High School Girls Basketball: Who's playing in regionals from CBUS-area
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
By Kevin Rouch
krouch@cbussports.com
Olentangy senior Whitney Stafford, the DI Central District Player of the Year, leads the Braves against Berea-Midpark in the regional semifinals at the Ohio Expo Center. File photo
This past week, 18 girls basketball teams were crowned as OHSAA Central District champs. Regional play begins Tuesday as each of Ohio’s seven divisions will whittle down the field and send four teams to the state championship round at the University of Dayton next week.
See the OHSAA regional/state brackets HERE.
Here’s a look at the regional contests involving CBUS-area teams and the paths to Dayton for each of the district titleholders.
Pickerington Central senior Blossom Wallace looks to help the Tigers repeat as the OHSAA DI state champions. File photo
Division I
This is the division that produced the most district champions in Central Ohio, six in all. Four of those teams – Dublin Coffman (18-6), New Albany (16-8), Marysville (17-7), and defending state champion Pickerington Central (21-3) – will compete against each other for one of the four spots in the state bracket.
Two others – Olentangy (21-3) and Newark (17-7) – will play in another regional round, against two “outsiders” for a second spot in Dayton. Those other teams are Kettering Fairmont (24-0), ranked #1 in Ohio, and Berea-Midpark (19-5). Olentangy features the DI Central District Player of the Year, senior Whitney Stafford.
Division II
Three CBUS-area district champs – Big Walnut (21-4), Worthington Kilbourne (21-4), and Teays Valley (16-7) – will compete in the same region, along with Toledo Start (19-6), for a spot at UD Arena. Big Walnut’s Sydney Mobley, a junior, was named as the DII Central District Player of the Year.
Division III
The regional semifinal game between Central District champs Granville (23-2) and Bishop Hartley (18-6) will play the winner of Unioto (23-2) and Toledo Central Catholic (16-8) for a chance to go to Dayton. Granville returns to regional play after falling in the finals last year to Toledo Notre Dame.
Big Walnut junior Sydney Mobley and her Golden Eagle teammates hope to get back to the state tournament starting with regional play at Ridgedale. File photo
Division IV
Central Ohio has a chance to send two teams to the state tournament, as Buckeye Valley (23-2) and London (23-1) compete in separate regionals. Buckeye Valley begins regional play in Zanesville against Indian Creek (20-5). London will take on Genoa Area (19-6) in a Bluffton regional semifinal.
Division V
Central District champs Columbus Academy (24-1) and Africentric (21-4) could meet in the Mansfield regional final. First, Academy will have to get past Ottawa-Glandorf (25-0), the top team in Division V’s rankings, and Africentric will play Delta (21-4). Academy senior Kendall Owens was this season’s DV Central District POY.
Division VI
The CBUS-area has only one district champion in regional play. Harvest Prep (20-3) will compete in the Pickerington North bracket. The Warriors play Waterford (14-10) in a semifinal game. If they move to the next round, it will be against the winner of the Shenandoah (23-2) and Federal Hocking (15-8) semifinal. Harvest Prep sophomore Janay Carter was Central District Player of the Year.
Division VII
Two Central District champions advanced to regional play. Ridgedale (11-13) plays Russia (22-3) in the Vandalia regional, while Fisher Catholic (22-3) takes on Strasburg-Franklin (21-5) at Vandalia. Fisher Catholic sophomore Hadli Gillum was the Central District Player of the Year.
Granville junior Davynn Miller, who leads the Blue Aces in scoring, helped her squad reach regional play for the sixth straight season. File photo