The girls basketball tournament draw was Sunday, Jan. 31, and it was virtual this season. The entire district tournament will be played at the site of the better seed, giving a home-court advantage to teams in the district semifinal and final rounds. Here’s how the area teams shook out:
Division I
Mount Vernon is seeded 33rd out of 41 teams in the Central District. The Yellow Jackets will travel to sixth-seeded Gahanna Lincoln in the first round on Feb. 16 at 7 p.m., and the winner will face 28th-seeded Thomas Worthington on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
Division II
Highland is seeded 14th and Utica is the 16-seed in the Division II district tournament. The Fighting Scots will travel to 10th-seeded River Valley in the second round on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. The winner will meet top-seeded Granville, 15th-seeded Columbus School for Girls or 17th-seeded Hamilton Township in a district semifinal on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.
Utica travels to second-seeded Bishop Hartley in the second round on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. The winner will meet the winner of seventh-seeded Licking Valley and 12th-seeded Buckeye Valley in a district semifinal on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.
Division III
Cardington-Lincoln is seeded second, Fredericktown is the four-seed, Mount Gilead is the five-seed and Centerburg is seeded 14th in the Division III district tournament.
Though facing a better seed, the Trojans will host 12th-seeded Columbus Academy in the first round on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m., as the Vikings have been running sporting events without fans; Centerburg athletic director Rich Porter said.
Columbus Academy defeated Centerburg 39-34 on Dec. 29, 2020, in Centerburg.
The winner of that game will face the second-seeded Pirates in Cardington in the second round on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
Mount Gilead hosts 15th-seeded Bishop Ready in the first round on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. with the winner hosting 17th-seeded Grandview Heights in the second round on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
The Freddies have a first-round bye and will face the winner of seventh-seeded Liberty Union and ninth-seeded Milford Center Fairbanks in the second round on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
Division IV
Danville is seeded fourth, East Knox is the five-seed and Northmor is the 10-seed in the Division IV district tournament.
The Blue Devils will host 14th-seeded Northside Christian in the first round on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. The winner will host 18th-seeded Shekinah Christian in the second round on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs and the Golden Knights will face off in the second round on Feb. 20 at 1 p.m., as both have first-round byes. The two Knox Morrow Athletic Conference foes split during the regular season, with East Knox winning the first meeting 45-39 on Dec. 5, 2020, in Howard. Northmor took the second contest 48-38 on Jan. 13 in Galion.
The winner faces the winner of third-seeded Fisher Catholic and 13th-seeded Grove City Christian in a district semifinal on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. at the better seed’s site.
WRESTLING
Mount Vernon is in Division I, Highland is in Division II and Cardington, Centerburg, Fredericktown, Mount Gilead, Northmor and Utica are all in Division III for the wrestling tournament. The top four in each weight class advance to the district tournament in each division.
The Yellow Jackets will wrestle at Newark on Feb. 27 for the sectional tournament, and those who advance will head to Hilliard Darby for the district tournament on March 5-6.
The Fighting Scots will be at Licking Valley in the sectional on Feb. 26-17 and Wilmington for the district tournament on March 5-6.
The Division III sectional is at Madison Plains in London on Feb. 26-27, and the district tournament is at Coshocton on March 6-7.
BOWLING
The bowling sectional tournament will take place on Feb. 12-13 for Division II and from Feb. 17-20 for Division I, which was divided into six sections for boys and girls. Both divisions are at HP Lanes in Columbus. Here’s where the area teams will bowl:
Division I
The Mount Vernon girls team bowls in the second section on Feb. 18; and the boys team is in the first section, which bowls on Feb. 19. Sixteen teams and the top 16 individuals not on qualifying teams advance to the district tournament at HP Lanes on Feb. 21.
Division II
Cardington, Centerburg, East Knox, Fredericktown, Highland, Mount Gilead, Northmor and Utica are all in the Division II sectional. The girls will bowl on Feb. 12 and boys on Feb. 13. Twelve teams and the top 12 individuals not on qualifying teams will advance to the district tournament on Feb. 15.
SWIMMING
Dates have not been decided for most of the swimming sectionals. Mount Vernon is scheduled to compete at St. Charles in Division I, and Mount Gilead will compete at Columbus Academy in Division II, both at a date to be determined.
For district qualifying, 24 individual qualifiers and 16 relay teams will qualify to compete. The district meet is on Feb. 18 for Division II and Feb. 21 for Division I at Bowling Green State University, with two sessions: one for boys and one for girls.
For more information, visit cdab.org.
