Top-rated Shelby and No. 2-ranked Buckeye Central lead the way as the girls basketball tournament begins in earnest this week.
Coach Natalie Lantz knows exactly how her players feel. She was a junior point guard on the last Whippets’ team to make it to the state tournament. In 1992, coach Ellen Lawrence guided Shelby (and a precocious point guard then known as Natalie Britt) all the way to the state finals where they were finally stopped 65-55 by Urbana in the Division II title game at St. John Arena.
Now Lantz is on the bench and her team is on a roll.
Shelby was challenged just twice all season, earning a 53-50 victory over Margaretta on Nov. 29, and a 59-52 win at River Valley on Jan. 29. Every other game was decided by at least 14 points, with some monstrous blowouts along the way.
The Whippets captured their fourth consecutive Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference crown and put the finishing touches on a 22-0 campaign that sewed up the No. 1 ranking in the Division II Associated Press poll, where they earned 163 points and 11 first-place votes.
The only remaining goal is a long postseason run. That odyssey begins on Wednesday at 7 p.m., when the top-seeded Whippets tangle with No. 13-seed Tiffin Columbus at 7 p.m. in Bucyrus.
A win would send the Whippets into a sectional championship game against No. 14 Galion, a squad Shelby beat 72-4 and 60-18 in their first two meetings this season.
Buckeye Central has high hopes for a lengthy tournament trail, too.
The Buckettes are taking some serious momentum into the tournament on the heels of Monday night’s 57-46 win at Bellevue. The Lady Red (16-6 overall, 11-1 in the Sandusky Bay, Erie Division) won the SBC, but were unable to handle B.C.
Buckeye Central led all the way, taking a 14-11 first-quarter lead and maintaining a 33-30 halftime edge. A big third period created some much-needed separation, as B.C. opened up a 48-34 advantage heading to the final quarter.
Buckeye Central rolled through its regular-season schedule with a 21-1 record and won the Northern 10 via a perfect 14-0 mark. B.C.’s only loss was to undefeated Shelby, 71-55 on Jan. 4.
The Buckettes captured 129 points in the Division IV AP poll with a pair of first-place votes. Fort Loramie (20-1) and New Madison Tri-Village (20-2) tied atop the Division IV rankings, the only two schools ahead of B.C.
Buckeye Central earned the top seed at the Willard District and took a bye in the first round. B.C. returns to action in this weekend’s sectional final. The Buckettes will play either No. 10-seed Plymouth or 11th-seeded New London, who meet at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Crestview.
The Top Ten teams in the most recent Associated Press Ohio high school girls basketball poll are listed below, with first-place votes in parentheses and won-loss record and total points:
DIVISION I
1. Cincinnati Mt. Notre Dame (14) 20-0 154
2. Akron Hoban 19-0 135
(tie) Dublin Coffman 18-1 135
4. Reynoldsburg (1) 17-2 128
5, Cincinnati Princeton (2) 19-3 104
6. Mason 19-2 101
7. Olmsted Falls 18-2 69
8. Bellbrook (1) 20-2 54
9. Pickerington Central 14-6 29
10. Centerville 17-5 24
Others receiving 12 or more points: Cin. Winton Woods 17. Newark 13. Can. Glenoak 12.
DIVISION II
1. Shelby (11) 22-0 163
2. Kettering Alter (5) 20-1 159
3. Dresden Tri-Valley (1) 19-1 129
4. Granville (1) 17-1 116
5. Alliance Marlington 17-2 81
6. Thornville Sheridan 17-3 77
7. Toledo Central Catholic 17-1 76
8. Columbus Hartley 14-2 53
9. Lancaster Fairfield Union 18-2 47
10. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 13-4 22
Others receiving 12 or more points: Napoleon 21. Canal Fulton Northwest 15.
DIVISION III
1. Wheelersburg (14) 19-0 164
2. Apple Creek Waynedale (1) 18-0 144
3. Cincinnati Purcell Marian (2) 19-1 133
4. Worthington Christian 16-2 84
5. Findlay Liberty-Benton 18-1 73
6. Sardinia Eastern 17-3 69
7. Arcanum (1) 19-2 67
8. Cardington-Lincoln 15-2 63
9. Delphos Jefferson 19-1 51
10. Columbus Africentric 14-4 42
Others receiving 12 or more points: Warrensville Hts. 21.Proctorville Fairland 17. Leesburg Fairfield 12.
DIVISION IV
1. Ft. Loramie (10) 20-1 163
(tie) New Madison Tri-Village (6) 20-2 163
3. New Washington Buckeye Central (2) 21-1 129
4. New Knoxville 19-2 128
5. Waterford 17-3 90
6. Glouster Trimble 16-2 61
7. Tree of Life 18-1 57
8. New Riegel 16-3 54
9. Maria Stein Marion Local 15-6 38
10. Cincinnati Country Day 14-5 19
Others receiving 12 or more points: New Bremen 16. Russia 16. S. Webster 13. Zanesville Rosecrans 13.
