For the second consecutive season, the Geneva Eagles have earned the top seed at the Pymatuning Valley Division II sectional-district tournament.
This time, however, it was by unanimous vote.
Coach Nancy Barbo’s Eagles (13-3), who have already clinched a share of the Premier Athletic Conference championship in the first season in the league, received all 11 first-place votes for the top seeds at the tournament drawing, held Sunday afternoon at Perry High School.
The Eagles have some familiar company in regards to being a high seed at PV as coach Tony Pasanen’s Conneaut Spartans (13-5) were voted the second seed, coach Rod Holmes’ Jefferson Falcons (12-6) received the third seed.and coach Ryan Dolotowski’s Perry Pirates (11-6) received the fourth seed.
The Eagles, Falcons and Spartans were the only area squads to earn a top-four seed Sunday.
The big surprise came in the draw for the Division III sectional-district, to be contested at Lakeside Gymnasium.
Despite a 16-2 record and being ranked 11th in the weekly Associated Press state poll last week, coach Jeff Compan’s Pymatuning Valley Lakers — who just clinched a second-straight Northeastern Athletic Conference championship with a victory against Mathews on Thursday night, were snubbed in regards to being voted a top-four seed, a titanic-sized chip you can bet the Lakers will be wearing on their shoulders when they begin postseason play.
Barbo opted for a first-round bye and her Eagles will meet the winner of a sectional semifinal between Edgewood (6-11) and Lakeview (4-13) — to be played on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. — in a sectional championship game Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.
Pasanen chose to place his Spartans in Geneva’s half of the bracket and his Spartans will meet eight seed Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin in a sectional semifinal on Feb. 22 at 7:30, with the winner advancing to take on seventh-seeded West Geauga (8-8) in a sectional final on Feb. 25 at 7:30. The second seed is the highest for a Conneaut squad since coach Tom Ritari’s 2000-01 Spartans were the top seed at Edgewood — and made good on it by earning Conneaut’s only district championship.
Holmes chose a first-round bye and his Falcons will play the winner of a first-round game between sixth-seeded Lake Catholic (7-9) and 11th-seeded Harvey (6-12) — to be played on Feb. 23 at 7 — in a sectional final on Feb. 27 at 7:30.
The first sectional final that night will feature Perry against CVC Chagrin Division rival Kenston — the five seed — at 6 p.m.
In Division III, PV will play Hawken in a sectional semifinal on Feb. 22 at 6, with the winner moving on to play fourth-seeded Berkshire in a sectional final on Feb. 25 at 7:30.
The other local entry at Lakeside, Grand Valley, will meet second-seeded Gilmour Academy in a first-round game on Feb. 25 at 7:30.
In D-I at Perry, Madison will play the winner of a first-round game between South and Mayfield on Feb. 25 in the nightcap that day, while Riverside drew top-seed Mentor for a first-round game on Feb. 22.
In D-IV at Hubbard, SS. John and Paul will play Wellsville in a first-round game on Feb. 20 at 2 p.m.
All four tournament brackets will appear in our Tuesday edition.
Sports
Eagles fly to top seed
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Comforts of home
A trip home led to a meteoric improvement for Ohio State Buckeye Mallory Kreider, who destroyed her personal best in the 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) by 52 seconds Friday night during the Spire Division I Indoor Track and Field Invitational.
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Look out for Lakeside
Lakeside coach Rob Pisano has been waiting for this moment. And waiting. And waiting.
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Falcons fall
As the Jefferson Falcons’ rise to respectability under first-year coach Jeremy Huber continues, they have continuously improved on certain aspects of their game.
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A case for the offense
Forget offense versus defense. When Edgewood hosted Conneaut on Friday night, It was offense versus offense. And the Warriors won, 69-59.
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Familiar refrain for Torok & Co.
Geneva boys basketball coach Scott Torok is no Bill Murray. However, he may feel like a character in the actor’s movie “Groundhog Day.”
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Perry raids Harvey
The Perry boys can celebrate the fact they have now won twice in a row, and they deserve to do that. But along with Friday’s 66-54 win against visiting Harvey came a sight that nobody ever wants to see.
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Scholastic Statistics:
BOYS BASKETBALL
PREMIER
Lakeside 89, Madison 76
at Madison -
Scholastic Schedule:
SATURDAY, FEB. 11
Girls Basketball
n Madison at Chardon (1)
n Lakeview at Edgewood (1)
n Conneaut at Jefferson (6)
n Lakeside at Riverside (1)
n SJP at Badger (2, varsity only) -
Riverside sneaks past Edgewood
Riverside wrestling coach Scott Blank learned a good deal of what he knows from Edgewood coach Greg Stolfer as a former Warrior great. Thursday, he used a bit of that knowledge to get the better of his old coach as the Beavers bested the Warriors, 31-28, at Edgewood.
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Madison rolls past Geneva
Madison recovered from coming out on the short end of a pin in the first match of the night by taking six of the next seven matches against Geneva and capped the night with pins from their last pair of grapplers in dismantling the Eagles, 49-17.
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