Strasburg-Franklin earns top seed, opens tournament at home

Strasburg-Franklin is in the midst of a standout girls basketball season and will try to carry that into the postseason.

The Tigers took a 16-5 record into their final regular-season game Saturday, Feb. 14, at West Holmes. Strasburg-Franklin was 13-0 in the Inter-Valley Conference and was trying to finish a perfect league season.

Strasburg-Franklin and other Division III-VII teams learned their tournament paths Sunday when the Ohio High School Athletic Association released RPI-based seeds and teams were placed into brackets.

Strasburg-Franklin was ranked fourth in the state in Division VII by MaxPreps.com and will enter tournament play as the No. 1 seed in the East Division VII district.

The Tigers chose not to take a first-round bye and will open at home at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 against No. 11 Bridgeport. The winner will face No. 8 Bishop Rosecrans in a sectional final at 1 p.m. Feb. 21. That game will be played in Strasburg if the Tigers advance.

The winner of that sectional final will play either Steubenville Central Catholic or No. 6 Malvern in a district semifinal at 7 p.m. Feb. 25. The district final is scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 28 at a site to be determined. Caldwell, Hannibal River and Frontier are among the top seeds on the other side of the bracket.

Also in the Division VII field, Tusky Central Catholic is the No. 9 seed. The Saints will play at Hannibal River at 7 p.m. Feb. 18, with the winner advancing to face Frontier at 1 p.m. Feb. 21.

In Division III, New Philadelphia is seeded fourth among five teams in the East Division III sectional-district. The Quakers will play at Tri-Valley at 7 p.m. Feb. 18. The winner will travel to Zanesville for a sectional final at 1 p.m. Feb. 21.

Dover, seeded fifth, will open in a sectional final at Steubenville at 1 p.m. Feb. 21. The winner advances to a district semifinal at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at a site to be determined against the survivor of the upper bracket involving Zanesville, Tri-Valley and New Philadelphia.

The East-Southeast district final is scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 28. Top seeds in the Southeast district include Unioto, Thornville Sheridan and The Plains Athens.