article 12th Region District Tournament Review and Regional Tournament Preview

District Tournament Review

45th District Tournament – In the two first round games, Garrard County blew out Danville Christian and Danville cruised over the Kentucky School for the Deaf. The Golden Lions of Garrard County then lost in the semifinals to Lincoln County. Brayden Sebastian ended his high school career with 44 points in the first tournament game and 17 points in his final appearance. Danville won by two points over rival Boyle County in the other semifinal to clinch their regional tournament berth. Darrian Bell led the way over the Rebels with 17 points and 18 rebounds. Luke Imfeld showed off for Boyle with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Lincoln County won the title game over the Admirals 61 – 50. Jaxon Smith scored 19 in the title game. Riley Bodney and Elijah Frye also had double digit performances.

46th District Tournament – The 46th had two uneventful semifinals as West Jessamine cruised past the Burgin Bulldogs 98 – 52 and East Jessamine defeated Mercer County 59 – 42. In the title game, West Jessamine won the rubber match of the city series 63 – 53. DeAjuan Stepp scored 31 and 21 respectively in each game. Sophomore guard Daniel Waters went off in the championship game for 23. DeQuante Jackson led the way for East against Mercer with 16. Michael Powell led the losing effort against West with 13.

47th District Tournament – Somerset comes away with the title in the 47th with a blowout win over Casey County and a deciding win by 11 over Pulaski County, giving them the current edge in the season series 2 to 1. Pulaski County defeated Rockcastle County by 30. Colton Fraley had 19 points for the Maroons in the title game. Kade Grundy had an amazing performance in the same game with 31 for the Briar Jumpers.

48th District Tournament – The Southwestern Warriors just snuck by McCreary County Central to get into the regional tournament. In the 48 to 45 Warrior win, Cole Dysinger set the pace with 19 points. Dysinger would put up 18 points in the title game, however the Wayne County Cardinals came away with the 77 to 76 win behind Thomas Spencer’s 25 points.

Regional Preview

March 4th at 6:30 PM – Lincoln County versus Pulaski County: In what will probably feel like a championship game atmosphere, the hosting Pulaski County Maroons face off against reigning regional champion Lincoln County. Colton Fraley (Pulaski) and Jaxon Smith (Lincoln) might very well be playing their best basketball right now and it will truly take a team effort from the winning side to pull this off. The winner of this game will be the favorite to make it to the title game. Expect a physical, “grind it out” ball game with the winner possibly being the first to reach 60. It won’t be necessarily a slow game, but it will most likely be a game in which every possession will seem to matter. Pulaski County won the first matchup with Lincoln on January 14th by 6 on their home court.

March 4th at 8:00 PM – West Jessamine versus Southwestern: The Colts are riding high after the district title and tout some of the region’s best weapons in DeAjuan Stepp and Clayton Winter. Stepp’s dynamic play and explosiveness paired with Winter’s interior game and rebounding make the Colts a threat in the tournament, however they will need others to continue to contribute like Daniel Waters and his 23 points in the district title game. Southwestern barely got into the tournament after a 3 point win in the district semifinal. Cole Dysinger will need to be contended with as he has been one of the region’s top point producers all year long. West Jessamine won by 4 at home in the first version of this game on February 1st.

March 5th at 6:45 PM – Somerset versus East Jessamine: Kade Grundy leads the Briar Jumpers into the regional tournament alongside fellow standouts Dylan Burton and Gavin Stevens. East Jessamine has been stellar in the team defense department and get their scoring from no one source. Though Somerset is the pick for many to win the whole thing, beating the Jaguars will not be a cake walk. These two teams did not play in the regular season so there is really no way of telling which force, the Somerset scoring threat led by Grundy or East’s gritty team defense, will win this battle.

March 5th at 8:00 PM – Wayne County versus Danville: Thomas Spencer (Wayne County) may have in fact put together the most underrated individual performance this season in the region. He leads the Cardinals into a matchup against the Danville Admirals, a team that has been inconsistent throughout the year but have had some very impressive wins. Darrian Bell had a very impressive district tournament and has proven to be one of the most versatile players around. This is another matchup that is being played for the first time this year.

The semi-final games will take place on March 9th at 6:30 PM and 8:00 PM. The finals will be on March 10th at 7:00 PM. All games are at Pulaski County. I will be back next week on the 9th to discuss the results of the first round and the semi-final matchups.

The remaining regional teams over the last 4 years according to Riherds have the following winning percentage in regional games.

Pulaski 60-18 76.92%

Lincoln 58-25 69.88%

Wayne 45-27 62.50%

Somerset 42-32 56.76%

W Jessamine 31-24 56.36%

Danville 43-34. 55.84%

SW Pulaski 35-30 53.85%

E Jessamine 21-32 39.62%

This makes for an exciting tourney every year given the tourney teams are pretty even.

Even though E Jess is below 50% they are dangerous if they play their A game. Should be an awesome atmosphere in Somerset this week.