As was the case last season, the top spot in the District 7-A girls basketball race has been decided fairly early, but there is still plenty of suspense in the boys division as the regular season heads down the home stretch.

The Clarkrange girls clinched the top seed in the girls division with their second win of the season over Jackson County (45-35) last week, while the Jackson County boys put another wrinkle in the boys race with a win over Clarkrange. 

The district tournament is scheduled to start the week of February 16 in Livingston.

Girls race

Clarkrange clinched another district tourney top seed with a win over Jackson County in late January, handing the Lady Blue Devils their second district loss. The Lady Buffaloes are 9-0 in 7-A play and have only one remaining district game at Clay County.

Jackson County and Clay County entered the week tied in the loss column with two each, but Pickett County handed the Lady Bulldogs their third 7-A loss on Tuesday night. The Lady Blue Devils have remaining district games at Monterey and Clay (Feb. 10), while the Lady Bulldogs now have two contests left — hosting  Jackson County and traveling to Clarkrange in the regular-season finale on February 12. 

Clay County (5-3 in the district) is guaranteed no worse than a third-place finish, with Pickett and Monterey already having at least six district losses each. 

Boys race

Clay County reclaimed the district lead in the loss column last week with their win over Monterey and Jackson County’s narrow, 47-43 victory over Clarkrange in Gainesboro. 

After Tuesday’s win over Pickett County, the Bulldogs are 7-1 in the district, that coming recently to Jackson County, while Clarkrange and Jackson County are now tied for second with two losses each. 

Clarkrange has only a home game against Clay County left on the schedule, while the Dawgs also have Jackson County at home.  After getting off to a slow start, the Blue Devils (6-2) carried a four-game district winning streak into this week’s action. 

Monterey held down the fourth-place slot heading into this week’s play with five district losses.