OHSAA boys basketball district semifinals with Central Catholic, Malvern and Lake Center

The OHSAA boys basketball tournament is heating up. It is time for neutral sites, which means the district level is upon us.

Three district semifinals on Tuesday include Stark County-area teams: Central Catholic vs. Smithville and Malvern vs. Barnesville in Division III, and Lake Center Christian vs. Open Door Christian in Division IV.

Let's take a look at the three matchups.

Canton Central Catholic (16-7) vs. Smithville (10-14)

Division III district semifinal at Niles Veterans Memorial Gymnasium 

• The area's only defending district champion is playing like it wants another one. No. 8 seed Central has won eight straight games, most recently a 63-41 win at home against No. 48 seed Liberty led by Luke Vlacovsky's 27 points. Vlacovsky, the only returning starter from Central's district championship team last year, averages a team-high 19.7 points. No. 25 seed Smithville knocked off 19-win Crestwood, the No. 3 seed, to get here. Center Quinn Maibach, a 6-foot-4 junior, registered a double-double of 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Smithies in their 42-39 win.

• Up next: District final on Friday, 7 p.m. vs. the winner of No. 30 Keystone and No. 28 Lake Catholic.

Malvern (24-0) vs. Barnesville (15-9)

Division III district semifinal at Richmond Edison 

• The Hornets are at the district level for an amazing 18th straight season. Now they'll try to advance to the regionals for the first time since 2017. Senior guard J'Allen Barrino's 18.8 points a game lead No. 1 seed Malvern — the only undefeated team in the state. No. 9 seed Barnesville should be feeling confident after knocking off No. 5 Buckeye Trail 55-46 in double overtime and No. 2 Harrison Central 51-42 in its two sectional games. The Shamrocks had gone 0-3 against those teams in the regular season. Junior Casey Carpenter scored a team-high 19 points in the sectional final win. Senior Asa Geilinger is a 1,000-point career scorer.

• Up next: District final on Friday, 7 p.m. vs. the winner of No. 4 Union Local and No. 3 Martins Ferry at TBD.

Lake Center Christian (16-7) vs. Open Door Christian (14-10)

Division IV district semifinal at Struthers Gym 

• After losing in a sectional final four straight seasons, No. 8 seed Lake Center makes its first district semifinal appearance since 2017. The Tigers never have made it to a district championship. This semifinal is a rematch of a Jan. 20 game at Open Door, won 77-65 by Lake Center behind Matt Warder's 31 points. RJ Penney scored 28 for the Patriots. Brody Zook hit four 3-pointers that night for Lake Center. The freshman doubled that in the Tigers' sectional final win against Columbia, finishing with 26 points. No. 19 Open Door is coming in hot after knocking off No. 7 New Middletown Springfield 52-38 and No. 13 Lowellville 56-45. Penney and fellow senior guard Anthony Januzzi are 1,000-point scorers for Open Door. Warder, a three-year starter for Lake Center, has scored more than 1,100 points in his career.

• Up next: District final on Friday, 7 p.m. vs. the winner of No. 12 Dalton and No. 3 Mogadore.

Reach Josh at josh.weir@cantonrep.com 

On X: @jweirREP 

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio high school boys basketball: Divisions III, IV district previews