Local Sports

Big Red, Harrison Central the area’s highest seeds

East District boys sectional tournament pairings set, tournament begins Feb. 25

By ED LOOMAN February 10, 2020 3 min read

Steubenville’s Cade Kernahan and his teammates each earned No. 5 seed in the upcoming East District sectional tournament, which begins on Feb. 25. - Andrew Grimm

CAMBRIDGE -- Seedings and pairings for the 2020 Eastern District boys basketball tournament were announced Sunday.

Steubenville and Harrison Central earned the highest seedings among local teams. Big Red is seeded fifth in Division II and the Huskies have the same ranking in the Division III event.

Mike Haney's club will open tournament play on Feb. 25 at home against ninth-seeded Cambridge. Should the Big Red be successful, it then will host No. 8 Carrollton on Feb. 29.

Indian Creek got the 18th seed in the Div. II draw. The Redskins will travel to top-seeded Meadowbrook on Feb. 25.

Harrison Central will host either No. 8 Morgan or Buckeye Trail, the 11th seed, on Feb. 25.

A victory in the game will advance the Huskies to the next round where they will meet either third-seeded Union Local or Buckeye Local, the 14th seed, on Feb. 28.

Edison is seeded 15th in Div. III and opens on Feb. 25 at number four Tuscarawas Valley.

West Lafayette Ridgewood is the top Division III seed.

In Division IV, Toronto is the 10th seed and will host No. 11 Tuscarawas Central Catholic on Feb. 25.

Catholic Central is seeded 13th and will open on the road against Shenandoah, the fifth seed.

Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans is the top Div. IV seed.

It also was announced Sunday that the Ohio High School Athletic Association will again use a "mercy rule" during tournament play this year.

Any time a score differential reaches 35 points during the second half, a running clock will be utilized. The clock only will stop for timeouts or injuries. Should the score drop below 30 points, the clock will revert to regular timing.

The pairings (all tips are set for 7 p.m.) for the various division are as follows:

Division II East 1:

Tuesday, Feb. 25:

Cambridge (9) at Steubenville (5)

Zanesville (14) at Maysville (12)

Saturday, Feb. 29:

Cambridge/Steubenville winner vs. Carrollton (8), game at higher seeded team's site

Indian Valley (16) at East Liverpool (4)

Winners advance to the district semifinals

Zanesville/Maysville winner at John Glenn (6)

River View (17) at New Philadelphia (2)

Winners advance to the district semifinals

Division II East 2:

Tuesday, Feb. 25:

Indian Creek (18) at Meadowbrook (1)

Saturday, Feb. 29:

Creek/Meadowbrook winner vs. Philo (19), game at higher seeded team's site

Claymont (12) at Beaver Local (10)

Winners advance to district semifinals

West Holmes (15) at Tri-Valley (3)

Minerva (13) at St. Clairsville (7)

Winners advance to district semifinals

Division III:

Saturday, Feb. 22:

Buckeye Trail (11) at Morgan (8)

Tuesday, Feb. 25:

Buckeye Trail/Morgan winner at Harrison Central (5)

Buckeye Local (14) at Union Local (3)