By Stephen Dawkins

Considering that it’s not plausible for the six county football teams to come together at a common location—at least not in the regular season—the county basketball tournament is probably the biggest single event in local high school sports.
Maybe that’s why the tournament is always one of the year’s highlights.
All county schools will showcase at least two teams—boys and girls, while some schools will participate in the B-team tournament—in the tournament this week at Chilton County High School.
Thorsby is the tournament host, but CCHS claims a venue more accommodating for the crowds that will show up.
As always, the tournament offers plenty to look forward to.
On the girls side, one can’t help but anticipate a Maplesville-Thorsby final.
These two teams, so far, have clearly been the class of the county, and a match-up between the Rebels and the Red Devils with Thorsby’s perfect record and possibly a spot in the state rankings at stake would be thrilling.
As for the boys, Chilton County should win its eighth consecutive county championship.
There could be some drama along the way, though. Possible semifinal games could be CCHS-Verbena and Maplesville-Jemison.
Verbena is the story of the county this season, and it would be interesting to see how the upstart, Class 1A Red Devils would fare against the Class 5A Tigers.
Maplesville and Jemison, meanwhile, are two county teams that seem pretty evenly matched and haven’t played each other this season.
The biggest upset would be if the tournament doesn’t produce plenty of entertainment.

– Dawkins is the sports editor for The North Chilton Advertiser.