In the NBA and NCAA, many will say the regular basketball season is meaningless. Go ahead and toss in high school too.

At least that’s how it looks where Highland’s boys team is concerned. The Hornets’ regular-season feats did them little good when it came to seeding the Copley Division I District.

“I think it just came down to total wins and losses,” Hornets coach Adam Cestaro said. “With us having six losses by the time we came in, everyone ahead of us was either five or four losses. So it’s just kind of how it shakes out, I guess.”

The Hornets were seeded sixth despite beating No. 3 Brunswick and No. 5 Wadsworth during the regular season. They had fewer losses than Brunswick at the time of the vote and the same number as Wadsworth.

Highland’s sixth loss, its second of the year to unbeaten Copley, came Feb. 10, after some teams likely had voted. The records posted on the Northeast Athletic Board’s site reflected records prior to Feb. 10 games.

As the sixth seed, Highland will get one tournament game at home. That will be March 1 at 8 p.m. against Walsh Jesuit, seeded seventh with an 8-8 record at the time of the voting. Highland was on a five-game win streak prior to losing to Copley. That also apparently failed to impress any voters.

Cestaro had some choices as to where he placed his team on the bracket, but ultimately went into a quarter-bracket with No. 2 seed Medina and No. 4 Stow, which will host the Walsh-Highland winner on March 4 at 7 p.m.

“It was a chance to take a home game and then play the fourth seed,” Cestaro said. “The feeling is you’ve got to win one. You’ve got to make sure you win that first one. Then you just try to view it as a little four-team tournament. We looked at it like what was the best opportunity in a little four-team tournament to get a couple wins. Then you look at the next four-team tournament and see what you could do.”

Swimming

Junior Ashley Mennenga won a pair of events at the Cleveland State Sectional on Feb. 11, leading a foursome of Highland girls to qualify for the Bowling Green District in four events. Mennenga won the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke and also qualified in a pair of relays.

Joining Mennanga at Bowling Green will be junior Mindy Wilkes, runner-up in the 100 freestyle and sixth-place finisher in the 50 freestyle; freshman Kylie Cook (14th, 50 freestyle; 15th, 200 freestyle); and junior Brittany Stacho (17th in the 50 free and 17th in the 100 free). Mennenga, Stacho, Cook and Wilkes teamed on a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay, and a third-place finish in the 400 free relay.

Highland finished seventh among 17 teams, totaling 145 points. Strongsville won with 348.

Highland’s boys finished 14th among 17 teams. The Hornets totaled 45 points. St. Ignatius won with 413. Senior Kyle Skidmore (seventh, 200 free; 15th, 100 free) and junior Nolan Marellino (ninth, 500 free) advanced as individuals. Senior Alexander Wyszkowsk, freshman JJ Greytak, Marcellino and Skidmore advanced with a 12th-place finish in the 200 free relay.