Ohio high school girls basketball playoffs: Top seeds, best potential matchups, star players, predicted district winners in Division 2

By Ryan Isley | Photo by Ben Jackson

The tournament draw was released late Sunday for the Ohio high school girls 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.

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The biggest division of the bunch was up first, and here's No. 2.

DIVISION 2

Region 5 - Barberton

District – Northeast 5 Streetsboro

Top Seeds: Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (3), Norton (4), Revere (6), Gilmour Academy (7)

Best potential matchup: CVCA vs. Norton in the district semifinals. The top two seeds in the district, CVCA has not lost a game since Dec. 11 to Archbishop Hoban, while Norton has lost just twice since the beginning of December.

Star Power: Gia Casalinova (CVCA); Aleeona Robinson (Lutheran East); Lauryn Stover (Gilmour Academy)

Predicted winner: CVCA

Region 5 - Barberton

District – Northeast 2 Uniontown Lake

Top Seeds: Marlington (1), West Branch (4), Poland Seminary (5), Canton South (8)

Best potential matchup: West Branch vs. Poland Seminary in the district semifinals. Both teams have just a single loss since the calendar flipped to 2022. They played early in the year with West Branch pulling off a 46-42 win.

Predicted winner: Marlington

Region 5 - Barberton

District – Northeast 1 Lakeside

Top Seeds: Salem (2), Perry (3), West Geauga (6), Kenston (7)

Best potential matchup: Salem vs. Perry in the district final. Should be a good game between two teams that have had a number of lopsided wins this season, but only if they can both get through a district that has five of the top 10 district seeds.

Star Power: Catara DeJarnette (Kenston); Alexa Hocevar (West Geauga)

Predicted winner: Perry

Region 5 - Barberton

District – Northeast 4 Nordonia

Top Seeds: St. Vincent-St. Mary (1), Canal Fulton Northwest (2), Firelands (12), Woodridge (13)

Best potential matchup: STVM vs Northwest in the district final. The top two seeds in the super district are in the same bracket and could provide for one of the best games in the district round.

Star Power: Annie Watson (STVM); Lily Bottomley (Northwest)

Predicted winner: STVM

Region 6 – Manfield Senior

District – Columbus 1

Top Seeds: Bishop Hartley (2), Jonathan Alder (4), Bexley (5), Licking Valley (7)

Best potential matchup: Bexley vs. Jonathan Alder in the district semifinal. Both teams have just one loss in the month and enter the tournament on an upswing.

Star Power: Ella Brandewie (Bishop Hartley); Sydnie Smith (Bexley)

Predicted winner: Bishop Hartley

Region 6 – Mansfield Senior

District – Northwest 1 Paulding

Top Seeds: Toledo Central Catholic (1), Lima Shawnee (2), Napoleon (3), St. Mary’s Memorial (4)

Best potential matchup: Toledo Central Catholic vs. Lima Shawnee in the district final. It looked like both teams would enter the tournament undefeated until Van Wert upset Shawnee last week.

Star Power: Emma Pedroza (Napoleon)

Predicted winner: Toledo Central Catholic

Region 6 – Mansfield Senior

District – Northeast 3 Elyria

Top Seeds: Rocky River (5), Gates Mills Hawken (8), Shaker Heights Laurel (9), Copley (10)

Best potential matchup: Rocky River vs. Hawken in the district final. Both teams hold opponents to low offensive outputs, and this could be a tight game if each can get to the district final.

Star Power: Ashley Kerekes (Copley); Helen Holley, Mari Bickley (Laurel)

Predicted winner: Rocky River

Region 6 – Mansfield Senior

District – Northwest 2 Ashland

Top Seeds: Shelby (1); Bellevue (2); Bellville Clear Fork (3); Sandusky Perkins (4)

Best potential matchup: Clear Fork vs. Bellevue in the district semifinal. Each team is entering the tournament strong, having lost just once in January.

