Willard earns No. 1 seed in girls tournament draw

SHELBY — The Willard girls basketball team earned the top seed on Sunday at the tournament draw for the Division III district to be hosted by Shelby High School. The Crimson Flashes (15-1) took a first-round bye and will host a sectional championship game at 7 p.m. on Feb. 20 against the Feb. 18 winner between No. 11-seeded Upper Sandusky (5-11) and No. 12 Huron. Hopewell-Loudon (13-1) is the No. 2 seed in the district and awaits winner of No. 7 Edison (9-5) at No. 6 Colonel Crawford (10-7). Another area power, Margaretta (11-5), is the No. 3 seed and elected to play and host No. 13 Bucyrus (0-15) on Feb. 18. The winner advances to face No. 8 Bucyrus Wynford (9-5) on Feb. 20. Also in the Shelby district, Western Reserve (7-7) is the No. 10 seed and will visit No. 4 Carey (14-2) on Feb. 18. The winner of that game faces the winner of No. 9 Lakota and No. 5 Crestview (10-2) on Feb. 20 at the better seed's venue. The district semifinals are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Feb. 25 at Shelby High School. The winners will return for the district championship game at 2 p.m. on Feb. 27. DIVISION IV St. Paul earns No. 3 seed WILLARD — The Lady Flyers (12-3) are the No. 3 seed in a tough Willard High School district in Div. IV. St. Paul will host No. 13-seeded Crestline (3-12) at 7 p.m. on Feb. 18. With a win, the Lady Flyers will host the winner of No. 12 Plymouth (2-15)-No. 6 Lucas (6-7) in a sectional title game at 7 p.m. on Feb. 20. State-ranked Buckeye Central (15-1) and Northern 10 rival Seneca East (11-4) were voted the top two seeds in the district. Buckeye Central — the No. 7-ranked team in last week's Associated Press state poll — will await the winner of No. 10 Mohawk (4-13) and No. 9 Danbury (4-11) on Feb. 20. Seneca East also took a bye and faces the winner of No. 11 St. Mary Central Catholic (2-9) and No. 7 Monroeville (6-8) — which will also be played at 7 p.m. on Feb. 18 at the Monroeville Athletic Complex. Also in the district, New London (4-11) is the No. 8 seed and visits No. 4 Mansfield Christian (13-3) on Feb. 18. The winner travels to No. 5 South Central (8-8) in a sectional title game on Feb. 20. The district semifinals are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Feb. 25 at Willard High School. The winners will return for the district championship game at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27. DIVISION II Norwalk earns Lake rematch ASHLAND — In the Div. II Ashland High School district, Norwalk (5-7) earned the No. 8 seed and will get a "rubber match" with SBC Lake opponent Vermilion (8-6) — the No. 4 seed in the district. The away team won each of the two low-scoring regular season meetings. Vermilion claimed a 31-23 win at Norwalk on Dec. 18, while the Truckers won 39-29 at Vermilion on Jan. 23. The winner of the matchup will face the winner of No. 10 Perkins (5-11) and No. 5 Kenton (8-8) on Feb. 20 at the better seed's home venue. Shelby (10-3) is the No. 1 seed in the district, while Bellevue (11-3) was No. 2 and Clyde (6-3) was No. 3. The district semifinals are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Feb. 25 at Ashland High School. The winners will return for the district championship game at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27.