GIRLS' PREP BASKETBALL: E'town, North meet with top seed on the line (01/25)

Elizabethtown coach Tim Mudd has never made a practice out of discussing the 17th District standings, while North Hardin coach Chris Corder openly talks to his team about it.

No matter how the coaches approach it, both understand what’s at stake Saturday night when the Lady Trojans host Elizabethtown at 7:30 at Ron Bevars Gymnasium.

“We have talked about it,” Corder said. “One of our team goals is to get the No. 1 seed because the tournament is at our place this year. We talked about it after the game tonight (against Central Hardin). They understand what’s at stake and what they need to do in order to win the No. 1 seed.”

Elizabethtown (15-5) stands atop the district standings at 6-0 and can wrap up the top seed with a victory over the Lady Trojans. Meanwhile, North Hardin (18-4) is 4-1 in district play and still needs to win games against John Hardin and Fort Knox to earn the No. 1 seed.

“We never have talked about standings and getting the top seed,” Mudd said. “It’s never really been one of our goals. Of course, you want to win all district games, but there’s a lot of games left in the season. We don’t want to make one more important than the rest of them.”

The Lady Panthers won the first meeting, 64-48 at Charlie Rawlings Memorial Gymnasium on Jan. 11. Despite the win, North Hardin senior Chanel Roberts still scored 26 points.

“We’ve got to contain her,” Mudd said. “She’s going to get hers. I thought we did a good job on her the first time, but she still scored 26 points. You have to give her a lot of credit. She hit some tough shots. We’ve got to make her do that again. We have to take care of the basketball, rebound and make some shots.”

Corder said the Lady Trojans need to use the same recipe if they are going to have success against Elizabethtown.

“They are so efficient on offense,” he said. “If I could use one word to describe them, efficient would be it. They don’t waste possessions. They don’t beat themselves. We’ve got to make shots and I think we only had one offensive rebound. They put a lot of pressure on you defensively. We have to take care of the ball.”

Since the loss to Elizabethtown, North Hardin has reeled off four consecutive wins. The Lady Panthers bounced back with a 78-48 victory over Washington County on Thursday night after losing to LaRue County on Monday.

“I thought we played very well tonight,” Mudd said. “We did some things well we didn’t do well against LaRue County. I thought we’ve had a good attitude. We got back to work. I think that’s the thing about the regular season: You learn and try to get better.”

Other games tonight include: LaRue County (15-4) at Caverna (13-8); John Hardin (17-6) at Nelson County (16-4); and Louisville St. Francis (1-12) at Fort Knox (1-15). On Saturday, Central Hardin (2-18) plays at Thomas Nelson (3-13), while Meade County (13-8) hosts Daviess County (8-11).

Chuck Jones can be reached at (270) 505-1759 or cjones@thenewsenterprise.com.