Girls basketball draw: Highland gets second seed in Division III

The Highland girls basketball team had the second seed in Division III when the tournament draw took place Sunday afternoon. The Hornets (19-2) chose the Northeast 5 bracket, where the district final will take place Feb. 28 in Wooster. They'll open with 41st-seeded Garrett Morgan (2-7), whose two wins have come via forfeit, at home on Feb. 21. From there, Highland will host the winner of No. 29 Westlake (7-14) and No. 30 CVCA (5-15). No. 7 Rocky River (16-4), No. 25 Youngstown Ursuline (9-9) and No. 40 Alliance (5-14) are on the other side of the bracket. In D-IV, Cloverleaf (16-4) earned the 10th seed and jumped on a potential rubber match with ninth-seeded Metro Athletic Conference foe Streetsboro (14-6) in a Northeast 2 District semifinal on Feb. 24. First, however, the Colts must deal with No. 30 Ravenna (4-17) at home on Feb. 19 in a bracket whose final will be in Lordstown. Buckeye (6-13) was the 25th seed and will play at No. 23 Hubbard (10-10) on Feb. 19 in the Northeast 5 District ahead of No. 4 Lutheran East (8-6), which took a bye. The district final is at Nordonia. Black River (6-14) and Medina Christian (4-8) are in the D-VI, Northeast 1 District. The teams play each other on Wednesday in regular-season action. The 29th-seeded Pirates will travel to No. 22 Hillsdale (9-13) for a play-in game on Feb. 17. The winner will play at No. 5 Saliesville Southern (21-0) on Feb. 19. The Knights, whose victory over non-OHSAA Christian Community did not county toward its MaxPreps RPI rating, will travel to 10th-seeded Columbia (15-7) for a district quarterfinal Feb. 19. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Schedule Division III, Northeast 5 Feb. 21 (4 p.m.) — Alliance at Rocky River, Garrett Morgan at Highland, CVCA at Westlake. Feb. 25 (7 p.m.) — Alliance/Rocky River winner vs. Youngstown Ursuline, Garrett Morgan/Highland winner vs. CVCA/Westlake winner. Feb. 28 (1 p.m.) — District final at Wooster. Division IV, Northeast 2 Feb. 19 (7 p.m.) — Akron East at West Branch, Field at Salem, Orange at Streetsboro, Ravenna at Cloverleaf. Feb. 24 (7 p.m.) — Akron East/West Branch winner vs. Field/Salem winner, Orange/Streetsboro winner vs. Ravenna/Cloverleaf winner. Feb. 28 (4 p.m.) — District final at Lordstown Division IV, Northeast 5 Feb. 19 (7 p.m.) — Buckeye at Hubbard, Firelands at Cortland Lakeview, West Geauga at Holy Name. Feb. 24 (7 p.m.) — Buckeye/Hubbard winner at Lutheran West, Lakeview/Firelands winner vs. West Geauga/Holy Name winner. Feb. 28 (4 p.m.) — District final at Nordonia. Division VI, Northeast 1 Feb. 17 (7 p.m.) — Black River at Hillsdale. Feb. 19 (7 p.m.) — Hillsdale/Black River winner at Salinesville Southern, Medina Christian at Columbia, Our Lady of the Elms at Mineral Ridge, Waterloo at Waynedale. Feb. 24 (7 p.m.) — District semifinals. Feb. 28 (1 p.m.) — District final at Girard.