Boys’ and Girls’ Sweet 16 basketball pairings are set. Which regions have toughest path?
The pairings are set for the boys and girls state basketball tournaments in Rupp Arena next month after the Kentucky High School Athletic Association held its Sweet 16 bracket drawings Friday.
The Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Sweet 16 tips off Wednesday, March 12 and the 107th UK Healthcare Boys’ Sweet 16 begins two weeks later on March 26. Both the boys and girls tournaments will hold their respective semifinals and finals on the Saturdays of their event weeks. The week gap this year is to make room for Rupp Arena to host part of the NCAA Tournament.
Tickets are on sale at KHSAA.org/tickets. Game times will be determined at a later date.
How will the pairings play out? Well, since the postseason hasn’t begun and we don’t even know who will win this year’s district titles, much less the regionals, that requires some speculation.
District tournaments begin Feb. 24 with region tournaments to follow beginning March 3.
Here’s a look at how both Sweet 16s might look by plugging in some of the state’s top-ranked teams into the brackets.
Boys tournament scenarios
For the Boys’ Sweet 16, Central Kentucky’s 11th Region champion will play on the second day of the tournament, March 27, against the winner of the 3rd Region at 6 p.m., the next to last game of the first round.
The 11th Region contains No. 2 Great Crossing (23-4), the defending 11th Region champions, and a slew of top-flight teams, including No. 3 Frederick Douglass (20-3) and No. 4 Bryan Station (20-5), who have been in the top five in the Kentucky Boys High School Basketball Media Poll every week this season. But teams like Henry Clay (18-5), Lexington Catholic (17-9), Madison Central (17-9) and even region All “A” Classic winner Sayre (15-9) could play spoiler.
The 3rd Region features defending region champion Butler County (15-12) and its prolific scorer Ty Price, but teams like Daviess County (18-5), Grayson County (19-6) and Owensboro Catholic (15-8) could be just as likely to make the trip to Rupp. Daviess County is the highest rated among them, according to the KHSAA’s RPI standings at No. 31 in the state.
Conspiracy theorists will bemoan that Louisville’s 6th and 7th regions are matched up in a first-round game on the first day of the tournament, but such a pairing hasn’t occurred since 2012. The 7th Region is home to No. 1 St. Xavier (23-2), the only Kentucky team to knock off Herald-Leader preseason No. 1 Great Crossing this year.
The 6th Region’s best team looks to be No. 15 Butler (19-3). But note that the 6th and 7th region tournaments tend to chew up their favorites each season and spit out a team who’ll pose just as big of a threat in Lexington.
It’s also worth noting that St. Xavier’s 7th Region and Great Crossing’s 11th Region are on opposite sides of the bracket, which could produce a media poll No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the state title game. But there’s a lot of basketball between now and then.
If the latest media poll is any indication of postseason success (and that’s a big if), the boys final four could be No. 1 St. Xavier vs. No. 5 Marshall County (25-1) out of the 1st Region and No. 2 Great Crossing vs. No. 6 Hazard (23-2) out of the 14th Region.
Girls tournament scenarios
Central Kentucky’s 11th Region drew the 8th Region in a game that will be played at 8:30 p.m. March 12, the first day of the tournament.
This year’s 11th Region includes three teams ranked in the Kentucky Girls High School Basketball Media Poll top 15, led by No. 4 Franklin County (22-4), the defending region champion. No. 7 Frederick Douglass (19-5) and No. 10 Madison Central (23-2) could challenge the Flyers’ reign. Unranked spoilers include Lafayette (21-4) and Lexington Christian (20-6).
The 8th Region is home to No. 11 Simon Kenton (20-4) as well as defending region champion Anderson County (21-6) and a Woodford County (14-6) team that’s won 10 of its last 11 games.
The 15th Region, home to defending champion Pikeville (14-7) and a very good Johnson Central (20-3) team, drew the distinction of potentially having to face No. 1 Sacred Heart (22-2), the four-time defending state champions, in the first round.
The Valkyries will have to survive a 7th Region Tournament that will probably include No. 6 Assumption (17-5), in order to begin their quest for an unprecedented fifth straight state crown and ninth overall.
Sacred Heart’s path to the finals won’t be easy either. Their half of the bracket also could include any of three ranked teams from the 9th Region in the quarterfinals — No. 3 Cooper (19-4), No. 13 Notre Dame (19-4) or No. 14 Covington Holy Cross (23-5), then No. 9 Henderson County (22-4) or No. 12 Danville Christian (18-7) in the semis. That scenario could pit Sacred Heart’s LSU signee ZaKiyah Johnson against DCA’s Louisville signee Grace Mbugua for the second time this year.
If rankings hold, the potential girls final four could be No. 2 George Rogers Clark (17-7) vs. No. 4 Franklin County and No. 1 Sacred Heart vs. No. 9 Henderson County.
Girls’ Sweet 16
Games listed in bracket order, regardless of tipoff time.
Wednesday, March 12
▪ 16th Region vs. 13th Region, 11 a.m.
▪ 10th Region vs. 4th Region, 6 p.m.
▪ 11th Region vs. 8th Region, 8:30 p.m.
▪ 14th Region vs. 5th Region, 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 13
▪ 12th Region vs. 3rd Region, 8:30 p.m.
▪ 1st Region vs. 2nd Region, 6 p.m.
▪ 15th Region vs. 7th Region, 11 a.m.
▪ 6th Region vs. 9th Region, 1:30 p.m.
Friday, March 14
▪ 16th/13th Region vs. 10th/4th Region, 11 a.m.
▪ 11th/8th Region vs. 14th/5th Region, 1:30 p.m.
▪ 12th/3rd Region vs. 1st/2nd Region, 6 p.m.
▪ 15th/7th Region vs. 6th/9th Region, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 15
▪ Semifinals, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
▪ Finals, 7:30 p.m.
Boys’ Sweet 16
Games listed in bracket order, regardless of tipoff time.
Wednesday, March 26
▪ 16th Region vs. 1st Region, 8 p.m.
▪ 4th Region vs. 5th Region, 11 a.m.
▪ 8th Region vs. 12th Region, 6 p.m.
▪ 6th Region vs. 7th Region, 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 27
▪ 13th Region vs. 14th Region, 11 a.m.
▪ 15th Region vs. 10th Region, 1:30 p.m.
▪ 3rd Region vs. 11th Region, 6 p.m.
▪ 2nd Region vs. 9th Region, 8:30 p.m.
Friday, March 28
▪ 16th/1st Region vs. 4th/5th Region, 11 a.m.
▪ 8th/12th Region vs. 6th/7th Region, 1:30 p.m.
▪ 13th/14th Region vs. 15th/10th Region, 6 p.m.
▪ 3rd/11th Region vs. 2nd/9th Region, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 29
▪ Semifinals, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
▪ Finals, 7:30 p.m.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM.
