COPLEY TWP. — The unpredictable Copley Division I District boys basketball draw ended up with Brunswick and Medina on top.
Joe Mackey
Top-seeded Blue Devils coach Joe Mackey appreciated the respect and Bees counterpart Chris Hassinger will use, in a small form, the No. 2 seed as motivation, but both stated the obvious Sunday: Numbers mean nothing in the grand scheme.
“I think they got the first two teams right, but I’m not sure they got the order right because Medina beat us,” Mackey said. “Either way, one has to go up and two has to go to the other side, so it really didn’t matter.
“But, like I’ve said, it shows the respect that our program has. In the end, it’s just a number. You still have to go out and win games.”
Brunswick (15-4) and Medina (14-5) will meet Tuesday in a huge Greater Conference game that will break a three-way tie with Elyria. The archrivals can meet again in the March 5 district title game.
Electing a weeklong rest for his thin rotation, Mackey chose a Feb. 27 bye, and the Blue Devils will host the winner of the Feb. 24 game between No. 9 Cuyahoga Falls (9-9) at No. 8 Highland (11-7), which valued a home sectional game.
Third-seeded Hoban (14-4) chose the other bye on the Blue Devils’ side of the bracket, while most of the mid seeds went to Medina’s side.
“Our starters have logged a lot of minutes this year — probably more so than any team I’ve coached — so we just figured giving them a week off would be beneficial to them,” Mackey said.
Hassinger was democratic in his decision to play a first-round game.
The Bees will host last-seeded Akron North (1-16), which voted Medina seventh out of 12 teams, in a Feb. 24 sectional semifinal. Barring an upset of the century, Medina then will host sixth-seeded Walsh Jesuit (12-5).
Chris Hassinger
The game below the Bees on the bracket features No. 10 Wadsworth (4-14) at No. 5 Stow (15-4). No. 4 seed Hudson (14-4) took the bye.
“We found out last year the seeds don’t matter,” Hassinger said of his 2015 team that was the fourth-highest seed but won the Copley District. “This year, there’s a lot of balance. You’re going to play some good teams. We knew that.
“We talked to the kids and asked, ‘Do you want to play (a sectional semifinal)?’ They didn’t want to sit. The kids wanted to play.”
At the North Ridgeville D-II draw, Buckeye (13-4) was fourth seed behind Bay (14-3), Keystone (15-5) and Clearview (14-6). The Bucks took a Feb. 26 bye and will host the winner of No. 7 Holy Name (6-13) and No. 8 Firelands (8-11), with Bay and last-seeded Brookside (1-18) also on that side of the bracket.
Cloverleaf (2-16) was the 10th seed in its D-II debut. The Colts will travel to sixth-seeded Rocky River (10-8) on Feb. 23.
Black River (5-13) was the last seed in the 13-team, Wayne County-heavy Wooster D-III District. The Pirates will play at sixth-seeded Norwayne (9-9) on Feb. 23. No. 8 Chippewa (6-12) took the accompanying bye.
Schedule
(All games at 7 p.m., unless noted)
COPLEY DIVISION I
Feb. 24 — Cuyahoga Falls at HIGHLAND; Nordonia at Firestone; Akron North at MEDINA; WADSWORTH at Stow. Feb. 27 — Cuyahoga Falls-HIGHLAND winner at BRUNSWICK; Nordonia-Firestone winner at Hoban; North-MEDINA winner vs. Walsh Jesuit; WADSWORTH-Stow winner at Hudson. March 2 — District semifinal. March 3 — District semifinal. March 5 — District championship.
NORTH RIDGEVILLE DIVISION II
Feb. 23 — CLOVERLEAF at Ricky River; Fairview at Padua; Firelands at Holy Name. Feb. 26 — CLOVERLEAF-Rocky River winner at Keystone; Padua-Fairview winner at Clearview; Brookside vs. Bay; Holy Name-Firelands winner at BUCKEYE. March 2 — District semifinal. March 3 — District semifinal. March 5 — District championship., 4 p.m.
WOOSTER DIVISION III
Feb. 23 — Rittman at Wellington; Loudonville at Northwestern; Orrville at Smithville; BLACK RIVER at Norwayne; Columbia at Triway. Feb. 26 — Wellington-Rittman winner at Oberlin; Northwestern-Loudonville winner vs. Chippewa; Smithville-Orrville winner at Waynedale; Norwayne-BLACK RIVER winner vs. TRiway-Columbia winner. March 2 — District semifinal. March 3 — District semifinal. March 5 — District championship.