Player of the Week

Jordan Fox, Jackson County

Fox continues to make a push for 13th Region Player of the Year after turning in three solid efforts during this past week's Cumberland Falls Invitational. His 22-point, five rebound effort against Corbin allowed him to grab these week's top honors, just ahead of Corbin eighth grader Andrew Taylor.

 

Watch out for the Jackson County Generals

There very well could be a new No. 1 ranked team in the 13th Region after today's game (cancelled) between top-ranked Clay County and Jackson County today.

The Generals are coming off one of their best efforts of the season, getting revenge from an earlier loss to Corbin by defeating the Redhounds, 59-47, in the finals of the Cumberland Falls Invitational this past week.

Jackson County guard Jordan Fox scored 14 of the Generals' first 16 points and finished with a game-high 22 points and five rebounds. Fox averaged more than 20 points per game during the Generals' three-game stay in the tournament and turned out to be one of the main reasons Jackson County knocked off South Carolina's Chesnee High School, and Maryland's Largo High School.

Another big reason was the play of Zach Lawson. Lawson's back-to-back three-pointers during the fourth quarter of the Generals' title game match-up with Corbin is what allowed Jackson County to pull away while avenging their 75-73 season-opening loss to the Redhounds.

Yep folks, Jackson County is for real, and if they can pull off a win against Clay County today, they'll be the New No. 1 ranked team in the 13th Region.

 

Colonels are improved

Many are wondering why the Whitley County Colonels haven't moved up much at all in my rankings. Granted, the Colonels have played a nice schedule, I'm still not sold on them just yet.

Whitley County is currently 8-5 on the season while garnering wins Garrard County (twice), Barbourville, Lynn Camp, Middlesboro, Metcalfe County and Adair County.

Those teams have a combined record 44-49, which is a .473 winning percentage.

I am impressed with the Colonels' wins against Bell County and Barbourville. Both games were on the road, which is tough to do in the 13th Region.

Whitley County also hung tough against a Bowling Green squad that is 9-2 on the season. Yep, the same Purples team that only lost to No. 2 ranked Trinity by five points to open the season.

With that said, the one alarming loss to me is Whitley County's 43-39 loss to 50th District rival South Laurel at home. To take the next step in my rankings and in the 13th Region, you've got to win your home district games, especially against a team that entered the contest with a 1-2 record.

Whitley County does have a chance to move higher in the rankings with a tough road game today against Clinton County (9-5) A win over the Bulldogs would turn out to be big for Jerry Overbey's squad, and then the Colonels follow that with a home date against North Laurel.

Whitley County can make an early statement, if the Colonels can grab wins in consecutive days over Clinton County and the Jaguars.

 

Stars in the making

Three players really stick out when it comes to talking about the future of the 13th Region are Corbin's Andrew Taylor and North Laurel's Peyton Broughton and Bryson Asher.

All three of these players have really shown me they can carry the load for their respective teams. Both Broughton and Taylor run the point guard position at times for their respective teams and you would never know just how young they are.

Taylor turned in a show during the Cumberland Falls Invitational and at one point scored, if I can remember correctly, 11 points in the third quarter of the title game against Jackson County.

Broughton turned heads last year as an eighth grader and is doing even better this season, averaging 21 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the floor and 75 percent from the charity stripe. Bryson is one of the top young big men in the region, and turned in three good games during the Legacy Nissan Classic. He's close to averaging a double-double, scoring 10 points per game while averaging seven rebounds a contest.

Yep, you're going to hear about these three players for many years to come.

 

 

The what if game ...

We still have close to two months of games remaining at the present time, but with the holidays over, I figured I'd play the 'what if' game, and see who I thought would come out of each boys' and girls' respective district if the district tournaments were played today.

So here we go.

49th District - Clay County and Jackson County

50th District - Corbin and South Laurel

51st District - Knox Central and Barbourville

52nd District - Bell County and Harlan County

 

Boys Top 10

1. Clay County - The Tigers secure the No. 1 spot with a win over Jackson County today (Game was canceled today).

2. Jackson County - The Generals can secure the No. 1 spot with a win over Clay County today. (Game was cancelled today).

3. Corbin - This team just continues to surprise me.

4. Knox Central - The Panthers have the talent to win the region.

5. Bell County - It seems as if there is a big distance between the Top four teams and everyone else in the 13th Region.

6. South Laurel - The Cardinals can surprise at times.

7. Harlan County - The Black Bears have been struggling, but are still contenders in the region.

8. North Laurel - The Jaguars are another team that has been struggling of late.

9. Whitley County - The Colonels have a chance to move up a spot or two if they can grab wins over Clinton County and North Laurel.

10. Williamsburg - The Yellow Jackets are going to be a tough out come the end of February.

Hey Les, during your downtime(yes I know theirs not much downtime at this time of the year)when you look at the "stars in the making" what about article on the middle school travel teams. You've got 3 of the best in the state in the local area. Micah Engle(4th grade) in Corbin is one of the best pure point guards I've seen in a long while. Reed Sheppard in London(3rd grade) is a dominant point guard that can't be stopped from getting to the basket at will, and Jordan Mabe(2nd grade)who plays every position on the floor for his team normally has every player on opposing teams guarding him. These 3 kids have all played at the KBA in Lexington against older kids and usually come out on top. Once Taylor and these other guys graduate, these kids will be the next "stars" in the 13th region. Again just a thought for a slow day, love your threads and work in the paper-keep it up.