Zach Vernon (2) of North Union goes up for a basket. The Wildcats have earned the fourth seed for the Division III post-season.
(Photo submitted)
—
North Union boys basketball head coach Brian Terrill was not that surprised when the Wildcats earned the fourth seed in Division III.
“We figured we’d be in that mix and not any higher,” he said.
The Wildcats will open with a first-round contest at home against Mount Gilead, which was seeded 20th.
The game is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
A win against the Indians will pit North Union against Northmor, the 15th seed, on Saturday, Feb. 26 on the home hardwood.
“It was important for us to play in the first round,” Terrill said. “As coaches, we discussed a lot of things prior to the draw, but not playing in the first round was not one of them.”
Terrill added he is happy with who North Union will be playing, but will remind the team the tournament season could be one game and out.
“We try to do the best we can to get winnable games as deep as we can into the tournament,” he said. “Now we have to go out and get the wins.”
North Union will not have much idle time between now and its tournament game.
The Wildcats (14-4 overall, 6-3 Central Buckeye Conference through 18 games) were scheduled to play five games between Feb. 8 and Feb. 17. Two of the games, last Tuesday’s contest against Springfield Shawnee and against Indian Lake on Feb. 14 are rescheduled because of weather.
Other games include a home contest with Northmor (Feb. 17) and at Elgin on Feb. 15.
“We had narrow options when it came to the rescheduled games,” Terrill said. “Going forward we will be having shorter practices and making adjustments.”
With graduation over the past two years, the Wildcats were needing to get key minutes from several players.
“It is probably the most graduated players we’ve had in a two-year span, so last year’s role players became primary players,” Terrill said. “We will continue to stress consistency and improve.”