SW Division 6 Sectional Preview

It's tournament time throughout the state of Ohio, and over the next few days. I'll take a look at some of the brackets, teams and players in Southwest Ohio as the sectional tournament begins next week in the Buckeye State!   The Division 1 and 2 draw will be this Sunday, so today I will look at  Division 6 in Southwest Ohio.     OPENING ROUND MATCHUPS   @ Versailles   2/17- Tri Village v Dayton Christian 6:00   Ansonia v Dixie 7:30   2/21- TV/DC v Franklin Monroe 3:30   Houston v Tri County North 5:00   @Covington   2/21- Newton v Ansonia/Dixie  11:00a   Twin Valley South v Legacy Christian 12:30   Fort Recovery v Arcanum 2:00   National Trail v West Liberty Salem 3:30   @Monroe   2/21- Cincinnati Country Day v Cincinnati Christian 11:00   Fayetteville Perry v East Clinton  12:30     POTENTIAL 2ND ROUND MATCHUP   Tri Village v Houston   These two teams just met a couple of weeks ago at Houston, a game that Tri Village was victorious in what turned out to be a very good nonconference matchup.   If they happen to meet in the second round, I expect the same type of game. TV is loaded in the back court with [player_tooltip player_id='481366' first='Tai' last='Mize'] and Adalyn Hines, a pair of seniors who have been here before. Sydnee DeLong provides another bit of experience with all three of them having the knack to score from the perimeter. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1563687' first='Taytum' last='Gray'] continues to gain experience, and provides a threat from behind the arc.    Houston brings in a very improved guard in Olivia Maier, a point guard with good handles and is solid. The kid I really like from Houston is a senior mega athlete Olivia Burks, who caught my attention last year in the postseason with excellent play. Lauryn Crim is a senior with potential to come up big from the three.     PLAYERS TO WATCH    Tai is a head strong point guard who plays the game with grit and aggressiveness. She can knock down the three, but she can also distribute and find the open player, she plays with swag and confidence. She's a D2 college kid ready to finish her career strong.     Ava just scored her 1000th career point, and one thing I like about her is that she is very high basketball IQ. She makes the right play at the right time, distributes the ball and can defend. Good perimeter shooter and a good head on her shoulders to make the right play. (Feature photo above)     Only a sophomore, Charlotte is one of the best in Ohio in her class. Controls the ball well, runs the floor and is able to finish at the rim. She can knock down the long shot, can make the big plays and has been pushed into one of the strong leadership roles in the area as only a sophomore.     She's been a player that's been on the radar now for a couple of years, she's a coaches kid and she's very intelligent on the floor. She can adjust to whatever style of game is being played and is effective with the ball in her hands. Good basketball IQ, her and teammate [player_tooltip player_id='808881' first='Autumn' last='Allport'] are both equally crucial for this team to succeed!     Pick your choice between Rummel and Christina Murphy. Both are equally important and either one of them could put up big numbers, or both. Cara is a kid who I really like the way she is active with or without the ball, she has a nice pull-up jumper, releases quick and can score from deep range. Also has good footwork to score in the paint.      3 SLEEPERS TO WATCH    Nobody's talking about this young lady, and all she's doing is putting up very solid consistent numbers for a team who finished third in their conference. She averaged 14.5 a game against just the other four top teams in the league. She's having a very special senior year. Super quick, can penetrate pull up hit the jumper, good active defender, and one thing she does well lead this squad.     Super athletic kid who may be known for her softball, but this season she made sure people saw that she also plays basketball well! Sharp crisp guard who works as hard as anybody in this tournament. Aggressive, slick handles, and a good range shot.     Autumn is a tough matchup for teams. A very good offensive player.  Can shoot at all levels and good ball handler and passer. Her defense is best displayed in her shot blocking ability.       Nicole is an aggressive style player, she's not afraid to mix it up, but she also has a finesse to be able to score in multiple ways. She can knock down the pull-up jumper from midrange. Or she knows how to finish strong at the rim in transition.Her game is continuing to grow as she finishes her junior season.    SLEEPER TEAM WHO COULD SNEAK OUT   A 6th seed or below that COULD sneak out and make it to the district finals.   NEWTON #5   This is the lowest seed that I think could possibly get out, because I think the top four seeds in all the brackets may all advance. But Newton is 17–4, a lot of those wins were also teams in the same league as TV, Arcanum and Ansonia. Stef Landis has done tremendous things with the Newton Indians, and they have them playing well at the right time. There are three kids scoring double figures led by senior Rylee Hess, senior Brilie Hines and freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1307543' first='Ani' last='Cottrell'].    They won some close games, probably closer than it should've been, but every time they win, regardless of opponent, they learn how to win. It's all about putting teams away, and while this team has struggled at that in the last few weeks, they have been able to get the job done. Don't count them out!   MY PREDICTIONS   The four Cincinnati area teams will square off in the top bracket, and all indications to me is that Fayetteville Perry looks to come out into the district finals. This tournament tested program is heading right towards the showdown with Tri Village. The Pats we'll have to beat Houston for the second time in a couple weeks to advance  into the district finals, where they would square off head to head with FP. Like I mentioned above, that TV/Houston second meeting could be very interesting!   I am predicting Legacy gets out of the bottom bracket into their district final, but the showdown with Newton or Ansonia may be tougher than people think.   As long as they have [player_tooltip player_id='911961' first='Caroline' last='Long'], Arcanum is going to be in the running for a trip to the district finals. But West Liberty Salem is very talented, one of the best guard duos in the district with Asterino and Wallen. If I have to pick somebody, I think I'm going with WLS, but it would not shock me one bit nor should it shock you if Arcanum gets to the district championship game.

It's tournament time throughout the state of Ohio, and over the next few days. I'll take a look at some of the brackets, teams and players in Southwest Ohio as the sectional tournament begins next week in the Buckeye State!