With the 2022-23 Ohio boys high school basketball regular season drawing to close Saturday, it is time to take a look ahead to state tournament play as it tips off Tuesday.

Entering sectional play will be a group of teams that won or shared league championships in the area.

In the City League, the Start Spartans (17-5, 10-0) topped Scott 48-38 in the CL title game last Thursday at Waite to capture their third straight crown and fifth title in six years under coach Matt Wortham.

Highly competitive races in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference and the Northern Lakes League resulted in co-championships.

Coach Mike Floyd's Central Catholic squad (18-4, 11-3) shared the TRAC title with preseason favorite Whitmer (14-8, 11-3) and coach Anthony Stacey. And, coach Josh Arthur's Anthony Wayne Generals (14-8, 12-2) won nine of their final 10 games overall to split the NLL crown with preseason favorite Perrysburg (17-5, 12-2) and veteran coach Dave Boyce.

Those four teams split their league meetings with one another.

In the Northern Buckeye Conference, coach Brian Vorst's Rossford Bulldogs (18-4, 14-0) ran the table in league play, clinching their outright title with a 44-31 win at runner-up Genoa (15-7, 12-2) on Friday.

In the Toledo Area Athletic Conference, although Emmanuel Christian (19-3, 9-1) and Cardinal Stritch (19-3, 8-2) each won at home in splitting their conference matchups, but Maumee Valley's 70-64 upset of Stritch on Jan. 27 ultimately cost the Cardinals a share of the TAAC title.

Behind blue-chip 6-5 sophomore guard Jerry Easter II and his eye-popping 33.4 points per game, Emmanuel's Warriors won their first TAAC title in 25 years.

In the Northwest Ohio Athletic League, coach Chad Burt's Wauseon Indians (15-7, 6-1) shook off a rough midseason stretch in which they lost four of five games. They closed with eight straight wins overall, including five in league play.

That surge, plus Archbold's 56-48 upset of preseason league favorite Patrick Henry (17-5, 5-2) on Friday, enabled Wauseon to claim an outright NWOAL championship.

Closing the season on a 10-game winning streak, including an impressive 61-42 rout of host Hopewell-Loudon (18-4, 14-2) on Feb. 7, coach Eric Hoover's Old Fort Stockaders (19-3, 14-2) claimed a share of the Sandusky Bay Conference's River Division title along with the Chieftains.

Each of the league champions figure to be in the hunt for upcoming sectional, district, and regionals title chases.

Wide-open field in Division I

In Division I, the size of the group of contenders reflects a rarely-seen parity in northwest Ohio boys basketball. Throughout the regular season, no team truly emerged as a clear-cut tournament favorite.

Based on how things transpired in the regular season, the top five D-I teams from the TRAC, the top four from the NLL, plus CL-champion Start and SBC Lake Division runner-up Tiffin Columbian (18-4, 9-3) all legitimately have the potential to go on tourney runs, or at least pull a key upset or two.

The Feb. 28 district semifinal field at Lake should feature either St. Francis (13-9, 6-8 TRAC) or Springfield (14-8, 9-5 NLL) taking on Perrysburg, and Northview (16-6, 9-5 NLL) taking on Lima Senior (15-7, 8-6 TRAC).

Meanwhile, the D-I district foursome at Central Catholic will be harder to predict.

Columbian must get past St. John's (13-9, 8-6 TRAC) to reach a Feb. 28 matchup against the winner of a sectional final between AW and Findlay (15-7, 10-4 TRAC).

The other semifinal at Central should pit Whitmer against neighborhood rival Start, which beat the Panthers 64-54 in nonleague play on Jan. 7.

It's anybody's guess how these two district sites play out, except to say that, if Perrysburg and Whitmer are able to play their best basketball, they will likely emerge as district champions. If so, they would meet in a March 9 regional semifinal at the University of Toledo's Savage Arena.

Perrysburg won an early-season nonleague contest at Whitmer, 65-52.

Central Catholic, Rossford could be on collision course

Barring potential district semifinal upsets by Wauseon and Scott, respectively, Rossford and Central Catholic seem to be headed for a matchup in the March 4 district final at Lake.

Rossford's Bulldogs feature a big, balanced, and battle-tested all-senior starting five that includes imposing 6-10 forward Derek Vorst, who is complemented by a trio of productive 6-4 teammates in Jake Morrison, Brenden Revels, and Garette Murphree. Vorst will play Indiana State.

One of Rossford's four losses, however, was a 53-41 setback on Jan. 21 at Wauseon, the Bulldogs' likely March 2 district semifinal foe.

As for Central, the Irish have developed a winning formula without a true post presence, or 2022 first team All-Ohio guard Chico Johnson, who missed the entire season following July surgery to repair a torn ACL.

