District Tournament Previews: 13th Region
The postseason is finally upon us and the Road to Rupp Arena starts this week. The amount of schools in the postseason will be cut down to 128 once the district rounds are complete. Only district champions and runners-up move on to regional tournaments and there are sure to be several upsets this week. As we continue with our postseason previews, we move to the Thirteenth region where anyone can win after presumed favorite Corbin has stumbled down the stretch. Here’s a district by district breakdown of the match-ups:
49th District (Games played at Oneida Baptist Institute):
In the district opener, OBI and Red Bird go head to head to determine who will lose to North Laurel in the district semifinal on Wednesday night.
The other semifinal has Clay County and Jackson County squaring off. Those two rivals split two regular season games as Clay took the first one by 4 and Jackson County won the second meeting by a point. As district semifinals go, you may not find a better one in the 13th region.
50th District (Games played at Corbin):
Both semifinals will be played on Tuesday night at Corbin. In the first game, South Laurel takes on Williamsburg. Williamsburg fell to South Laurel in their lone regular season game as South won by 16. South Laurel is pretty good and Williamsburg taking a win here would be a surprise.
The second semfinal of the evening takes place as Corbin hosts Whitley County. Corbin beat Whitley by 23 and then again by 15. In order for Whitley to get to the district championship, they will need to get through Corbin in what would be a big upset.
51st District (Games played at Knox Central):
Tuesday night, district playoffs start as Knox Central hosts Pineville in a rematch of a game that Knox won by 24 earlier in the season. Knox should be the favorite to win the second matchup also.
Wednesday night the second semifinal will pair up Lynn Camp and Barbourville. Lynn Camp has defeated Barbourville 3 times already this season but each game has been close. In order for Barbourville to reach the championship game, they’ll need the fourth time to be the charm.
52nd District (Games played at Middlesboro):
Both games in the 52nd take place on Tuesday night. The first game has Harlan County taking on host Middlesboro as Harlan will look to continue the trend of beating Middlesboro by double digits.
The second game of the evening will be between Bell County and Harlan. Bell and Harlan split the season series and both teams won by 7 points. The rubber match should be a good one and could potentially come down to the final minutes.
Predictions:
Champions: North Laurel, Corbin, Knox Central, Harlan County
Runners-Up: Clay County, South Laurel, Lynn Camp, Bell County