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Welcome to our second edition of
Trail Trash as we have hit the halfway point of the tournament season.
The Swami started fast and had a good overall record with his picks, but
only hit on five of the twelve district winners.
As you view the Davey1.com home
page, you will note that we have added two schools to the prestigious
Davey1.com Hall of Fame. D1 Norwalk and D4 Edgerton are the newest
entrants bringing total membership to fifteen teams. We started the
Davey1.com Hall of Fame following the 2010-2011 season to honor those
teams from Northwest Ohio that finish the regular season undefeated.
With so much focus placed on tournament success, perfection during the
regular season seems to be diminished somewhat when a team fails to make
a run to Columbus. Regardless of a team’s schedule, perfection during
the regular season is extremely difficult to achieve. Otherwise, more
than fifteen teams would have done it. With Ohio moving to a twenty-two
game regular season next year, this accomplishment will become even more
difficult.
Of the thirteen teams that went
undefeated prior to the 2011-2012 season, only two won state
championships. Those were D2 Upper Sandusky in 2005 and D4 New
Knoxville in 2008. Two teams were state runner-ups with four teams
falling in the regional finals. Five of the teams did not advance past
the district tournament. Both Norwalk and Edgerton are still alive in
the 2012 tournament. Regardless of what the next two weeks bring, we
salute you.
Time to move forward with our
picks.
Top of Page
DIVISION
I
Eight of the thirteen teams
ranked in the final Associated Press D1 poll have reached the regional.
Top ranked Columbus Northland was upset by Reynoldsburg in a district
final game. Norwalk is the only undefeated team remaining in D1. Four
teams (Cincinnati Moeller, Cincinnati Withrow, Lakewood St. Edward,
Mentor) in this year’s regional also made it to the regional in 2011.
St. Ed’s is making their eighth straight trip to the regional while
Mentor has five straight district titles. Moeller is in the regional
for the third year in a row. With Northland’s loss, there is no clear
favorite in D1.
REGIONALS
UNIVERSITY OF AKRON: # 5 Toledo
Whitmer and #11 Norwalk are ranked teams in this split regional.
Whitmer and Norwalk will play their regional semi-final at the
University of Toledo while Medina and Elyria will play their regional
final at the University of Akron. The regional final will be played at
the JAR in Akron. This is Norwalk’s first season in D1. The Truckers’
last district title came in 1974. Medina finished the regular season
with a 5-15 record. The Bees have been bolstered by the return of 6’9”
Michigan State recruit Kenny Kaminski.
Semifinals-Toledo Whitmer over
Norwalk; Medina over Elyria
Final-Toledo Whitmer over Medina
CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY: #3
Mentor, #10 Warren Harding, and #11 Lakewood St. Edward are ranked teams
at the Wolstein Center. Shaker Heights knocked off #13 Garfield Heights
in their district final. This is a very balanced regional with any of
the four teams having a good shot at advancing to Columbus.
Semifinals-Mentor over Warren
Harding; Shaker Heights over Lakewood St. Edward
Final-Shaker Heights over Mentor
COLUMBUS FAIRGROUNDS: #4
Pickerington Central and #7 Olentangy Liberty are ranked teams at the
Barn. In additional to Reynoldsburg’s win over Northland, Liberty
eliminated #8 Columbus Walnut Ridge in a district final. The district
title was Olentangy Liberty’s first in school history
Semifinals-Reynoldsburg over
Canton McKinley; Pickerington Central over Olentangy Liberty
Final-Pickerington Central over
Reynoldsburg
XAVIER UNIVERSITY: #6 Cincinnati
Moeller is the only ranked team at the Cintas Center. Fairfield
eliminated defending state champion and second ranked Cincinnati LaSalle
in a district semifinal. Fairfield’s district title was their first
since 1988. Middletown coach Josh Andrews led Cincinnati Princeton to a
D1 state runner-up finish in 2009.
Semifinals-Cincinnati Moeller
over Middletown; Fairfield over Cincinnati Withrow
Final-Cincinnati Moeller over
Fairfield
STATE
For the fifteenth consecutive
season, D1 will close out the State Tournament. The semifinal games
will be played Friday evening. D1 is guaranteed a new state champion.
Semifinals-Shaker Heights over
Toledo Whitmer; Cincinnati Moeller over Pickerington Central
Final-Cincinnati Moeller over
Shaker Heights
Top of Page
DIVISION II
Four of the twelve teams ranked
in the final Associated Press D2 poll have reached the regional level.