That void has been ably filled by seniors Michael Greenlee, Ty'Waun Clark, Kechan Johnson, Noah Langford and Brian Bishop, junior Isaiah Brenneman, and sophomore Makhi Leach, plus others, making Central tough to attack or defend with its balance and depth.

If Chico Johnson, who has signed to play at Drake University, can return to contribute, that would only be a bonus as the sixth-ranked Irish bid for a third straight D-II district title.

Whichever team gets through the Lake district will most likely face either Defiance (18-4) or St. Marys Memorial (17-5), both from the Western Buckeye League, in a March 9 regional semifinal at Bowling Green State University.

The other semi matchup in what could be a star-studded BGSU regional would most likely feature fourth-ranked SBC Lake Division champion Sandusky (21-1) against fifth-ranked Rocky River Lutheran West (18-3).

Super D-III regional in store?

Three of the best Division III teams in the northwest corner of Ohio are third-ranked 2022 state runner-up and WBL champion Ottawa-Glandorf (19-3), fifth-ranked Emmanuel Christian, and fellow TAAC power Cardinal Stritch.

In a fortuitous creation of tournament site assignments, it is possible that all three could capture district titles and arrive at the same BGSU regional on March 8.

Emmanuel, the top seed at the Napoleon district, would likely face either Swanton (17-5) or Delta (17-5) of the NWOAL in a March 4 district final.

Stritch, the No. 1 seed at the Norwalk district, should get to its March 4 district final and need to beat either Ashland Crestview (20-2) or Huron (14-6) to advance.

As for O-G, the top-seeded Titans, are expected to reach the March 4 district final at Lima Senior, where they would likely meet either Northwest Conference champion Spencerville (19-2) or Northern Ten Conference champion Carey (19-3).

The fourth team at this potential super regional would most likely be Creston Norwayne (18-4), which would align with the Napoleon district winner in the March 8 regional semis.

Patriots, Stockaders could clash

For much of the regular season, Patrick Henry (17-5, 5-2) seemed destined to make good on its preseason projection as NWOAL champion, despite being the league's smallest school.

Friday's loss at Archbold cost the Patriots their opportunity to live up to that prediction, and now PH must digest that disappointment and refocus on its tournament trail.

Competing in the otherwise all D-II and D-III NWOAL should have the top-seeded Patriots well prepared to emerge as the winner of the Defiance district, where their top Feb. 28 semifinal threat may come from either Ayersville (13-9) or Maumee Valley (11-11) Their March 3 district-final foe would likely be either Antwerp (18-4) or Toledo Christian (14-8).

Old Fort, the No. 3 seed in the Liberty-Benton district field, will likely need to get past Arlington (16-6) in a Feb. 24 sectional final to create a rubber match with fellow SBC River Division co-champion Hopewell-Loudon in the Feb. 28 district semis.

Awaiting whichever team emerges will most likely be top-seeded Northern Ten Conference runner-up Mohawk (19-3) in the March 3 district final.

But, a PH-Old Fort regional final seems a long shot, as the Patriots would most likely need to get past eighth-ranked Midwest Athletic Conference champion Marion Local (18-4) in the March 7 regional semis at BGSU, and the Stockaders would likely need to upset fourth-ranked Convoy Crestview (19-3) if they reach the regional.

Potential surprises

Looking beyond the teams favored to advance deep in tournament play are a few squads that have flown under the radar during the season because of inauspicious starts.

That list of potential spoilers is topped by coach Quincey Simpson's rebuilt Lima Senior squad. The Spartans have reached D-I regional finals in six of the past eight seasons, a run highlighted by their 29-1 state runner-up finish in 2016. After missing the regionals in 2017 and 2018, Lima has been to the brink of a state final-four berth in each of the past four years.

On Jan.13, the Spartans, who lost four of their five starters to graduation, stood at 5-4 overall and 3-4 in TRAC play. But, beginning with a 52-48 win over Ottawa-Glandorf on Jan. 14, Lima won 10 of its final 13 games, including triumphs over TRAC co-champions Central and Whitmer.

Wauseon in D-II must also be viewed as dangerous.

The Indians were just 7-7 overall and 1-1 in NWOAL play after consecutive early-January losses to Defiance (61-38), Swanton (61-43), and Northview (60-51).

But, just when it appeared Wauseon might be going nowhere this season, it has surged into to the tournament as a league champion riding an eight-game winning streak.

Another team capable of ousting a favorite or two is Maumee Valley (11-11) of the TAAC. The Hawks showed the high side of their potential by knocking off Stritch in conference play.

First Published February 20, 2023, 5:32 p.m.