Tourney time – and we’re off

As of this writing, which takes place on Tuesday mornings, the state is wrapped up in high school basketball from Paducah to Pikeville, and Alexandria to Albany, as the first round of district tournament action gets underway.

With Monday night behind us, we know that our Bulldogs will continue to play some roundball, having outlasted a very tough and stubborn Panther squad from Cumberland County in opening round play, 62-55.

The win for Clinton County over the Panthers represented a continuation of a run for the Dawgs over Cumberland County.

In most recent terms, Monday night’s win was what is always a tough one – the fourth time in a single season that Clinton County was faced with having to dispatch the Panthers.

In the larger picture, however, it meant that Clinton County’s streak of wins over the Panthers now stretches to 26 wins in a row for the Dawgs over Cumberland, and 55 wins in the last 59 meetings.

The Panthers have gone through some tough times in the past few years, but I will give them this positive nod – if we were giving out a Most Improved Team award this season, Coach Curtis Claywell’s team would take the award hands down.

Monday night’s contest convinced me that the Panthers are likely the best No. 4 seeded team I’ve seen in this district since we started seeding teams.

Still, the Dawgs were No. 1 and showed us why – advancing to Thursday night’s championship games (7:00 p.m. tip) to face the winner of Tuesday night’s 2/3 matchup between Metcalfe and Russell County.

The Lady Dawgs were set to take their No. 3 seed spot up against No. 2 Russell County Tuesday night (too late for this week’s press deadline), with hopes of advancing to the Friday night championship game against Metcalfe County (7:00 p.m. tip), who easily sent the Lady Panthers to the softball field with a 64-27 first round win.

On to the next level, the Regional Tournaments in Diddle Arena on Bowling Green’s WKU campus.

First up will be the boys’ opening round games, and this year there is a twist of sorts. Two games will be played on Sunday (3:00 and 5:00 p.m. tips), two on Monday (6:00 and 8:00 p.m. tips). The semi-final games will be played Friday, March 1 and the championship game on Saturday, March 2. The teams will gather in Bowling Green to draw for regional match-ups this Saturday.

Of course the ultimate goal is to be one of the last 16 teams in this roundball crazed state that survives the first two rounds of hardwood war in both girls’ and boys’ play, advancing to the Sweet 16 Championship, the Greatest Show in Hoops.

For the first time ever, both State Tournaments will be showcased in Lexington’s Rupp Arena, beginning with the boys’ tourney March 6-10, followed by girls’ play, March 13-17.