District Tournament Previews: 8th 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 Eighth region where Collins will have to fight through one of the more balanced regions in the state to get back to Rupp. Here’s a district by district breakdown of the match-ups:
29th District (Games played at North Oldham):
Action kicks off on Tuesday night as regional favorite Oldham County goes up against Trimble County. These two played early in December and Oldham emerged with a 40 point win. The Colonels can likely stamp their ticket to the regional early on Tuesday night.
Wednesday’s game should be a good one as North and South Oldham renew their rivalry. Much like the Civil War, North beat South in the regular season. North won 56-51 in the previous matchup but South is a dangerous team that is more than capable of winning the district.
30th District (Games played at Shelby County):
Tuesday night the Rockets of Shelby County will look to maintain a home court advantage when they host crosstown rivals Collins. Collins won the two regular season games by a combined 54 points. In order for Shelby to pull the upset, they’ll need to play a nearly perfect game.
On Wednesday, the second semifinal features the youth of Spencer County going up against Anderson County. In their lone regular season meeting, Spencer beat Anderson 76-64. Anderson has had a very disappointing season but can redeem themselves if they can knock off Spencer and get to the regional tournament where everyone has a chance to win.
31st District (Games played at Owen County):
The 31st is a 5 team district and Eminence and host Owen County go head to head to determine who will face off against Gallatin County in the semifinals. Eminence has already beaten Owen twice this season but both games have been close and Owen could pull off a win the third time around. Regardless of who wins the play-in game, Gallatin is a perfect 9-0 in district games and will be waiting for the winners.
The other semifinal features Henry County and Carroll County facing off for the third time. Henry County beat Carroll County at home but Carroll returned the favor in the second meeting. The rubber match should be a good one.
32nd District (Games played at Walton-Verona):
Tuesday night features possible regional favorite Walton-Verona taking on Williamstown at home. Walton won by 50 the first and only time they met in the regular season so an upset in this game seems unlikely.
The other semifinal is Simon Kenton going up against Grant County. Simon Kenton won their regular season game against Grant by 28 points so it seems that a matchup against Walton-Verona is the most likely scenario for the district title game on Friday night.
Predictions:
Champions: Oldham County, Collins, Gallatin County, Walton-Verona
Runners-Up: South Oldham, Anderson County, Henry County, Simon Kenton