2018 17th District Basketball Tournament
Bulldogs Pound Bruins for District Title
If the Girls 17th District Tournament had an aura of predictability, then that was not the case for the Boys Tournament the same week as the semi-finals were certainly an interesting study of strategy and raw emotion with the John Hardin Bulldogs eventually coming out on top for their second consecutive 17th District Championship. You can argue that with the graduations of so many talented players in our area that this season the District Tourney was simply theirs to win if everything went right, but the semi-finals were hardly an easy exercise for coach Jared McCurry’s team as they immediately ran right into an old nemesis.
North Hardin had been hit by defections and graduations from last season’s All Star team and with five new starters the Trojans didn’t seem t have the look of a champion anymore. In fact, they struggled through much of the regular season trying to establish themselves and in their first round game against Fort Knox, actually trailed early before finally pulling away in the end. So what chance did they have against the powerful Bulldogs in a single elimination game especially after John Hardin used their power and athletic prowess to build an early 30-22 halftime lead in the playoff game. Finally in the third quarter, Trojan coach Michael Cofer took the air out of the ball and North Hardin ran a slowdown game as both teams totaled only 17-points, but the Bulldogs still led 38-31 after three. The tactic did seem to bother John Hardin as North Hardin made a run to cut it to 41-37 with 3:10 to play on a basket by Devin Taylor-Terry, but that was about as close as the Trojans got as the Bulldogs finally closed strong with a 49-44 win. Cofer’s plan to slow down John Hardin and not allow them to run and dunk seemed to work and made for an interesting first game. The second one between Elizabethtown and home team Central Hardin was far from slow at least for one team. 
Despite the fact that both teams played each other twice during the regular season, they split with the Panthers winning game one at Central Hardin by a landslide and the Bruins winning a squeaker at Elizabethtown several weeks later. Somehow, home field didn’t seem to mean much until that game. Behind a loud and emotional crowd, the Bruins exploded to a 10-0 lead before the Panthers knew what hit them. Central Hardin head coach Matt Nickell used a 2-3 zone to slow down Elizabethtown and make easy shots difficult and it seemed to work as they held them to just 16-points going into the half. Meanwhile, the Bruins played the game of their lives as they exploded for 40-points in the first half as junior center Jacob Hobbs was a one-man wrecking crew as he shot three’s, blocked or altered shots and had several highlight dunks in a memorable first half performance. Hobbs would finish with 19-points / 16-rebounds and he had plenty of help as Carter Ferguson had 15-points followed by Gavin George had 10-points. The Panthers staged a rally in the second half putting up 35-points. But it simply wasn’t enough as the Bruins prevailed 68-51.
What makes sports so interesting is the unpredictability. No matter how a team plays the previous game, sometimes it’s matchups that count and in the 17th District Championship much like the regular season in which the Bulldogs beat the Bruins twice, the same happened again on Saturday Night. The Bulldogs raced out to a 12-point lead after just one quarter and blitzed the Bruins into a 21-9 hole. After a slow start against North Hardin, John Hardin came out inspired and really never let up putting up 17-points in the second quarter, 22-points in the third and 15 in the fourth to win 75-58. You could say that the Bruins fast start against Elizabethtown may have worried John Hardin enough to come out smoking as they would finish going 30-46 from the field and hit 9-13 from the line. Mickey Pearson finished with a game high 24-points followed by Aaron Scott with 12-points. Although they were outrebounded 30-29 by the Bruins, the Bulldogs made the most of their opportunities, meanwhile the Bruins did a reversal from their Thursday Night win over the Panthers hitting just 20-of-50 from the field and just 3-of-15 from outside the arc. Although Hobbs and Gavin George finished with 18-points apiece, most came in a comeback mode.
So now it’s on to the Region Tournament as the Bulldogs would like to return to the State Tournament for the first time since 2013. The Bulldogs have learned like every other champion that being the favorite isn’t easy. But then again if it was then anyone could do it. Come Wednesday Night at Marion County, they’re about to find out just how easy at 8:15 pm.
