article Inside the 4th Region (12/27/17)

**DragonFire** · December 28, 2017

Fourth Region Rankings

1) Warren Central (8-2) - 12/21 57-56 W Jeffersontown (at Oldham County), 12/22 39-71 L at Oldham County, 12/23 51-58 L DeSales (at Oldham County)

Previous Rank: 1

This Week: 12/27 vs. Holmes (at Ohio County), 12/28 vs. Marshall County (at Ohio County), 12/29 at Ohio County

The Dragons ran their record out to 8-0 - their best start since 93/94 - before coming completely undone in their closing two games of Oldham County's Christmas tournament. The decline began before the end of their opener, where they jumped to a 40-21 lead at the half before their offense completely abandoned them the rest of that game and most of the other two. It continues a trend of poor Christmas tournament performances for Central. Their loss to DeSales, who also defeated Bowling Green by 21, highlights the deficiency as a whole. Central will try to bounce back in Ohio County's Christmas tourney.

2) Bowling Green (6-5) - 12/19 77-89 L at Fairdale, 12/21 66-79 L Pulaski County (at Fairdale), 12/22 80-73 W Anderson County

Previous Rank: 2

This Week: 12/27 vs. Hopkins County Central, 12/28 vs. TBA, 12/29 vs. TBA

The Purples suffered their longest losing streak in four years courtesy of DeSales and the King of the Bluegrass tournament. The Purples were invited on the strength of a player that transferred out before the season (Zion Harmon), and were swiftly overmatched in the state's premier holiday classic. Still, the Purples managed a win over Anderson County and measured themselves against some of the best in the state - never a bad thing. They return to host their own Christmas tourney this week, where they may end up squaring off with Monroe County and put their region win streak on the line.

3) Glasgow (9-2) - 12/19 50-42 W Bethlehem, 12/21 71-73 L Caldwell County (at Butler County), 12/21 53-42 W Murray (at Butler County), 12/2254-39 W #16 Cumberland County (at Butler County)

Previous Rank: 3

This Week: 12/29 vs. #5 Barren County

The Scotties have continued their stellar start to the year, minus their hiccup against Caldwell County. This is a Scottie team that won 4 games last year and hasn't had a winning record since the 2013/14 season. So it's important to keep that perspective when noting their 9-2 record. They are very much improved. This week brings a very, very important game when the Scotties host rival Barren County. As Glasgow already has a road win at Monroe County, this could stake them to a 2-0 start against their primary district rivals in a year where the top seed will be very, very important in the 15th District.

4) Monroe County (7-4) - 12/21 63-66 L Apollo, 12/22 46-50 L Bullitt East (at Apollo), 12/23 53-52 W Owensboro Catholic (at Apollo)

Previous Rank: 4

This Week: 12/27 vs. Madison Southern (at Bowling Green), 12/28 vs. TBA (at Bowling Green), 12/29 vs. TBA (at Bowling Green)

The Falcons stumbled in the opening two games of the Owensboro Invitational, but got a key win in upsetting a sliding Owensboro Catholic team. To give a feel of how close their pool was, Monroe County lost to Apollo, who lost to Owensboro Catholic, who lost to Bullitt East by just 1. A bounce in a different direction and perhaps the Falcons could have carried on to the finals. They will visit Bowling Green for the Meijer Classic, and perhaps a measuring stick game against the Purples should both advance to the finals.

5) Barren County (6-5) - 12/21 51-60 L Flowery Branch (GA) (at Gatlinburg-Pittman), 12/22 64-52 W at Gatlinburg-Pittman (TN), 12/23 54-56 L Halls (TN) (at Gatlinburg-Pittman)

Previous Rank: 5

This Week: 12/29 at #3 Glasgow

The Trojans took to the road in the Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic in Tennessee, coming away with one win in three games to extend their skid to three losses in four games. Jared Coomer continued his strong play with an average of 19 PPG in the tournament. Will Bandy has proven a solid #2 scorer as he has raised his average into double digits for the season. As mentioned in the Glasgow recap, Barren County has an extremely important game this week when they visit the Scotties. If they can upset Glasgow, they'll complete a round robin among the top three teams - essentially resetting the district race.

6) Warren East (7-4) - 12/18 91-83 W Trinity (Whitesville), 12/19 65-64 W #13 Franklin-Simpson, 12/20 62-71 OT L North Hardin, 12/21 72-68 OT W Christ Presbyterian Academy (TN)

Previous Rank: 10

This Week: 12/28 vs. Lecanto (FL) (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/29 vs. #10 Todd County Central (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/30 vs. #13 Russellville (at Allen County-Scottsville)

The Raiders were overtime warriors in their holiday classic, requiring extra time in two of their three games, splitting those results. That came after East overcame a double digit deficit against Franklin-Simpson in the tourney opener. Tashawn Neal topped 20 points in two games while Patterson averaged just over 14 PPG in the three games. East's loss to North Hardin snapped a six game winning streak - their longest since the 2013 season. In all, the Raiders have gone 7-1 since opening the year with three straight losses, catapulting them back into dark horse status.

7) South Warren (7-4) - 12/20 88-86 OT W South Oldham (at Clinton County), 12/21 76-63 W Marion County (at Clinton County), 12/22 72-62 W at #6 Clinton County

Previous Rank: 11

This Week: 12/27 vs. West Creek (TN) (at Bowling Green), 12/28 vs. Madison Southern (at Bowling Green), 12/29 vs. TBA (at Bowling Green)

The Spartans rise all the way to #7 this week, and there simply isn't a harder team to figure in the region. How in the world South lost to Allen County-Scottsville by 33 in the opener is a complete mystery. South is above .500 this late in the year for the first time since 2014/15. They had the best week in the region, winning three in a row to take the Clinton County holiday tournament, capping it with a double digit win over the host Bulldogs. The Spartans have scored 70+ four times this season - they topped that amount four times all of last season.

