It's about to get interesting this week.
Starting on Monday, some big matchups will be taking place across the Ohio Valley Conference and Southern Ohio Conference on both the boys and girls sides of the basketball world.
While the girls' games will settle conference championships, the boys side should provide a clearer picture and set up some big games for the following week.
The best thing about all of this is you don't have to wait long for big games to tip off.
Starting on Monday, both the OVC and SOC I titles on the girls side will be decided in the Port City.
In OVC action, the Fairland Lady Dragons will try to avenge their home loss earlier this season as they travel to face undefeated Portsmouth.
Portsmouth got the best of the Lady Dragons in the first meeting as Keke Woods paced the Lady Trojans offensively with 25 points and helped build up a 15-point lead at halftime, thus allowing Portsmouth to cruise their way to a 66-49 win.
Not only is an OVC title on the line for Fairland, but the Lady Dragons are on the bubble of not winning the title outright or at least a share of it for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
The Lady Dragons will aim to get even behind the scoring trio of senior Kamryn Barnitz (13.6 ppg), and juniors Bailey Russell (16.9 ppg) and Addison Godby (11.8 ppg).
Over in the SOC I, it will be a much similar storyline.
The other big game in town will see the Green Lady Bobcats squaring off with the Portsmouth Notre Dame Lady Titans, who find themselves in jeopardy of not finishing in first place for the first time in well more than a decade.
On Jan. 16, the Lady Titans suffered their first loss in the conference in 126 games at the hands of the Lady Bobcats. Sophomore Abbie Knapp poured in 29 points and Green's defense held off a late charge by Notre Dame in the fourth quarter to take a game lead in the conference.
Knapp comes into the game averaging a double-double with 27 points and13 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Matti Hayslip's been averaging 13 points. Both players will need to have big games much like in the first meeting.
On Tuesday night, the boys’ side of the OVC title picture will start to come into focus as the Ironton Fighting Tigers head up the river to take on the Chesapeake Panthers in a pivotal matchup for both teams.
The Panthers sit at the top of the conference with an undefeated record along with the Fairland Dragons. The Panthers will have to really earn the conference title this time around, as their remaining 4 games are against both Ironton and Fairland the next two weeks.
Ironton is currently in second place and nipping at the heels of both teams. The Tigers are in need of some help in order to gain at least a share of the OVC title. Ironton plays the Panthers twice and must knock off the Panthers both times and hope that Chesapeake can beat Fairland twice.
On Thursday, the SOC II girls title will be decided when the Symmes Valley Lady Vikings head out Mercerville Road to face the South Gallia Lady Rebels.
While the Lady Vikings do need to take care of business with Western on Monday and Oak Hill on Wednesday, everyone should expect them to take care of business and set the stage for the game on Thursday.
The Lady Rebels won the first meeting on Jan. 20 in Willow Wood, getting big performances from Jacie Boothe and Emma Clary in the 43-34 win.
Kaitlin Maynard and Lydia Saunders netted 10 points each for Symmes Valley in the loss.
Boothe nailed five 3-pointers for a game-high 18 points and Clary finished with 15, but the Lady Vikings made a final push around the late stages of the late third/early fourth quarter to cut the South Gallia lead down to 6 points with 7 minutes left in the game.
Unfortunately, that would be the closest the Lady Vikings would get but the late-game effort could provide a good omen for Symmes Valley heading into Thursday's game.
Three games on Friday will cap off this championship week.
Chesapeake and Fairland will renew their long-standing rivalry at the York Center with OVC title implications.
This isn't exactly uncharted territory for these two teams, as these two teams have battled on the hardwood since the days of David and Goliath it seems.
The Dragons have a major leg up in the title race, getting 2 key wins against Ironton and now just have to focus on playing the Panthers twice. If Fairland can win out, they could secure the league title outright.
For Chesapeake, this is just the second of a tough stretch of four games to end the season.
In the SOC 2, the Symmes Valley Vikings will host the Eastern Eagles in a winner-take-all scenario.
The Vikings fell for the first time in conference play on Jan. 25 at the hands of the Eagles 64-45. Eastern was able to use a big second quarter, outscoring the Vikings 25-11 to build up a big lead and coast their way to first place in the division.
Home had been good to the Vikings this season as they're 7-2 this season and even have a 6-game win streak going. The Vikings have been putting up points at home as well, as they've averaged 65.8 points per game while holding their opponents to 58.8.
The final game of the night will have differing scenarios for the Saint Joseph Flyers and the Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans.
For the Flyers, they currently sit in third place with a 4-1 record. Notre Dame is currently in first with a 6-0 record and Green is in second at 5-1. A win would keep the Flyers title hopes alive with a rematch looming next week against Green.
For the Titans, a win will knock the Flyer out of contention and possibly set up a matchup with Green for either a share or outright championship.
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