SPORTS

Boys draws: JG earns top seed in East

Zanesville to meet Newark in first round

Sam Blackburn
Reporter

CAMBRIDGE - The mass exodus started early on Sunday at Cambridge High School.

Like last season, No. 1 ranked John Glenn (19-1) entered all but assured of the top seed in the Division II East District sectional tournament drawing, where two regional berths at Ohio University were on the line.

In a concession to the Muskies, six of the top 10 seeds went opposite of them on the bracket.

The Muskies chose Zanesville, where they will play either No. 12 Rayland Buckeye Local or No. 15 Minerva at 6 p.m. on Feb. 19. Below them, No. 14 Philo (5-15) will face No. 16 River View at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 19. The winners of both games on Feb. 19 reach the district semifinals.

In the bottom half at ZHS, No. 9 Maysville (9-10) faces No. 6 seed East Liverpool (14-6) at 6 p.m. on Feb. 18, with the winner getting No. 11 Wintersville Indian Creek at 6 p.m. on Feb. 20.

Both district finals will be Feb. 26, at a time and site to be determined.

There is plenty of firepower at OU-Eastern.

In the upper bracket, No. 2 Meadowbrook will play either No. 6 Cambridge or No. 17 Lisbon Beaver Local at 6 p.m. on Feb. 20. The winner plays either No. 5 St. Clairsville or No. 8 Steubenville in the district finals on Feb. 26.

In the lower half, No. 3 seed Morgan (16-4) plays No. 18 Claymont at 6 p.m. on Feb. 19, with the winner getting either No. 4 New Philadelphia (13-7) or No. 19 Millersburg West Holmes in the district semifinals on Feb. 26.

In Division III, No. 16 West Muskingum will play Cadiz Harrison Central at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 20 at Meadowbrook. The winner plays either No. 6 Martins Ferry or No. 9 Belmont Union Local at 1 p.m. on Feb. 27 for a district berth.

In Division IV, Rosecrans (10-9) earned the No. 4 seed and will play a one-game sectional final against either No. 2 Caldwell (15-4) or No. 12 Bridgeport (1-19) at 1 p.m. on Feb. 27.

The upper half of the bracket features No. 3 Tuscarawas Central Catholic, No. 7 Strasburg, No. 8 New Matamoras Frontier and No. 11 Sarahsville Shenandoah.

The district semifinals will be March 1 at a time and site to be determined.

"We were OK with it," Rosecrans coach Todd Rock said. "You've got a couple weeks off after the last game, but it gives you a chance to get healthy and get your legs back. I'm sure we'll scrimmage once or twice and work on some things we need to work on."

Central District

Tri-Valley (16-3), seeded 12th in Division I, took a bye in the first round and will host the winner of No. 20 Hilliard Davidson (10-10) and No. 25 Columbus Briggs (11-10) for a berth in the district semifinals at a site to be determined

Beneath them in the bracket, No. 39 Zanesville (7-12) will visit No. 13 Newark (14-6) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19. The winner plays No. 41 Galloway Westland (4-17) for a district semifinal berth.

Scotties coach Todd McLoughlin said his team, even with a higher seed, wasn't in an enviable position, given the depth in the Central District.

"It's not easy no matter where you go," McLoughlin said. "There's that many good teams. The 1-30 seeds, other than the top five or six, anyone from 7-30 can knock off anyone. It's unreal. Overall, I guess we're happy with where we're at."

Southeast District

Sheridan (12-8), the No. 6 seed in Division II, faces No. 3 seed McArthur Vinton County (14-3) at 8 p.m. on Feb. 16 at Logan High School.

The winner returns to play either No. 2 Vincent Warren (15-3) or No. 7 Athens (9-7) in the finals at 7 p.m. on Feb. 19. Warren and Athens play at 6:15 on Feb. 16.

In the lower bracket, No. 9 New Lexington (2-17) plays No. 8 Marietta (6-13) at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15. The winner plays No. 1 Fairfield Union (15-2) at 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 16 for a berth in the finals.

The district will be held at the Ohio Convocation Center.

In Division III, Crooksville (4-16) was seeded 12th of 14 teams in the lower bracket and will play No. 5 seed Minford (15-3) at 8 p.m. on Feb. 16 at Jackson. The winner plays either No. 4 Albany Alexander (16-4) or No. 13 Bidwell River Valley (4-13) at 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 for a berth in the district at Ohio University.

sblackburn@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR