Ohio high school boys basketball playoffs: Top seeds, best potential matchups, star players, predicted district winners in Division 4
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've been breaking down the divisions region by region, district by district over the past few days.
Division 1 was up first, then came Division 2 and Division 3, and now we finish up with No. 4.
DIVISION 4
Region 13 – Canton
District – Norton
Top Seeds: Richmond Heights (1), Dalton (2), Willoughby Cornerstone Christian (3), Cuyahoga Heights (4)
Best potential matchup: Cornerstone Christian vs. Dalton in the district semifinals. Cornerstone Christian has just one loss on the season (77-74 to Cleveland Central Catholic) and will look to continue the dream season for the Kwasniak family against a Dalton team that has just three losses, all to teams in bigger divisions.
Star Power: Jaiden Cox-Holloway, Josiah Harris, London Maiden, DeErrick Barber (Richmond Heights); Quinn Kwasniak, B.K. Kwasniak, D.J. Niles (Cornerstone Christian); Jalen Wenger, Braylon Wenger, Kyrie Gaut (Dalton); Alex Semenov (Andrews Osborne); Ted DeMarco (Lake Ridge Academy); Jaiden Guerra (Open Door Academy)
Predicted winner: Richmond Heights
Region 13 – Canton
District – Willard
Top Seeds: Castalia Margaretta (1), Lucas (2), Greenwich South Central (3), Monroeville (4)
Best potential matchup: Margaretta vs. Lucas in the district final. The top two teams in the bracket, Margaretta has not lost since Jan. 4, and Lucas has just two losses in that time, with one of those a one-point defeat.
Star Power: Logan Toms, Corbin Toms (Lucas); Jake Leibacher, (Margaretta)
Predicted winner: Castalia Margaretta
Region 13 – Canton
District – Orwell
Top Seeds: Vienna Mathews (1), Warren John F. Kennedy (5), Bristol (6), Wellsville (7)
Best potential matchup: Mathews vs. Bristol in the district final. Despite defeating Bristol twice this season, Mathews still needs to avenge the loss to the Panthers in last year’s district final.
Star Power: Jaden Rishel, Nick Ryan, Michael Condoleon (Warren JFK); Nick Church, Mikey Burbich (Bristol); Vinny Sharp, Vincent Greenwood (Mathews)
Predicted winner: Vienna Mathews
Region 13 – Canton
District – Struthers
Top Seeds: Lowellville (2), Heartland Christian (3), Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas (4), David Anderson (8)
Best potential matchup: Lowellville vs. Heartland Christian in the district final. Would be a rematch of Heartland Christian’s 75-68 win from earlier in the season, one of only two teams to defeat Lowellville on the season.
Star Power: Jonathan Bertovich (Heartland Christian); Anthony Lucente (Lowellville); Jack Lendak (Badger); Donovan Palowski, Isaiah Jones (Brookfield)
Predicted winner: Heartland Christian
Region 14 – Bowling Green
District – Elida
Top Seeds: Convoy Crestview (1), Columbus Grove (2), Leipsic (3), Pandora-Gilboa (4)
Best potential matchup: Crestview vs. Leipsic in the district final. Crestview hasn’t lost since Jan. 7, while Leipsic has won five in a row. The game could come down to whether the Crestview defense can contain high-scoring Mason Brandt of Leipsic.
Star Power: Mason Brandt, Paul Maag (Leipsic)
Predicted winner: Convoy Crestview
Region 14 – Bowling Green
District – Findlay
Top Seeds: Tiffin Calvert (1),Old Fort (2), Sycamore Mohawk (3), Hopewell-Loudon (4)
Best potential matchup: Tiffin Calvert vs. Old Fort in the district final. The top two seeds in this bracket have played twice, both wins by undefeated Calvert. One of those games was just 50-47, however.
Star Power: Collin Nutter, Myles Miller (Old Fort); Garrett Spaun, Blake Ronski (Calvert)
Predicted winner: Tiffin Calvert
Region 14 – Bowling Green
District – Defiance
Top Seeds: Antwerp (1), Ayersville (2), Toledo Christian (3), Toledo Emmanuel Christian School (4)
Best potential matchup: Antwerp vs. Ayersville in the district final. Antwerp has just one loss on the season, and the only loss for Ayersville since Dec. 10 was a 73-59 defeat to Antwerp on Jan. 21.
Star Power: Jagger Landers, Landon Brewer (Antwerp); Cayden Jacoby (Pettisville); Jakob Trevino, Tyson Schlachter (Ayersville)
Predicted winner: Antwerp
Region 14 – Bowling Green
District – Wapakoneta
Top Seeds: New Bremen (1), Spencerville (2), Lima Perry (3), Marion Local (4)
Best potential matchup: New Bremen vs. Marion Local in the district semifinals. Marion Local just came away with a 64-59 win over New Bremen on Feb. 6, only the second loss for New Bremen since mid-December.
