Lady Purples have won 33 straight 14th District Games since trio’s freshmen year
14th District Girls Basketball Tournament Preview
February 20-23 – Greenwood High School
2022 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
2022 – Bowling Green over South Warren
2021 – Bowling Green over Greenwood
2020 – Bowling Green over Warren East
2019 – Bowling Green over South Warren
2018 – South Warren over Bowling Green
Schedule
February 20 @ 6:00pm – #1 Bowling Green vs. #4 Warren Central
February 20 @ 7:30pm – #2 South Warren vs. #3 Greenwood
February 23 @ 6:00pm – Championship Game
#1 – Bowling Green (19-10)
How They Can Win
This year’s senior class at Bowling Green revitalized the program, winning district and region titles in each of their first three seasons. The Lady Purples are primed for a fourth going 6-0 against the 14th District and 10-0 against the 4th Region overall. The senior trio of Meadow Tisdale, Saniyah Shelton, and Tanaya Bailey combine to average 35 points and 18 rebounds per game. Tisdale missed four games in February with a knee injury but returned near the end of the regular season. BG’s average margin of victory in district games was 33.2 points per win.
#2 – South Warren (17-13)
How They Can Win
Runners-up in two of the last four 14th District Tournaments, the Lady Spartans of South Warren are hungry to win their first title since 2018. Led by freshman McLaine Hudson (11.2 points and 5.1 rebounds) and senior Gracie Hodges (9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds) the team finished 4-2 in district play. South closed the regular season with six-straight wins, scoring more than 45 points in each of the victories. In three of their four losses since the new year, the Lady Spartans have failed to score 40. When they are clicking offensively, South Warren is a dangerous out.
#3 – Greenwood (14-15)
How They Can Win
Greenwood features the region’s top scorer in Leia Trinh (19.2 points per game) and second-leading rebounder in Kayla Grant (12.3 rebounds per game) giving the Lady Gators the ability to fill up the stat sheet on any given night. Coach Zach Simpson’s club struggled down the stretch of the regular season, losing nine of their final twelve games but will be hoping they can reverse the trend starting with the semifinal matchup with South Warren. In 2021-22, the Lady Gators swept the regular season series with the Lady Spartans before South eked out a two-point win in the district tournament. SW has won both regular season meetings in 2022-23. How will the tournament matchup fare?
#4 – Warren Central (5-24)
How They Can Win
Warren Central is balanced offensively with three players averaging at least eight points per game. The Lady Dragons are led by junior Aida Akhmedova’s nine points per game, while senior Kennedee Robinson is scoring 8.4 points per contest. Junior Briana Frausto leads the team with 7.7 rebounds per game, while Jaliyah Bailey is averaging eight points and six rebounds. Despite losing six in a row in February, the Lady Dragons were competitive, losing four by ten points or less.
Prediction
Bowling Green is the heavy favorite to win its fifth-straight district crown. As noted above, the Lady Purples won every district game this season by an average of nearly 35 points. It’s hard to imagine that trend changing, especially with the return of Meadow Tisdale to the lineup. As for the second slot in the region tournament, South Warren has the edge to make back-to-back trips to Diddle Arena. The Lady Spartans defeated Greenwood twice in the regular season by double digits. That coupled with a five-game win streak leads me to predict that South will join BG in Diddle Arena next week.
District Champion – Bowling Green
