KHSAA Sweet 16 state tournament to tipoff after year-long absence
LEXINGTON, Ky. (BVM) — In what is perhaps the most anticipated sporting event in the entire state of Kentucky, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Boys’ Sweet 16 State Championship Tournament is preparing to once again take center stage this week at Rupp Arena in Lexington. Unlike other seasons, however, this tournament may have the most excitement and energy around it than ever before after the entire state missed out on the tournaments a year ago due to COVID-19 forcing the cancellation of the event last season.
On March 12, 2020, the KHSAA announced that it would suspend both the boys and girls state basketball tournaments indefinitely due to the ongoing pandemic, just one week prior to the scheduled tip-off for the boy’s basketball tournament. The news was devastating to the teams across the state that qualified and many were left waiting to see if they could return, but they never would get the chance as the KHSAA would announce the cancellation of both tournaments as well as spring competition in April. Now, some of those teams will return to the place they had hoped to be one year ago, albeit with different rosters and stories surrounding them.
Out of the 16-team field, five teams will be entering the tournament still stinging from the missed opportunity from a year ago. These teams: Ashland Blazer, Elizabethtown, George Rogers Clark, Knox County and McCracken County, were all already seeded for the 2020 tournament, but were unable to prove who was truly the best team in the state.
Each of the schools had different reasons why they would want to win the state championship that year, from Ashland missing out on becoming the first undefeated state champion since 1948 to Knox Central and McCracken County searching for their first state titles in program history. Even George Rogers Clark and Elizabethtown were each facing championship droughts, with the Elizabethtown Panthers not winning one since 2000 and the George Rogers Clark Cardinals not winning one since 1951. Now these teams will each get their chance to once again make history in 2021.
However, they will be faced with some stiff competition. The 11 other programs are also looking to hold up the Commonwealth’s most coveted basketball prize.
Among these teams are the Bowling Green High School Purples, the team in the field to have most recently won a championship in 2017, and recent contenders Bullitt East, Ballard and Oldham County who are making their 18th, 18th and 17th appearances respectively.
Five of the 11 teams — Boyle County, Highlands, Knott County, McCracken County and Oldham County — will be looking to win the program’s first state championship while Ballard, University Heights, Paintsville and Bullitt East will look to end championship droughts that go back to the 90’s. Madison Central will look to keep its hot streak alive after knocking off the state’s top-rated team in the regional semifinals while Muhlenberg County will look to make program history by notching its first Sweet Sixteen tournament win.
The last Sweet 16 game happened over two years ago when Trinity School out of Louisville beat Scott County 50-40 in the 2019 championship game on March 10, 2019. Both those programs are not in the tournament this year, meaning Kentuckians will see a brand-new championship match this time around.
While there may not be as many fans packed in the stands as in past years due to ongoing community gathering guidelines in the state, basketball fans throughout the state will be tuning in to hear how their favorite teams are doing. Though it is unknown which team will come out on top, there will be a newly-crowned champion come April 3.
Games begin on March 31 at 11 a.m. when the Knott County Central Patriots take on the Elizabethtown Panthers.
We’re back. pic.twitter.com/u8VMpR4xBQ
— KHSAA Main (@KHSAA) March 30, 2021
