Madisonville-North Hopkins chases its 14th straight 7th District basketball championship this week, and the Maroons are again the top seed and favorite to claim the crown.
Madisonville went 20-9 during the regular season and a perfect 6-0 in district play.
The Maroons open district play Tuesday night, facing fourth-seeded Dawson Springs in semifinal round action at 6:00 at Hopkins County Central High School in Mortons Gap.
The Panthers went 11-19 overall and 1-5 in the district this season, but would need a major upset to get past Madisonville in the district tournament.
Dawson Springs has not beaten Madisonville on the basketball court in 26 years. The Panthers’ last win in the series was a 61-60 decision in the 1997 district tournament — Dawson’s last district championship.
Madisonville has won 53 straight games against Dawson and took the regular-season contests this year by 53 and 42 points.
The Maroons are led by 2nd Region Player of the Year Marcus Eaves. The senior guard averages 19.9 points a game. Freshman Chris Watkins adds 11.4 points and 7.7 rebounds a contest.
Dawson has one of the younger teams in the region, with sophomores Montgomery Johnston and Rex Blue topping the Panthers with 16.5 and 13.5 points a game, respectively. Blue also grabs 9.8 rebounds a contest. Freshman Jaydon Plunkette adds 12.7 points a night.
Tuesday’s second semifinal at 7:30 features host Hopkins County Central (13-16, 4-2) and Caldwell County (6-21, 1-5).
The Storm took both regular-season meetings by 16 and 21 points.
The last meeting in Mortons Gap included an altercation that resulted in 13 players being disqualified. Twelve of those were Storm players — most of them for leaving the bench area during the incident. That forced Hopkins Central to play over half the game with only four players on the court.
The Storm features a balanced offense, with juniors Drake Skeen (16.3 points) and Trevahn Jones (16.1 points) leading the way. Senior Trevor Weldon adds 10.7 points and freshman Davonyae Butcher gets 9.9 a game.
Caldwell is led by sophomore post player Jaydarius Wilson, who scores 13.3 points and grabs 7.9 boards a game. Senior guard Zavy Bumphus adds 13.2 points while sophomore Collin Whittington gets 10.2 points a game.
Tuesday’s winners will meet for the 7th District championship Friday night at 6:00. They also earn a berth in the 2nd Region tournament, which will be hosted next week by Madisonville-North Hopkins.
