One week after the sectional brackets for the girls’ high school basketball tournament was announced, it was the boys’ turn to find out where they would begin their first round of sectional play.
Eastern Brown earned a six seed in their Southeast Division bracket and will take on 11th-seeded Paint Valley on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. at Waverly High School. Should the Warriors win, they would square off against the winner of third-seeded Portsmouth and 14th-seeded West Union on Feb. 20 at Waverly. Eastern lost to Portsmouth by 10 points earlier in the season, but won both matches against West Union by double-digits.
In the Southwest District, Western Brown will travel to Mason High School in their Division II bracket. The team will face a familiar foe, as the 12th-seeded Broncos will square off against 10-seed and fellow Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference member Batavia at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20. The Broncos lost by 20 points to the Bulldogs on the road in mid-December and fell by three points at home in January. A win would put the Broncos against the winner of top-seeded Aiken and 16-seed Taylor on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m.
The Ripley Blue Jays have a much closer drive to handle than any of the other teams. The Jays travel to Western Brown for their Division III sectional match-up on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m. against second-seeded Roger Bacon. A victory would pit the Blue Jays against 20th-seeded Deer Park on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m.
The Bethel-Tate Tigers will also square off against an SBAAC foe in their first sectional match. The Tigers will head to Loveland High School on Friday, Feb. 19 for an 8:30 p.m. tilt against the Blanchester Wildcats. The Wildcats won both regular-season matches, defeating the Tigers by five points in December and by 10 points earlier this month. Bethel would square off against the winner of top-seeded Purcell Marian and 21st-seed Riverview East in the second round, held Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Georgetown and Fayetteville will both head to Taylor High School for their first-round matches. Georgetown drew the 11th seed and will battle two-seed Cincinnati Christian on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m. A victory would pit the G-Men against 12th-seeded New Miami on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 7:30.
The Fayetteville Rockets are in the upper half of that bracket. They earned a first-round bye and will take on the winner of Gamble Montessori and Felicity-Franklin on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. The Rockets beat Felicity by 27 points earlier this month.
