For basketball fans in the Wayne/Holmes County area, Saturday, Feb 28 is going to be jam-packed with girls basketball action.
Eight district finals featuring Wayne/Holmes County teams will take place this weekend to determine who will be moving on to next week’s regional tournament. What’s noteworthy is that the No. 1 ranked team in the Wooster Daily Record’s final power rankings in Hiland won’t be one of the eight teams playing for a district title on Saturday.
To dive into all the games, we’ll take a look at one possible key factor that each team might need to do well in their matchups in order to come away victorious.
Division II District Final
No. 3 seed Twinsburg (19-5) vs No. 21 seed Wooster (12-11), Medina High School, 4:00 p.m.
Key Factor for Wooster: Defending
Wooster got a 15-point road win at Mayfield in their district semifinal game and will have a stern test on their hands in the district final against Twinsburg, No. 2 ranked team in Division II by MaxPreps. If Wooster wants to have a chance in this one, they must defend at a high level, try to slow down the Tigers three double-digit scorers in Kayla Cellura, Taylor Dye and Jaci Hutton, and look to make it a low-scoring affair.
Division IV District Final
No. 1 seed Carrollton (16-8) vs No. 4 seed West Holmes (10-12), Dover High School, 1:00 p.m.
Key Factor for West Holmes: Keep it close and try to win it late
Carrollton will be expected to win this on Saturday, but if there’s one way West Holmes can pull this off, it just might be winning a close game. In five of the Knights’ 10 wins this season, they won by less than 10 points. They did that versus Morgan in their 45-41 district semifinal victory. Against Carrollton, West Holmes’ strategy could be keeping it close heading into the fourth quarter and count on your top two players in Briar Cline (11 points vs Morgan) and Zalina Proper (19 points vs Morgan) to make enough late-game plays to win it.
Division VI District Finals
No. 1 seed Rootstown (20-3) vs No. 13 seed Smithville (14-10), Norwayne High School, 1:00 p.m.
Key Factor for Smithville: Continued heavy production from Leah Keib
With Smithville losing two important seniors in Madi Singer and Aly Wickens from last season’s 23-4 team that won the Wayne County Athletic League title and was a regional finalist, the Smithies have leaned more and more this year on senior do-it-all forward/guard Leah Keib. That was never more evident than against Loudonville in Smithville’s 46-44 district semifinal overtime win, where Keib not only scored a game-high 24 points but was the Smithies main ball-handler that got the team into their half-court offense, had double-teams thrown at her late and was dependable in the fourth quarter/overtime periods.
Said Smithville head coach Eric Nickles after their victory over Loudonville, “We rely on Leah Keib a lot. She’s probably averaged closed to 20 points per game in the second half of the year. As a senior, she’s playing her best at this time of the year.”
Keib will have to continue to carry Smithville — especially in the scoring department — if they want to get past No. 1 seed Rootstown (No. 14 ranked team in Division VI) and last year’s Division VI state finalists. Rootstown and Smithville have made a habit of playing each other of late, having matched up three times since the start of last season.
“We played Rootstown now three times in the last year in a half,” Nickles said. “Once in the regional final (Rootstown defeated Smithville in last year’s regional final 37-36) and twice in the regular season (Rootstown beat Smithville 47-34 at home in 2025; Rootstown won at Smithville 48-44 on Feb. 10). We’re excited to get the opportunity again. They’re a fantastic team and well-coached. We’re going to have to take care of the basketball. They pressure you the whole game.”
Apart from her being able to put Smithville on her back, Keib said the Smithies team defense will play a large factor in Saturday’s result.
“Play defense. Good defense,” said Keib after the Loudonville win, pointing out what her team needs to do well to beat Rootstown. “We played them two weeks ago. Colbie Curall scored in the 20s. We played gap defense and we didn’t do a good job helping. She just got into the lane, so I think we’re gonna focus on that.”
