Having already clinched a share of the Premier Athletic Conference championship — which they can wrap up outright with a win at North on Tuesday — the Geneva Eagles were accorded another honor Sunday.

Coach Nancy Barbo’s squad, which improved to 16-1 on Saturday with a victory against visiting South on Saturday afternoon, were a near-unanimous choice as the No. 1 seed at the Division II Pymatuning Valley sectional-district tournament draw held at Perry High School.

The Eagles will meet the winner of a sectional semifinal between eighth-seeded Conneaut (11-7) and ninth-seeded Jefferson (7-8) in a sectional championship game Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. The Spartans and the Falcons, who play for a second time this season Saturday night at Falcon Gym in Jefferson, will tip off the tournament with Round III of their matchup this winter Feb. 20 at 6 p.m.

Defending district champion Lake Catholic (12-6) is seeded second, while Perry (12-4) and Chagrin Falls (12-5) are seeded third and fourth, respectively.

Lakeview (12-4), West Geauga (8-9) and Harvey (12-4) are the fifth, sixth and seventh seeds, while Edgewood (2-13) is the tournament’s 11th seed.

Kenston, which bowed in the district final at PV a year ago, 65-57, has moved up to Division I.

Coach Ryan Dolatowski’s Perry squad will meet the winner of a first-round clash between Lakeview and Harvey in a sectional final Feb. 23 at 7:30, after Geneva plays the Conneaut-Jefferson winner for a sectional title.

In the other half of the bracket, Edgewood and Lake Catholic will play in a sectional semifinal Feb. 22, with the winner moving on to take on NDCL in a sectional final Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m.

In the first game on Feb. 25, No. 4 seed Chagrin Falls and No. 6 seed West Geauga will play for a sectional title at 6 p.m.

The district semifinals will be contested Thursday, March 1 at 6 and 7:30, with the district championship game slated for Saturday, March 3 at 2 p.m.

The tournament, which has been held at the D-II level at PV since it was moved from Edgewood in time for the 2006-07 season after being held at Edgewood 1991-92 as a district and 1987-88 as a sectional, was supposed to consist of 12 teams.

However, Orange canceled the remainder of its girls basketball season two weeks ago.

Geneva was the top seed in 2008-09, when it was upended by No. 3 seed Lake Catholic in a district semifinal.

The following season, Barbo & Co. were again named the top seed and made it hold up as the Eagles beat fifth-seeded Kenston in the district title game.

Last season, Geneva entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed, but defeated fifth-seeded Lakeview in a sectional semifinal, then bested third-seeded Perry in a sectional title tilt. The Eagles were defeated in a district semifinal by second-seeded Kenston, 35-32.



Division I

Three area teams will be part of the sectional-district at Perry — Riverside, Madison and Lakeside.

The Beavers (2-15) will play Brush in a sectional semifinal Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m., with the winner moving on the play North (14-3) in a sectional title clash Feb. 24 at 7:30.

The Blue Streaks (7-10) will play South (7-10) in an All-PAC sectional semifinal Deb. 22 at 6, with the winner advancing to play Mayfield in a sectional championship game Feb. 25 at 1 p.m.

The Dragons (1-16) will play Mentor in a sectional final Feb. 22 at 7:30, with the survivor moving on the play Chardon in a sectional final Feb. 25 at 2:30.

The district semifinals will be played Wednesday, Feb. 29, with the district championship title being contested Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m.

The seeds for the Perry sectional-district tournament were not reported.

This seasons marks the 18th straight season Perry has hosted this tournament. Previous to that, its only other home was Mentor, which played host to the event from the season tournament basketball began in the Buckeye State (1975-76) through the 1993-94 season.

It was moved to Perry for the 1994-95 season.



Division III

Information for the sectional-district involving area schools Grand Valley and Pymatuning Valley — which will now be contested at Mineral Ridge High School after spending the last five years at Lakeside High School — was not reported.