Best of the Monday Mailbag: March 22

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s 2020-2021 winter sports season is in the books. Practices for spring sports are underway with games and events scheduled to begin in the coming days. 

This week’s Monday Mailbag is a “Best Of” edition, featuring some of the top questions from the winter sports season. The Monday Mailbag’s regular format will resume next week. If you have a sports question for the next edition, please email it to sports@thevwindependent.com. 

January 18

Q: How do you see things shaking out in Division IV come tournament time? Name withheld upon request

A: Without a doubt, Division IV in this area is loaded.

I think some teams that deserve to play for or win a district title will go home early. Crestview, Lincolnview, Kalida, Columbus Grove, Ottoville are all in the Elida district. If I had to pick one right now, I would say if healthy, Ottoville is a slight favorite, but any of the other teams are true contenders.

Then there’s Antwerp, a team that plays in the Defiance district.

It should be very interesting come tournament time.

January 25

Q: What happened to the possibility of expanding the high school football playoffs to 16 teams per region? Name withheld upon request

A: The proposal was indeed out there but it didn’t seem to have much traction, so the Ohio High School Athletic Association will stick with the current plan to expand from eight to 12 teams per region.

Of course, that’s assuming teams will be able to play a 10-game regular season this fall.

It’s important to note that the 2021 high school football season is currently scheduled to kick off one week earlier than normal to allow for an extra round of playoff games. For most teams, that means the season will officially begin on Friday, August 20.

February 15

Q: What are your thoughts on seeding at the Division IV boys’ basketball? Did they get it right? Name withheld upon request

A: I think so, especially at the top of the Division IV Elida district.

Columbus Grove and Ottoville are deserving of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds and honestly, it’s going to take someone’s best game of the season to keep either out of the district final. Yes, upsets can and do happen, but these two will be a real handful for anyone in the district.

In my mind, Crestview is in the right spot as the No. 3 seed. Kalida and Lincolnview are probably in the correct spots at No. 4 and No. 5 and the same can be said for Leipic at No. 6.

February 22

Q: What’s with all the lopsided girls basketball tournament scores? 66-6? 67-8? How is that even possible? Name withheld upon request

A: This has been going on for years and it some ways it used to be worse.

The sectional semifinal round tends to feature some big mismatches, with the No. 1 or No. 2 seed facing one of the bottom seeds. In many cases, the two teams are on the opposite end of the talent spectrum, hence the eye-popping margins.

Once in a while you’ll see similar results in the sectional championship games, but it seems to happen with less frequency.

As I said, it sometimes used to be worse. You’d see scores like 101-13 or 97-6, but the continuous clock rule has cut down on some of that. In tournament basketball, the clock continues to roll when a team has a margin of 35 points or more in the second half. It’s similar to the so-called mercy rule in football.