catholic vs. Sandusky in the district final. Both teams are coming off a loss in the last week but have had strong runs in 2022.
Star Power: Chico Johnson (Toledo Central Catholic); Ben Morrison (Rossford); Logan Beaston (Columbian)
Predicted winner: Toledo Central Catholic
Region 6 – Bowling Green
District – Ada
Top Seeds: Defiance (1), St. Mary’s Memorial (2), Wapakoneta (3), Van Wert (4)
Best potential matchup: Defiance vs. St. Mary’s Memorial in the district final. The two teams could engage in a low-scoring contest as each plays stingy defense and has allowed 50 or more points in a game just a handful of times in the last six weeks, with no team scoring more than 53 against either.
Star Power: Austin Parks (St. Mary’s Memorial); Austin Miller, Brady Wheeler (Lima Shawnee)
Predicted winner: St. Mary’s Memorial
Region 6 – Bowling Green
District – Ashland
Top Seeds: Huron (1), Shelby (2), Lexington (3), Norwalk (4)
Best potential matchup: Huron vs. Shelby in the district final. Each of the top two seeds in the bracket has just one loss in 2022.
Predicted winner: Huron
Region 7 - Athens
District – East
Top Seeds: New Philadelphia (1), Dresden Tri-Valley (2), East Liverpool (3), Byesville Meadowbrook (4)
Best potential matchup: New Philadelphia vs. Meadowbrook in the district semifinals. This game would pit the duo of Carter Vandall and Michael Vickers of New Philadelphia against high-scoring Jake Singleton of Meadowbrook.
Star Power: Jake Singleton (Meadowbrook); Hayden Jarrett (Zanesville Maysville); Nathan Walker (New Concord John Glenn); Carter Vandall, Michael Vickers (New Philadelphia); Owen Emig, Brody Border (Warsaw River View)
Predicted winner: New Philadelphia
Region 7 - Athens
District – Columbus 1
Top Seeds: Columbus Beechcroft (1), Buckeye Valley (2), Heath (7), Marion-Franklin (8)
Best potential matchup: Beechcroft vs. Buckeye Valley in the district final. A potential game between high-scoring trios, as Beechcroft is led by Amani Lyles, JJ Simmons and Antwoine Reed Jr, while Buckeye Valley counters with Troy Scowden, Dylan Thompson and Owen Osborne. Each trio combines to average more than 45 points per game.
Star Power: Amani Lyles, JJ Simmons, Antwoine Reed Jr (Beechcroft); Brandon McLaughlin (Heath); Troy Scowden, Dylan Thompson, Owen Osborne (Buckeye Valley); Dennis Asoro (Eastmoor Academy)
Predicted winner: Columbus Beechcroft
Region 7 - Athens
District – Southeast 2
Top Seeds: Greenfield McClain (2), Gallia Academy (3), Thornville Sheridan (6), Washington Court House Washington (7)
Best potential matchup: McClain vs. Gallia Academy in the district final. In a smaller bracket without any byes, the top two seeds will need to win just two games each to get to the district final.
Star Power: DeSean Branson (Chillicothe Unioto); Bryson Badgley (McClain)
Predicted winner: Greenfield McClain
Region 7 - Athens
District – Southeast 1
Top Seeds: Waverly (1), Logan Elm (4), Fairfield Union (5), Vincent Warren (8)
Best potential matchup: Waverly vs. Logan Elm in the district final. Each team had just one loss in 2022 before the draw, with Elm losing in the first week of January to Bloom-Carroll and Waverly’s only loss coming to top Division III seed Colonel Crawford.
Star Power: Trey Robertson (Waverly); Derrick Welsh (Athens); Tanner Holbert (Logan Elm)
Predicted winner: Waverly
Jonathan Powell photo by Ben Jackson
Region 8 - Vandalia
District – Columbus 2
Top Seeds: Bloom-Carroll (3), Linden-McKinley (4), Jonathan Alder (5), Bishop Watterson (6)
Best potential matchup: Bloom-Carroll vs. Linden McKinley in the district final. This game would be a rematch of a 42-39 Linden-McKinley win on Jan. 19 that was one of only two losses on the season for Bloom-Carroll.
Star Power: Cole Rhett (Bishop Watterson); Carson Smith (Caledonia River Valley); Evan Dozer (Bloom-Carroll)
Predicted winner: Bloom-Carroll
Region 8 - Vandalia
District – Southwest 3
Top Seeds: Kettering Archbishop Alter (1), Hamilton Ross (4), Cincinnati Wyoming (5), Batavia (6)
Best potential matchup: Batavia vs. Hamilton Ross in the district semifinals. Two of the higher-ranked teams in the bracket, the two would be facing off for a chance to play heavily favored Kettering Alter in the district final.
Star Power: Blake Brumbaugh (Milton-Union); Jacob Conner (Archbishop Alter); Aidan Brown (Hamilton Ross); Mason Weisbrodt (Batavia)
Predicted winner: Kettering Archbishop Alter
Region 8 - Vandalia
District – Southwest 2
Top Seeds: Cleves Taylor (2), Roger Bacon (3), David H. Ponitz (4), New Richmond (7), Trotwood-Madison (7)
Best potential matchup: Cleves Taylor vs. Roger Bacon in the district final. The top two seeds in the bracket, both teams have just one loss since the calendar flipped to 2022.
Star Power: Rajere Blanks (Roger Bacon)
Predicted winner: Roger Bacon
Region 8 - Vandalia
District – Southwest 1
Top Seeds: Cincinnati Woodward (1), Dayton Oakwood (2), Dayton Chaminade-Julienne (3), Tippecanoe (5)
Best potential matchup: Cincinnati Woodward vs. Dayton Oakwood in the district final. The top two teams in the bracket each went into the draw with just three losses on the season.
Star Power: Paul McMillan (Woodward); Will Maxwell (Oakwood); Jonathan Powell (Chaminade-Julienne)
Predicted winner: Cincinnati Woodward
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