The KHSAA Sweet 16 draw show was held on Friday in Lexington to reveal the brackets for the boys’ and girls’ state tournaments in March.
The girls’ Sweet 16 will take place March 12-15 while the boys’ Sweet 16 is March 26-29 (moved back a week due to Rupp Arena hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament).
Times for the Sweet 16 first round matchups will be released at a later date.
As far as the draw is concerned, here’s the boys matchups:
What it means for Northern Kentucky?
The 9th Region will face the 2nd Region in the first round. The 2nd Region is the defending champ, Lyon County claiming the crown last year over Harlan County.
The Lyons are in the hunt once again for a region title and another trip to Rupp Arena, but will have to get by contenders Madisonville North-Hopkins and Henderson County to do so.
As for the 9th, Cooper is probably the favorite right now, but Covington Catholic and Lloyd Memorial are certainly in that category of contenders as are Newport, Conner and Ryle.
If Simon Kenton or Walton-Verona were to make it out of the 8th Region, they’d be looking at a potential matchup of 12th Region favorite Danville Christian. Mercer County, Pulaski County and Lincoln County the other candidates.
And then in the 10th Region, Campbell County is in the mix for a 10th Region title in consecutive years while they’d most likely have to get past George Rogers Clark and Montgomery County to do so.
And here’s the girls matchups:
What it means for Northern Kentucky?
The 9th Region drew the 6th Region. As far as the 9th Region favorites, Cooper is probably the frontrunner right now with four other contenders, Notre Dame, Dixie Heights, Holy Cross and Highlands. The winner of the 9th would be looking at a potential matchup against 6th Region favorite Butler, with Valley, Moore, Whitefield Academy and Bullitt Central in the mix.
If Simon Kenton gets out of the 8th Region, they drew the tough task of going up against the 11th Region. The favorite there is Franklin County, a top five team in the state, but the Flyers have no easy task with Frederick Douglass, Madison Central and Lafayette also in the mix.
The clear 10th Region favorite is George Rogers Clark, but if any of Campbell County, Bishop Brossart or Scott could pull off the mammoth upset of GRC, they’d be looking at a first round matchup against the 4th Region. The 4th Region favorite is probably Franklin-Simpson with Metcalfe County, Barren County and Bowling Green all in the mix.