February begins a month of importance for every high school basketball team. As district tournaments lurk on the horizon, big match-ups tomorrow could shape the seeding for the final two weeks of the regular season.
GIRLS:
Upperman travels to Livingston. The Lady Bees of Upperman stand 5-1 in the district, only trailing the undefeated White County Lady Warriors for first place. Livingston gave White County a scare the first time the two teams played in January, but Livingston has gone 2-2 since that game and stands 2-4 in the district, fourth place out of six teams. The Lady Wildcats stand two games behind Cumberland County for third place, whom they lost to Friday night.
York travels to take on Gatlinburg Pittman. The Dragonettes look to extend their win streak to eight games after winning three times last week. They face Gatlinburg-Pittman, who enters play at 16-8 and 6-2 in the district, two games behind York for first place.
Van Buren heads to Grundy County. Van Buren continues their stretch of five games played in the past seven days. They finished 4-1 last week, with their next opponents being a Grundy County team they face for the first time after their original game ended up getting postponed last month.
Warren faces Shelbyville Central. Warren County defeated Spring Hill Friday night, jumping to 4-3 in the district. Shelbyville can take third place from Warren with a win; they stand 3-3 in the district.
Pickett hosts Red Boiling Springs. Pickett County extended their win streak to seven Saturday, defeating South Pittsburgh 73-37. They will look to defeat Red Boiling Springs at home after defeating them on the road January 17th.
Monterey faces Smith County. Monterey looks for their second win of the season. Smith County enters play 3-2 in the district, having won their last three games.
Stone Memorial and White County do battle Tuesday night. Stone Memorial looks to rebound after a January that saw the Lady Panthers lose seven of their eight games. They look to start February anew against a White County team that stands 6-0 in the district and 22-3 overall this season.
Jackson County welcomes Gordonsville. Jackson County seeks to break their January skid, losing four of their last five games. Gordonsville stands 9-11 on the season.
Cumberland County faces DeKalb. Cumberland defeated Livingston Friday night, remaining in third place in their district. Their attention turns to DeKalb, who lost to White County Friday night.
Clay and Clarkrange will square off in a matchup that has district ramifications. Clay stands 3-3 in the district, tied for third place with Gordonsville. They defeated Monterey Friday night. Clarkrange stands a game over both teams at 4-2 so far, winning a close game over Red Boiling Springs Friday night, 39-35. Depending on the result, both teams could end the night in a three way tie for second place.
Cookeville welcome Lavergne. Cookeville defeated Lavergne in January and looks to remain in first place in district play after seeing their win streak broken Friday night to Stewart’s Creek. Lavergne stands 1-5 in the district, with their lone district win coming Friday night against Smyrna.
BOYS:
Stone Memorial battles White County. Stone Memorial looks to stay in the top three in their district, currently standing at 4-2, tied with Livingston for second place. White County has started to heat up, winning their last two district games, looking to make noise in the last month of the season. Stone Memorial can acquire a stronghold on a top three finish in the regular season should they come out on top Tuesday night.
Clay faces off with Clarkrange. Clarkrange enters 14-10, having won their last three games, and also standing 3-3 in the district. Clay County enters 13-5, also 3-3 in the district, with both teams staring at second place, occupied by Gordonsville, who stands 4-2 in the district. Clay defeated Clarkrange on January 17th and a win secures the season series over Clarkrange. Clarkrange should they win could have point differential determine where they finish; their difference as of Tuesday morning is at +33. Clay’s current point difference tallies up as +58.
York faces Gatlinburg Pittman. York won their first two games of the season last week against district foes Monterey and Watertown. Gatlinburg-Pittman is 18-5 and 4-3 in the district.
Van Buren travels to face Grundy County. Van Buren looks to stray off the recent bumpy road they have traveled on, losing two of their last three after winning their previous six games. Grundy County heads into town having just seen their nine game win streak get broken Friday night.
Warren County heads on the road to face Shelbyville. Warren boasts a 13 game win streak, the longest active streak for any team in the Upper Cumberland. Their next opponents are Shelbyville, who lost to Warren on January 17th.
Pickett County welcomes Red Boiling Springs. Pickett County remains at first place in the district after going undefeated last week. They face a Red Boiling Springs team in search of their first win this season.
Upperman faces off with Livingston. Upperman remains undefeated in the district at 6-0 after defeating Stone Memorial Friday night. Livingston travels for the final time this season after defeating Cumberland County Friday night.
Monterey battles Smith County. Monterey looks to climb to third place in the district, standing one game behind York for third place. Smith County looks not to drop to third place; they stand 3-2, one game ahead of York.
Jackson County heads home to face Gordonsville. The Blue Devils extended their winning streak against Smith County Friday night, currently standing at eight games. Gordonsville stands 14-8 on the year.
Cumberland battles DeKalb. Both teams look to bounce back quickly as Cumberland lost a road matchup to Livingston Friday night, while DeKalb enters Tuesday’s matchup currently carrying a seven game losing streak.
Cookeville matches up with Lavergne. The Cavaliers lost a close matchup to Lavergne the first time these two teams played in January, losing by one point, 55-54. Lavergne since that time has racked up a nine game win streak, undefeated in district play after starting the season 4-7.
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