March Madness in February – Round II

For college basketball fans this time of year, the emphasis is on the run we all know as March Madness that gets underway in another week or so when the post-season conference tournaments get underway, followed by the Big Dance and the Road to the Final Four.

For us high school roundball fans, March Madness is already in its second week although we’ve just barely cracked the month March.

When everything got underway on the district tournament level last week, there were roughly 260+ teams in each division of high school play (boys and girls) and all were playing with the same goal in mind – a district championship followed by a regional championship, a dance on the Rupp or Northern Kentucky University floor, and finally a Sweet 16 Championship.

In the end, only two of the 500 plus squads involved will realize that final dream of a Sweet 16 Championship, but in Kentucky, everyone gets the same chance at making the run for the single championship banner, trophy and title.

Unfortunately, our Lady Dawgs saw the season come to an end last week on the district level, but our Bulldogs earned a trip to the 4th Regional this past Tuesday night after bringing home the 16th District Runner-Up title.

We’ll talk more about our 4th Region run next week, but congrats are certainly in order for our Bulldogs on their earning the trip to WKU this week.

Up next on the roundball schedule will be the final rounds of the boys’ and girls’ 4th Region tournaments in Bowling Green, followed by the KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16, which is being held for the first time this year at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights.

Then, of course, the high school basketball year comes to an end when we crown the second KHSAA champion at the boys’ Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena in Lexington.

It’s been busy up to March, but the rest of March will be a whirlwind.

Bulldog pups add more hardware to the collection too

Congrats are also in order to our Freshman Bulldog squad which was called to center stage last week to accept the 16th District Freshman Tournament Championship trophy on Friday night during the post-tournament awards ceremony.

Coaches Nick Irwin and Storm Burchett and these young players are making the future for the Dawgs look pretty bright.

I’ll see you in the gym