Star Power: Reece Busse (New Bremen); Jack Knapke (Marion Local); Josh Henlein (Spencerville)
Predicted winner: New Bremen
Region 15 – Athens
District – Columbus 1
Top Seeds: Grandview Heights (1), Newark Catholic (2), Groveport Madison Christian (11), Westerville Northside Christian (12)
Best potential matchup: Grandview Heights vs. Newark Catholic in the district final. The only two seeds in this bracket in the top 10, they should both be heavy favorites to make it through to the district final.
Star Power: Cole Canter, Brandon Buchanan (Newark Catholic); Trey Holliman, Danny Claypool, Aidan Leslie (Grandview Heights)
Predicted winner: Grandview Heights
Region 15 – Athens
District – East
Top Seeds: Hannibal River (1), Berlin Hiland (2), Malvern (3), Caldwell (4)
Best potential matchup: Berlin Hiland vs. Caldwell in the district semifinals. For state-ranked Hiland to advance to the district final, the Hawks would first have to deal with one of the top scorers in Ohio in Caldwell’s Bede Lori.
Star Power: Zander Sabin (Tuscarawas Central Catholic); Grady Labishak, Weston Hartman (Bishop Rosecrans); Bede Lori (Caldwell); Chris Shelter (Hiland)
Predicted winner: Hannibal River
Region 15 – Athens
District – Southeast 2
Top Seeds: Lucasville Valley (2), Symmes Valley (3), Leesburg Fairfield (6), South Webster (7)
Best potential matchup: Lucasville Valley vs. Symmes Valley in the district final. Lucasville Valley is ranked eighth in the AP poll, while Symmes Valley has not lost since suffering a defeat at the hands of Lucasville Valley on Dec. 22.
Predicted winner: Lucasville Valley
Region 15 – Athens
District – Southeast 1
Top Seeds: Glouster Trimble (1), Latham Western (4), Stewart Federal Hocking (5), Waterford (8)
Best potential matchup: Latham Western vs. Federal Hocking in the district semifinals. Western has not lost since mid-December, and Federal Hocking has just one loss in that time span, but they have a game against undefeated Trimble to finish out the regular season. The winner of this district semifinal would presumably get a shot at Trimble in the district final.
Star Power: Blake Guffey, Tyler Weber (Trimble); Kylan McClain (Miller Corning)
Predicted winner: Glouster Trimble
Region 16 – Kettering
District – Southwest 3
Top Seeds: Springfield Central Catholic (2), Jackson Center (2), Cedarville (3), Troy Christian (3)
Best potential matchup: Springfield Central Catholic vs. Cedarville in the district semifinals. The two teams have split their two meetings this season, with Cedarville picking up a 56-55 win on Jan. 21 in the latest contest.
Star Power: Parker Burke, Andrew Riddle (Legacy Christian); Tyler Cross (Cedarville); Chase Dohme, Parker Penrod (Troy Christian)
Predicted winner: Springfield Central Catholic
Region 16 – Kettering
District – Southwest 2
Top Seeds: Botkins (1), Felicity-Franklin (3), Russia (4), Ripley-Union Lewis-Huntington (4)
Best potential matchup: Botkins vs. Russia in the district semifinals. Botkins is the top-ranked team in the state and owns a win over Russia earlier this season. Russia’s losses have mostly come against teams that have higher seeds than the Raiders in the tournament.
Star Power: Jacob Pleiman, Jameson Meyer (Botkins); Brayden Robinette (New Miami); Braylon Cordonnier (Russia); Garrett Taulbee (Felicity-Franklin)
Predicted winner: Botkins
Region 16 – Kettering
District – Columbus 2
Top Seeds: Howard East Knox (3), Columbus Tree of Life Christian (4), Grove City Christian (5), Sugar Grove Berne Union (6)
Best potential matchup: East Knox vs. Tree of Life Christian in the district final. This game has the potential to be one of the lowest-scoring district finals in the state with how well each team defends.
Star Power: Connor Beck (Delaware Christian); Micah Fisher (Tree of Life Christian); Shane Knepp (East Knox)
Predicted winner: Columbus Tree of Life Christian
Region 16 – Kettering
District – Southwest 1
Top Seeds: New Madison Tri-Village (1), Cincinnati College Preparatory (1), Fayetteville-Perry (2), Twin Valley South (5)
Best potential matchup: Tri-Village vs. Cincinnati College Prep in the district final. Both teams received top seeds and are in the AP poll, with Tri-Village fifth and Cincinnati College Prep receiving votes just outside the top 10.
Star Power: Layne Sarver (Tri-Village); Jabari Covington (Cincinnati College Prep); Jayden Bradshaw (Fayetteville-Perry); Ben Merrell (Miami Valley Christian Academy)
Predicted winner: New Madison Tri-Village
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