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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Marshfield Columbus Catholic, the Cloverbelt Conference East Division champions, were rewarded with a No. 1 seed in its Division 4 bracket as the WIAA announced its seedings for the upcoming boys basketball playoffs, which begin March 2.
The Dons (17-3) are a No. 1 seed in its eight-team regional bracket and will host No. 8 Abbotsford (1-19) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2. The winner will take on the winner of the No. 5 Cornell-No. 4 Owen-Withee game on Thursday, March 4. The regional final is at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 6 at Neillsville. The Division 4 sectional is at Spooner on March 12 and 13.
Marshfield (16-5), which clinched at least a share of its first Wisconsin Valley Conference championship since 1992, received just a No. 7 seed in its 14-team Division 1 sectional.
The Tigers host No. 10 Chippewa Falls (10-11) on March 2 at 7 p.m. The winner will take on No. 2-seed Superior (18-3) in a regional final on March 6.
Marshfield beat Chippewa Falls 48-37 in a semifinal at the Chippewa Falls Tournament on Dec. 29, and lost the next day to Superior 56-29.
Wausau West, which will share the WVC title with Marshfield if the Warriors beat Stevens Point on Tuesday, is the No. 3 seed after beating No. 4 Eau Claire Memorial, No. 5 Eau Clarie North and No. 6 Merrill during the regular season. The Tigers split a pair of regular-season games with West, and lost to North and Merrill. Unbeaten Antigo (21-0) is the No. 1 seed in the sectional. The sectional semifinals and finals will be held at Marshfield High School on March 12 and 13.
In Division 3, Spencer, Auburndale and Stratford will host first-round games on March 2.
Auburndale (15-6) earned a No. 3 seed and hosts Stevens Point Pacelli (8-12) in a regional quarterfinal. The winner will take on the winner of the No. 2 Amherst (19-2)-No. 7 Iola-Scandinavia (7-13) game on March 4 with the higher seed hosting. The regional final is at 1:30 p.m. March 6 at Stevens Point Area Senior High.
Stratford (11-10) is the No. 4 seed in the same regional bracket and will host Marawood Conference rival Edgar (12-9) in a regional quarterfinal. The winner will take on either No. 1 seed Marathon (21-0) or No. 8 seed Manawa (5-15) on March 4. The sectional semifinal is March 12 at Antigo, with the sectional final at Ashwaubenon on March 13.
No. 4-seed Spencer (14-6) is on the other side of the Division 3 brackets and will host No. 5 Colby (13-7) on March 2, with the winner playing either No. 1 Fall Creek or No. 8 Cadott on March 4. The regional final is at Altoona on March 6, with the sectional semifinal at Chippewa Falls on March 12 and the sectional final at Eau Claire North on March 13.
The WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament is at the Kohl Center in Madison from March 18-20.
Pairings for the girls basketball playoffs will be released on Feb. 28.
View the complete brackets at wiaawi.org