BY JACOB MCDERMITT
Seedings are out for the boys and girls basketball state tournaments. The boys team enter as the 8th seed and the girls enter as a 2nd seed.
The boys basketball team was placed 8th in the Division I Barberton district and will play number 9 seeded Firestone on February 28th at 7:00 p.m. at Wadsworth High School. The two did not play in the regular season and the only common opponents they shared were Ellet and Nordonia. Both teams beat Nordonia and lost to Ellet. Wadsworth beat Nordonia twice, 53-50 and 56-51. Firestone only played Nordonia once and won 69-67. However, Firestone dropped both of their match-ups against Ellet by double digits, 88-68 and 45-34, while Wadsworth only lost to them by a point, 48-47.
If the Grizzlies manage to win that match-up, it will set up a third game against the Stow-Munroe Bulldogs. That game will be played on March 3 at 7:00 p.m. at Stow. The Grizzlies lost two hard-fought regular season games to the Suburban League champion Bulldogs, 57-51 and 74-59.
“We know that with this group we have a great opportunity ahead of us but we have to focus on the here and the now and take it one game at a time,” said Head Coach Mike Schmeltzer, Jr.
The girls basketball team was placed 2nd in the Division I Medina District and received a first round bye. They will face number 7 seeded Cuyahoga Falls on February 22 at 7:00 p.m. at Wadsworth High School. Cuyahoga Falls is coming off of a 53-40 victory over the 10th seeded Kenmore-Garfield. The Grizzlies faced Falls twice in the regular season, blowing them out both times, 45-29 and 59-18. If they win, the Grizzlies will face the winner of #3 Barberton and #8 Brunswick on February 26th at 7:00 p.m. at Medina High School. After that, they could potentially face top seeded Canton McKinley.
“We knew we could get the one or two seed, especially with McKinley moving in. Our district has always been challenging but with them in it, it will be a big test. In order to get to that McKinley game we have to win every game before that, so we can’t look too far ahead. Our goal is to win the first game and then build from there no matter where or who we are playing,” says senior point guard and Toledo commit Sophia Fortner.
