District Tournament Previews: 1st 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 kick off the postseason previews, we start in the 1st region where 3 teams have won 20+ games this season and at least 4 teams have a legitimate shot to win the region, assuming they make it there. Here’s a district by district breakdown of the matchups:
1st District (Games played at Fulton City):
Monday night Fulton City takes on Fulton County. County is the top seed in the district at 16-11 overall and 7-0 in district games. Fulton City sits at 1-22 on the season. County won the regular season matchups by 41 and 25 and the result isn’t likely to change in this one.
Tuesday night Carlisle County and Hickman County renew their rivalry. Carlisle finished up 13-15 overall while going 4-3 against district foes. Hickman ended the regular season 10-19 and 2-4 in district games. Carlisle swept the season series by 12 and 4 points but Hickman nearly pulled the upset last time around and could do so here.
2nd District (Games played at Paducah Tilghman):
Monday night 23-6 McCracken County takes their top seed into the semifinal against Community Christian. Community Christian ended up the season only 1-25 and winless in the district. McCracken won the lone regular season matchup by 43. Expect the same in this rematch.
On Tuesday, Tilghman hosts St. Mary in the other semifinal. Tilghman finished the season at 18-8 while St. Mary ended up 9-19. Both regular season meetings ended in 30+ point wins for the Blue Tornadoes and I expect a similar result the third time around.
3rd District (Games played at Ballard Memorial):
The 3rd district is only a 3 team district. As a result, Mayfield advances to the championship game by default. Monday night Ballard Memorial plays host to Graves County. Graves has blown out Ballard Memorial in both meetings this season. No reason to think that changes in the third matchup.
4th District (Games played at Marshall County):
The 4th is another 3 team district and Marshall County will advance to the championship game. The lone semifinal is Calloway County against Murray. Calloway ended the regular season at 11-16 while Murray ended up at 13-16. These two teams split the season series and their game should be the only really competitive regional semifinal in the entire region.
Prediction:
Champions: Fulton County, McCracken County, Graves County, Marshall County
Runners-Up: Carlisle County, Paducah Tilghman, Mayfield, Murray