District Tournament Previews: 5th 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 Fifth region where John Hardin and LaRue County appear on a collision course. Here’s a district by district breakdown of the match-ups:
17th District (Games played at Central Hardin):
Monday night North Hardin and Fort Knox go head to head for the third time this season. North won both previous games by considerable margins and likely take this one as well. Assuming they get the win, they will advance to take on John Hardin on Thursday night.
Thursday night features a double header of district semifinals. First up, John Hardin takes on the winner of the North Hardin/Fort Knox game. John’s only loss in the district was to Elizabethtown so they are likely to be a major favorite regardless of the opponent.
The second semifinal on Thursday features Central Hardin hosting Elizabethtown. E-Town beat Central by 20 early in the season but Central Hardin bounced back later in the season and beat the Panthers by 1. Whomever wins this one is likely to have the tall task of beating John Hardin on Saturday but both teams are capable of pulling that upset.
18th District (Games played at Caverna):
Monday night features a show down between high scoring Caverna and Green County. The two teams met twice in the regular season and Green took both meetings but they were close. Green won by 3 in OT then won by 2 again a few weeks later. Both teams have 12-15 records and this matchup figures to be a close one.
Tuesday night will be an anticipated beatdown between LaRue County and Hart County. In their two regular season games LaRue won handily both times and this third game figures to go the same way. LaRue’s size is just overpowering to the much smaller Hart County.
19th District (Games played at Washington County):
The 19th is another 5 team district. Monday night Nelson County takes on Thomas Nelson. The winning team will have a date with Bardstown on Wednesday night for a chance to advance to the regional tournament.
On Tuesday night Washington County and Bethlehem go head to head in what is likely to be a good game. Bethlehem won their first meeting by a point but Washington took the second matchup by 13. Whomever wins the rubber match is likely to face Bardstown in the championship game on Saturday night.
20th District (Games played at Campbellsville):
This district is incredibly hard to predict and both games should be good ones. Wednesday night features Marion County taking on Adair County. Adair swept the season series by 11 and 2 points. This game figures to be high scoring and entertaining. Marion is capable of knocking Adair off.
The Thursday night game brings together Taylor County and Campbellsville. Campbellsville beat the Cardinals twice in the regular season by a combined 5 points. This game can truly go either way. It will be interesting to see who emerges victorious in this district. Any of the four teams are capable of cutting the nets down on Saturday.
Predictions:
Champions: John Hardin, LaRue County, Bardstown, Adair County
Runners-Up: Elizabethtown, Caverna, Washington County, Taylor County