article BluegrassPreps.com 6th Region Weekly Rankings (01/29/2018)

Five 6th region teams have only a single loss to another 6th region team and those 5 are now ranked in the Top 5. As the rankings get toward the late part of the season, focus is going to be on regional records and which teams are likely to make noise in the tournament to advance to Rupp Arena. After all, what really matters is getting to Rupp in March and everything done up to that point will become a side note. So here are the new rankings with that thought in mind.

1. Doss (16-5): Doss has more regional wins than anybody else with an 8-1 record that is impressive considering they avenged their only loss to Fern Creek after a recent victory in the LIT semi-finals. Doss will be battle tested going into districts as they have a really touch schedule the rest of the way, beginning with a game this week against district foe DeSales and next week with Butler. They also have PRP, Corbin, Ballard, and Valley all left to play.

2. Butler (19-2): The Bears are 6-1 against the rest of the 6th with their only loss being to DeSales. They switch places with Fern Creek by virtue of Fern Creek's loss to Ballard this week whom the Bears had recently beaten during the LIT. The Bears have a tough stretch in front of them with Manual, PRP, Doss, Fairdale, and John Hardin lined up on the schedule the next three weeks. This will be a good test run for the Bears as they wind down the season.

3. Fern Creek (16-5): Fern Creek already exceeds the number of losses they had all of last season. Their regional record is 6-1 and last year that number was 16-0. But their only loss is to Doss this season so they still have an extremely solid resume. After a brutal schedule early, it gets a little lighter toward the end for the Tigers with their toughest remaining foes in the 6th region being Bullitt East next week and Fairdale which is their last game of the regular season.

4. Fairdale (14-7): Riding a 6 game win streak since their loss in the LIT, Fairdale has compiled a 6-1 region record with only a loss to the hands of Doss. The last 6 games have not included any upper end teams except for a win against PRP, and the next week games should be rather easy as well. However, after next week it ends pretty tough with games that include Valley, Butler, and Fern Creek to finish the season.

5. Valley (13-7): The Vikings are the other 6th region team with only 1 loss which happened in their opening game of the season to Butler by 1. They have won 5 games against the rest of their 6th region foes. They have a week coming up where they should not be pressed, but then must face Fairdale in a big district game to determine who gains the #1 seed on February 6. They end the season in a game versus Doss.

6. Pleasure Ridge Park (13-7): The Panthers have four 6th region losses, but they have 5 wins to go with them. They jump in front of Bullitt East with a victory over the Chargers last week. PRP plays Butler next week and then has Doss the week after. Other than those two games they should win against every other team left on the schedule.

7. Bullitt East (11-11): 3-5 record in the 6th region, but those losses are to Doss, Butler, DeSales, Fern Creek, and PRP. Bullitt East has a big district game in district play with Fern Creek this week.

8. Iroquois (12-9): Iroquois deserves the bump in the ranking after a great week with a win over Knox Central who was a Top 20 team in the State and a leader of the 13th region. Although Iroquois is only 1-4 in the region, those losses have been to Doss twice, Butler, and Fairdale. They play DeSales this week and Valley later in the year as their toughest two games remaining.

9. DeSales (11-10): The Colts are 3-2 in the region that includes a loss to Fairdale and a victory over Butler. The other region loss is the head scratcher as last week they lost to Southern or they would not have dropped to the 9th spot.

10. Jeffersontown (11-8): Jeffersontown stays in the Top 10 by beating Central last week and only losing to Ballard by 10. Jeffersontown has a .500 region record and should continue to win until their last 3 games which will be against Iroquois, Doss, and Butler.

11. Holy Cross (13-8): Holy Cross did not advance in the All "A" Classic after drawing a tough 1st round opponent this past week. They are 4-3 in 6th region competition, but their wins are against Western, North Bullitt, Southern, and Beth Haven.

12. Southern (9-9): The best week of the season for the Trojans as they beat both DeSales and Whitefield Academy. Even though they lost to Bullitt Central the week before, they deserve the bump up after a victory over DeSales.

13. North Bullitt (9-11): On store this week is a big district match-up with their rival Bullitt Central. This is a key game for North Bullitt as they could end district play with a single loss if they come away with a victory.

14. Bullitt Central (14-8): A loss to Western and also Bullitt East made it a tough week. Things would get better with a win over rival North Bullitt this coming week.

15. Moore (5-14): Moore is 1-6 in the region with only a win over Bullitt Central on the season.

16. Western (2-18): With a win over Bullitt Central, the Warriors notched their first win of the season in the 6th region to go along with 8 losses. It deserved a bump up in the rankings.

17. Whitefield Academy (10-9): With a win over Jeffersontown this week their record in region could go to .500. However, the only two current wins are against Beth Haven and Evangel.

18. Beth Haven (6-13): Beth Haven begins a stretch of three consecutive district games against Fairdale, Holy Cross, and PRP. It could get pretty ugly before the schedule lightens up with the remaining games on the schedule.

19. Evangel Christian (1-14): Only 6th region foe left on the schedule is Jeffersontown coming up this week.

This is a crazy region. I watch a ton of Louisville basketball and to think Desales is #9 (not arguing as Southern loss is not a great one) is still very capable of making a deep regional tourney run is crazy. Fern Creek is seemingly struggling to close games out but I wouldn't want to see them when it matters most. I was super impressed with Doss in seeing them in the semis and finals of the LIT. Calloway and Franklin can beat anyone if they are hot. The district with Butler, Doss, Desales, Iroquois, and Western is very interesting. Don't think Iroquois and Western stand any chance, although Iroquois has played them close, but Butler, Doss and Desales are all good enough to win half the regions in the state--yet one of them won't even make it out of their district. Crazy

This is a crazy region. I watch a ton of Louisville basketball and to think Desales is #9 (not arguing as Southern loss is not a great one) is still very capable of making a deep regional tourney run is crazy. Fern Creek is seemingly struggling to close games out but I wouldn't want to see them when it matters most. I was super impressed with Doss in seeing them in the semis and finals of the LIT. Calloway and Franklin can beat anyone if they are hot. The district with Butler, Doss, Desales, Iroquois, and Western is very interesting. Don't think Iroquois and Western stand any chance, although Iroquois has played them close, but Butler, Doss and Desales are all good enough to win half the regions in the state--yet one of them won't even make it out of their district. Crazy

Agree...The 22nd district will be a dog fight, has to be one of the toughest in the state.

I’d say Fern Creek proved a point tonight in throttling Bullitt East.