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Inside the 1st Region - Week 5


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The first region has been crazy this year. We have our third team to take over the #1 ranking this week. Region 1 is showing that they can play well with other regions in the state and this bodes well for them come tournament time. Whoever comes out of Region 1 and plays in the Sweet 16, will have earned it. The region has played out so far with three different tiers of competition. The top tier features 3 teams who are ready to compete for the title, the next tier have 3 or 4 teams capable of competing, but are struggling to get there, and then the last tier are the teams to most likely will not compete for the region 1 title in 2017. Without further ado, here are the rankings for this week.

 

1. McCracken County Mustangs

Overall record: 10-4

Record this week: 3-0

Key Contributors: Cameron Cartwright (12.3 ppg), Nathan Stonecipher (9.2 ppg), William Sivills (12.4 ppg)

 

McCracken County had a huge week this week boosting them up to the number 1 spot in Region 1. First off they soundly defeated the former number 1 team in the region Graves County 54-40. It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but the Mustangs played their game and never allowed any player other than Vogt to do any damage. They took care of business against Memphis Catholic from Tennessee, and then came up with a HUGE upset against BGP #5 Christian County in overtime 68-65.

McCracken has been playing some great basketball as of late. Their last loss was to a good Rowan County team played in Florida. Their tough schedule will continue this week as they will have to play Paducah Tilghman and Calloway County, both contenders in the region. If they get through this week unscathed, then they will face Marshall County next week, the only region team they have lost to so far.

 

2. Graves County Eagles (BGP No. 20)

Overall record: 12-5

Record this week: 2-1

Key Contributors: Chris Vogt (14.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg) Ryan Mathis (11.8 ppg), Jordyn Noranjo (12.3 ppg)

 

The Eagles finally have Chris Vogt back. The Mr. Kentucky candidate and NKU commit had been limited due to injury. Graves defeated two of their opponents this week in Mayfield and Meridian, Il. However the Eagles were taken down by the Mustangs of McCracken Co, who have been surprising people as of late. The loss to the Mustangs drop Graves to the number 2 position in the region. They showed that they are still one of the top teams in the region by handily defeating a surging Mayfield team.

The Eagles have a tough game at home against Marshall County this week. The Marshalls have played some very good basketball this year and it will be another chance for the Eagles to show that the game against McCracken was just a bad game. They also will play in the Superman Classic in Massac County Illinois.

3. Marshall County Marshalls

Overall record: 10-4

Record this week: 1-1

Key Contributors: Dylan Walters (14.7 ppg), Aaron Reed (11.6 ppg), Houston Harvey (11.3 ppg)

 

The Marshalls have only lost one game to a Kentucky team, and that was to Hopkinsville in early December. Since then they have played very well against local competition including big wins against McCracken, Murray, and Calloway County. This week suffered a heartbreaking loss to Cairo, Il, but came back to win against Calloway. That game was a very slow and low scoring game (36-25). In fact, it was the lowest scoring game in region 1 play in quite some time.

Marshall County has showed it can beat any team in Region 1 and will have the chance to take over the number 1 spot this week if they can defeat Paducah Tilghman at home and a bigger challenge, at Graves County. Marshall has played smart basketball and will to continue that to keep this winning going.

 

4. Mayfield – Cardinals

Overall record: 9-5

Weekly Record: 1-1

Key Contributors: Carson Guthrie (16 ppg), Conner Guthrie (16.5 ppg), Anton Lumson (12.9 ppg),

 

The Cardinals have surprised quite a few teams with their play so far this season. They have had big wins against University Heights, Paducah Tilghman, and Bardstown. They only lost to Doss in Louisville by 4 and at McCracken by 1. They have shown a lot of grit and determination. They have been led by the Guthrie brothers who are both averaging just over 16 points per game. This week they defeated a decent Calloway County team but then lost big to Graves County at home.

They should win their first two games this week before starting the All A Classic. At the moment, I would put Mayfield as the team to beat out of Region 1 (Hickman, Fulton, Christian Fellowship, Carlisle, St. Mary, Ballard Memorial, and Murray).

 

5. Paducah Tilghman – Blue Tornado

Overall record: 9-6

Weekly Record: 1-1

Key Contributors: Jerome Reed (16.6 ppg/7.3 rpg), Rodriguez Thomas (13.2 ppg/), Joe Workman (13.3 ppg)

 

What happened to the Blue Tornado? In Week 2 they were considered the number 1 team in the region, since then have gone 4-6 and have not looked very good in some of those games. They had a rough Christmas schedule losing to Hopkinsville, Mayfield, Ballard, and Bryan Station. They seemed to right the ship with dominant wins over Caverna and St. Mary. Then came Christian County who gave them a dose of reality.

This team has a great amount of talent and some of the losses were to some of the state’s top teams (Ballard, Hopkinsville, Christian County), the loss to Mayfield at home was a little puzzling. However Mayfield has proved to be talented as well, so the Tornado will have to dig deep and show they are still a top team in the region. They have two big games this week, both away. They will play at Marshall County and McCracken County. If they win both, it will put them right back in the mix for the top team, if they lose both, it will cement the idea they are still a second tier team.

 

6. Calloway County Lakers

Overall record: 9-6

Weekly Record: 0-2

Key Returners: Kamden Price (20.0 ppg), Payton Johnson (11.1 ppg)

 

Calloway has already won more games this year than they did last year, and we are just over the half way mark. They played very well in the month of December defeating some good teams outside region 1. The last three games have been a bit more troublesome losing big to Louisville juggernaut Ballard, and to region foes Mayfield and Marshall County. Kamden Price has been great this year averaging 8 more points per game than he did last year. This boost in production has help the Laker tremendously, and they will need him to continue to produce if they will contend.

