Hopkins County Central’s girls own the No. 1 seed, but could get a challenge from second-seeded Madisonville-North Hopkins in this week’s 7th District tournament in Mortons Gap.
The Lady Storm is unbeaten in district play this season at 6-0 with 14-point and eight-point wins against the Lady Maroons.
Hopkins Central is 21-8 overall and 16-1 against 2nd Region teams. That one loss in the region came in the regular-season finale when the Lady Storm fell 60-32 to region favorite Henderson County.
The girls’ district tournament begins with semifinal round action Monday night.
Caldwell County and Dawson Springs face uphill battles if they want to advance.
The Lady Panthers (7-20 overall, 0-6 district) will take on host Hopkins Central at 6:00 Monday.
The Lady Storm won by 29- and 39-point margins in the regular-season matchups.
Hopkins Central has beaten Dawson 10 straight times while taking 23 of the last 24 meetings.
The Lady Storm has three senior double-figure scorers as part of a balanced offensive attack. Brooklyn Clark gets 13.5 points a game, Emile Jones 12.7 and Mercy Sutton 11.9. Sutton also grabs 8.7 rebounds a game.
Senior guard Abby Ward leads Dawson with 16.4 points and 6.4 rebounds a game. Gracie Harper, another senior, adds 10 points a contest.
Monday’s late semifinal has Caldwell (9-20, 2-4) facing Madisonville (18-10, 4-2).
The Lady Maroons beat the Lady Tigers by 28- and 50-point margins during the season.
Madisonville, the defending district champion, owns 12 straight wins over Caldwell going back to the 2018 district tourney.
The Lady Maroons get 13 points a game from junior forward Destiny Whitsell while senior Amari Lovan adds 11.1 and sophomore Riley Sword averages an even 10 points a game.
For Caldwell, senior guard A.J. Hollowell scores 11.5 points a night while eighth grader Tink Clark adds 10.6.
Monday’s winners will meet Thursday at 6:00 for the district championship.
The district champion and runner-up both advance to the girls’ 2nd Region tournament next week at Union County.
