Ohio high school girls basketball playoffs: Top seeds, best potential matchups, star players, predicted district winners in Division 3

By Ryan Isley | Photo by Jeff Harwell

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've been breaking down the divisions region by region, district by district.

The biggest division of the bunch was up first, next came Division 2, and now we take a look at No. 3.

DIVISION 3

Region 9 – Cuyahoga Falls

District – Northeast 4 Wooster

Top Seeds: Waynedale (1), Garfield Heights Trinity (5), Smithville (6), Independence (7)

Best potential matchup: Waynedale vs. Trinity in the district final. Waynedale will be looking to remain perfect on the season, as Trinity still has a handful of games left before the tournament to get ready.

Star Power: Mauria Stanley (Trinity); Alysa Geiser (Waynedale)

Predicted winner: Waynedale

Region 9 – Cuyahoga Falls

District – Northeast 2 Struthers

Top Seeds: Youngstown Liberty (1), Brookfield (2), Atwater Waterloo (5), Canfield South Range (7)

Best potential matchup: Liberty vs. Brookfield in the district final. The top two seeds in the district have met twice this season, with each team claiming one victory. The loss to Brookfield was Liberty’s only blemish this season.

Predicted winner: Youngstown Liberty

Region 9 – Cuyahoga Falls

District – Northeast 1 Lakeview

Top Seeds: Garrettsville Garfield (3), Warren Champion (4), Kirtland (6), Rootstown (8)

Best potential matchup: Garfield vs. Champion in the district final. The two teams have played two closely contested games this season with Champion winning 61-58 in December and then Garfield taking home a 55-52 OT win on Jan. 29.

Star Power: Jenna Smith (Garfield)

Predicted winner: Garrettsville Garfield

Region 9 – Cuyahoga Falls

District – Northeast 3 North Ridgeville

Top Seeds: Warrensville Heights (2), Elyria Catholic (3), Chippewa (4), Ashland Mapleton (10)

Best potential matchup: Elyria Catholic vs. Warrensville Heights in the district final. Both teams have been on the winning end of a number of lopsided scores this season. A game for the district title could prove to be a good test for both.

Star Power: Zennia Thomas, Jada Ward (Warrensville Heights); Kendal Shiarla (Chippewa)

Predicted winner: Warrensville Heights

Region 10- Lexington

District – Northwest 1 Shelby

Top Seeds: Castalia Margaretta (1), Ashland Crestview (2), Kansas Lakota (3), Bucyrus Wynford (4)

Best potential matchup: Crestview vs. Wynford in the district quarterfinals. The two teams have a game against each other on Feb. 3, so it will be interesting to see how each team approaches the regular-season matchup.

Star Power: Kylie Leibacher (Margaretta)

Predicted winner: Margaretta

Region 10- Lexington

District – Columbus 1

Top Seeds: Worthington Christian (1), Africentric (2), Harvest Prep (11), Bishop Ready (12)

Best potential matchup: Worthington Christian vs. Africentric in the district final. Clearly the top two teams in this district, they are also both in the AP poll, with Worthington Christian at No. 4 and Africentric at No. 8.

Star Power: Kamryn Grant, Samairah Thompson (Africentric); Abbie Riddle, Caroline Berlekamp (Liberty Union); Blessing King, Meghan Mayotte (Worthington Christian)

Predicted winner: Africentric

Region 10- Lexington

District – Northwest 2 Anthony Wayne

Top Seeds: Bloomdale Elmwood (1), Wauseon (2), Millbury Lake (3), Montpelier (4)

Best potential matchup: Elmwood vs. Wauseon in the district final. Two of the best teams in the district, Elmwood has just one loss on the season and Wauseon has just one loss since 2022 began.

Star Power: Brooklyn Thrash (Elmwood)

Predicted winner: Bloomdale Elmwood

Region 10- Lexington

District – Northwest 3 Elida

Top Seeds: Findlay Liberty-Benton (1), Delphos Jefferson (2), Ottawa-Glandorf (3), Van Buren (4)

Best potential matchup: Liberty-Benton vs. Jefferson in the district final. If both teams can win out in the regular season, they will enter the postseason with just one loss each.

