I think it’ll be all Hounds and Jags in regional finals

As I type these words it is Saturday afternoon, just after the announcement of this year’s 13th Region tournament brackets. By the time this column is distributed to our readers, all of the girls’ first round games will have been completed, but remember, I didn’t know the outcomes when writing this.

I wanted to do things in this way so that I could compose a column that contains my entire thoughts on how I think the 2023 region tourneys will play out. There is a lot to cover, so let’s get started…

The girls’ tournament gets (got) kicked off Monday night with North Laurel facing Harlan County. These two teams have not played each other this season, but they do have some common opponents, including South Laurel and Jackson County.

The Lady Jags defeated both South and Jackson on two separate occasions this season, while Harlan County lost to the Lady Cards on Jan. 3, and they fell to the Lady Generals on Feb. 11. I am picking North Laurel to advance here.

The first round game between Knox Central and South Laurel is tough to predict, with South being the traditional favorite, but Knox also looking very good this year. The Lady Panthers even picked up a narrow victory over the Lady Cards way back on Dec. 15, 55-53.

With that being said, it is hard for me to pick against South Laurel here, so I say the Cards advance to set up a North/South semifinal round matchup for Friday.

In the bottom half of the girls’ bracket, Corbin faces Pineville in a game that the Lady Hounds should win, followed by a Bell County versus Jackson County contest that could go either way considering the fact that Bell traveled to play the Lady Generals just two weeks ago and were narrowly defeated, 59-57.

In the end, I think it’ll be North Laurel defeating South Laurel to earn one spot in the region finals, with Corbin defeating Bell County to take the other spot. As for Saturday’s championship, although a strong argument could be made for the Lady Jags winning it all, I am picking the Lady Hounds to successfully defend their crown and make it back to the Sweet 16 again in 2023.

Now, for the boys’ tournament…

Bottom line, it is North Laurel’s to win or lose this year. That statement should not surprise anyone at this point, but it is still conceivable that we see someone OTHER than the Jags heading to Rupp Arena in a couple of weeks.

North should get past Harlan in their opening round contest on Wednesday. Same can be said of South Laurel, who will play Pineville in round one. This means another North/South semifinal round contest, with the Jaguars being favored to advance to the finals.

The bottom half of the boys’ bracket should be a little more interesting, with a Tiger fight between Barbourville and Clay County that the boys in blue should win considering they have already bested Clay twice this season.

The much bigger question mark is the Corbin versus Harlan County game, with the Black Bears rolling into town touting the region’s best overall win-loss record at 27-5. These two teams did not play each other in the regular season, but some of their common opponents include Barbourville, Clay County and South Laurel.

Harlan County and Corbin both defeated Clay County this season, but the Redhounds did so by a much larger margin. Meanwhile, both teams survived scares from Barbourville, with Corbin winning, 59-57, on Feb. 9, and the Black Bears winning, 75-70, on Feb. 16.

Harlan County bested South Laurel back on Jan. 5, 71-63, and Corbin beat the Cards just four days later, 62-53. Of course, the Redhounds have lost to South twice since then, with the second regular season meeting being somewhat of an anomaly considering they were without Head Coach Tony Pietrowski and their top scorer, senior Hayden Llewellyn.

So, who wins? Well, I am going with the Redhounds. In a do-or-die situation like this, I give Coach P’s boys the benefit just about every time. Plus, while it is technically a neutral court, it’ll feel more like a home game for Corbin than it will Harlan County, for obvious reasons.

As I already said, I think North Laurel defeats South Laurel in the tournament semis, and I think Corbin wins over Barbourville to earn the right to play the Jags for a regional championship next Monday, March 6. That isn’t to say that the Tigers should be overlooked, but again, I am going to take the Hounds in this matchup just about every time considering we are talking about a region tournament.

As for Monday’s championship, well, I’ve already said that it’s North’s to win or lose. I am picking them to go back to the Sweet 16 this year, but I would also not be completely shocked if they were to be upset by South Laurel in the semifinals, or if the Redhounds find a way to get them in the championship. Heck, I could be totally wrong about Harlan County, and the Black Bears could potentially go all the way. But, just for the record, my official predictions are Corbin defeating North Laurel in the girls’ finals and North defeating Corbin in the boys’ finals.

However it all plays out, it should be exciting to watch. Congrats to all of the teams who made it to region this year, and here’s to what I hope will be a pair of safe and enjoyable events for all!