Pickerington North being voted the No. 1 seed in the Central District of the Division I girls basketball tournament could be compared to a political election in that the team won by a landslide.

The Panthers finished the regular season with an Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division championship and a 19-1 record and are ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press state poll.

But seeding guarantees nothing once the actual games begin tonight.

Coach Dave Butcher said the Central District is stronger than the Southwest District, whose teams have won the past seven Division I state championships. Dresden Tri-Valley -- No. 2 in the AP poll --is seeded second, followed by Upper Arlington, Brookhaven and Northland.

"Lakota West and Mount Notre Dame have been at the top of the heap for so long, but our district goes pretty deep," Butcher said. "There are a lot of good, young teams. I see a lot of interesting basketball. There have been a lot of close games, and not one team has dominated."

Pickerington North has been impressive behind 6-foot junior forward Kavunaa Edwards, 6-0 junior center Jordan Householder and guards Nicole Olszewski and her sister Shelby.

"I like our athleticism," Butcher said. "We've been able to put a lot of pressure on the ball defensively. We are a really good team when we shoot the ball."

Olentangy (15-5) is seeded second in the Division II Central District, but coach John Feasel didn't talk about that until his team clinched the OCC Cardinal championship on Friday.

"We hadn't won a conference championship in 11 years, and that was our first goal this season," he said.

The run to the division championship could pay dividends in the tournament.

"I think our division in the OCC from top to bottom every night was strong," Feasel said. "You could get beat any night, and that's what can happen in the tournament.

"We've got a bunch of young kids who haven't been beyond one game in the tournament. I do think there will be some jitters. But we've come a long way. I do think we have some confidence."