District Tournaments

It's that time of year folks. We're heading into the holiday season for hoops fans -- March. For high school basketball fans the madness starts in February with the district match ups. Most districts are just four teams these days, which means -- in most cases -- that two teams pack up their gym backs and empty out their lockers before we even flip the calendars over to March. In a couple of weeks only 64 teams will be left to vie for the coveted Sweet Sixteen championship.

Even though it is exciting, the Road to Rupp and the quest for the championship is a rough road paved with a string of broken hearts. I look forward to this time every year, and when a squad of hardwood warriors hoist the trophy in Rupp next month, I start counting the days until everyone tips it up the next season.

I'll be updating this post as I get information:

FOURTH REGION

District 13: Russellville High School. Feb. 25th, 26th, and 29th

First round will be Franklin-Simpson vs. Logan County and Russellville vs. Todd County Central.

District 14: Warren Central High School. Feb. 26th, 27th, and March 1st.

First round features Bowling Green against Warren Central and Greenwood against Warren East. Two real good teams will pack up their season after the first round of this one.

District 15: Allen County-Scottsville High School. Feb. 26th and 29th.

First round has Barren County vs. Monroe County and Allen County-Scottsville vs. Glasgow. If it's Barren County and Allen County in championship, it will be katey-bar-the-door in Scottsville that night.

District 16: Russell County High School. Feb. 25th, 26th, and 29th.

The first round will feature top seed Metcalfe County vs. Clinton County and Russell County vs. Cumberland County.

FIFTH REGION

District 17: Central Hardin High School

I need to apologize to the fine folks at Central Hardin High School because I originally posted that North Hardin was the top seed in the 17th District. It's actually the Bruins. They will play the winner of the John Hardin-Fort Knox game, and Elizabethtown plays North Hardin.

Chris Gregory called and straightened me out on this one.

District 18: Green County High School. Feb. 25th, 26th, and 29th.

The first round has Green County vs. Caverna and Larue County vs. Hart County.

District 19: Bardstown High School. Feb. 27th, 28th, and March 1st.

This one will be a triple tilt in the old gym at Bardstown. The first round has Nelson County vs. Bethlehem and Bardstown vs. Washington County.

District 20: Taylor County High School. Feb. 27th, 28th, March 1st.

The first round features one of the state's best with Adair County vs. Campbellsville and Marion County vs. Taylor County. If Adair and Taylor meet in the championship, it'll be a barn burner on March 1st in Campbellsville.

Reminiscence Alert!!

In 2005, Chris Gregory and I were at the 11th District championship game between Breckinridge County and Hancock County. The tournament was played at Cloverport (known as Frederick Fraize to the free world beyond the Breckinridge County). Chris was there for the Tigers, and I was there because my wife, who's a Hancock County alumnus, thought the Hornets might actually put a beat down on some Fightin' Tigers. Breck won.

For anyone who doesn't know, Cloverport's gymnasium is tiny and is a steel building. During the game, a severe thunderstorm rolled into Cloverport. The wind started blowing and the rain poured down. Then, hail started pounding on the roof and sides of the steel building. I thought the Apocalypse was upon us and that I would die at a basketball game in Cloverport, Kentucky.

Young people would say that night was "crunk." It was. There was so much hail on the ground after the game that it looked like it had snowed. Plus, it was about 75 degrees at the start of the game and about 40 at the end.

Folks! That's March Madness in Kentucky. The weather is crazy. The basketball is crazy. The fans are crazy.

I love every single minute of it, and I urge everyone to find the gymnasium of your choice to watch some of the madness.

It's Kentucky's Mardis Gras.