Hopkins County Central is the defending 7th District champion but Madisonville-North Hopkins owns the No. 1 seed this year.
The two rivals are expected to meet for the championship this week when the girls’ 7th District tournament is played at Caldwell County.
Action gets underway Monday night with the semifinals.
Top-seeded Madisonville is 22-5 and rated second in the 2nd Region by the KHSAA’s RPI, trailing only Henderson County, which reached the state semifinals a year ago.
Senior guard Camryn LaGrange, the KABC 2nd Region Player of the Year, leads the Lady Maroons at 15.6 points a game and 8.2 rebounds a contest. However, Madisonville has four players who score in double figures, giving it multiple options on the offensive end.
The Lady Maroons swept Hopkins Central during the regular season. Madisonville rolled 67-40 on its home floor, but the matchup in Mortons Gap was closer, with the Lady Maroons prevailing 59-53.
Madisonville is 14-1 against 2nd Region teams this year, with the only loss coming to Henderson.
The Lady Maroons will take on fourth-seeded Dawson Springs at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the first semifinal game in Princeton.
The Lady Panthers were winless against district teams this season but did go 9-18 overall.
Junior guard Abby Ward leads Dawson at 14.3 points a game, but is the only Lady Panther to score in double figures.
Madisonville won the regular-season matchups by 38 and 44 points.
The Lady Maroons have won 37 straight games against the Lady Panthers. Dawson’s last win over Madisonville came in the 2006 district tournament.
Monday’s late game will feature second-seeded Hopkins Central and No. 3 Caldwell County.
The Lady Storm (17-9) is favored after sweeping the Lady Tigers during the regular season. Hopkins Central rolled 78-46 at its place The rematch in Princeton was competitive for a half before the Lady Storm pulled away in the second half 69-45.
Junior guard Emile Jones leads a balanced Hopkins Central scoring effort with 14.4 points a contest.
Three other players also score in double figures.
Junior forward Mercy Sutton averages a double-double with 10.3 points and 12.5 rebounds.
Caldwell is 11-17.
Senior guard Parris Gray leads the Lady Tigers at 13.2 points a game while freshman forward Katy Smiley gets 10.4 points and 8.5 rebounds.
The Lady Tigers will need big efforts from lots of youngsters to try to pull off the upset in the district tournament.
Hopkins Central has taken four straight from Caldwell, but the all-time series is dead even at 32-32.
Monday’s winners move on to the district championship game Thursday at 6 p.m. They also earn a berth in the 2nd Region tournament the following week.