No. 3 seed Richmond Heights (19-5) vs No. 8 Dalton (18-6), Norwayne High School, 4:00 p.m.
Key Factor for Dalton: Balanced Scoring
Dalton (18 wins) are coming off two thumping victories over Newton Falls (44-5) and Lake Center Christian (70-38) in the district tournament, and something the Bulldogs have done well all season is have balanced scoring amongst their main rotation players. Whether it’s Payton Lehman, Phoebe Lehman, Grace Dorffer, Mei Simmons, Mya Geiser or Ella Tomlinson, all six are capable of hitting double figures in any game.
In 14 games this season, Dalton has scored 50 points or more and they will need to keep that up against a Richmond Heights team that has had 16 games where they’ve held their opponent under 30 points. On top of the Bulldogs going up against an Ohio Ms. Basketball candidate in senior guard Honor Hall (averaging 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals per game), Dalton’s balanced scoring could pay dividends in getting the victory.
No. 5 seed Salineville Southern (24-0) vs No. 7 seed Waynedale (17-7), Girard High School, 1:00 p.m.
Key Factor for Waynedale: Outside shooting
Waynedale was able to come away with a 17-point road win versus a 20-3 Mineral Ridge team, who was seeded higher than the Golden Bears. One of the strengths for Waynedale this season is their outside shooting. When the Golden Bears get hot from three-point line with shooters like Kylie Geiser, Natalie Clever, Izzy Matter and Jorjia Persinger, they are capable of beating a lot of teams.
A hot shooting night against an undefeated Salineville Southern team could benefit Waynedale in getting the victory, and given that Waynedale has played a tougher schedule according to MaxPreps (Waynedale rates at a 4.9; Salineville Southern at -7.3), could also prove to work in the Golden Bears favor as well.
Division V District Finals
No. 2 seed Norwayne (21-2) vs No. 21 seed Mentor Lake Catholic (8-15), Wellington High School, 1:00 p.m.
Key Factor for Norwayne: Keep doing what they’ve been doing
Fresh off clinching the WCAL title last week against Chippewa, Norwayne has been in cruise control in their first two district tournament games, winning by scores of 83-8 and 65-19. Honestly, against a Mentor Lake Catholic team that has a record below .500, Norwayne shouldn’t have any problems.
The Bobcats should just keep doing what they’ve been doing as of late. Winning the inside battle through scoring and on the glass. Getting in transition. Playing sound half-court defense. They are the No. 4-ranked team in Division V for a reason.
No. 6 seed LaGrange Keystone (21-3) vs No. 11 seed Triway Titans (18-6), Wellington High School, 4:00 p.m.
Key Factor for Triway: Leaning on the senior duo of Payton Snyder and Sydney Frank
Triway is entering Saturday’s district final coming off an 47-42 road upset win of top-seeded LeBrae, who was ranked No. 12 in Division V. Winners in 10 of their last 11 games, the Titans are a group in fine form right now and a big reason is because of their senior duo in guard Payton Snyder and forward Sydney Frank. If those two can both produce noticeable performances against a Keystone team that will be favored, a district title could be in store for Triway.
No. 5 seed Chippewa (16-8) vs No. 12 seed Poland Seminary (17-7), Peninsula High School, 4:00 p.m.
Key Factor for Chippewa: Stay strong on the glass
Depending on the amount of size and the level of go-getters Poland Seminary have hitting the glass, rebounding the ball will be of big importance for Chippewa. The Chipps were troubled in the rebounding department in their WCAL title game loss against Norwayne last week, and because Chippewa has a more smaller lineup (works in their favor really well) they could be prone to struggle on the glass on some nights. Chippewa will be favored in this game either way, but having the rebounding edge could make them even stronger.
jamessimpson@gannett.com
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Busy Alert! Previewing Saturday’s eight girls basketball district finals
Reporting by James Simpson II, Wooster Daily Record / The Daily Record
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