D-IV Sweet 16 bracket

Here you go - it's down to these fortunate few.

Maumee Valley 58 - Tiffin Calvert 51 - District Semifinal at Lakota HS

Maumee Valley took their second step on the road to Columbus, defeating the Tiffin Calvert Senecas 58 – 51 Tuesday March 6, 2012 at Lakota High School.

The Hawks relied on strong guard play during the evening, with Rick Deichert scoring the first 11 MV points on his way to 19 overall on the night.  Rick was 5-7 from three point land on the night.  The second half featured the Dave Brown show, as he hit all of his 15 points in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters. 

With a new opponent on the court for the first time in many months, Maumee Valley was able to go to the playbook and run several oldies but goodies – misdirections, fake shots and other Jim Robinson specials throughout the night.

The Senecas never had the lead, but pulled to within two points late in the third quarter.  The Hawks answered with a late flurry, including a top-of-the-key three pointer from Sophomore Thad Woodard as the buzzer sounded.   Woodard, seeing considerable action due to some foul trouble for the other forwards, contributed two key defensive plays in the fourth quarter.  He drew a big charging foul and earned a tieup in the fourth to keep the Hawks on top. 

So it’s back to Lakota Friday night for a rematch with another old foe, the Toledo Christian Eagles.  The Eagles defeated New Riegel 57-52 in OT to set up a third contest with MV.  It was a stellar night for the TAAC, which is the only league in the Bowling Green District with two teams still alive  (or not, see comment below - thanks to an alert reader).  The TAAC went 2-0 against the Midland Athletic League on a MAL team home court (Lakota plays in the MAL).

In addition to the two guards, MV got 10 points from Jared Sturt, 7 from Julius Turner, 3 from Thad and two each from Dixon Stoddard and Jonathan Krueger. 

Previewing the D-IV playoffs - Far West and East half of the Bowling Green D-IV Region

Introduction - copied from yesterday''s post

This post will be better understood if you take aminute to glance at the Bowling Green Regional bracket.

Here’s how it works. There are four districts – each with two #1 and two #2 seeds – all playing for the chance of going to the Regional Final in Bowling Green. The four regional finalists battle for the golden ticket to Columbus.

Each District includes 12-14 teams, grouped into two 6-7 team Sections. Each section’s coaches meet to seed themselves, determining who plays who down the stretch.

This year, the D-IV tournament seeding was announced on February 12, 2012. As opposed to NCAA Selection Sunday, the tournament is selected prior to the regular season, so a late stumble does not impact the seeding. 

The opposite side of the Bowling Green Regional features teams from the far east (east of Sandusky approaching Norwalk) and west of the area (west of Toledo to the State line and down the Indiana/Ohio border to about Van Wert. 

In the Far West / Napoleon District, teams from the Green Meadows Confrence, Buckeye Border Conference and a wildcard or two from the Putnam County League play for a spot at BG.  This District includes the only undefeated team in the Region, the Edgerton Bulldogs.  Edgerton must get past a seasoned Kalida team from the PCL, Pettisville and Stryker from the BBC and conference foes Antwerp and Holgate among others.  

Edgerton is currently ranked #2 in the state, but has only played five teams (but Antwerp twice) with a winning record, the six games tying Ada for the lowest frequency of games against harder teams. 

The Far East includes mostly North Central and Firelands Conference teams, but is also the home of TAAC member Danbury.  North Robinson Colonel Crawford has to be the clear favorite here with some quality wins against larger schools.

Aside from these three teams, the other #1 and #2 seeds on this side of the bracket have no more than 13 wins total.  Additionally, the other contenders have not fared well against teams with records over .500.  Expect two of these three teams to show up in the Regional Semifinal game on March 13. 

Click on the grid for a larger view.

Previewing the D-IV playoffs - MV's half of the Bowling Green D-IV Region

This post will be better understood if you take aminute to glance at the Bowling Green Regional bracket.

Here’s how it works.  There are four districts – each with two #1 and two #2 seeds – all playing for the chance of going to the Regional Final in Bowling Green.  The four regional finalists battle for the golden ticket to Columbus. 

Each District includes 12-14 teams, grouped into two 6-7 team Sections.  Each section’s coaches meet to seed themselves, determining who plays who down the stretch. 

This year, the D-IV tournament seeding was announced on February 12, 2012.  As opposed to NCAA Selection Sunday, the tournament is selected prior to the regular season, so a late stumble does not impact the seeding. 

The table below shows one half of the NW Ohio playoff Bracket, with particular attention paid to MV’s bracket and the top half of the TAAC. 

MV’s Section includes six TAAC teams, MV, Gibsonburg, TC, OH, Cardinal Stritch and Northwood plus Fremont St. Joe’s from the Midland Athletic League.  Intertwined with this group is the Fostoria Section, mostly composed of teams from the MAL. 

The winner of this district plays in Bowling Green against the Findlay Liberty-Benton champion.  The Findlay District includes several tough teams from Hardin and Paulding counties pulled principally from the MAL, the Blanchard Valley Conference and the Northwest Conference.  It must have been a very difficult process to choose among the top seeds for Findlay - Vanlue, Columbus Grove, Arlington, Leipsig and Ada. 

Your HawkBlogger agrees with most observers that this half of the BG draw is loaded – much more so than tomorrow’s other side.

You may draw your own conclusions from the chart below, but the winner of the Bowling Green Region will certainly have earned the title Regional Champion.

Tomorrow, the preview will continue with the other side of the bracket, which includes teams from the far east and west of Northwest Ohio.

Click on the grid below for a larger view.