Girls' regional tournament ... facts and figures

Game 1: Lone Oak vs. St. Mary

The scoop: Perhaps the most intriguing game of the first round. The Lady Vikings won 58-51 at Lone Oak on Dec. 7, but when the two teams get together on Monday night, they haven't faced each other in 83 days.

Since then, Lone Oak has gained some confidence on the strength of its first 20-win season in eight years. The Lady Flash's 21 wins is two more than they had in the last three seasons combined, and sophomore guard Haley Boyd has emerged as one of the area's better up-and-coming talents. Tiffany Brown has size and defensive presence in the middle.

At the same time, Lone Oak has been found wanting against the region's top teams, with a 17-point loss to Marshall County and a 38-point defeat against regional favorite Calloway County. They also lost by double digits at Ballard in December, a game that Brown missed while battling mononucleosis.

St. Mary has retooled some things, too, with coach Staci Averill going with some young talent of her own. Freshman Alex Durbin had a double-double against Ballard Memorial in the district championship game and sophomore Lydia McManus was one point shy of one. Peyton Vaughan has been a reliable lead guard, leading the team in scoring and assists.

The winner probably becomes the sacrificial lamb for Calloway in the semifinals, but both are chasing their first regional tournament wins in some time — St. Mary's last one was in 2006, while Lone Oak's last semifinal appearance was in 2001.

Overall records: Lone Oak 21-8, St. Mary 15-12
Against teams with winning records: Lone Oak 2-6, St. Mary 3-7
Against district champions: Lone Oak 2-3, St. Mary 1-5
Against First Region tournament teams: Lone Oak 5-4, St. Mary 2-6
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Lone Oak 7-6, St. Mary 2-8

Game 2: Calloway County vs. Hickman County

The scoop: There shouldn't be much mystery about this one. Calloway, led by West Virginia signee Averee Fields, may be the First Region's strongest team since Paducah Tilghman reached the final four of the state tournament in 2005. Hickman, the only team in the tournament with a losing record, simply ended up with the worst possible draw.

Expect the Lady Lakers to roll and for coach Scott Sivills to use his bench liberally. Hickman's only chance to stay competitive would appear to be by slowing down the tempo and/or hitting some 3-point shots early in the game.

Overall records: Calloway County 27-1, Hickman County 8-15
Against teams with winning records: Calloway County 16-1, Hickman County 0-4
Against district champions: Calloway County 5-0, Hickman County 1-3
Against First Region tournament teams: Calloway County 8-0, Hickman County 1-6
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Calloway County 14-0, Hickman County 1-7

Game 3: Ballard Memorial vs. Paducah Tilghman

The scoop: These two teams met on Jan. 14 in a game that ended in somewhat controversial fashion. After Ballard hit a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left to tie the score, the Lady Bombers were called for a foul in the backcourt, with Tilghman's Kendra Patterson hitting one of two from the line to nail down the win.

It was a game soon forgotten in the Ballard camp — the Lady Bombers went on to win the All A Classic regional tournament eight days later, knocking off favored Murray in the final. For Tilghman, it was the first sign of progress in a season that was derailed by star point guard Chelsey Shumpert suffering a torn ACL in a mid-December loss to district rival Lone Oak.

Tilghman coach Josh Barnett has done a good job of reconstructing his lineup and gameplan without Shumpert, perhaps the region's best guard, and athletic center LaQuesha Prather, who also has a torn ACL. But there are times the Lady Tornado attack has trouble generating points if Patterson and forward Ngodoo Itiavkase can't attack the rim, and two of the first players off the bench are eighth-graders.

Ballard, however, isn't the same team that went to the All A Classic state tournament. Center Tisha Burgess tore an ACL in that game, taking away a low-post presence and a badly-needed rebounder. Guard Anna Denton suffered a similar injury in the district finals, giving coach Billie Prince precious little time to make the proper adjustments in practice.

Just before the All A Classic, Prince questioned his team's effectiveness when it went to the bench — Ballard sometimes went 10-deep, but Prince wasn't sure he could afford to go without more than one starter on the floor at a time. Now, with two starters down, he has no choice.

Overall records: Ballard Memorial 21-9, Paducah Tilghman 13-14
Against teams with winning records: Ballard Memorial 10-7, Paducah Tilghman 4-9
Against district champions: Ballard Memorial 4-4, Paducah Tilghman 2-4
Against First Region tournament teams: Ballard Memorial 7-3, Paducah Tilghman 4-4
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Ballard Memorial 10-6, Paducah Tilghman 6-8

Game 4: Murray vs. Carlisle County

The scoop: There isn't much reason to think this game won't be well in hand by halftime. Murray, the defending regional champion, beat Carlisle 59-34 only two weeks ago, and has generally had its way with the regional small-school competition, aside from Ballard Memorial.

Point guard Janssen Starks and swingman Haley Armstrong are two of the region's top players and are on course to combine for something like 4,500 points in their careers — Armstrong, a junior, is the school's all-time leading scorer and recently passed the 2,000-point mark, while Starks has eclipsed 1,000 points as a sophomore. And 6-3 center Sian House and guard Amanda Winchester are two of the region's most potent defensive forces, House as a shot-blocker and rock in the paint.

Carlisle has some young talent, led by sophomores Macy Moran and Jenna Babb, but this probably isn't the way coach Ember Wright would have liked her team to develop some regional tournament experience.

Overall records: Murray 20-9, Carlisle County 13-13
Against teams with winning records: Murray 8-9, Carlisle County 1-8
Against district champions: Murray 4-6, Carlisle County 0-5
Against First Region tournament teams: Murray 4-4, Carlisle County 3-7
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Murray 9-7, Carlisle County 3-8