Star Power: Lauren Gerken (Liberty-Benton); Riley Rismiller (Coldwater);

Predicted winner: Findlay Liberty-Benton

Region 11 - Logan

District – Southeast 2

Top Seeds: Winchester Eastern (2), Proctorville Fairland (3), New Lexington (6), Portsmouth West (7)

Best potential matchup: Fairland vs. Eastern in the district final. The top team in the district against a team that has lost just one game since the start of December.

Star Power: Bree Allen, Tomi Hinkle (Fairland); Mackenzie Hurd (Nelsonville-York); Aubri Spicer (New Lexington); Rylee Leonard (Eastern)

Predicted winner: Proctorville Fairland

Region 11 - Logan

District – East 2

Top Seeds: Berlin Hiland (2), Beverly Fort Frye (3), Magnolia Sandy Valley (5), Bellaire (7)

Best potential matchup: Hiland vs. Fort Frye in the district final. The top two teams in the region both play good defense, which could make for a low-scoring slugfest for the district title.

Star Power: Aila Miller (Hiland); Hannah Archer (Fort Frye); Abbey Parker (Sandy Valley)

Predicted winner: Berlin Hiland

Region 11 - Logan

District – East 1

Top Seeds: Belmont Union Local (1), Zoarville Tuscarawas Valley (4), Zanesville West Muskingum (6), McConnelsville Morgan (8)

Best potential matchup: Belmont Union vs. Tuscarawas Valley in the district final. Belmont has just one loss against a team from Ohio this season and it came in the season’s first week, while Tuscarawas Valley has just one loss since Dec. 29.

Star Power: Reagan Vinskovich, Torre Kildow (Belmont Union); McKayla Dunkle (Cadiz Harrison Central)

Predicted winner: Belmont Union Local

Region 11 - Logan

District – Southeast 1

Top Seeds: Wheelersburg (1), Leesburg Fairfield (4), Frankfort Adena (5), Seaman North Adams (8)

Best potential matchup: Wheelersburg vs. Leesburg Fairfield in the district final. The top team in the AP Poll (Wheelersburg) against the team that finished just outside the top 10 in the poll (Fairfield). Wheelersburg will be looking to continue its perfect season, while Fairfield has just two losses on the year.

Star Power: Abbey Hicks (Dawson-Bryant)

Predicted winner: Wheelersburg

Region 12 - Springfield

District – Columbus 2

Top Seeds: Cardington-Lincoln (3), Richwood North Union (4), Milford Center Fairbanks (5), Amanda-Clearcreek (6)

Best potential matchup: Cardington-Lincoln vs. North Union in the district final. Two teams that are in the top 12 of the AP poll in Division III, they have just three losses between them, and each has just one loss since Dec. 1.

Predicted winner: Richwood North Union

Region 12 - Springfield

District – Springfield 3

Top Seeds: Arcanum (1), Sabina East Clinton (3), Cincinnati Madeira (5), Camden Preble Shawnee (7)

Best potential matchup: Arcanum vs. East Clinton in the district final. The two top teams in the district, Arcanum will be trying to keep a winning streak going that started after a loss on Dec. 16, its only blemish this season.

Star Power: Hailey Unger, Madelyn Fearon (Arcanum)

Predicted winner: Arcanum

Region 12 - Springfield

District – Springfield 1

Top Seeds: Cincinnati Mariemont (2), Waynesville (2), Tipp City Bethel (4), Seven Hills (4)

Best potential matchup: Mariemont vs. Waynesville in the district final. Both enter the districts as a No. 2 seed and should they navigate through their side of the bracket, the two teams could engage in a defensive battle for the district crown.

Star Power: Isabella Cassoni (Waynesville); Stephanie Altstaetter (Indian Lake)

Predicted winner: Cincinnati Mariemont

Region 12 - Springfield

District – Springfield 2

Top Seeds: Purcell Marian (1), Greenon (3), Miami East (5), West-Liberty Salem (10), Gamble Montessori (10)

Best potential matchup: Purcell Marian vs. Miami East in the district final. Miami East has done a nice job of holding teams down defensively, while Purcell Marian has been a high-scoring team all season.

Star Power: Dee Alexander (Purcell Marian)

Predicted winner: Purcell Marian