D1 Southwest Districts Preview

<p>The Sectional/District Tournament begins this week with action across the state. As part of the coverage, we will be previewing the different brackets. Today starts with Southwest Ohio in Division I.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Southwest 1</span></p> <p>Top Seeds: Fairmont, Sycamore, St. Xavier</p> <p>Possible Sleeper: LaSalle- Don’t let the Lancers record fool you, they are a solid team at 5-15. A 2nd round matchup with St. X could be interesting as these two split the regular season meeting between the 2. </p> <p>District Final: Sycamore over Fairmont- Sycamore’s size in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="921764" first="Ben" last="Southerland"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1222347" first="Raleigh" last="Burgess"]</strong> will be what ultimately ends the Firebirds historic season.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Southwest 4</span></p> <p>Top Seeds: Centerville, Lakota East, Western Hills</p> <p>Possible Sleeper: Lakota West- When you have the leading scorer in the GMC in <strong>Nate Dudukovich</strong>, you can’t count out the Firebirds. West is slated to face Lakota East, who has beaten West twice already this season. The Firebirds have spoiled brackets before, but East is a special team.</p> <p>District Final: Centerville over Lakota East- East has the discipline and pace to compete with the Elks, but when you have a team with 3 guys that can score 20+ a night (<strong>[player_tooltip player_id="867934" first="Gabe" last="Cupps"], [player_tooltip player_id="809612" first="Tom" last="House"], </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="921745" first="Rich" last="Rolf"]</strong>) and undefeated record, you can’t pick against them.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Southwest 2</span></p> <p>Top Seeds: Elder, Wayne, Northmont</p> <p>Possible Sleeper: Miamisburg- The Vikings have not been as great this season but have a favorable matchup with a young Northmont team that has beaten Burg twice already this season. Junior <strong>Jackson McGohan</strong> has been a difference maker with his athleticism and could challenge the young Bolts in their first round matchup.</p> <p>District Final: Elder over Wayne- These guys played earlier in the year with the Panthers winning 53-48. Elder is senior heavy and has two great scoring guards in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1138753" first="Sean" last="Keller"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="921762" first="Andrew" last="Harp"]. </strong>Wayne may have one of the best juniors in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="867949" first="Lawrent" last="Rice"]</strong> but it’s hard to beat Elder in the tournament.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Southwest 3</span></p> <p>Top Seeds: Walnut Hills, Fairfield, Moeller</p> <p>Possible Sleeper: Princeton- The Vikings play a tough schedule out in the GMC which prepares them for tournament. While they have some young pieces, they also have a Ohio State commit in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="921738" first="Bowen" last="Hardman"]</strong>. If the Vikings could find a way to get by Walnut Hills, they could setup a matchup with a Fairfield team potentially that they know well.</p> <p>District Final: Fairfield over Walnut Hills- Walnut Hills has has such a great year and have proven to be one of CIncinnati’s best teams. But Fairfield has so much depth and great guard play it’s hard to not see this team finding themselves in the Regional tournament.</p>