GIRLS' PREP BASKETBALL: Elizabethtown jumping into district play with back-to-back games (11/30)

By Sunday, the Elizabethtown High School girls’ basketball team will have gone from playing zero 17th District games to two.

The Lady Panthers (1-0), coming off a tough 55-49 home win Tuesday night against the Meade County Lady Waves, host district rival John Hardin (1-0) at 6 tonight and district foe Fort Knox at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Elizabethtown has won 34 straight games against district opponents and is 25-0 all-time against John Hardin, which could earn its first 2-0 start in program history tonight.

Fort Knox, which is 1-1 after beating visiting Kentucky Country Day on Thursday, has lost 95 consecutive games against district teams. The Lady Eagles haven’t beaten a district foe since Dec. 13, 2002. Elizabethtown hasn’t lost to Fort Knox since Dec. 9, 2001.

In other games this weekend:

*** A pair of area teams face off at 7:30 tonight as Meade County (0-1) hosts the LaRue County Lady Hawks (1-0), who are coming off a 71-36 win Tuesday night at first-year program Thomas Nelson.

Meade County is 6-4 against the Lady Hawks since 1998-99 – winning 4-of-5 in Brandenburg – and hasn’t dropped two straight to LaRue County in that span. That could change tonight as LaRue County won the teams’ last meeting Jan. 10 of last season, 67-41. The Lady Hawks could start 2-0 for the fourth time in eight seasons, while the Lady Waves could fall to 0-2 for the fourth time in six seasons.

Meade County has a quick turnaround as the Lady Waves take on the Sheldon Clark Lady Cardinals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Coach Wilson Classic at Leslie County. Sheldon Clark opens its season at home tonight against Belfry.

*** One team will get its first win at 7:30 tonight as Taylor County (0-1) hosts 5th Region rival Central Hardin (0-1). Taylor County opened its season with a 55-31 loss Tuesday at region foe Washington County, while Central Hardin is coming off a 71-20 home loss to region rival Nelson County on Tuesday.

Central Hardin, which is 7-1 against the Lady Cardinals since 1998-99, is playing at Taylor County for the first time since Dec. 16, 2002. Central Hardin is trying to avoid its second 0-2 start in four years.

Central Hardin plays on the road again at 8 Saturday night against the Bowling Green Lady Purples (1-0), who opened the season Monday with a 69-65 win at Owensboro.

*** The North Hardin Lady Trojans, who opened their season Thursday night with a loss at Louisville Ballard, host region rival Bardstown Bethlehem (1-0) at 6 tonight. Bethlehem is seeking just its fourth 2-0 start in the last 15 seasons.

Tonight marks Bethlehem’s first trip to North Hardin for a regular-season game in 15 years.

Nathaniel Bryancan be reached at (270) 505-1758 or nbryan@thenewsenterprise.com