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From today's Eau Claire Leader-Telegram:
Girls hoops: Huskies to open playoffs on road
A share of the Big Rivers Conference lead wasn't enough to earn Eau Claire North a home playoff game.
The Huskies will start their WIAA girls basketball playoffs journey on the road. When the playoff brackets were released Sunday, North was shown as a five seed in the Division 1 D.C. Everest Sectional. It will travel to fourth-seeded Wausau West in a regional semifinal Friday, March 1.
North (15-5) is tied with Chippewa Falls (17-4) for the Big Rivers lead with one game remaining. The Cardinals were seeded second and will host seventh-seeded Eau Claire Memorial in a regional semifinal.
The third-place team in the Big Rivers, Rice Lake, was seeded fifth in the Division 2 Marshfield Sectional. The Warriors (11-10) take on fourth-seeded La Crosse Central in their opener.
Menomonie will be in action in the regional quarterfinals. Seeded seventh, the Mustangs (7-13) travel to 10th-seeded Tomah on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
Four Heart O'North teams earned first-round byes in the Division 3 River Falls Sectional. Conference champion Ladysmith (19-2) is the top seed in the top half of the bracket.
Runner-up Barron (17-4) is seeded second and third-place Hayward (15-4) is seeded third. Both have byes to the regional semifinals.
Bloomer (14-7), the Heart O'North's fourth-place team, is a No. 3 seed in the bottom half of the bracket. The top seed there is unbeaten Eastern Cloverbelt champion Neillsville, the state's top-ranked team. The Warriors (20-0), who won the Division 4 state championship last year, move up to D3 this season.
The top two teams in the Dunn-St. Croix both earned No. 1 seeds and first-round byes in Division 4.
Conference champion Colfax (20-2) is the top seed in the top half of the Chippewa Falls Sectional. If both teams win their regional semifinals, the Vikings would face fourth-seeded Eau Claire Regis (14-7) in a regional final.
The Ramblers, champions of the Western Cloverbelt, will host the winner of Webster and Grantsburg in Friday's regional semifinals.
Elk Mound (15-5), the third-place team in the Dunn-St. Croix, is seeded third in the bracket. The Mounders are opposite Central Lakeland champion Cameron (18-2) in their regional. The Comets are seeded second.
In the Baraboo Sectional, Mondovi (14-7), currently second in the Dunn-St. Croix, earned a No. 1 seed. Western Cloverbelt runner-up Fall Creek (15-6) is the No. 2 seed in that regional.
In Division 5, Large Dairyland champion Eleva-Strum is seeded first in the top half of the La Crosse Logan Sectional.
Small Dairyland winner Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran, led by standout Abbie Hein, is a No. 2 seed in the lower half of the Spooner Sectional.
Owen-Withee, second to Neillsville in the Eastern Cloverbelt, is the No. 1 seed in the other regional.
From today's Chippewa Valley Herald:
----------------------Girls basketball playoff brackets announced
McDonell earned a No. 3 seed in Division 5 and hosts No. 6 Prairie Farm on the opening night of the playoffs. Cornell also will be home for the first game of the playoffs as the No. 4-seeded Chiefs host No. 5 Gilman. Lake Holcombe and New Auburn will be on the road for the opening game of the playoffs when the No. 7 Chieftains play at No. 2 Thorp and No. 8 New Auburn plays at top-seeded Clayton.
