Boys’ 11th Region tournament pairings set with 4 top-25 teams seeking a Sweet 16 berth
No. 4 Lexington Catholic and No. 11 Frederick Douglass drew opposite sides of the bracket for this week’s 11th Region Tournament, but each face an unsure path to that potential all-city showdown for a bid to next month’s Boys’ Sweet 16.
Last week’s Dave Cantrall Ratings also ranked Great Crossing at No. 12 and Madison Central at No. 15. They, along with LexCath and Douglass, will host their first-round region tournament games on Tuesday as a reward for winning their respective district championships. The other seeds are filled out by the district runners-up.
The boys’ and girls’ region semifinals and finals will be held at Eastern Kentucky University’s Baptist Health Arena. The bracket drawings took place Saturday morning at Bryan Station High School.
Of the first-round matchups on Tuesday, only Scott County and Great Crossing faced each other during the regular season, a game the Warhawks won 63-34 on Jan. 7.
If Great Crossing sweeps the Cards out of the postseason, it could get a rematch against Lexington Catholic in Saturday’s semifinals. LexCath beat Great Crossing 61-52 on a neutral court on Jan. 28. But the Knights must defeat Madison Southern to uphold its half of the potential matchup.
On the other side of the bracket, there’s another potential rematch between Madison Central and Frederick Douglass. The Broncos topped the Indians 61-59 on Jan. 20 despite missing starting point guard Kai Simpson due to illness. Of course, if Western Hills can beat the Indians or Lexington Christian topples Douglass, the semifinals will look much different.
While Cantrall’s ratings had four top-25 teams in the 11th Region, the final media rankings of the season put even more stock in some of its contenders, ranking LexCath at No. 2, Great Crossing at No. 7 and Douglass at No. 8.
Due to a potential conflict with the EKU men’s basketball team’s postseason, the dates and times of the boys’ semifinals and finals are tentative. Once EKU learns of its postseason fate, the region schedule will be official.
11th Region boys’ tournament
(Semifinals and finals at EKU’s Baptist Health Arena)
Tuesday’s quarterfinals
Western Hills at Madison Central, 7 p.m.
Lexington Christian at Frederick Douglass, 7 p.m.
Scott County at Great Crossing, 7 p.m.
Madison Southern at Lexington Catholic, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s semifinals
Western Hills-Madison Central winner vs. Lexington Christian-Frederick Douglass, 1 p.m.*
Scott County-Great Crossing winner vs. Madison Southern-Lexington Catholic winner, 4 p.m.*
Monday’s finals
Championship game, 7 p.m.*
*Dates and times subject to change.
This story was originally published February 25, 2023 at 11:28 AM.
