article Inside the 12th Region (1/5/15)

1) Lincoln County-The Patriots have started the season 12-1 with their only loss coming in the finals of the Woodford County Invitational to Lexington Christian. They have beaten Wayne County, Mason County, West Jessamine, and won the Gateway Holiday Classic this past month. As a team, the Patriots are averaging close to 70 points per game while holding opponents to 55 points. They are shooting 49.1% from the field, 33.3% from 3-point range, and 72.3% from the foul line. Senior Jacob Conway is averaging 21.4 points per game and 8.7 rebounds. Timmy Taylor is averaging 14.3 points per game.

2) Southwestern-The Warriors have more wins against top 20 state teams then anyone in the 12th region and could easily be the #1 team in the rankings if it wasn’t for two losses to unranked East Jessamine and Waggener. Southwestern’s young group of talented kids has proven they can play with anyone in the state with wins over state ranked Hopkinsville, Wayne County, and Perry County Central. They were the winners of both the KFC Tournament and the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic over the Christmas break.

3) Wayne County-The Cardinals may have a 7-4 record, but don’t let that fool you. The losses they have are to top ranked opponents. They are shooting as a team 48.3% from the field, 39.5% from 3-point range, and 68.6% from the line. Payton Woods averages 22.9 points, Trey Blevins averages 18.7 points, and Cory Stearns averages 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds a game. Freshman Jakson Baker and junior Nick Gillespie lead the team in rebounds averaging 7.5 per game apiece. Watch out for this Wayne County team as freshman Jakson Baker and Clay Shelton continue to gain varsity experience as the season progresses.

4) Boyle County-The Rebels bring in the New Year with an 11-3 record and good wins over Clay County, Corbin, Bryan Station, Covington Catholic, and Apollo. 2 of the 3 losses were to Lexington Catholic and Louisville Trinity. So it can be noted that Boyle County has also been playing very tough competition. As a team, the Rebels are averaging 48.8% from the field, 35% form 3-point range and 62.1% from the line. Hagen Tyler is averaging 21.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He is also shooting 45.8% from 3-point range. Jeremiah Bell is adding 19 points per game.

5) Mercer County-The Titans are 10-4 and have taken the early lead for the #1 seed in the 46th District with December wins over both East and West Jessamine. They are led in scoring by Will Hagar with 16.9 points per game and Trevon Faulkner’s 16.8 points. Malik Dowe brought down 8.1 rebounds per game in December.

6) West Jessamine-The Colts are 11-3 and have rolled off six consecutive win, including winning the Berea Invitational Tournament, since their loss to Mercer County. Siah Holifield leads the team in scoring averaging 18 points per game while shooting 54.1% from the field and 46.7% from 3-point range. Brooks Eli is contributing 14.3 points per game while David McCorvey is adding 13.7.

7) Danville-The Admirals are 10-7 on the season but have lost 3 of their last 4 after the big win over Pulaski County in the Arby’s/KFC Holiday Classic. Cody Wooldridge is leading all scoring with 18.5 points per game and Spencer McKinney is adding 11.0 for the Admirals.

8) Pulaski County-The Maroons are 10-5 and have taken the lead for the #1 seed in the 47th District with wins over Casey County and Somerset. They went 3-1 in the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic and have been led by senior Sean Ross and Junior Riley Hall.

9) Somerset-The Jumpers are 8-7 this season but have lost the last 4 games in a row by very close margins highlighted by a triple overtime loss to Knox Central. The Jumpers are looking to stay focused in January and convert some of those close games into wins. The Jumpers are led in scoring by sophomore Landin Powell and Senior Tyler Dishman.

10) Casey County-The Rebels are 8-10 on the season and won the Smokey Mountain Classic in Gatlinburg. They have been playing a difficult schedule that will help them down the road come tournament time. The addition of D.J. White has improved their inside game.

11) Rockcastle County-The Rockets are 5-9 on the season and have lost 3 straight after a big win against Jackson County. The Rockets are led in scoring but Lucas Gentry who is averaging 19.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

12) East Jessamine-The Jaguars shocked the 12th Region with the December 13th win over Southwestern but have lost 5 of their last 7 since then. Hayden Smith leads the team averaging 19.0 points per game.

