14th District Girls Basketball Tournament Preview
March 15-19 – Bowling Green High School
2020 Champion – Bowling Green
#1 seed Bowling Green defeated #2 seed Warren East by a score of 72-44. Saniyah Shelton led the Lady Purples with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Meadow Tisdale chipped in 17 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. The title was the Lady Purples’ second-straight district championship.
Last Five Championship Games
2020 – Bowling Green over Warren East
2019 – Bowling Green over South Warren
2018 – South Warren over Bowling Green
2017 – South Warren over Bowling Green
2016 – South Warren over Bowling Green
Schedule
March 15 @ 5:30pm – #4 Warren East vs. #5 South Warren
March 16 @ 5:30pm – #1 Bowling Green vs. Warren East/South Warren
March 17 @ 5:30pm – #2 Warren Central vs. #3 Greenwood
March 19 @ 6:00pm – Championship Game
#1 – Bowling Green (13-10)
How They Can Win
In late February the Lady Purples lost four-consecutive games, all against steep competition. Since the calendar turned to March, coach Calvin Head’s squad has not lost, winning five straight games to close out the regular season. How will BG win its third-straight district title? Heavy doses of Meadow Tisdale and LynKaylah James. The dominating post duo is averaging a combined 32.3 points and 19.5 rebounds per game. They are a threat to record double-doubles every single night. It is hard to imagine any team in the 14th District slowing down both players in the same game.
Player to Keep an Eye on
Tanaya Bailey missed nearly the entire season but has been a solid contributor in her first four games of the year. In a road win at Graves County last week, the sophomore scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
#2 – Warren Central (9-6)
How They Can Win
The Lady Dragons also enter the 14th District Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the region after closing the regular season with four-straight wins. During the win streak, coach Anthony Hickey’s club has held opponents to 50 points or less. Only one team all season has scored more than 56 points on Warren Central. The Lady Dragons can win their first district tournament since 2005 if they continue to play solid team defense and rebound at a high rate. WC averages more than 35 rebounds a game, the highest number in the 4th Region and 20th statewide.
Player to Keep an Eye on
Of course, the star of the Lady Dragons is sophomore Saniyah Shelton. The guard is averaging nearly a double-double at 18.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Kaylyn Keener and La Auhnni Lewis also provide secondary scoring as defenses key in on Shelton. But the player I am keeping an eye on is Kyleigh Ray. The senior is the team’s best scoring option in the post and often defends opposing team’s best post player.
#3 – Greenwood (10-6)
How They Can Win
If the Lady Gators are to make it back to Diddle Arena for the first time since 2012, it will most likely be behind the scoring efforts of Jacqueline Jackson and Leia Trinh. The dynamic duo is averaging 35 of Greenwood’s 51 points per game. After starting the season 6-1, the Lady Gators ended up going on a two-week COVID-pause midway through February. Coach Zach Simpson’s club went 4-4 after the pause, but it has tested itself with sturdy competition. In the four wins, the Lady Gators are averaging nearly 60 points per game. In those four losses, the team is averaging 47.5 points. You have to make baskets in March to advance. The Lady Gators have two of the best in the region at doing just that.
Player to Keep an Eye on
Jackson and Trinh get most of the publicity, but sophomore Kayla Grant is averaging nearly a double-double at 9.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Her ability to score with her back to the basket, as well as her ability to give her team second-chance opportunities with timely offensive rebounds, allow the Lady Gators to compete in any game they play.
#4 – Warren East (8-13)
How They Can Win
If the Lady Raiders are to win their first 14th District title since 2007, it will be behind the individual efforts of Lucy Patterson. Warren East will not be new to the pressure. The club reached the 4th Region Tournament a season ago and were the 14th District runners-up. Patterson and her teammates will need to score the basketball at a high level if they want to advance. Until the final game of the regular season, the club had not reached 60 points once. Having Lucy Patterson in her final district tournament sounds like a sure bet to put up some points.
Players to Keep an Eye on
Two players that will absolutely need to show out should the Lady Raiders advance are Caroline Forrester and Reagan Lawson. The former is a double-double threat every night and is averaging nearly eight points a game to go along with nine rebounds. The latter, Lawson, has made a team-leading 35 three-pointers and will certainly have the chance to knock down big shots in their opening game against South Warren on Monday night.
#5 – South Warren (10-11)
How They Can Win
South Warren has regularly been ranked within our 4th Region power rankings all season long. However, they play in the ever-tough 14th District and are the 5-seed. They would surely threaten to win other districts around the state, as evidenced by their 4-2 record against non-14th District teams in the 4th Region. But coach Lane Embry’s club must defeat another 14th District team if it is to reach its seventh district title game in eight seasons. South closed the regular season winning five of its final eight games. Of the Lady Spartans eleven losses, seven came by six points or less. If South is to advance, it will need to win those close games.
Player to Keep an Eye on
The Lady Spartans have been a balanced bunch in 2021, but one player to keep an eye on is Gracie Hodges. The sophomore is the team’s leading scorer at 10.8 points per game and is also the team’s leading rebounder at 6.6 rebounds.
Prediction
Bowling Green is the heavy favorite to win its third-straight district title. The stars in the paint – James and Tisdale – will give every other team all they can handle down low. Then you add in shooters on the wings in Ava Bennett and Payton Briley, as well as playmakers Emma Huskey and Kiyah Gray, and you are in for a tough out. Not to mention Tanaya Bailey, whose addition to the lineup gives the team a deadly third scoring option.
As for who joins the Lady Purples at Diddle Arena next week, it will be between two clubs looking to end long streaks. Greenwood hopes to reach the 4th Region Tournament for the first time in nine years (2012), while Warren Central has waited eight years (2013). In the end, I think the Lady Dragons squeak by Greenwood and advance to the region event.
Champion — Bowling Green
