Defending 2nd Region champion Madisonville-North Hopkins is ranked No. 3 in the state and riding a 15-game winning streak heading into postseason play.
The Maroons (26-3) are not just the clear favorites to capture this week’s 7th District tournament, but the front-runners for next week’s 2nd Region tournament.
Madisonville will host the district tourney beginning with semifinal action Tuesday night.
The top-seeded Maroons swept their six district games during the regular season, but fourth-seeded Dawson Springs played Madisonville closer than anyone else.
The Panthers (13-17) fell to the Maroons 90-82 Jan. 9 in Dawson Springs.
However, Madisonville later won on its home floor 86-52.
Reigning 2nd Region Player of the Year and Tennessee Tech commit Kenny White leads the Maroons at 18.4 points a game. The 6-foot-9 senior also grabs 8.1 rebounds a contest.
Madisonville nearly swept the region awards from the coaches’ association.
Matt Beshear shared the Coach of the Year award with Webster County’s Jon Newton.
Center Ksuan Casey was runner-up to White in the Player of the Year voting.
A 6-7 senior, Casey scores 17.4 points a night and leads the squad in rebounding at 10.1.
Meanwhile, senior Deljuan Johnson adds 11.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while giving the Maroons an imposing presence on the inside.
Dawson counters with senior guard Skylar Clark and his 17.3 points a game.
Junior Landon Pace adds 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while senior Braxton Cotton gets 13 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds a contest. Dylan Dawson, a junior, also scores in double figures with 10.9 points while averaging 7.7 boards.
Dawson’s 13 wins this season are the second-most at the school in 20 years. The 2016-17 Panthers went 17-16. Prior to that, Dawson turned in a 21-6 mark in the 1998-99 season.
The Maroons and Panthers will meet at 6:00 Tuesday.
The late semifinal game pits No. 2 Caldwell County and No. 3 Hopkins County Central.
The Tigers routed the Storm 84-54 in Princeton on Jan. 7. However, the second matchup was much more competitive. Playing at South Hopkins Middle School, the teams battled well into the fourth quarter before Caldwell pulled out a 66-57 triumph.
Caldwell (15-14) carries a six-game winning streak into the district tourney behind a senior-laden lineup.
Adarius Riley leads a balanced Tiger scoring attack at 12.9 points a game. Junior Tripp Branch, the only non-senior among the top five scorers on the team, gets 12.7 points a night. Cayden Fraliex hits at a 9.7 clip, Jamarius Blaine 9.5 and Cole Smiley 8.2.
Smiley leads Caldwell’s rebounding with 6.4 a game.
The Tigers are above .500 for the first time this season after opening the campaign 0-5.
Meanwhile, Hopkins Central has also played better later in the season since opening 0-13.
The Storm is 8-20 this year but seems to be hitting its stride behind seniors Sam Almon, Johntize Miller and Blasin Moore, who average 10.8, 10.1 and 10.0 points a game, respectively.
Moore also leads Hopkins Central with 5.6 rebounds a game.
Freshman guard Marcus Eaves scores 8 points a game.
Hopkins Central was the last district school to claim the boys’ 7th District title besides Madisonville. The Storm won the championship in 2009. The Maroons have won the last 10 district titles.
Tuesday’s winners move on to the 2020 7th District championship game Friday night at 7:00.
The district champ and runner-up also advance to the 2nd Region tournament, which is set for next week at Hopkinsville High School.