Calloway will play Trigg County this week and at Murray and McCracken County this week.

 

 

7. Murray Tigers

Overall record: 10-6

Weekly Record: 3-0

Key Contributors: Preston English (26 ppg/ 10 rpg), Zach Flener (13.6 ppg)

 

Murray has been an up and down team this year. They had terrible games at Marshall and Paducah Tilghman, and then a great run through the month of December against subpar competition. Then came the embarrassing loss to Bowling Green in which the Tigers only score 15 points the entire game! Since that terrible loss, Murray has played much better basketball. They played a good 3 quarters against Doss, and defeated a decent Elizabethtown.

Preston English has been dynamite for the Tigers with the exception of the Bowling Green game. However English and Flener are the only scorers for Murray and if a good team (Bowling Green) shuts English down, the Tigers can’t score.

This week they will play Calloway before defending their All “A” Classic Region 1 title.

 

 

8. St. Mary Vikings

Overall record: 8-6

Weekly record: 1-1

 

The Vikings have played well enough to stay above .500 for the year. Their schedule isn’t very strong, but neither are they. St. Mary should continue that progress and finish the year with a winning record. I don’t think they will compete with the top two tiers in the region, but should be the best team in tier three.

 

9. Fulton County – Pilots

Overall record: 7-5

Weekly Record: 1-2

Key Contributors: Davis Major (14.7 ppg), Andreous Smith (14.5 ppg), Kahari Miller (13.8 ppg)

 

The Pilots have played a schedule full of out of state teams and subpar in state competition so far. They lost a big game to across town rival Fulton City, although they beat Hickman Co this week. Fulton Co is lucky they don’t have the play any of the top 3 teams in region 1 till tournament time, until then, they should win about half their games from here on out.

 

10. Ballard Memorial Bombers

Overall record: 3-10

Weekly record: 1-2

Key Contributors: Jamarrion Williams (10.9 ppg)

 

The Bombers play a lot of players in their games. Every single player on their roster has scored this season. However that doesn’t mean they score a lot. They should win their 4th game this week against CCA but that come following a game at Mayfield, which probably won’t be pretty

 

11. Hickman County Falcons

Overall record: 6-8

Weekly record: 1-2

Key Returners: Dalton Jewel (20.2 ppg), Logan Pittman (10.0 ppg), Grant Davis (10.2 ppg)

 

Dalton Jewel has been playing great and scoring a lot. They have struggled against any team more talented than they are, but have defeated the lesser teams they have faced. They will play Dawson Springs and Fulton City this week.

12. Fulton City Bulldogs

Overall record: 4-9

Weekly Record: 1-0

Key Contributors: Devontae Alexander (9.8 ppg), Brenden Walker (19.1 ppg)

 

The Bulldogs last two games have gone very well. They defeated Trigg County and cross town rivals Fulton County, both pretty convincingly. Walker led the Bulldogs in both those games with 23 and 24 respectively. They will try to continue to win with games at St. Mary, Hickman, and Christian Fellowship this week.

 

13. Carlisle County Comets

Overall record: 5-10

Weekly record: 1-1

Key Contributors: Trey Wilson (20 ppg), Michael Thomason (12 ppg)

 

The season of rebuilding has been tough on the Comets. Carlisle which was a contender for the region 1 title last year, find itself hurting for wins. They were soundly defeated by much of the completion earlier this season, but the team has improved. They have won 3 of their last 4 and have a good chance to win 2 or 3 more this week.

 

14. Christian Fellowship Eagles

Overall record: 2-10

Weekly record: 1-0

Key Contributors: Jordan Choate (12.8 ppg), Brice Etheridge (12.6 ppg)

 

The Eagles won their only game this week giving them their second win of the year. They play another winnable game at CCA and they also play an Illinois team before the All “A” Classic.

 

15. Community Christian Warriors

Overall record: 0-12

Weekly record: 0-2

Key Contributors: Logan Browning (14.7 ppg), Jonathan Rogers (10 ppg)

 

The Good news from the Warriors, they are scoring more points than they did last year, however they still are not competitive in the region. The Warriors have only won 2 games over the past two seasons the same results can be expected this year as the Warriors just don’t have the talent to keep up with the public schools, especially considered they have a number of 7th and 8th graders on their roster.

 

Top 5 Performances of the Week

 

Preston English, Murray

English dropped 41 points and pulled down 14 boards for the Tigers in their win against Ballard Memorial.

 

Cameron Cartwright, McCracken

Cartwright scored 15 points to lead the Mustangs over Graves County.

Carson & Conner Guthrie, Mayfield

The Guthrie Brothers both scored 18 points a piece and combined for 17 rebounds in their win over Calloway County.

 

Trey Wilson, Carlisle County

Wilson scored 22 points in a win against Crittenden County.

 

Branden Walker, Fulton City

Walker threw down 24 points in leading Fulton City to a win over rival Fulton County.

 

Games to Watch:

Paducah Tilghman @ Marshall County – 1/10

Paducah Tilghman @ McCracken County – 1/13

Marshall County@ Graves County – 12/13

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Excellent review. McCracken has certainly asserted themselves as top in the region for this week. Their defense has been stout. I also love Marshall County. If they make it a half court game, they are so tough to beat. I am very down on Paducah Tilghman. I saw the same ol' undisciplined basketball on Friday night against Christian County that I've witnessed the last several years. Had very high hopes for them but even our win against Caverna was mediocre.

All that said, you hit the nail on the head. I put Mayfield in top tier (I think their game against Graves was an outlier). McCracken, Marshall, Graves and Mayfield are the top tier teams. Paducah Tilghman and Calloway County are second tier. Then the rest.

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