It's district tournament time in the region.  The whole season has looked to be a 3 team race but Butler County is trying to throw it's hat in the ring late in the season.  With leading scorer Ty Price, the Bears are a team with a high ceiling.  Ohio County is sitting in the best place, as they have already clinched their spot in the regional tournament with a first round bye.  Owensboro is the the first round team to watch.  They enter the tournament on a 3 game losing streak while Daviess County comes into the week with some momentum.

 

9th District (at Owensboro) - #1 Owensboro Catholic vs #4 Apollo - The Aces won both meetings by an average margin of 28.  Expect Apollo to be a little closer for round 3 but not close enough.  If the Aces can limit Zjahn Tutt, Apollo will struggle to find another scorer to keep pace. PREDICTION - Aces by 15

#2 Owensboro vs #3 Daviess County - While Owensboro won both regular season meetings by a margin of 22 ppg, Daviess County comes into the postseason with some momentum.  The Devils should win this game comfortably but have not found their rhythm since Ji Webb entered the lineup.  If the Panthers can hit some outside shots, they can keep it interesting but Owensboro should be too much for the Panthers.  PREDICTION - Devils by 8

10th District  (at Mclean County) - #2 Mclean County vs #3 Muhlenberg County - While Muhlenberg has played a much tougher schedule than Mclean, the Mustangs have been unable to translate that into wins against equal competition.  Mclean will be the clear favorite in this one as they won both meetings in the regular season.  The Cougars won the first by 30, but only won the second by 7.  PREDICTION - Cougars by 10

11th District (at Cloverport) - #1 Hancock County vs #4 Cloverport - Hancock comes in as a double digit favorite and should be too much for the Aces.  PREDICTION - Hornets by 30

#2 Meade County vs #3 Breck County - this game is a bit of a toss up.  Breck won the first meeting by 7 while Meade came back and won the 2nd meeting by 6.  Breck has shown a better ability to compete against tougher opponents, but Meade won their last 2 district games against Breck and Hancock.  Meade has never lost a district elimination game under Coach Jason Tripure.  He has won every single one since 2015.  PREDICTION - Waves by 1

12th District (at Edmonson County) - #1 Edmonson County at #4 Grayson County - Edmonson won both meetings by an average margin of 12 ppg.  Grayson has the talent to win the game but winning at Edmonson County will be a challenge.  PREDICTION - Wildcats by 5

#2 Butler County vs #3 Whitesville Trinity - This is the best match up of the entire first round.  Trinity won the first meeting by 2 while Butler won the 2nd meeting in overtime, by 5.  Landon Huff has been a 20 ppg player over the last few weeks of the regular season while Ty Price is one of the best scorers in the state at nearly 32 ppg.  Lawson Rice vs Landon Smith should be a great paint matchup.  The Raiders will want to keep him out of foul trouble.  PREDICITON - Bears by 2

 

1.Owensboro Catholic Aces (25-4) – SAME

Wins – Breck Co, Losses - Evansville Reitz, IN

The Aces finished their regular season with a tough one point loss to a good Evansville Reitz team.  They head into district time with the best record in the region and only one loss inside the region, to Ohio County.  They have signature wins over Bowling Green, Evansville Memorial and Owensboro twice.  Brian Griffith leads the team at 21.2 ppg.

2.Ohio County Eagles (23-7) – SAME

Wins - Owensboro, Losses - South Warren

The Eagles got a nice regional win over Owensboro on Tuesday to remain undefeated in 3rd Region Play.  They just don't have the overall body of work that the Aces have on the regular season.  Elijah Decker leads the team with 17.3 ppg and nearly 8 boards per contest.

3.Owensboro Red Devils (14-10) – SAME

Losses- Ohio County

The Devils had their regular season finale against Henderson canceled on Friday, meaning they will head to the post season with 3 straight losses.  They have not found their groove all season, but maybe tournament time will focus their talent.  Kenyatta Carbon leads the team with 21.7 ppg.

4.Butler County Bears (20-9) – UP 1

Wins – Ft Campbell & Mclean County

The Bears head into postseason play having won 8 of their last 10.  They feature one of the best 1-2 punches in the region in Ty Price and Lawson Rice.  Price is putting up 31.4 ppg while Lawson Rice leads the region with 11.6 boards per contest.

 

5.Mclean County Cougars (21-8) - DOWN 1

Wins – Hopkins Central, Losses - Butler County

The Cougars closed the season winning 7 of 9 but did drop a regional contest against Butler County to close the season.  Jaxon Floyd has really played well over the past couple of week, upping his average to 16 ppg.

6.Hancock County Hornets (16-11) – SAME

Wins - Grayson County, Losses - Henderson County

The Hornets have won 5 of 6 and finally seem to be playing their best basketball of the year at the right time.  Their only loss over the last 2 weeks was to a very good Henderson team.  Kaleb Keown is sitting at 16 ppg to lead the Hornets this season.

