The calendar year 2019 has not been kind to those Second Region sports teams bestowed with the title as a tournament favorite. This week’s region volleyball tournament saw the pattern repeat itself despite the fact Henderson County ended up winning their fifth straight region title.
The Lady Colonels had dropped a regular season match to Caldwell County and two to University Heights which left most people thinking either Caldwell County or UHA would advance through the bracket and on to the state tournament. However, the Lady Colonels showed why they had four previous titles coming into the postseason and rallied to beat both pre-tourney favorites and take the crown.
It’s not the first time this year Henderson County has claimed a region title after beating the presumed tourney favorite. Webster County entered the girls’ region basketball tournament as the favorite, especially after beating the Lady Colonels three times during the regular season. However, Henderson County turned the tables in the region tourney and handed Webster a 50-36 loss in the championship game.
On the softball diamond, Christian County and Webster County were considered the favorites heading into the region tournament. However, Christian County lost in the opening round, and Webster County lost to Lyon County in the semifinals. Madisonville, who some expected to have a ‘down year’ won the region title.
In girls’ soccer, Madisonville had the best regular season record and was ranked in the top five in several polls and rankings, including the KHSAA’s new RPI rankings.
However, they failed to make it past the semifinals, and Henderson County won their fifth straight region title. While there were some who still considered the Lady Colonels the region favorite going into the postseason, others thought this was the year Henderson’s streak would end. It did not.
The favorite trend also extended to boys’ sports. Very few had Hopkinsville pegged as the favorite to win the region baseball title, especially after losing to Christian County in the district championship. The Tigers took care of one pre-tourney favorite Henderson County in the semifinals, and the other favorite, Union County, lost in the first round. Hoptown beat Caldwell to claim an unexpected but deserved region title.
One final favorite that didn’t claim a region title was University Heights in boys’ basketball. The Blazers were 14-0 against region teams during the 2018-19 season and were considered the heavy favorite to repeat as region champs with a lineup that included All-State player Kyky Tandy. However, the Blazers fell to Madisonville 81-68 that ended a streak of region champs coming from the Eighth District.
While the girls’ basketball region doesn’t have a clear-cut favorite for the upcoming season, Madisonville is the overwhelming favorite to repeat as region champs for the first time since the late 1980s. Based on what we’ve seen over the past year, that may not be something the Maroons want to embrace.