Photo by Kim North Monroe Central’s Cooper Howell (00) drives to the basket for two points.

COLUMBUS — March Madness has been fully embraced by the largest municipality in Monroe County — Woodsfield — as the Monroe Central boys’ basketball team has advanced further than any county program since the mid-1980s.

The talented Seminoles (23-3) will play in the Ohio Division VI Region 23 championship game Saturday at 4 o’clock against Eastern Beaver (23-3) inside Alumni Hall on the campus of Ohio Dominican University in suburban Columbus for a berth in state semifinals next week.

Throngs of fans from Woodsfield and beyond have ventured to Cadiz for the Eastern District semifinals (Malvern, 63-47), Cambridge for the Eastern District Championship (Hiland, 54-33) and Columbus for the Region 23 semifinal (North Adams, 66-52) to watch the Seminoles on the tournament trail, something that hasn’t been lost upon head coach Mason Lang and standout senior Tucker Howell.

“We have received great support from our community all season. Our fans have always traveled well to our games and are always eager to help and support the boys in any way they can,” Lang said.

Howell added, “It’s awesome. We feed off of their enthusiasm.” He had a double-double Wednesday with 25 points and 13 rebounds against the Green Devils..

Monroe Central began the tournament trail at home with a 73-33 rout of Crooksville to begin its current 4-game win streak. Two of the losses have been to a very solid Wheeling Central squad. The other to Milford Center Fairbanks on a buzzer-beater.

The Seminoles average 67.1 points per game while limiting their opponents to 40.9. They have a plus-16.2 scoring norm. They have been successful because of quick starts and red-hot shooting from the floor.

The Eagles have won five straight and 15 of their last 16, including a 71-55 pasting of Cardington Lincoln in the Region 23 semis last Wednesday. They average 59.8 points and give up 49.8 for a 10-point scoring margin.

Beaver Eastern is a perfect 5-0 in games played at a neutral site.

The winner will meet the survivor of Region 24 that has Marion Local (24-2) paired with Anna (16-10).

The last Monroe County boys basketball program to advance to this far was the 1985 Skyvue Hawks who lost in the Class A state finals, 63-61, on a last-second jump shot by Jackson Center. That team was led by current South Florida baseball coach Mitch Hannahs and coached by Mark Huffman, who is an assistant for the Tri-Valley girls program.

Monroe Central does, however, own two regional championships in its existence since the 1994 consolidation between Skyvue and Woodsfield. It claimed one in football in 2001 with a 6-0 victory over Smithville and another on its way to the 2004 Division III state softball championship with a perfect 32-0 record.