And then there were 17

Last week in Highland Heights Kentucky, at Northern Kentucky University’s BB&T Arena, Kentucky high school fans saw the 2016 KHSAA Girls Sweet 16 championship title go to the Butler High School “Bearettes” (seriously, they call themselves the Bearettes).

This week it’s the boys’ turn and the focus will be in Rupp Arena. The best money might be likely placed on Mercer County to take the crown this year, but the field is a good one and there are plenty of good teams that are very capable of taking the most coveted championship crown in all of high school basketball.

Our own 4th Region representative, the Purples from Bowling Green, could slip into Sunday’s championship game, as could the 13th Region champs from South Laurel.

Of course the Wednesday matchup between eighth rated Newport Catholic and the fourth rated Louisville Trinity’s Shamrocks could be the opening round game that decides which team steps up to accept the championship trophy.

Regardless or how it plays out – this is the best week in high school basketball for those of us who are pure fans.

The grass might be greening up outside, but I’ve got another week of high school basketball to enjoy.

Kudos to Brett

Clinton County Bulldog Brett Gibson is to be congratulated for being named to the 4th Region All Tournament Team, after Clinton County’s down to the wire performance last week in Bowling Green.

A separate photo of Brett with his All-Tournament award appears elsewhere in this week’s Sports. Brett is the son of Jeff and Kim Gibson.

Another Clinton County name in the Sweet 16

Knowing that people involved with the Sweet 16 have ties to Clinton County always make following those teams more interesting, and such was the case last week in the Girls’ Sweet 16 Tournament that played out in Highland Heights Kentucky.

The Lady Tigers of Murray, Kentucky, representing the 1st Region from far western Kentucky, have a familiar name on their coaching staff with former Lady Bulldog standout Amber Guffey filling one of the assistant coaching positions.

The Lady Tigers earned an opening round win over Dupont, followed by a quarterfinal victory over Owensboro Catholic before falling 68-58 in the semifinal round on Saturday. The Lady Tigers finished the season with a very nice 35-2 record.

I’ll see you in the gym