Bullitt East will travel to Lexington to face Henry Clay at Tates Creek tonight in a matchup of top 10 teams. No. 2 Bullitt East will be without Kentucky signee Derek Willis, who was ejected Monday night due to 2 consecutive technicals for unsportsmanlike conduct after a foul call on him, but Rusty Troutman (32 points Monday in the 74-57 win over Lafayette) and Trey Rakes still lead a formidable Chargers attack. The 8th-ranked Blue Devils, coming off an easy victory over Tates Creek, are led by juniors standouts Christen Cunningham, Trey Grundy and Jordan Green.

 

Despite missing Willis, I will take the Chargers to win this one by 5 with Troutman again leading the way and Rakes holding his own against Cunningham.

 

Who you got and why?

Henry Clay. They rise and win big games and lose games they shouldn't be losing. Plus it is in Lexington and they know this game is big for them.

 

Henry Clay by 1.

Henry Clay by 10+

They are for real.

This one will go down to the wire. Should be lots of fun to watch. There will be several high profile players and what promises to be a fast pace. Shame Willis is not playing but Bullitt East still top 10 quality. HC by 4

BE will need huge performances by Troutman, Rakes, and Young, plus one other Troutman. Not having Willis against a superbly talented and big team on the road will be extremely difficult to overcome. Things could snowball against BE if they are not careful here. Best case for BE -- a close win. Worst case for BE -- a double digit loss. In the end, however, playing without Willis against this type of competition may be a good thing for the other BE players later in the year.

I would have taken Henry Clay, even if Derek Willis could play. Without him, Henry Clay by 15.