As the 20th District tournament starts next week on Tuesday night in Taylor County, the number one seeded Lady Indians will look to win their second straight title.
With the top seed, Adair County will play the opening game of the district tournament on Tuesday night against the bottom seeded Campbellsville Lady Eagles at 5:30 p.m. The game following the Lady Indians game will feature Marion County against Taylor County around 7 p.m.
“We are excited to enter into the district tournament as the one seed for the second straight year,” Coach James Turner said. “We have a great opportunity in front of us. We must continue to work hard and improve as we prepare for the post season.”
All four squads have their goal set on making it to the 5th Region tournament which in order to get there you must win the first round game of the 20th District tournament to secure your spot.
Tuesday, Feb. 23
at 5:30 p.m.
#1 Adair County vs. #4 Campbellsville
To open the tournament, the one seed Lady Indians will take on the four seed Campbellsville Lady Eagles.
Adair County finished regular season play with a 5-1 record in the district while Campbellsville finished winless at 0-6.
The Lady Indians won their regular season matchups against the Lady Eagles by scores of 48 to 34, and 58 to 27.
They are led in scoring on the season by senior Beth Owens with 14 points per game and is followed by her sister, Ashley Owens, with 10. Alex Keltner is right at 10 points per game as well while MaKayla Matthews was averaging nine before her injury.
Campbellsville is being led by junior Elena Del Pedro with 12 points per game.
“We will be playing the rest of the season without MaKayla Matthews due to a broken finger,” Coach James Turner said. “She did a lot for us, great three-point shooter and good defensive player.”
Tuesday, Feb. 23
at 7 p.m.
#2 Marion County vs. #3 Taylor County
In the game right after the opening game of the tournament, the number three seed and host team Taylor County will take on the number two seed Marion County Lady Knights.
Due to the weather and game cancellations, the two district opponents had to play their regular season matchups less than a week apart. In the first game, Marion County won 56 to 38 at home but Taylor County won the next game at home, 42 to 41, to split the series.
The Lady Knights finished with a record of 4-2 in the district and the Lady Cardinals finished at 3-3.
Marion County is led by their lone player in double figures, junior Haeli Howard, with 21 points per contest and senior Samantha Daughtery is averaging seven per game.
Taylor County also has one player in double figures, junior Rachel Shoemaker, who is averaging 13 points per game. Junior Madison Burress and freshman Danielle Sublett both average six points per game also.
Friday, Feb. 26
at 6 p.m.
Championship Game
The two winning teams from Tuesday night will go head-to-head on Friday night for the 20th District championship.
Adair County and Marion County have played in the championship game against each other for four straight years with the Lady Indians winning only last season.
For the past 10 district championship games dating back to 2006, Adair County and Marion County have ruled those games to advance to the 5th Region tournament.
Both teams have nine appearances in the past 10 years in these games.
Adair County is 2-7 in the 20th District championship in those years with wins coming in 2015 and 2006, with all losses coming against Marion County.
The Marion County Lady Knights have been dominant in the 20th District over the past 10 seasons with an 8-1 championship record.
They won the title from 2007 to 2014 until they were defeated last season by the Lady Indians.
Taylor County has had two appearances in the championship game but lost both of those, once to Marion County in 2011 and the other to Adair County in 2006. Their last title in the district came in 2004.
Campbellsville has failed to make it to the championship game in any of those years and hasn’t been there since winning it back in 2002.
All times are central.
By Josh Withers
Sports Writer
