Girls basketball: Home is where the playoffs are for county's top teams

The path to a district title runs close to home for Lorain County's top teams this season. Defending regional champion Avon Lake, Elyria Catholic and Keystone were all able to choose brackets that could allow them to win district titles without ever leaving the county when the Divisions III-VII tournament draw was held Sunday. As was the case last year, the seeding was done via the MaxPreps RPI ranking with teams than being able to place themselves in any bracket, in order of seeding. Keystone, earned the No. 6 seed in Division V. The Wildcats (18-3) open play at home Feb. 21 against No. 20-seeded Canton South. A win in that game would earn the Wildcats a second home game. If Keystone advanced to the district final, it would play right down the road in Wellington. "This is a team that really needs to have that support. Outside of the Padua game, we've played really well at home," Keystone coach Rocky Houston said. "Having the two home games and then if we do what we need to do with those first two home games, going to Wellington gives our young team the extra edge they need." Junior Madyson Sokolowski, who heading into Saturday's regular-season finale against North Olmsted needs two 3-pointers to set the Lorain County single-season record, has led the Keystone offense but behind her the Wildcats have relied on four sophomores and four freshmen. Keystone is the only local Division V team to start at home as No. 23 Brookside and No. 28 Clearview both have first-round road matchups. Avon Lake's path back to Dayton will begin at home Feb. 25 when the Shoregals host the winner of Bedford and Louisville. A win will lead to a district final appearance in a game played at Elyria High. Avon Lake coach Paul Appel wasn't thinking about geography when he placed the No. 8-seeded Shoregals on the bracket. Instead he found the perfect spot where Avon Lake can avoid top-seeded Brush, Suburban League champion Medina Highland, Cleveland West Conference champion Rocky River, 2025 regional final foe Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and North Coast Conference-leading Padua — all teams that were seeded above the Shoregals. "We spent a lot of time looking at the teams that were ranked ahead of us in the draw to give us an idea of their styles," Appel said. "We were just looking for the best matchup that we think we can defend pretty well and have some success scoring on." If the Shoregals make it back to the district final, they will most likely face No. 3-seeded Canfield, the All-American Conference champion. "There were some teams ahead of us that we wanted to avoid until later in the tournament," Appel said. "We thought this district provided a team in Canfield that is very good team and has had a lot of success over the years, but we think it will be a close game if we face them." No. 28 Midview is Canfield's first opponent. The Middies will take the trip to Mahoning Valley to face the Cardinals on Feb. 21. In Division IV, Lorain County had two teams earn No. 5 seeds — Elyria Catholic, which opens tournament play at home Feb. 19 against No. 37 Akron Springfield, and Vermilion, which plays in the Northwest district and will face No. 6 Millbury Lake on Feb. 21. As Elyria Catholic looks for its first district title since 2020, Panthers coach Eric Rothgery is happy that his team will have the chance to stay close to home. If they continue to advance, the Panthers would play twice at home and then play their district final at North Ridgeville. "We feel good. There were a couple of scenarios we wanted to avoid and a couple we thought would be good for us. This is one of the ones we thought would be good for us," Rothgery said. "If all things are equal, I'd rather play a district championship in North Ridgeville. It's closer for our fans to go to and its a place we're comfortable with. It just kinda fell that way so we jumped on a spot that's playing North Ridgeville." The draw didn't work out as well for Lorain County League champion Firelands as the No. 15-seeded Falcons will have to travel to Cortland to open play against No. 14 Lakeview. Defending district champion Columbia earned the No. 10 seed in Division VI and will host No. 21 Medina Christian on Feb. 21. No. 29 Black River, No. 30 Oberlin and No. 34 Wellington all begin play on the road. Lake Ridge earned a first-round home game in Division VII. The No. 11-seeded Royals will host No. 14 Sebring McKinley on Feb. 21. No. 16-seeded Open Door will travel to Lisbon to face No. 13 David Anderson. All district finals will be Feb. 28. Division III Northeast 4 (Elyria) Feb. 21 No. 28 Midview at No. 3 Canfield (4) Feb. 25 No. 36 seed Bedford vs. No. 24 Louisville seed winner at No. 8 seed Avon Lake (7) Division IV Northeast 3 (North Ridgeville) Feb. 19 No. 27 Akron Springfield at No. 5 Elyria Catholic (7) Northeast 5 (Nordonia) Feb. 19 No. 15 Firelands at No. 14 Cortland Lakeview (7) Northwest 2 (Fostoria) Feb. 21 No. 6 Millbury Lake at No. 5 Vermilion (2) Division V Northeast 2 (Wellington) Feb. 21 No. 28 Clearview at No. 2 Norwayne (7) No. 23 Brookside at No. 18 Beachwood (7) Northeast 3 (Wellington) No. 20 Canton South at No. 6 Keystone (7) Division VI Northeast 1 (Girard) Feb. 17 No. 29 Black River at No. 22 Hillsdale (7) Feb. 19 No. 21 Medina Christian at No. 10 Columbia (7) Northeast 3 (Girard) Feb. 19 No. 30 Oberlin at No. 18 Kirtland Northeast 4 (Norwayne) Feb. 19 No. 34 Wellington at No. 3 Richmond Heights (7) Division VII Northeast 1 (Smithville) Feb. 21 No. 14 Sebring McKinley at No. 11 Lake Ridge (1) Northeast 2 (Mineral Ridge) No. 16 Open Door at No. 13 Lisbon David Anderson (1)