The Warren East Lady Raiders were supposed to face Metcalfe County in the regular season, a game that had become pretty much a yearly tradition between the two schools.

The Lady Hornets’ trip to the All ‘A’ State Tournament forced this year’s game to be cancelled, but as fate would have the two teams will meet after all – in perhaps the most intriguing first-round matchup in the Region 4 Tournament.

Warren East and Metcalfe County will meet at 8 p.m. on Monday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

“Metcalfe is a great team led by a great coach,” Warren East coach Jenny Neville said. “They have a lot of experience. We do too, so it is going to be a fun matchup. We have to go back and get a lot of game film on them because unfortunately we didn’t get to play this year. We have to go and get focused and get ready for a really good team and figure out a way to get back in the win column.”

Both teams come in playing well. Warren East (20-7) had a 10-game win streak snapped in Thursday’s loss to Barren County in the District 14 Tournament. Metcalfe County (25-5) has won nine straight, including a victory at Barren County the final week of the regular season. The Lady Hornets have won opening-round games in the region tournament in each of the last three seasons.

Neville said she sees a lot of the same traits in both teams.

“We are very similar in that we both have pretty good shooters and we play fast and we have a lot of guard play,” Neville said. “It’s going to be a fun matchup. I am looking forward to Monday night and getting after it.”

Five time defending champion Bowling Green (12-16) will open against Todd County Central at 6:30 p.m. on Monday in a rematch of last year’s region title game.

Bowling Green is 11-3 against region opponents this season and is coming off a 43-30 win over South Warren in the District 14 title game.

“We are excited about how we were able to finish the season,” BG coach Calvin Head said. “We started playing well and got healthier as the year went on. It’s a new season starting Sunday at the region. We are excited about the challenge. They are good. They have Alexis (Taylor), JaMya (Kay) and (Jordyn Shemwell). They’ve got five kids who played in the region championship game, so in essence they have more experience playing in the region tournament than we do in terms of returners.”

While the two teams did not meet in the regular season, Head said he is very familiar with Todd County Central (15-13). The Lady Purples have won 11 straight in the series, with the Lady Rebels’ last win against Bowling Green coming in 2006.

“I’ve kind of watched them from afar,” Head said. “I am sure they have done the same thing. I just think they have a nice three-headed monster that you are going to have to really guard hard and prepare for. Hopefully our kids are up for the challenge.”

The tournament opens with Barren County (25-5) facing Cumberland County (19-7) on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Trojanettes beat Cumberland County 50-28 on Dec. 14 and have won eight straight in the series.

Sunday’s second game at 4:30 p.m. will see region favorite Franklin-Simpson (25-2) face South Warren (15-14).

“That’s what happens in this region if you are not a district winner,” South Warren coach Lane Embry said. “I don’t think there is such a thing as a good draw in this situation, you are going to have to come out and play your best basketball no matter who you play. We are going to have to come out and have a good plan and execute.”

The Lady Cats beat South Warren 54-38 on Jan. 7, but the Spartans had won eight in a row before Thursday’s loss to Bowling Green.

“They are a really good team with good basketball players,” Embry said. “We’ve been playing well and I think we have good basketball players as well on our team. It’s a matter of getting them to believe in themselves, have good confidence and come out and play the game.”

The semifinals are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesday with the championship game scheduled for 7 p.m. on March 8.