Two local teams – Trotwood-Madison in D-III and Marion Local in D-VI – are among the 28 programs seeking state titles.
For the sixth consecutive year, the University of Dayton Arena will host the state tournament, while state semifinal games will also be hosted at the Nutter Center at Wright State University. The tournament will be played over four days.
All 21 games of the state tournament will be streamed live by Spectrum at OHSAA.tv and http://SpectrumNewsApp.com, with the seven championship games televised live on Spectrum News 1. The OHSAA Radio Network will have live radio coverage of every game.
Here’s a look at each state tournament game taking place in Dayton this week:
Division I State Semifinals
Cincinnati Princeton (23-3) vs. Lakewood St. Edward (22-4)
5:30 p.m., Saturday at Nutter Center
How they got here: Princeton beat Greater Miami Conference rival Oak Hills 49-22; St. Edward beat Elyria 53-50.
Ones to watch: Princeton sophomore shooting guard Kam Mercer is averaging 14.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals for the Vikings. He’s a five-star recruit and the No. 7 player in the class of 2028, according to ESPN.
Notable: St. Edward is making its 13th trip to the final four and first since 2022. … Princeton has appeared at the state tournament twice, finishing as state runner-up in 2009 and 1972.
Hilliard Bradley (24-2) vs. Pickerington Central (18-8)
7:30 p.m., Saturday at Nutter Center
How they got here: Bradley beat Newark 57-46; Pickerington Central beat Centerville in a regional semifinal game and upset top-ranked Lakota West 69-60 in a regional final.
Ones to watch: Pickerington Central junior Landon Evans is averaging 19 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Notable: Pickerington Central won state championships in 2022 and 2012 and finished as runner-up in 2023. … The Jaguars, who have won 15 games in a row, are making their first trip to the state tournament since the school opened in 2009.
D-I State Championship: Sunday, March 22 at UD Arena at 3:15 p.m.
Division II State Semifinals
Westerville North (25-1) vs. North Royalton (22-5)
11 a.m., Saturday at Nutter Center
How they got here: Westerville North beat New Albany 58-50; North Royalton beat Brecksville Broadview Heights 40-38.
Ones to watch: Westerville North senior Elijah McCree (19.7 ppg) was the Central District Player of the Year.
Notable: Defending state champ Westerville North has won 20 straight games and are 49-1 in their last 50. … North Royalton is back in Dayton for the second straight year; they lost to Massillon Perry 66-63 in last year’s final four.
Lima Senior (22-4) vs. Massillon Washington (25-1)
1 p.m., Saturday at Nutter Center
How they got here: Lima Senior beat Winton Woods 62-58; Massillon Washington beat Euclid 76-72
Ones to watch: Lima Senior junior guard Shawn Foster (21.0 ppg) has offers from Dayton, Cincinnati and Ohio State.
Notable: Lima Senior is back in the state tournament for the first time since 2016. … Massillon Washington advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 1945.
D-II State Championship: Sunday, March 22 at UD Arena at noon
Division III State Semifinals
Toledo Central Catholic (23-3) vs. Trotwood-Madison (21-4)
6 p.m. Thursday at UD Arena
How they got here: TCC beat Mansfield Senior 81-61; Trotwood beat Hamilton Badin 54-48.
Ones to watch: Senior guard Manny Johnson averages 14.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists for TCC.
Notable: Trotwood won a state championship in its last appearance in 2019. … TCC is back at the state tournament for the first time since 2011.
Steubenville (25-1) vs. Akron Archbishop Hoban (20-7)
8 p.m. Thursday at UD Arena
How they got here: Steubenville beat Bishop Watterson 61-55; Hoban beat Youngstown Chaney 61-60.
Ones to watch: Santonio Haney, a junior, averages 22.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
Notable: Hoban won a state title in its last state appearance in 2023.
D-III State Championship: 7:30 p.m. Friday at UD Arena
Division IV State Semifinals
Sandusky Perkins (25-2) vs. Cleveland Glenville (18-9), Thursday, March 19 at Nutter Center at noon
Noon, Thursday at Nutter Center
How they got here: Perkins beat Jonathan Alder 47-30; Glenville beat Cleveland Central Catholic 70-54.
