Girls’ Sweet 16: Day 1 wrap-up from basketball state tournament in Rupp Arena

The Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament tipped off with four first-round games Wednesday in Rupp Arena.

Owensboro Catholic, Sacred Heart, George Rogers Clark and North Laurel punched tickets to Friday’s quarterfinals in Lexington.

Four more first-round games are on tap for Thursday.

Follow along live Thursday as Jared Peck and Caroline Makauskas of the Lexington Herald-Leader provide live updates from courtside along with freelancer Josh Moore.

Scroll down below to read their Twitter updates.

Until Thursday’s action tips off at 11 a.m., catch up on Wednesday’s opening-day contests below.

Wednesday’s results:

Game 1: Owensboro Catholic 54, Bowling Green 51 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 2: Sacred Heart 70, Lawrence County 33 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 3: George Rogers Clark 51, Mercer County 43 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 4: North Laurel 59, Frederick Douglass 57 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Here is Thursday’s lineup:

Game 5: Knott County Central (23-9) vs. Ashland Blazer (25-7), 11 a.m.

Game 6: McCracken County (32-2) vs. Bethlehem (28-7), 1:30 p.m.

Game 7: Mercy (24-9) vs. Cooper (29-3), 6 p.m.

Game 8: Henderson County (26-4) vs. Simon Kenton (19-14), 8:30 p.m. |

More Sweet 16:

BRACKET: View the full tournament schedule

PRIMER: How to watch and follow the tourney

ROSTERS: KHSAA rosters for all 16 teams

STATISTICS: KHSAA statistics for all 16 teams

PREVIEW: A glance at every team and predictions for who could win it all

PREVIEW: Sixteen things to get you ready for the 2023 Girls’ Sweet 16

PODCAST: Columnist John Clay and high school sports writer Jared Peck preview the Girls’ Sweet 16

This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 10:30 AM.