Top ranked Dayton Dunbar is the only undefeated team in D2. Five teams
(Chillicothe, defending D2 state champion Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary,
2011 D2 state runner-up Dayton Thurgood Marshall, Struthers, Dayton
Dunbar) also advanced to the D2 regional in 2011. Akron SVSM and
Thurgood Marshall have won four consecutive district titles while Dayton
Dunbar has won three straight. Defending D3 state champion Cincinnati
Taft is in D2 for 2012 and is appearing in their third straight
regional. The D2 state champion should come out of the Kettering
Fairmont regional.
REGIONALS
CANTON CIVIC CENTER: #5 Akron
East and #10 Mentor Lake Catholic are ranked teams at Canton. Akron
SVSM eliminated #2 Alliance in a district final. St. Vincent finished
the regular season at 11-9, the same record as the 2011 team that went
on to win the D2 state title. Akron East’s only loss is to D4 Richmond
Heights.
Semifinals-Mentor Lake Catholic
over Struthers; Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary over Akron East
Final-Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary
over Lake Catholic
KETTERING FAIRMONT: #1 Dayton
Dunbar and #6 Cincinnati Taft are ranked teams at the Trent Arena. This
is the top D2 regional with Dayton Thurgood Marshall also a strong
contender. Thurgood Marshall knocked off #4 Franklin in a district
semifinal while Columbus Eastmoor advanced by eliminating #7 Plain City
Jonathan Alder in their district final. Dunbar has two players that
started on the Wolverines’ 2010 D2 state championship team. Taft’s four
losses were to out-of-state teams in December.
Semifinals-Dayton Dunbar over
Columbus Eastmoor Academy; Cincinnati Taft over Dayton Thurgood Marshall
Final-Dayton Dunbar over
Cincinnati Taft
OHIO UNIVERSITY: No ranked teams
at the Convo. On paper, this appears to be the weakest of the D2
regionals. St. Clairsville eliminated #8 East Liverpool in their
district final. Junior Dan Monteroso of St. Clairsville is one of the
top scorers in the state. Waverly’s last district championship came in
1980 while New Philadelphia’s last trip to the regional was in 1967.
Semifinals-Chillicothe over St.
Clairsville; New Philadelphia over Waverly
Final-Chillicothe over New
Philadelphia
UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO: No ranked teams at Savage Arena. Despite the lack
of ranked teams, this shapes up as a good regional. Sandusky Perkins
defeated #4 Defiance in their district final after eliminating #12
Wauseon in a district semifinal. Perkins had never won a district game
prior to this season. Elida eliminated #11 Lexington in a district
final. This is Columbus Brookhaven’s first year as a D2 school.
Semifinals-Columbus Brookhaven
over Sandusky Perkins; Elida over Cleveland Benedictine
Final-Elida over Columbus
Brookhaven
STATE
D2 will play their semifinal
games on Friday with the championship game scheduled for late Saturday
afternoon. Two defending state champions from 2011, Akron SVSM and
Cincinnati Taft, remain alive in D2 at the start of regional play.
Semifinals-Dayton Dunbar over
Akron St. Vincent-St. Marys; Elida over Chillicothe
Final-Dayton Dunbar over Elida
Top of Page
DIVISION
III
Seven of the eleven teams ranked
in the final Associated Press poll have advance to the D3 regional.
Worthington Christian upset top ranked and previously undefeated
Bloom-Carroll in their district final. Six teams (Burton Berkshire,
Orrville, Cincinnati Summit Country Day, Ottawa-Glandorf, Chesapeake,
2011 state semifinalist Portsmouth) also advanced to the D3 regional
level in 2011. Orrville and Chesapeake are making their third
consecutive trips to the regional. St. Bernard Roger Bacon has moved to
D3 after winning D2 district titles in 2010 and 2011. Defending state
champion Cincinnati Taft has moved up to D2 for 2012. The D3 picture is
just as jumbled as it was at the start of the tournament.
REGIONALS
CANTON FIELDHOUSE: #7 Bedford
St. Peter Chanel is the only ranked team at Canton. Burton Berkshire
eliminated #10 Newton Falls in their district final after eliminating #2
and previously undefeated Leavittsburg LaBrae in a district semifinal.
Chanel moved up from D4 this season. This marks the second year in a
row that Orrville advanced to the regional despite a 7-13 regular season
record.
Semifinals-Bedford St. Peter
Chanel over New Middleton Springfield; Burton Berkshire over Orrville
Final-Bedford St. Peter Chanel
over Burton Berkshire
KETTERING FAIRMONT: #3 Cincinnati Summit Country Day and #8 Versailles
are ranked teams at Kettering. Summit Country Day’s only loss is to D2
Cincinnati Taft. St. Bernard Roger Bacon is the sleeper in this
regional. The Spartans played one of the better schedules of any D3
team.
