Perkins, Margaretta tip off boys tournament as No. 1 seeds

Perkins is one of two No. 1 seeds in the seven-team Division IV boys basketball Mansfield district. The Pirates will tip off tournament play at home at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 against eighth-seeded Rossford. A win in its opener would match the Pirates (18-2) against a Sandusky Bay Conference opponent in the second round. Fourth-seeded Bellevue (12-8) hosts seventh-seeded Vermilion (8-12) on Feb. 26 with the winner likely facing Perkins at 7:30 p.m. March 3 in a district semifinal in Fremont. Tournament matchups were determined Sunday when coaches filled out brackets. Seeding order was determined by RPI ratings by MaxPreps. Multiple groups are seeded and feed into district brackets, which means multiple top seeds can appear on the same bracket. Top-seeded Ontario (14-6), which placed itself in Perkins' bracket, gets a first-round bye and needs one win — likely against second-seeded Shelby — to play in the district final in nearby Mansfield. The winner of the Mansfield district will face the Fremont district winner in regional play. The Fremont district does not feature a top seed, but two area teams are in that district. Sixth-seeded Clyde (9-11) visits second-seeded Lake (16-3) in a tournament opener at 6 p.m. Feb. 26. Fifth-seeded Port Clinton (14-7) plays at third-seeded Otsego (15-5) at the same time. In the Division III Ontario district, fourth-seeded Sandusky (13-7) will tip off tournament play against ninth-seeded Toledo Woodward (5-14) at 6 p.m. Feb. 25 in Sandusky. A win would match Sandusky against second-seeded Oregon Clay in a sectional final Feb. 27. Clay is 15-5 after starting the season 11-1. Sandusky, Clay and third-seeded Mansfield Senior (15-7) all avoided top-seeded Toledo Central Catholic (15-3) by opting for the Ontario district. Lima Shawnee, a No. 1 seed, is the highest seed in the bottom half of the Ontario bracket. Shawnee, which is 16-5, lost to Sandusky last year in a regional final. Norwalk is the No. 11 seed and visits Mansfield Senior in a tournament opener at 7 p.m. Feb. 27. In Division V, the highest seeds avoided Margaretta by going to another district. The Polar Bears, seeded No. 2 in the Northwest District's Group B, is the highest seed in their district. The Bears (18-3) took a first-round bye and will open tournament play at home at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 against the winner of the Feb. 25 matchup between seventh-seeded Oak Harbor (8-13) and ninth-seeded Edison (9-11). Sixth-seeded Huron (8-12) travels to fourth-seeded Eastwood (12-7) at 7 p.m. Feb. 27. The winner likely gets Margaretta in a Lakota district semifinal March 3. No. 1 seeds Paulding (16-4) and Genoa, which is 20-0, both went to the Napoleon district. One of Huron County's oldest rivalries will get a third meeting this season in a Division VII district. After splitting in the regular season, No. 5 seed St. Paul (12-9) will make the short trip to top-seeded Monroeville (14-5) in a rubber match between the two Firelands Conference rivals at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 in a tournament opener. In the same district Feb. 26, sixth-seeded Danbury (4-17) will visit fourth-seeded Cardinal Stritch (13-9). The winner of that game and the winner between Monroeville and St. Paul will then meet in a district semifinal at 6 p.m. March 5 at Oregon Clay High School. At the Division VII Galion district, second-seeded St. Mary Central Catholic (16-4) hosts eighth-seeded Toledo Horizon Science Academy at 6 p.m. Feb. 26, and No. 3 seed Old Fort (14-7) hosts No. 7 seed Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic (1-18). The two winners face off in a 7:30 p.m. district semifinal March 5 at Oregon Clay. The district title game site shifts back to Galion at 7 p.m. March 7.