Star Power: Olivia Baker (Shelby)

Predicted winner: Shelby

Region 7 - Zanesville

District – Southeast 1

Top Seeds: Thornville Sheridan (1), McArthur Vinton County (4), Jackson (5), Pomeroy Meigs (8)

Best potential matchup: Jackson vs. Vinton County in the district semifinals. The top two teams on their side of the district bracket, both teams will enter the tournament having won at least four games in a row and should face Sheridan for the district title.

Star Power: Bailey Beckstedt, Faith Stinson, Jamisyn Stinson (Sheridan); Mallory Hawley (Meigs); Cameron Zinn (Vinton County)

Predicted winner: Sheridan

Region 7 - Zanesville

District – East 2

Top Seeds: West Holmes (2), New Concord John Glenn (3), Dover (5), Claymont (7)

Best potential matchup: West Holmes vs. John Glenn in the district final. This could be a game between one team that doesn’t give up a lot of points (West Holmes) and a team that scores 50-plus per game (John Glenn).

Star Power: Ella McMillan (West Holmes)

Predicted winner: West Holmes

Region 7 - Zanesville

District – Southeast 2

Top Seeds: Fairfield Union (2), Vincent Warren (3), Chillicothe Unioto (6), Waverly (7)

Best potential match-up: Fairfield Union vs. Vincent Warren in the district final. The top two seeds in the district, Union has lost just one game in January, while Warren has lost two.

Star Power: Abbie Smith (Vincent Warren)

Predicted winner: Fairfield Union

Region 7 - Zanesville

District – East 1

Top Seeds: Dresden Tri-Valley (1), Zanesville (4), St. Clairsville (6), Indian Creek (8)

Best potential match-up: St. Clairsville vs. Zanesville in the district semifinal. Both teams have been streaky this season in a smaller district and just need to win one game to reach the semifinals.

Star Power: Lexi Howe (Tri-Valley)

Predicted winner: Dresden Tri-Valley

Region 8 - Springfield

District – Mason 1

Top Seeds: Cincinnati Summit Country Day (1), Dayton Carroll (1), Benjamin Logan (3), Cincinnati Woodward (4)

Best potential match-up: Summit Country Day vs. Carroll in the district final. Possibly the only district in the state where there are two top seeds in the same district that would face off before the regionals.

Star Power: Sarah Ochs (Dayton Carroll); Gabby Martin, Mari Gerton (Summit Country Day)

Predicted winner: Summit Country Day

Region 8 - Springfield

District – Mason 2

Top Seeds: Trotwood-Madison (2), Hamilton Badin (2), Germantown Valley View (3), Tippecanoe (4)

Best potential matchup: Valley View vs. Badin in the district semifinal. In a district stacked with top 10 seeds, these two higher seeds could meet for a chance to play for the district title.

Star Power: Raeven Raye-Redmond (Trotwood-Madison); Claire Henson (Valley View); Morganne Postell (Thurgood Marshall)

Predicted winner: Hamilton Badin

Region 8 - Springfield

District – Columbus 2

Top Seeds: Granville (1), Caledonia River Valley (3), Bloom-Carroll (6), Beechcroft (8)

Best potential matchup: Granville vs. River Valley in the district final. Granville lost its first game of the season on Jan. 31, while River Valley has lost just twice since mid-December.

Star Power: Ella Wigal, Cate Schieber (Granville)

Predicted winner: Granville

Region 8 - Springfield

District – Mason 3

Top Seeds: Kettering Archbishop Alter (1), Indian Hill (2), Archbishop McNicholas (3), Dayton Oakwood (4)

Best potential matchup: Kettering Alter vs. Indian Hill in the district final. Alter has been one of the best teams in the division all season and looks to continue that against second-seeded Indian Hill.

Star Power: Caraline Kiernan, Riley Smith (Kettering Alter)

Predicted winner: Kettering Archbishop Alter