The 2023 version of the 17th District Girls Basketball Tournament will begin Monday and end on a Friday and for the first time in many years, no one is quite sure just who will come out on top. One of the reasons is parity. That can be good and bad for several reasons.
For many seasons, one team has pretty much dominated. Elizabethtown has held the championship trophy in the District Final for the fifteen straight years from 2006 to 2020. That streak was finally broken in 2021 when Central Hardin upset the Lady Panthers, who were 23-0 coming into the District Final. The following season, Elizabethtown wrestled the trophy away from a Lady Bruin team which had beaten them twice during the regular season.
This season is very different.
Of the five teams competing for a shot at reaching the final day, only one has a winning record going into the District Tournament and it’s neither Elizabethtown or Central Hardin.
North Hardin has put together one of their most successful regular seasons in recent years going 16-12. Under new head coach Vonce Isom, the Lady Trojans are a fast, transition team which features two senior scorers in Dez Bryant and outside shooter Ella Scherer. Junior guard Paityn Isom has rounded out a trio which is starting to get healthy at just the right time as Isom hasn’t really fielded a full lineup for just a handful of games until recently.
Elizabethtown has struggled with inconsistency and one of the toughest schedules in the area and it shows. Still, Donnie Swiney has hope his team will put it together around the likes of his senior group of scorers. Guards Janiesse Armstrong, Brookyn Cann, Ashlyn Cann and Sarah Clark are still a pretty formidable bunch and with Harper Gregory and Ranyia Murphy playing key roles, the Lady Panthers will be ready for their showdown with Central Hardin in the semi-finals..
Kristina Covington-Jones lost a lot of scoring last season, but she has put together a young group around a few experienced heads and as a result as been quite a surprise so far. Sophomores Julliana Stith and Khania Jones have proved the scoring, while senior Katie Gray and Junior Allie Link have played important roles in the attack. Senior Addison Smith has been a great addition as the Lady Bruins have gotten better as the season progressed.
John Hardin has been the biggest surprise and question mark. When they are good, they are great. When they aren’t, well..!! Coach Nicki Coleman has the one-two scoring punch of Sharon Tidwell and Destini McAllister to rely on and the addition of shot blocker Xaviera Smalley has given the defense a new dimension this season. When the three are all in the lineup, the Lady Bulldogs are hard to beat. Point guard Parker Paris has done a fine job running the offense and Janiya Drain has given Coleman some good minutes. If the Lady Bulldogs can put it together for a three-game stretch, they can make a serious run at the District Title. Something they have never won.
Fort Knox will play John Hardin in the play-in game Monday to help round out the Final Four Wednesday and the Lady Eagles have had their moments this season. David Armes’s team is led by Asia Charles and LeShay Jones.
In a season which has at times not really made much sense at all, whoever reaches and hoists the trophy on Friday night may not necessarily be the best team of the bunch, but the last two months are proven anything they will be the survivor in the Wild and Crazy 17th District Girls Basketball race.
