article Inside the 6th Region (02/13/2017)

This is an early edition of the 6th region recap, but all of the past week games are in. It was a wild week with many of the top teams losing to make this week's groupings look a little different to account for who is getting hot at the right time. Only one week in the regular season is left and most teams have a pair of games. The big question now is if Fern Creek can run the table against 6th region opponents. The only teams left in their way of an undefeated regular season in the 6th region are PRP & Moore. Both of those teams are capable of producing an upset if Fern Creek does not play their best, but the consistency of the Tigers is what has carried them this far.

This week rankings....

1) Fern Creek (26-2)- After dealing Fairdale a 15 point loss which looks pretty good considering that Fairdale played very well the rest of the week, the Tigers had their big matchup with Valley on Friday night. Valley was without one of their top players, Eric George, but the Tigers dismantled the Vikings so easily it probably did not matter. As often the case, 5 Tigers reached double figures. Led by Anthony Wales with 20, Chance Moore with 16, Clint Wickliffe 15, Ahmad Price 14, and Smooth Jones 10, the Tigers also had a team total of 24 assists. Both of their remaining games are going to be at Fern Creek where the Tigers are really tough.

2-4) Top Challengers are Bullitt East (19-8), PRP (14-9), & Valley (19-6)- Bullitt East and PRP jump into the top tier behind Fern Creek while Valley hangs on despite their blowout loss. Bullitt East has won 3 in a row, including two this past week despite getting pushed to overtime versus Fairdale. They only have a single game remaining in the regular season and it should not be a tough one. Their question mark is if they can get healthy in time for the post season. PRP may be the hottest team in the region after Fern Creek. They have also won 3 in a row and 5 of their last 6. They beat Iroquois and Jeffersontown last week. Now they play Fern Creek on Tuesday which is a game that can further validate if the Panthers are a threat to become the region champs. Valley has to pick up the pieces and go forward looking to learn from the loss they suffered to Fern Creek.

5-7) DeSales (15-9), Moore (18-9), & Doss (15-10)- The big story of the week is the two losses suffered by Doss in 2 games. First they lost in overtime to Fairdale, but then also lost by double digits to Owensboro Catholic. They have only 3 wins out of their last 8 games. They can still get a run going, but time is running out. DeSales went 1-1 losing to Oldham County before beating Collins. However, the Colts have barely a winning record in the 6th going 6-5 this season prior to their game this evening against Holy Cross. Moore had an 18 point win over Jeffersontown, but lost by 5 to Butler. They finish the season against Western and Fern Creek this week.

8-10) Butler (15-10), Southern (13-12), and Fairdale (11-15)- Butler lost to Valley by 6, but had a big 5 point win over Moore. They are on the bubble of whether they can get through district, but they could make a postseason charge. Southern has quietly won 5 games in a row and are now over .500 for the season. The challenge will be if they can beat the tougher teams as their competition level recently has not been high. Still they have a district that enables them to advance pretty easily to the regional tourney. Fairdale is on the biggest upswing as they took two teams that are at the top of the region to overtime coming away with a win against Doss, and a loss to Bullitt East. If they continue to play well they could crash the party.

11) Iroquois (13-15)

12) Western (8-13)

13) Jeffersontown (9-16)

14) Holy Cross (13-11)

15) Bullitt Central (8-15)

16) North Bullitt (7-20)

17) Beth Haven (11-13)

18) Whitefield Academy (6-16)

19) Evangel Christian (5-19)

Great work as always. The multiple headed monster known as Fern Creek will be the favorite to come out of the 6th and, to me, are a high favorite to walk out as champions at Rupp. This team has/is playing as a team way better then I thought they would with so much talent. They are going to be tough to beat.

A drastic change in teams 2 - 7 from the previous week, and there may be not much difference between them. Surprise to see the mentioning of Valley having one of its better players out in a loss, but narley a word when B. East has a loss or two with 3 of its top 6 players out...By the way East just got at least one of its players back for duty.

You obviously haven't seen Doss. They haven't lost a game all year. They've had the refs steal games from them 10 times.

Somebody has a problem with Doss...wow

A drastic change in teams 2 - 7 from the previous week, and there may be not much difference between them. Surprise to see the mentioning of Valley having one of its better players out in a loss, but narley a word when B. East has a loss or two with 3 of its top 6 players out...By the way East just got at least one of its players back for duty.

By the way I have BE #2 and I thought I mentioned them being healthy as the question mark for them. In no way was it intended to be a slight on the Chargers mentioning that Valley was missing one of their top players and not mentioning it with BE. As many games as that has been the case with BE, I would be mentioning it most of the time. Besides if their backcourt is there, that is what makes BE go, the duo of Ezell & Osborne in my opinion is the strength of BE.

By the way I have BE #2 and I thought I mentioned them being healthy as the question mark for them. In no way was it intended to be a slight on the Chargers mentioning that Valley was missing one of their top players and not mentioning it with BE. As many games as that has been the case with BE, I would be mentioning it most of the time. Besides if their backcourt is there, that is what makes BE go, the duo of Ezell & Osborne in my opinion is the strength of BE.

Yeah. At this point, BE is used to being short handed. Osborne and Ezell should be in any conversation of top backcourt combos around. Conner Green can also light up the scoreboard if he's left open. The problem all year has been health on the front line.

The District Final assuming FC and BE face off (which is highly likely) is at BE this year and should be a good rematch from the early January game won by FC on their home court. These two teams would not play again after that until a potential Regional final if they both advance. The District final will be an exciting game. Last year FC upset BE in that game and I am sure BE would like to return the favor this season.

I take Anthony Wales all day long and twice on Sunday, best player in the 6th IMO. When all is said and done, he will lead them to the Ruppland.

Valley lost to Southern. You keep trying to rank them, but they aren't helping your case very much.