13) McCreary Central-Robert Jones is glad to have the Raiders back to winning basketball games after only winning one last season. The Raiders are 9-8 on the season.

14) Garrard County-The Golden Lions are 3-11 on the season, but picked up 2 wins in the Berea Invitational Tournament over the Christmas break.

15) Burgin-The Bulldogs are 1-9 on the season.

16) Kentucky School f/t Deaf-The Colonels are 6-4 on the season.

12th Region Thoughts:

-The 12th Region has some really good teams that can compete with the best in the state.

-Lincoln County, Southwestern, Wayne County, and Boyle County have separated themselves at the top of the 12th Region, but keep an eye out for West Jessamine and Mercer County.

-Lincoln County had difficulty stopping Lexington Christian's big man Matt Rose. What will be their game plan to handle players like Dylan Gaskins of Southwestern or Colton Elkins of Boyle County?

-The 12th Region has a very talented group of freshmen.

-Southwestern is very multifaceted. They have so many weapons.

-Is Casey County the dark horse for the 12th Region?

Games to watch this week in the 12th Region:

Tuesday, January 6th:

Pulaski Co. at Boyle Co.

South Laurel at Lincoln Co.

Danville at Mercer Co.

Friday, January 9th:

Lincoln Co. at Bryan Station

Somerset at Casey Co.

Rockcastle Co. at Pulaski Co.

East Jessamine at West Jessamine

Saturday, January 10th:

Casey Co. at Danville

Good stuff, SHS!!!!

Good slate of games this week. I'm looking forward to seeing Pulaski County tomorrow night. I'm also interested in the Lincoln County/Bryan Station game that I expect Lincoln County to win.

Danville/Mercer County

Danville/Casey County

Somerset/Casey County

The Battle of Jessamine County Part I

South Laurel/Lincoln County

All top notch games. Should be a fun week.

Southwestern could not only be the easy pick for #1 in the region but they could easily be in the top 10 of the state if not for those two bad losses.

Timmy Taylor is sending a message to those who say he can't shoot. He's hitting 45% from three point land this year. 56% overall from the floor. Impressive.

Going to be a great week of games. Think East Jessamine could surprise some people when they play at West... West has struggled with penetration and that's what Cam Jones does best.

Going to be a great week of games. Think East Jessamine could surprise some people when they play at West... West has struggled with penetration and that's what Cam Jones does best.

East Jessamine has proven that they are capable of defeating anyone in the 12th Region on any given night.

Think they're a classic "get up for the big games" kind of team. Quite a few lackluster performances for them, but the way they walloped Southwestern, you're right. They can play with anyone in the 12th if it's their night.

A few stats that didn't show up in the analysis:

Timmy Taylor is averaging close to 9 APG to go with his 14 PPG.

Will Hager is averaging nearly 8 APG to go with his 17 PPG.

Also, does anyone know how many blocks Colton Elkins is averaging? Based on some of the numbers that I've seen, I'd say 6 to 8.

Rebelstat may know how many Colton is averaging. I'll guess about 6.4.

I have yet to see a better shot blocker in the state.

^^Agreed.

East Jessamine junior guard Camryn Jones no longer with the team. That changes things.

East Jessamine junior guard Camryn Jones no longer with the team. That changes things.

I hate to hear that. I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Timmy Taylor is sending a message to those who say he can't shoot. He's hitting 45% from three point land this year. 56% overall from the floor. Impressive.

The last game I watched him I told someone I thought he is the best pure PG in the state, but his weakness was his shooting. He proceeded to go 3-4 from 3 that game. I think he is a top 10 player in the state.

I would move Casey County into the top 10 and drop Somerset a spot. Then I would move Boyle to No. 2 and drop Southwestern and Wayne to 3 and 4.

That's just nitpicking though. I think you did a great job :thumb:

It has worked out about like most thought. One of those 4 teams will win region. I do think SW is alot better than people realized to start the year.