7.Edmonson County Wildcats (16-12) – SAME

Wins – Russellville, Losses - Breck County

The Cats have lost 3 of 4 ahead of district time.  The good news is, they get to host the 12th.  They are led by Braxton Highbaugh's 14 ppg.  

8.Whitesville Trinity Raiders (14-13) – UP 1

Losses – Lyon County & Todd Central

The Raiders had an impressive showing against Lyon County through 3 quarters but Travis Perry was too much in the 4th.  The second half of the season has been a struggle, as the Raiders only went 5-9 since mid January.  Senior Landon Huff has led the team down the stretch.  He is scoring 16 ppg to lead the team.

 

9.Daviess County Panthers (13-14) – UP 1

Wins – Grayson County & Union County

The Panthers come into the postseason on a groove, having won 4 of 5.  Gage Phelps is sitting at 18 ppg.

 

10.Breckinridge County Tigers (10-16) – UP 1

WIns - Edmonson County, Losses – Owensboro Catholic

The Tigers have been inconsistent all season but have shown the ability to compete with anyone in the region.  Hunter Barr Leads the Tigers with 16 points and 9 board per contest on the season.

11.Grayson County Cougars (8-17) – UP 2

Wins - Meade County, Losses - Daviess County & Hancock County

The Cougars enter the postseason having lost 6 of 7.  Senior River Blanton leads the team with 14.4 ppg.

12.Meade County Greenwave (8-18) – DOWN 3

Losses - Grayson County, North Bullitt & Fairdale

The Waves followed their 4 game win streak by closing the season on a 5 game losing streak.  Garrett Hardesty leads the team with 13.4 ppg.

 

13.Apollo Eagles (5-22) - UP 1

Wins - Muhlenberg County

Apollo got a regional win over Muhlenberg to avoid going winless in the region this season.  Zjahn Tutt leads the team with 14.6 ppg.

14.Muhlenberg County Mustangs (6-22) – DOWN 2

Losses - Apollo & Hopkinsville

The Mustangs are limping into the postseason having lost 5 of 6.  Madox Jernigan & Kanyon Johnson leads the team with 13.5 ppg while Kadin Ray is 2nd in the region in rebounding at 10.5 boards per contest.

15.Cloverport Aces (7-21) – SAME

Wins- Foundation Christian, Losses - Ft Knox

The Aces finished the season with 7 wins!  Cole Weatherholt led the team with 14 ppg.

 

REGULAR SEASON SCORING LEADERS

1. Ty Price - Butler County - 31.4

2. Kenyatta Carbon - Owensboro - 21.7

3.Brian Griffith - Owensboro Catholic - 21.2

4. Lawson Rice - Butler County - 18.5

5. Gage Phelps - Daviess County - 18 

6. Elijah Decker - Ohio County - 17.3

7. Landon Huff - Whitesville Trinity - 16

8. Jaxon Floyd - Mclean County - 15.9

9. Kaleb Keown - Hancock County - 15.7

10. Hunter Barr - Breck County - 14.9

What a great night of basketball it was around the region last night.  You had several great games that went right down to the wire.  It seems like it has been a few years since the district tournaments were this competitive. 

Apollo gave the Aces all they wanted in the 9th district opener, falling 58-50.  The Aces came out extremely flat and left the door open for Apollo.  The Eagles trailed by 5 at halftime and battled to keep it close until a 7-0 spurt gave Catholic a double digit lead early in the 4th.  A big 3 by Zjahn Tutt cut the Aces lead to 4 with 3 minutes to go but Apollo could get no closer.  The Eagles were doomed by 16 missed free throws.

In the 10th the 2 time defending regional champions came to play!   Led by Kadin Ray's 33 points, the Stangs took down the home standing Cougars in overtime.  Mclean battled from behind all game and outscored Muhlenberg by 7 in the 4th to get the game to OT but did not have enough, as Muhlenberg won 65-60.

In the 11th, Hancock County rolled Cloverport behind Devin Powers 11 3's.  Powers finished with 39 points.  In game 2, Meade and Breck played nip and tuck through the game as expected.  These two teams were even all year and it took until the final 7 tenths of a second to get a winner.  Hunter Barr caught an inbounds lob from side out and layed it in at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 47-46 win.  

Finally, the 12th district atmosphere was as wild as expected.  Maybe a little too wild in the opener as fans from Grayson and Edmonson were escorted from the gym by the police.  When the dust settled on that one, Edmonson held up home court with an 11 point win over Grayson.  Game 2 was an instant classic, as expected.  Senior laden Whitesville Trinity led through the game but a huge 4th quarter by Ty Price was just too much for the Raiders.  Trinity took a 1 point lead with under 2 minutes, but Price calmly came down the floor and buried a 3 to put the Bears in front for good.

There is only one team left to punch their ticket to the Sportscenter next week.  Owensboro hosts Daviess County tonight in the Devils Den.  Should be a fun one!