8) Franklin-Simpson (4-7) - 12/19 64-65 L at #10 Warren East, 12/20 69-48 W Edmonson County (at Warren East), 12/21 78-75 2OT W #7 Logan County (at Warren East)

Previous Rank: 13

This Week: 12/27 vs. Jeffersontown (at Edmonson County), 12/28 vs. Adair County (at Edmonson County), 12/29 at Edmonson County

The Wildcats have seen a similar meteoric rise. After starting the year 1-6, the Wildcats have righted the ship with a 3-1 stretch. They've knocked off district rival Logan County twice in the last two weeks, and while it is a negative that they were run down by Warren East after jumping to a huge lead, they still had a close result against one of the hottest teams in the region. They're having to make their hay with defensive efforts, as they have yet to top 70 points in a regulation game.

9) Clinton County (7-5) - 12/20 71-65 W Marion County, 12/21 78-74 W South Oldham, 12/22 62-72 L #11 South Warren

Previous Rank: 6

This Week: 12/27 vs. Central Hardin (at Carroll County), 12/28 vs. TBA (at Carroll County), 12/29 vs. TBA (at Carroll County)

Clinton County has much more potential than this ranking, but it is simply time to drop them based on their on the court product. They have yet to win more than two games in a row on the year, and have fallen at home to both South Warren and Greenwood - neither of which were expected to be among the region's elite. It is perhaps a byproduct of a very top-heavy team, with Jackson Harlan still averaging over 30 PPG and Seth Stockton just over 14 PPG. No one else averages more than 6.4 PPG. Slow down Harlan, and Clinton County is likely sunk.

10) Todd County Central (6-4) - 12/21 65-73 L at Webster County, 12/22 74-67 W Western (at Webster County), 12/23 60-66 L Christian County (at Webster County)

Previous Rank: 9

This Week: 12/28 at #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/29 vs. #6 Warren East (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/30 vs. #12 Greenwood (at Allen County-Scottsville)

The close result against Christian County jumps off the page, but the Colonels were missing Detorrion Ware in that one. The Rebels have now dropped four of five since opening 5-0, though most of their losses have been competitive. They'll measure up against three non-district opponents in the South Central Bank-Halton Classic at Allen County-Scottsville, and we should get a better idea of just how they stack up.

11) Logan County (5-6) - 12/19 54-68 L Butler (at Warren East), 12/20 65-43 W #8 Greenwood (at Warren East), 12/21 75-78 2OT L #13 Franklin-Simpson (at Warren East)

Previous Rank: 7

This Week: No Games

The Cougars continue to flash potential - such as unloading on Greenwood to drill them out of the top 10, but continued their 2-6 slide after their 3-0 start. This included their second loss to Franklin-Simpson, albeit one that doesn't count in the district standings. They get a week off to regroup.

12) Greenwood (5-5) - 12/19 68-72 L Christ Presbyterian Academy (TN) (at Warren East), 12/20 43-65 L #7 Logan County (at Warren East), 12/21 70-53 W Edmonson County (at Warren East)

Previous Rank: 8

This Week: 12/28 vs. #13 Russellville (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/29 vs. Lecanto (FL) (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/30 vs. #10 Todd County Central (at Allen County-Scottsville)

We hung with the Gators as long as we could, but their 2-4 run since opening 3-1 required a course correct. Their 22 point loss to Logan County was easily their ugliest result of the year.

13) Russellville (3-6) - 12/20 69-77 OT L at Hancock County, 12/21 58-60 L Providence (IN) (at Hancock County), 12/22 73-29 W Cannelton (IN) (at Hancock County)

Previous Rank: 12

This Week: 12/28 vs. #12 Greenwood (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/29 at #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/30 vs. #6 Warren East (at Allen County-Scottsville)

The Panthers snapped a six game skid with their win over Cannelton. Anthony Woodard and Jacob Naylor have combined for nearly 30 PPG.

14) Russell County (3-9) - 12/20 89-81 W at McCreary Central, 12/21 67-74 L East Jessamine (at McCreary Central), 12/22 51-68 L Lincoln County (at McCreary Central), 12/23 59-70 L Wayne County (at McCreary Central)

Previous Rank: 14

This Week: 12/28 vs. TBA (at Greenup County), 12/29 vs. TBA (at Greenup County), 12/30 vs. TBA (at Greenup County)

Single digit losses to Greenwood, Glasgow, and Clinton County suggest that the Lakers are closer to contention than last year, but they're still well off where the program was through two years ago.

15) Allen County-Scottsville (3-7) - 12/20 39-51 L at Heritage (TN), 12/21 69-57 W Clinton (TN) (at Heritage (TN)), 12/22 52-61 L Grainger (TN) (at Heritage (TN)

Previous Rank: 15

This Week: 12/28 vs. #10 Todd County Central, 12/29 vs. #13 Russellville, 12/30 vs. Lecanto (FL)

The Patriots will look to rebound from a slow start in their home Christmas tournament. They're 1-2 at home so far this year.

16) Cumberland County (3-8) - 12/21 75-95 L at Butler County, 12/22 39-54 L #3 Glasgow (at Butler County)

Previous Rank: 16

This Week: 12/28 vs. Livingston Central (at LaRue County), 12/29 at LaRue County, 12/30 vs. Grayson County (at LaRue County)

The promise of a 3-1 start has devolved into a seven game losing streak.

17) Metcalfe County (2-7) - No Games

Previous Rank: 17

This Week: 12/27 at Whitefield Academy, 12/28 vs. Berea (at Whitefield Academy), 12/28 vs. Beth Haven (at Whitefield Academy)