BluegrassPreps.com 15th Region Tournament Preview

The Action kicks off this week in Pikeville at the Appalachian Wireless Arena and its sure to pack a punch in every game, after the draw over the weekend we have some very interesting matchups to kick off the tournament. Lets jump right in and take a look at the matchups for the week.

Martin County (23-7) vs Belfry (14-11) : Martin County the champs of the 57th come into the game on a 8 game win streak and are playing like one of the hottest teams in the region right now. lead by senior brady Dingess they will take on the runner-up of the 60th the Belfry Pirates. who have played much better the past few weeks after the midseason coaching change. The Cardinals and Pirates have not met in the 21-22 season.

Pikeville (28-2) vs Lawrence County (24-7): Pikeville has been the one constant in the region this year and they have been a force to reckon with for any team in the 15th. Lawrence is a dangerous team if they can get their shots to fall and they are a team that can run the floor with anyone, This is one of the more interesting first round games to watch and could have been a regional final if the teams had fallen on opposite sides of the bracket. These two have met once in the 21-22 season with Pikeville wining it 61-48.

Pike Co. Central (13-12) vs East Ridge (16-15) : The lone all Pike County matchup of the first round has the 60th district champs the Hawks of Pike Central vs the runner-ups of the the 59th the Warriors of East Ridge. Both of these teams can beat anyone in the region on any given night. It will be interesting to see if PCC can play an up-tempo game that they like to play or if East Ridge will slow this one down and try to make it a defensive battle.  These two teams have not met in the 21-22 season.

Betsy Layne (22-7) vs Paintsville (19-8) : This one should be the best matchup of the first round on both nights these two played once in the All "A" semifinals and it was an all out war and tensions ran high the entire game. Betsy Layne the champs of the 58th have had a very strong showing this season with the return of Jordan Frazier. Look for this one to once again be a knock down drag out between the two with the winner of this one to be the favorite to come out of the the bottom side of the bracket. These two teams met once during the 21-22 season and saw Betsy Layne win it 73-65.