District Tournament Previews: 4th 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 Fourth region where, as usual, the favorites to win the region are all in the 14th district. Here’s a district by district breakdown of the match-ups:
13th District (Games played at Logan County):
Monday night the Cougars of Logan County will play host to Franklin-Simpson. Franklin beat Logan the first two times they played this season but in a third meeting, Logan knocked the Wildcats off. It’s rare to have 4 rivalry games in a season. Logan has the home court advantage over Franklin and that could be the difference.
On Tuesday the second semifinal is between Todd County Central and Russellville. The Panthers only won 7 games all season and two of their losses were to Todd. In the second week of the season, Todd beat them by 36 but on February 9th the rematch was a 9 point game. Perhaps Russellville is starting to figure out Todd. We’ll find out on Tuesday night.
14th District (Games played at Greenwood):
The 14th is the furthest west 5 team district in the state. Monday night South Warren take on host Greenwood. The teams split the regular season series. South Warren won by 1 in December before Greenwood won the rematch by 9. The winner of that one will take on defending state champion Bowling Green on Tuesday night. Bowling Green’s only district loss came to Warren Central so they will likely be heavy favorites against whomever they face in the semifinals.
The other semifinal features Warren Central taking on Warren East on Wednesday. Central won both regular season games by double digits. Barring a surprise, the district championship will be the usual Warren Central versus Bowling Green matchup.
15th District (Games played at Glasgow):
Tuesday night the action kicks off with Allen County-Scottsville taking on Monroe County. Early in the season Monroe beat ACS by 17 but the Patriots bounced back and beat Monroe by 3 on February 2nd. This one could be a thriller.
Wednesday night should be a dandy of a game as 20-8 Glasgow takes on 19-10 Barren County on what should be one of the better district matchups in western Kentucky. Barren won both regular season games but both were competitive games in the single digits and Glasgow is capable of taking the 3rd game.
16th District (Games played at Clinton County):
Monday night Clinton County goes up against Metcalfe County. Clinton took both regular season meetings by double digits and it’s likely they will take the 3rd as well.
Tuesday night the second semifinal is a matchup of bottom tier teams as 9-20 Russell County goes up against 4-23 Comberland County. Comberland has dropped 21 of their last 22 games including 7 point and 13 point losses to the Lakers of Russell County. It’s possible Cumberland could spring the upset.
Predictions:
Champions: Todd County Central, Warren Central, Barren County, Clinton County
Runners-Up: Logan County, Bowling Green, Allen County-Scottsville, Russell County