The postseason tournament draw for boys basketball is in under a month. Teams can’t wait until their draw date to start plotting the course to Dayton. The time for that starts now. In The News-Herald coverage area, teams from all seven divisions have sights on making it to the regional round, some for the first time and others continuing long running streaks. But a major factor will be how teams end in the RPI. Throughout the season, teams garner RPI points as the season goes, earning two points for beating a Division I opponent and it decreasing by 0.15 for every division lower. The formula takes a multiplication of the team’s winning percentage, their opponent’s winning percentage and the opponents’ opponents winning percentage. The true March Madness this season won’t be in the NCAA tournament, but in Division III in Northeast Ohio. Among the 51-team district pool, 35 teams have records of .500 or better — and the gap from first to 35th is 0.244. As a scope of the strength of the division as a whole, defending state champion Louisville is currently seeded 16th, and state semifinalist Garfield Heights is 11th. Currently topping the seeding chart is Gilmour (12-1). The Lancers have an RPI of 0.703, with wins over six teams in D-I or II bolstering their resume. The Lancers bring a strong mix of offensive firepower, strong rebounding and defensive prowess that make it a contender for a regional berth for the first time since three straight regional title appearances from 2021-23. Also in the middle of the cluster of D-III contenders from the coverage area are Kenston (sixth), Hawken (seventh), Chardon (17th), University (18th), VASJ (21st), Harvey (24th), and Geneva (27th). All bring unique blends of style to the game and can be matchup nightmares for opponents. Kenston brings a young core and features an aggressive style of play inside, averaging 69.6 points per game, fifth in the coverage area. Just ahead of them is Hawken, which brings an even more balanced attack than last year’s D-IV state semifinal run, at 70.9. Chardon, VASJ and Harvey bring a different look of scoring to the table, as all three feature several strong slashers to complement the smart shooters they have. University and Geneva on the other hand thrive on the outside, utilizing strong 3-point shooting as all five average north of 62 points a game. D-II features two distinct levels as the postseason image starts to form. The first tier is the ones that are favorites to reach the regional round with Brecksville (13-0), Massillon (11-1), Medina Highland (11-2), Euclid (10-4) and Hoover (11-4). The top four are separated by six hundredths in RPI, with Euclid being in just 0.003 behind Highland. With seven district brackets, Euclid is in a unique position of seeing where Brecksville, Massillon and Highland select before them and plot their course to Dayton accordingly. After the top five, spots six through 19 are separated by just over a tenth of a point. Included in the cluster are Riverside and Mayfield in 13th and 19th, respectively. Both sides feature strong offenses, with the Wildcats averaging 74.9 points per game and the Beavers averaging 69, with several young key pieces. With both facing each other once more this season and a second loop of WRC play against double-digit win Kenston and Chardon, both have ample opportunities to move up the standings. Mentor is in a peculiar spot in D-I. With four regional brackets, D-I is the second smallest district pool in Northeast Ohio. The Cardinals currently sit in sixth, just a hundredth of a point behind Elyria for fifth. The Cardinals have a challenging final month with games remaining against Brunswick, Glenville and Medina to go with a double dip of games against Cleveland Heights, all of which have winning records and a combination of wins could push them into the top four. D-VII is very top-heavy, with the top three teams of McDonald, Heartland Christian and Fairport being a tenth clear of fourth place. With three district brackets, all three have paths to finding a trip to the regional round. McDonald is clear of the other two by four hundredths and is currently undefeated at 16-0. But the battle between Heartland Christian and Fairport is going to come down to the wire. The two are separated by 0.008 points. The rivalry between the two stems back to last year as Heartland Christian beat Fairport in a district semifinal, 69-66. But this year’s Skippers offense has gone to another level, averaging 84.5 points with all five starters averaging over nine points a game. Fairport has a chance to close the gap with games against Grand Valley, Akron East, Berkshire and Harvey remaining that offer a lot of RPI points for the Skippers. Both Cornerstone Christian (6-8, 13th) and Cardinal (5-10, 17th) have displayed strong improvements in the second half of the year and have several opportunities remaining to move further up the D-VII seeding. Kirtland sits in the driver’s seat for D-VI, currently as the top seed at 11-1 with a 0.698 RPI. The Hornets are clear of Smithville by four hundredths of currently second seed Smithville (13-3, 0.654). The Hornets are able to control the game on both ends of the floor, having a point differential of plus-17. They have size to compete inside with a myriad of teams and a closing stretch that features games against Geneva, Chagrin Falls, Cardinal Mooney and Andrews Osborne, they have the chase to increase the gap to the field. Richmond Heights is a team to keep tabs on down the stretch in D-VI. The gap from fourth (Columbiana) to the Spartans in 10th is five hundredths. The Spartans are young but have made vast strides on the offensive end, averaging 63.1 points a game to go with their usual stout defense. With games against Andrews Osborne, Brush and John Marshall remaining, Richmond Heights has several opportunities to make a leap in the seeds. After undefeated Lutheran East, D-V feels open for the final three regional spots. There are 19 teams behind the Falcons that feature winning records, and the other three brackets are going to be dogfights to hoist district championships. Chagrin Falls and Berkshire are right in the middle of the fray, and both feature one thing that will challenge any opponents: stifling defenses. Among the coverage area, the Badgers (45.5) and Chagrin Falls (48.6) lead all teams in points allowed, having held several teams well below their season average. Both are in the top 10 seeds currently, Chagrin Falls in fifth and Berkshire ninth. With the top 10 below Lutheran East separated by eight hundredths, final seeding could be the difference maker on a postseason run. Benedictine, NDCL and West Geauga are in a logjam of teams behind the top six in D-IV. All three have several opportunities to move up the seeding with the second loop of conference play. This postseason, teams need to be more like pirates than vultures, creating plans months out at a time instead of waiting for their time to strike. ...read more read less