As his team prepares this week for the Division II district tournament, Big Walnut High School girls basketball coach Bob Scott is sure to stress the importance of playing well for 32 minutes.

According to Scott, in the games the Golden Eagles have lost this season, they have had stretches in which they struggled offensively or defensively, or both.

“We’ve got to put together four quarters, two halves, however you want to say it,” he said. “That’s the hardest part with this group right now.”

Big Walnut had won six of seven games before losing back-to-back contests to Delaware Hayes, 46-36 on Feb. 3, and New Albany, 43-32 on Feb. 7. The Eagles made 12 shots from the floor against the Pacers and 10 against New Albany.

“You’ve got to make shots. That’s the No. 1 thing,” Scott said. “Against Delaware, I think in their first seven or eight possessions, they turned it over five times and we (converted those turnovers) into only two points. (Against New Albany it) was the same thing. We couldn’t make shots in the first half.

“All year, we’ve had trouble putting the ball in the basket.”

Big Walnut was 10-9 overall and 6-7 in the OCC-Capital Division before closing the regular season against Mount Vernon on Feb. 10. Through 19 games, the Eagles were 9-1 when they scored 40 points or more and 1-8 when they scored 39 or fewer.

“Offensively, we’ve got to get better,” Scott said. “I’ve told the kids that we’ve got to score in the 40s to have a chance to win. ... We’ve got to put the ball in the basket and cut down on the turnovers.”

Big Walnut is seeded 12th and opens the district tournament against Columbus South at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at Delaware. The winner plays fourth-seeded Brookhaven or London in the second round at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 25 at Delaware.

The Eagles would play sixth-seeded Licking Valley, 11th-seeded Granville or Utica in a district semifinal on Feb. 29 and likely would face fifth-seeded Eastmoor Academy or seventh-seeded DeSales in a district final March 2.

Big Walnut lost to Granville 63-47 in their opener Nov. 29 but did not play any of the other teams during the regular season.

“It’s not a bad draw,” Scott said. “It’s more about how we do. If we come out and play to our potential, we can probably compete with just about anybody. If we don’t, we can’t. That’s the bottom line. That’s the way it’s been all year.”

South finished the regular season 7-12. Brookhaven enters the postseason 12-7 and has one of the area’s top guards in senior Jasmine Johnson, a Wright State signee who is averaging 18.3 points.

Big Walnut has reached at least a district semifinal the past six seasons, winning a district championship in 2009. The last time the Eagles failed to win their tournament opener was 2004, when they lost to New Albany 47-30 in the first round and finished 5-16.

“Our goal every year is try to win the OCC and try to win the district,” Scott said. “Of course, to win district, you have to take it game by game.”

“We’re playing together, and that’s important,” junior Emily Chucta said. “We just have to play our best. We can beat anybody if we play our best.”

Chucta, a 5-foot-9 forward, dislocated her left kneecap during the third game of the season, a 49-39 loss to Watkins Memorial on Dec. 6. She missed 12 games before returning to the lineup in a 46-38 win over Hilliard Bradley on Jan. 27.

“She sat out a long time,” Scott said. “I don’t know if she’s back to full strength. She’s probably around 80 percent, maybe 90 percent. It’s going to take her some time. She may not get all the way back this year, but it helps having her out there.

“Emily has played a lot of basketball and she understands the game. She sees the court well and she understands what needs to be done. Having her back is huge. Defensively, it really helps us. She understands team defense.”

Chucta was averaging 8.7 points when the injury occurred. In her first four games back, she averaged 5.0 points, scoring nine against Delaware and seven against New Albany.

“I’m really excited to help my teammates out,” she said. “It’s good to be back. ... It’s probably the worst injury I’ve ever had. I had to have surgery because I chipped the back of my patella. They took the chip out and then I was in a brace for a month and then I started physical therapy. When I first came back, I was so out of shape.”

Before Feb. 10, Chucta was averaging 6.6 points, ranking third on the team behind senior forward Megan Walters (8.3) and senior guard Kayleigh Hammond (6.8).

Although Chucta has returned to the lineup, Big Walnut is now without junior guard Samantha Klinedinst, who is out indefinitely with a concussion, Scott said. Klinedinst had been averaging 5.4 points when the injury occurred during a 62-18 win over Horizon Science Academy on Jan. 31.

•For the first time during Luke Moore’s tenure as coach, the wrestling team will play host to a Division II sectional tournament.

Also competing at the site Saturday, Feb. 18, are Brookhaven, Buckeye Valley, Centennial, Columbus South, DeSales, Jonathan Alder, Lakewood, Marion-Franklin, Sparta Highland, Utica, Watterson and Whitehall.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the district tournament Feb. 24 and 25 at Uhrichsville Claymont.

“With our senior class, we wanted to host (a sectional),” said Moore, who is in his fifth season. “It should be a lot of fun for them. They’ve put in a lot of hard work. They deserve to have (a sectional) at home.”

Among those expected to compete for Big Walnut are three 2011 district qualifiers in seniors Aaron Gase and Tyler Schenz and sophomore Alec Eisnnicher. Last year at district, Schenz went 4-2 at 145 pounds and placed fifth, while Gase and Eisnnicher went 1-2 at 140 and 130, respectively.

Schenz is in the same weight class this season and entered a quad match against Athens, Delaware and Lancaster on Feb. 10 with a 28-9 record. Before Feb. 10, Gase was 25-6 at 152 and Eisnnicher was 15-9 at 170.

“I think Aaron and Tyler will be first or second seeds (at sectional) and I’m guessing Alec will be the third seed, possibly second,” Moore said. “They’re all going to go into the sectional as high seeds. I think they’ve got a pretty darn good shot of getting back to district.”

According to Moore, other district contenders include freshman Donny Didion at 106, senior Gene Hogg at 220 and junior C.J. Harness at 160. Before Feb. 10, Didion was 26-13, Hogg was 16-11 and Harness was 14-13.

Moore also is curious to see how junior Anthony Roberto fares at sectional at 138. Roberto had been sidelined since early in the season with a back injury but returned to practice last week and was expected to compete in the quad match Feb. 10.

“He’s kind of a wildcard,” Moore said. “It kind of depends on how he’s feeling. He could be in the mix.”

Big Walnut concluded its OCC-Capital dual schedule with a 3-4 record to place fifth, behind Bradley (7-0), Mount Vernon (6-1), Olentangy Orange (5-2) and Delaware (4-3) and ahead of Watkins Memorial (2-5), New Albany (1-6) and Franklin Heights (0-7).

•Senior Zach Mason was expected to sign a letter of intent Feb. 10 to play soccer at Ohio State.

In 2010, Mason played midfield and had a team-high 14 goals in 18 games. Last season under first-year coach Brett Weiss, he switched to sweeper and had four goals and seven assists as the Eagles finished 14-1-4 overall, reached a Division II district final before losing to DeSales 2-1 in two overtimes, won their first OCC-Capital championship since 2003 and allowed only 10 goals in 19 games.

Mason was named first-team all-state, all-district and all-league last season.