Photo by Kim North The ECO Center just west of St. Clairsville will be the site of an Ohio Division V Boys Basketball state semifinal game. At 4 p.m. Saturday, Cleveland Heights Lutheran East will tip off against Minford. The winner advances to the state tournament in Dayton.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — History will be made in Belmont County on Saturday when the refurbished ECO Center on the campus of Ohio University Eastern hosts its first-ever state semifinal basketball game.

Due to the Ohio High School Athletic Association going to seven divisions in both boys’ and girls’ basketball, the state semifinals were scheduled at various sites across the Buckeye State.

The local site will host Region 17 champion Cleveland Heights Lutheran East (23-4) meeting Region 19 survivor Minford (25-1). Lutheran knocked off three-time defending state champion Richmond Heights for its region title, while Minford took down Chesapeake. The winner will advance to the University of Dayton Arena for the state championship.

“We were in contact with the Eastern District Board throughout the district tournaments, but they were talking to us potentially — if the geographics fell right — of sending the Division VII to us,” ECO Facilities Manager Mark Cook said. “Then I received a phone call from Don Spinell of the Eastern District Board. He said, ‘I’ve got some good news and some bad news. We’re not going to send you the D-VII game, but we are going to send D-V.’

“I think it was a matter of (OHSAA Executive Director) Doug Ute wanting to try and get a state semifinal game down this way,” Cook added. “There has never been a state semifinal in the Eastern District until now.”

The East Central Ohio Educational Service Center purchased the mammoth building, originally known as the Ney Center and later called the Health and Physical Education Center, from Ohio University Eastern. Extensive repairs and renovations have turned the facility into a well-used structure.

There have already been a district volleyball semifinal and final and numerous district semifinal and final basketball games at the center, as well as the OVAC Championships, Buckeye 8 Challenge and Buckeye 8 Championships.

ECOESC and Ohio Hills Health Centers, based in Barnesville, announced a year ago that they would partner to open a school-based health center at the site, thanks to a $3 million grant as part of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s Appalachian Children’s Health Initiative. This project involves converting the upper levels of the ECO Center into medical offices.

Cook said they started from square one when the building was purchased.

“We brought in Epic Restoration, and they performed a complete cleaning of the facility, from the ceiling down. They have been a great partner with us. They were here for one month,” Cook noted. “We took the (basketball) floor down to the bare wood, and it was in excellent shape. Our team here designed the floor pattern. We wanted to stay with our colors of navy blue, tan and white, and we did.”

Cook said being selected to host a state semifinal tournament game is huge for the ECOESC.

“It says a lot about what we have done since we purchased the building,” Cook added. “I think they looked at our venue and saw it as one of the nicest in the Eastern District.

“I wish this game was a year or two later,” Cook admitted. “We’ve got a lot of things still going on. We’ve got three or four projects all going on at the same time, so we still have some things that aren’t quite finished yet.”

He pointed out that a new 12-foot by 32-foot video board was installed Monday morning, and workers were still working some kinks out with it. There will also be a Starbucks in the lobby at some point.

According to Cook, the lower bowl section with the bleachers pulled out has a seating capacity of 2,400 (1,200 on each side), while there are an additional 1,000 seats above, plus plenty of standing room.

“It’s an exciting time for us right now,” Cook said. “For residents of the Ohio Valley that come out, they will see two really good teams that don’t come this way often.”

He said Minford is bringing three chartered buses of students and fans.

“We’re expecting a big crowd,” Cook added.

Angie Hannahs serves as director of operations for the ECOESC.