69 Games Left

No huge upsets last night, as none of the top 10 teams were defeated -- although Bullitt East just made it.  We are sad to report that once again, no one from the 1st District will win the State Tournament:

1st Region Quarter-Finals (at Murray St. U.):
Murray 69, Hickman Co. 34
Paducah Tilghman 80, Mayfield 47

2d Region Quarter-Finals (at Hopkins Co. Cent.):
Hopkinsville 56, Webster Co. 41
Madisonville-N. Hopkins 74, Lyon Co. 36

3d Region Quarter-Finals (at Owensboro Sportscenter):
Meade Co. 61, Grayson Co. 35
Muhlenberg Co. 76, Owensboro Apollo 68

5th Region Quarter-Finals (at Nelson Co.):
Bardstown 80, Marion Co. 49
Central Hardin 72, Caverna 71

6th Region Semi-Finals (at Lou. Valley):
(10) Bullitt East 57, Lou. DeSales 51 (OT)
Lou. Doss 57, Lou. Fern Creek 44

8th Region Quarter-Finals (at Henry Co.):
Anderson Co. 68, Walton-Verona 53
Oldham Co. 90. Henry Co. 45

11th Region Quarter-Finals (at E. Kentucky U.):
(8) Lex. Henry Clay 72, Woodford Co. 41
Lex. Dunbar 72, Madison Southern 62

12th Region Quarter-Finals (at Pulaski Co.):
Boyle Co. 78, Wayne Co. 71
Casey Co. 90, W. Jessamine 68

13th Region Quarter-Finals (at Corbin Arena):
Clay Co. 62, Barbourville 58
Harlan Co. 62, Corbin 48

14th Region Quarter-Finals (at Knott Co. Central):
Breathitt Co. 58, Powell Co. 50
Buckhorn 48, Letcher Co. Cent. 42

Only six games tonight, but two of them take place in the high-powered Seventh Region.  And one of them represents the fifth time in a row that Ballard and Trinity have met in the Regional Tournament.  Each of the other four times, the team that won this game went on to the State Tournament:

03/09/15:  Ballard 67, Trinity 54 (Ballard eliminated in state quarter-finals)
03/11/14:  Trinity 59, Ballard 58 (Trinity eliminated in state semi-finals)
03/02/13:  Ballard 57, Trinity 46 (Ballard eliminated in state final)
03/01/12:  Trinity 58, Ballard 55 (Trinity won the state championship)

The last team other than Ballard or Trinity to win the Seventh Region is Eastern, which did so in 2011.  Trinity has already beaten Male -- the only other top-10 team in Louisville -- and they should be favored.  But back on January 16, Ballard beat both Trinity and St. X to win the Louisville Invitational Tournament, so the Bruins will not be an easy out.

We also have two more quarter-finals in the Ninth Region, which is often one of the best Regional Tournaments in the Commonwealth.

7th Region Semi-Finals (at Lou. Valley):
Lou. Ballard (22-10) v. (9) Lou. Trinity (27-6)
Lou. St. Xavier (22-9) v. Lou. Eastern (18-11)

9th Region Quarter-Finals (at BB&T Arena):
Newport Cent. Catholic (25-4) v. Cooper (24-4)
Dixie Heights (19-10) v. Cov. Holy Cross (22-8)

16th Region Quarter-Finals (at Morehead St. U.):
Rowan Co. (19-11) v. W. Carter (21-8)
Boyd Co. (19-12) v. Raceland (14-16)