FIRST REGION SEMIFINALS (at Murray St.):
Paducah Tilghman 63 - 79 (4) Marshall Co.
Mayfield 26 - 42 (6) Calloway Co.
So the two Purchase Powerhouses will meet for the fourth time today, and this is the one they'll remember. Here's the results of the previous three meetings this season:
01/14/25: Calloway Co. 52 - 79 Marshall Co.
02/07/25: Marshall Co. 60 - 65 Calloway Co.
02/27/25: Calloway Co. 67 - 56 Marshall Co. (4th District Final)
Today it's for all the marbles. The winner goes to Lexington and history; the loser goes home.
THIRD REGION SEMIFINALS (at Owensboro Sportscenter):
Daviess Co. 67 - 45 Breckinridge Co.
Grayson Co. 62 - 49 Meade Co.
SIXTH REGION SEMIFINALS (at Valley H.S.):
Lou. Pleasure Ridge Park 42 - 43 Lou. Butler
Lou. Moore 62 - 66 Lou. Jeffersontown
NINTH REGION QUARTERFINALS (at No. Kentucky):
(9) Cooper 58 - 45 Ft. Thomas Highlands
(7) Cov. Catholic 75 - 36 Dixie Heights
Newport 50 - 47 Cov. Holy Cross
(13) Erlanger Lloyd 51 - 46 Ryle
ELEVENTH REGION SEMIFINALS (at E. Kentucky):
(2) Great Crossing 59 - 56 (5) Lex. Bryan Station
Lex. Catholic 38 - 49 (3) Lex. Frederick Douglass
It's brutal to have to play a Top Five matchup in the Regional Semifinals, but the Eleventh Region is loaded this year. Yesterday's games set up a huge matchup game between two Top Three teams for the championship of the Eleventh Region.
THIRTEENTH REGION SEMIFINALS (at The Corbin Arena):
Harlan Co. 47 - 53 N. Laurel
(18) S. Laurel 66 - 56 Pineville
FOURTEENTH REGION SEMIFINALS (at Knott Co. Cent. H.S.):
Breathitt Co. 83 - 61 Powell Co.
Wolfe Co. 47 - 73 (12) Hazard
FIFTEENTH REGION QUARTERFINALS (at Pike Co. Cent. H.S.):
Pike Co. Cent. 53 - 48 Paintsville
Pikeville 67 - 68 Lawrence Co. (OT)
Martin Co. 100 - 72 Phelps
Betsy Layne 56 - 63 Floyd Cent.
The following teams from the MaxPreps Top 20 have been eliminated:
5. Lex. Bryan Station (lost to Great Crossing in Regional Semifinals)
10. Lou. Manual (lost to Lou. Trinity in Regional Semifinals)
Everyone else is still dancing, although the First Region Final will eliminate another Top Six team.
Only three games today. The First Region Final, and two quarterfinals in the Fifth Region.
ReplyDeleteAfter yesterday's games, UK is up to number 11 on Ken Pom.
ReplyDeleteLast year, NCSU won the ACC Tournament and went to the Final Four. This year, NCSU fired its coach, Kevin Keatts. The Wolfpack will take a lot of criticism for this move. But Keatts has been there for eight seasons. In no season -- including last year, when they went to the Final Four -- has NCSU finished higher than 41 on Ken Pom. This year, they were horrific -- 12-19 overall, and 124 on Ken Pom. I think NCSU can do better, and apparently so do they. NCSU has had a lot of success in football, baseball, and women's basketball lately, and I don't blame them for wanting to upgrade the men's basketball program.
ReplyDeleteRemember: Marshall Co. is 29-2, with two losses to Calloway Co. The Lakers are the only team to beat the Marshals all year. Calloway Co. is 30-3. Earlier this season, the Lakers beat Rowan Co., LaRue Co., and Harlan Co. to win the 2A State Championship.
ReplyDeleteThe Marshals have outscored their opponents by an average of 67.5 to 51.5. The Lakers have outscored their opponents by an average of 67.4 to 55.4.
ReplyDeleteI will have some thoughts on Mark Pope and the UK program after the season is over. But for now, I want to concede that they have done much better than I expected. Arkansas went 19-12 overall, 8-10 in the SEC. The Razorbacks are 40th on Ken Pom and the number-9 seed in the SEC Tournament. Those figures are almost exactly where I thought UK would end up when the season began. I still think those early-season wins over Duke and Gonzaga are doing a lot of work to balance out losses to Georgia, Vandy, and Arkansas. But to be fair, there's no way a UK team coached by Cal would have beaten Duke or Gonzaga this season.
ReplyDeleteRumor has it that NCSU is looking to hire Will Wade. Personally, I would go after Chris Beard, but the Wolfpack will have it their own way.
ReplyDeleteI can't get the First Region Championship on the Internet, but folks on Twitter say that the Lakers lead 9-6 with 3:45 left in the first quarter.
ReplyDeleteMarshall Co. 10 - 16 Calloway Co. (1 minute left in first quarter)
ReplyDeleteSomeone just tweeted: "These officials better get control of the excessive contact and physicality of this game or this is going to get ugly quick."
The First Region, everyone!
Marshall Co. 10 - 18 Calloway Co. (end of 1st quarter)
ReplyDeleteMarshall Co. 17 - 22 Calloway Co. (5 minutes left in 2d quarter)
ReplyDeleteMarshall Co. 19 - 29 Calloway Co. (2:55 left in 2d quarter)
ReplyDeleteThe Patriot League Championship will feature American versus Navy, so a good year for the DC Area.
ReplyDeleteMarshall 25 - 33 Calloway Co. (Halftime)
ReplyDeleteMarshall Co. 31 - 44 Calloway Co. (3:44 left in 3d)
ReplyDeleteMarshall Co. 42 - 55 Calloway Co. (6:32 left in 4th)
ReplyDeleteCalloway County hasn't been to the State Tournament since 2015.
Delaware crushes William & Mary 100-78 in the CAA quarterfinals, and once again the Tribe will retain its position as one of the few schools that has been eligible for every men's NCAA basketball tournament, but has never played in the tournament.
ReplyDeleteCalloway rolls to an easy 73-56 victory and are the first team to qualify for the Sweet 16. Marshall finishes 29-3, with all three losses to the Lakers.
ReplyDeleteThis will be Calloway's third trip to State, having previously gone in 2003 and 2015.
ReplyDeleteIn their first game in Rupp Arena, the Lakers will play the Champs from the Sixteenth Region.
ReplyDeleteHere's the draw for the State Tournament. As usual, Region 9 will be playing its first game on Thursday. Also, note that we have first round matchups between Regions 4 and 5, Regions 6 and 7 (the two Louisville Regions), and Regions 13 and 14:
ReplyDeleteWednesday, March 26
Region 16 v. Calloway Co.
Region 4 v. Region 5
Region 8 v. Region 12
Region 6 v. Region 7
Thursday, March 27
Region 13 v. Region 14
Region 15 v. Region 10
Region 3 v. Region 11
Region 2 v. Region 9