Semifinals-St. Bernard Roger
Bacon over Columbus Academy; Cincinnati Country Day over Versailles
Final-Cincinnati Summit Country
Day over St. Bernard Roger Bacon
BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY:
#5 Lima Central Catholic is the only ranked team at BG. Only three of
#1 Bloom-Carroll’s games had been closer than ten points prior to the
upset loss to Worthington Christian. LCC and Ottawa-Glandorf have
played the past two seasons in district championship games. New London
is riding a sixteen game winning streak.
Semifinals-Lima Central Catholic
over Worthington Christian; Ottawa-Glandorf over New London
Final-Lima Central Catholic over
Ottawa-Glandorf
OHIO UNIVERSITY: #4 Chesapeake,
#6 Portsmouth, and #11 Ironton are ranked teams at the Convo.
Chesapeake’s only loss is to D2 Circleville Logan Elm. This has all the
makings of an excellent regional. Chesapeake won the OU regional in
2010 with Portsmouth capturing the title in 2011. Coshocton’s district
title is their first since 1983.
Semifinals-Portsmouth over
Chesapeake; Ironton over Coshocton
Final-Ironton over Portsmouth
STATE
The D3 semifinals will be the
late games on Thursday with the championship game played early Saturday
afternoon. A new state champion is guaranteed in D3. Also guaranteed
is that the championship game will be more entertaining than in 2011.
Semifinals-Cincinnati Summit
Country Day over Bedford St. Peter Chanel; Lima Central Catholic over
Ironton
Final-Cincinnati Summit Country
Day over Lima Central Catholic
Top of Page
DIVISION
IV
Seven of the twelve teams ranked
by the Associated Press in their final poll have advanced to the D4
regional. Top ranked Jackson Center and Edgerton are the only
undefeated teams in D4. Six teams (Dayton Jefferson, Manchester,
defending D4 state champion Berlin Hiland, Windham, Richmond Heights,
Edgerton) return after advancing to the D4 regional in 2011. Manchester
and Dayton Jefferson are making a third straight appearance in the
regional tournament. Columbus Africentric, a 2011 state semifinalist in
D3, has also advanced to D4 regional play. Berlin Hiland has to be
considered the favorite in D4 although repeating is difficult.
REGIONALS
KETTERING FAIRMONT: #1 Jackson
Center and #12 Dayton Jefferson are ranked teams at Kettering Fairmont.
St. Henry eliminated #5 Fort Recovery in their district final. This is
the most balanced of the D4 regionals.
Semifinals-St. Henry over
Jackson Center; Dayton Jefferson over Lockland
Final-St. Henry over Dayton
Jefferson
WAVERLY/OHIO DOMINICAN/LOGAN: #7
Newark Catholic and #9 Columbus Africentric are ranked teams in the
roadmap regional. For some reason, the Athens Regional has no games
being played in Athens. The regional semi-final game between Columbus
Africentric and Newark Catholic will be played at Ohio Dominican
University in Columbus while the regional semi-final between Manchester
and Beaver Eastern will be played at Waverly High School. The regional
final will be played at Logan High School.
Semifinals-Manchester over
Beaver Eastern; Columbus Africentric over Newark Catholic
Final-Columbus Africentric over
Manchester
CANTON FIELDHOUSE: #2 Berlin
Hiland and #4 Richmond Heights are ranked teams at Canton. Hiland
eliminated #6 Zanesville Rosecrans in overtime in their district final
while Richmond Heights defeated #10 Cleveland Villa Angela St. Joseph
also in overtime in a district final. Hiland’s only loss is to D1
Canton GlenOak while Richmond Height’s lone loss is to D1 Shaker
Heights. Is the Hiland/Richmond Heights game for the state
championship?
Semifinals-Richmond Heights over
Windham; Berlin Hiland over Mogadore
Final-Berlin Hiland over
Richmond Heights
BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY: #3 Edgerton is the only ranked team at
the Stroh Center. Both Arlington and Maumee Valley Country Day are
making their initial appearance in a regional tournament. Maumee
Valley’s only loss is to conference rival Gibsonburg.
Semifinals-Arlington over Maumee
Valley Country Day; Edgerton over Colonel Crawford
Final-Arlington over Edgerton
STATE
D4 will kick off the ninetieth
annual Boys State Basketball Tournament on Thursday, March 22. The
championship game will be the early game on Saturday. Hiland could
become the first repeat state champion since Cincinnati North College
Hill turned the trick back in 2007 with their third straight
championship in D3.
Semifinals-Columbus Africentric
over St. Henry; Berlin Hiland over Arlington
Final-Berlin Hiland over
Columbus Africentric
That wraps up Trail Trash for
another year. All facts, fiction, and opinions are those of the
Swami. Contact us
HERE. See you in Columbus if not sooner.
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Publisher: Davey1.com
Brackets: Davey1.com
Predictions: The Swami
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