Ones to watch: Glenville senior Theo Castro averages 17.3 points, 5.1 assists and 2.1 steals for the Tarblooders.
Notable: Glenville is back in the state tournament after advancing for the first time last year. … Perkins advanced to the final four for the first time in school history under first-year coach Andy Hoying.
Zanesville Maysville (26-1) vs. Cincinnati Wyoming (25-2)
2 p.m. Thursday at Nutter Center
How they got here: Maysville beat Circleville 72-52; Wyoming beat Northridge 54-36
Ones to watch: Maysville senior Gator Nichols averages 4.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, and shoots 41 percent from 3-point range.
Notable: Maysville are the defending state champions and finished as state runner-up in 2024. … Maysville beat Wyoming 75-73 in double overtime in last year’s final four.
D-IV State Championship: 4:15 p.m. Friday at UD Arena
Division V State Semifinals
Gahanna Columbus Academy (23-4) vs. Zanesville West Muskingum (23-5)
10:45 a.m. Friday at UD Arena
How they got here: Columbus Academy beat Margaretta 62-59 in OT; West Muskingum beat Ironton 45-42.
Ones to watch: Columbus Academy is led by Harvard signee Jason Singleton Jr., the son of former Ohio State standout Jason Singleton, Sr.
Notable: Columbus Academy fell to Lutheran East in last year’s state final.
Cin. Summit Country Day (16-10) vs. Cle. Heights Lutheran East (23-2)
12:45 p.m. Friday at UD Arena
How they got here: Country Day beat Waynesville 73-51; Lutheran East beat Canton Central Catholic 65-35.
Ones to watch: Country Day’s Tim Martin, Jr. will play collegiately at Rhode Island, led by former UD coach Archie Miller.
Notable: Lutheran East is seeking to become the first team in Ohio history to win four consecutive state championships. … Country Day fell to Col. Academy is last year’s final four.
D-V State Championship: 1 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena
Division VI State Semifinals
Berlin Hiland (24-3) vs. Kirtland (24-3)
6 p.m. Friday at Nutter Center
How they got here: Berlin Hiland beat Portsmouth West 48-35; Kirtland beat Richmond Heights 71-61.
Ones to watch: Kirtland’s Lucas Renfro scored a school record 36 points in their regional final victory over Richmond Heights.
Notable: Hiland has yet to allow an opponent to reach the 60-point mark in 27 games this season. … Kirtland is seeking to become the first school to win a state football and state basketball title in the same school year since Marion Local did it in 2017-18.
Marion Local (25-1) vs. Van Wert Lincolnview (22-5)
8 p.m. Friday at Nutter Center
How they got here: Marion Local beat Tri-Village 57-43; Lincolnview beat Colonel Crawford 58-45.
Ones to watch: Lincolnview has two 1,000-point scorers in Brayden Holt and Payne DeGray.
Notable: Delphos St. John’s is the only team to beat Marion Local this season. … Lincolnview is back in the final four for the first time since 2016.
D-VII State Championshi: 7:30 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena
Division VII State Semifinals
Malvern (19-9) vs. Delphos St. John’s (27-0)
Noon Friday at the Nutter Center
How they got here: Delphos beat Botkins 62-39; Malvern beat Leesburg 57-54.
Ones to watch: Delphos coach Aaron Elwer has three sons on the Blue Jays squad – senior Cam Elwer (28.6 ppg), a Furman commit and Mr. Basketball candidate, junior Andrew Elwer (15.6 ppg) and Easton Elwer (9.3 ppg).
Notable: Delphos is making its 13th final four appearance and first since 2017. … Malvern is making its first appearance at the state tournament.
Kalida (16-11) vs. Jeromesville Hillsdale (20-7)
2 p.m. Friday at the Nutter Center
How they got here: Kalda beat Montpelier 66-53; Hillsdale beat Columbiana Heartland Christian 58-57.
Ones to watch: Hillsdale sophomore Lowen Ferguson is averaging 18 ppg and 5.5 assists per game.
Notable: Kalida is making its sixth appearance in the final four; they were runner-up in 2009 and won their lone title in 1981. … Hillsdale is making its first appearance at the state tournament.
D-VII State Championship: 4:15 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena
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