Intro to Bracketology 101: Division I

<p>Throw all the regular season records out the window, the playoffs are finally here in Ohio! And Prep Hoops has you covered as we preview all of the upcoming action. So how will the Cincinnati area brackets shape up? Who is on upset alert and who has the easiest path to regionals? We answer those questions and more as we go over each bracket thoroughly in Intro to Bracketology 101: Division I.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Dayton I (Fairfield H.S./Hamilton H.S./Lakota West H.S.)</u></strong></p> <p>The only bracket in Southwest Ohio were the top and bottom are comprised only of Cincinnati area teams, this bracket is all Moeller’s (1) for the taking. Residing on the top half of the bracket, the Crusaders toughest game before the district finals looks to be a possible date with Western Brown (21) in the sectional finals. But that’s if the Broncos can get past Western Hills (22) and there up tempo style in round one.</p> <p>The bottom half of the bracket is actually wide open with five teams by my count having the ability to advance to the district finals with the Mt. Healthy (14)/Loveland (15) 1^st round matchup maybe the most even of all the first round games. The Owls have a lot of depth and athleticism on the perimeter, something Loveland has not contended with much this season.</p> <p><strong>Sectional Predictions: Moeller over Western Hills, Turpin over West Clermont</strong></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong><u>Dayton II (Lakota West H.S.)</u></strong></p> <p>Like the previous bracket this bracket looks taylor made for the top seed to advance, which in this case is Mason the 3^rd overall seed in Cincy. The Comets should cruise over the winner of Northwest (24)/Withrow (27) in the 2^nd round on February 26^th, even with the Tigers showing signs of life late in the season. A win in the 2^nd round for Mason could then setup a contest with the winner of LaSalle (6) and Milford (17), two teams going in opposite directions. The Eagles come into the tourney winning 4 of their last 5 games, including wins over D-II power Taft along with wins over Loveland and Walnut Hills during that span. The Lancers on the other hand come into post-season play losers of 3 in a row and 5 of their last 8.</p> <p><strong>Sectional Prediction: Mason over Milford</strong></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong><u>Dayton III (Hamilton H.S.)</u></strong></p> <p>While Lakota East is the top seed in this bracket as the #2, we should not assume that they will make out of this bracket. In the sectional final they could play the winner of Princeton (5)/St. Xavier (13) which will not be an easy task either way. The Bombers defeated both Princeton and East within a four-day span back in December. And the Vikings have one of the perimeter trio’s in Cincy with juniors <strong>Deairius Barker, Kaleb Crawford and Khalil Davis. </strong>Out of the top four seeds, East has the toughest road to face to Dayton.</p> <p><strong>Sectional Prediction: Lakota East over St. Xavier</strong></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong><u>Dayton IV (Lakota West H.S./Hamilton H.S.)</u></strong></p> <p>This was another bracket were the top seeded team, in this case Oak Hills at #4, could be knocked out early. The Highlanders could face an Elder (10) team in the 2^nd round that beat Oak Hills by 14 on January 22^nd.  And if the Highlanders make it past that test they will potentially play the winner of Hamilton (8)/Walnut Hills (11) in the sectional finals. Big Blue and the Eagles have a combined record of 27-17, so these are not your average 8 and 11 seeds. All three of these teams have the talent to knock off Coach Mike Price program.</p> <p><strong>Sectional Prediction: Hamilton over Elder</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>