Now that all the guys tranferring are all settled in, I believe this might be the toughest competition in the 12th in some time. I believe it is a 4 or 5 team race for regional crown. I believe its between Boyle, Lincoln, Wayne and Southwestern. Teams like Mercer, Casey, Danville or Somerset being some teams to keep your eye on.

Edited August 27, 201412 yr by PurplePride92
RUle 13

Mercer will be heard from. Carson is gone so Mercer and West will be in the region tourney. I say it's Wayne's to lose but in a one game setting anything goes. What makes you say Casey? Casey doesn't scare anyone.

1. Boyle County

2. Wayne County

3. Lincoln County

4. Southwestern

 

5. Mercer County

 

6. West Jessamine

7. Somerset

 

 

Unsure about the rest. These are my biased rankings. I expect a trip to Rupp for the Rebels this season. You won't hear me say anything different all season.

I'm still picking Wayne. Why? They just win. That group always has at every age level - and they have 3 kids that can put up 20 on any given night and have phenomenal chemistry. Always fun to watch as they play at a very fast pace. Three of the top 10 players in the region.

 

On paper, Boyle is a huge threat. They have two of the best seniors in the state: arguably the best scorer in the region in Tyler and the newcomer, Bell, who is capable of putting up 20+. Then they have Elkins, one of the top juniors in the state - who is by far the best shot blocker in the 12th, capable of changing the game with his help defense. Throw in Bean who can knock down the three ball and you have a really nice team capable of beating Wayne. Three of the top 10 players in the region. It will be interesting to see if Coach Adams let's them run as they will have the horses to do so.

 

Lincoln, like Wayne, seems to "just win." They have one of the best pure PG's (Taylor) in the state to go with scorer Conway, a kid that averaged in the low 20's as a junior. They also have Conley who is a tremendous 3 point shooter as well as some nice role players. Very, very well coached. The knock on them is that they have 2 great players as opposed to 3. Two of the top 10 players in the region.

 

Southwestern has Gover, Cromer, Fitzgerald, Butt & Gaskin. That's 5 really solid players. Their 4th and 5th players are better than those of the other teams mentioned above but their top 3 (or 2) aren't on the same level.

 

Mercer is the wild card. They have two of the more highly rated juniors in the state in Hager and newcomer Dow; one of the top freshmen in the state (IMO) in Faulkner; and Drew Davis. Davis is the kid most people don't know or have forgotten about as he's missed the last 2 years due to an ankle injury (now surgically repaired). He started varsity as an 8th grader. If he's healthy, you can make a strong case for them competing with any of the aforementioned teams. Like Boyle, they are well suited for an up tempo style. Two to three of the top 10 players in the region.

 

Beyond that, I think West Jessamine will be better than most expect. They always are. They return some nice players and have a top-notch coach.

 

Then there's Danville and Casey, two teams that will be better. And East Jessamine. Who knows about Pulaski with a new coach and 3 new players?

 

The one team I know very little about is Somerset - so I acknowledge that I may not be giving them enough credit.

Mercer will be heard from. Carson is gone so Mercer and West will be in the region tourney. I say it's Wayne's to lose but in a one game setting anything goes. What makes you say Casey? Casey doesn't scare anyone.

 

Mercer County is one year away from being heard from. Even with Dow. Too much returning from the top 4 teams and Mercer County needs to break in a new coach. That first year is always rough. In 2015/16.......watch out. I'll be keeping an eye on your boys.

I'm still picking Wayne. Why? They just win. That group always has at every age level - and they have 3 kids that can put up 20 on any given night and have phenomenal chemistry. Always fun to watch as they play at a very fast pace. Three of the top 10 players in the region.

 

On paper, Boyle is a huge threat. They have two of the best seniors in the state: arguably the best scorer in the region in Tyler and the newcomer, Bell, who is capable of putting up 20+. Then they have Elkins, one of the top juniors in the state - who is by far the best shot blocker in the 12th, capable of changing the game with his help defense. Throw in Bean who can knock down the three ball and you have a really nice team capable of beating Wayne. Three of the top 10 players in the region. It will be interesting to see if Coach Adams let's them run as they will have the horses to do so.

 

Lincoln, like Wayne, seems to "just win." They have one of the best pure PG's (Taylor) in the state to go with scorer Conway, a kid that averaged in the low 20's as a junior. They also have Conley who is a tremendous 3 point shooter as well as some nice role players. Very, very well coached. The knock on them is that they have 2 great players as opposed to 3. Two of the top 10 players in the region.

 

Southwestern has Gover, Cromer, Fitzgerald, Butt & Gaskin. That's 5 really solid players. Their 4th and 5th players are better than those of the other teams mentioned above but their top 3 (or 2) aren't on the same level.

 

Mercer is the wild card. They have two of the more highly rated juniors in the state in Hager and newcomer Dow; one of the top freshmen in the state (IMO) in Faulkner; and Drew Davis. Davis is the kid most people don't know or have forgotten about as he's missed the last 2 years due to an ankle injury (now surgically repaired). He started varsity as an 8th grader. If he's healthy, you can make a strong case for them competing with any of the aforementioned teams. Like Boyle, they are well suited for an up tempo style. Two to three of the top 10 players in the region.

 

Beyond that, I think West Jessamine will be better than most expect. They always are. They return some nice players and have a top-notch coach.

 

Then there's Danville and Casey, two teams that will be better. And East Jessamine. Who knows about Pulaski with a new coach and 3 new players?

 

The one team I know very little about is Somerset - so I acknowledge that I may not be giving them enough credit.

 

 

I probably worry about Lincoln more than anyone else just because we know each other so well. Watching Jeremiah Bell versus Timmy Taylor is going to be worth the price of admission. In my world it's Boyle County versus Lincoln County in the 12th Region Final. I'm begging. At Lincoln County too? WHooooooooooooo

 

Wayne is the easy pick. It's easy to say they are the 12th Region champs until beaten. I'm not going that route. That was last year. Whole new ballgame this season.

 

As for Southwestern, if they can't beat Wayne then their first round region game will be huge against a district champ. I'd love for the Rebels to get another crack at them in the region tourney. Old memories die hard.

 

Wesy Jessamine is always a well coached team and when you think they are down they rise up and become a threat. I wouldn't want to play them in March but somebody likely will have to.

Mercer County is one year away from being heard from. Even with Dow. Too much returning from the top 4 teams and Mercer County needs to break in a new coach. That first year is always rough. In 2015/16.......watch out. I'll be keeping an eye on your boys.

 

Couple of points - why Southwestern? Realistically, they probably don't have one top ten player. Plus, can anyone argue that Wright has overachieved in the past? Edwards was a HUGE, HUGE loss for them.

 

Second thing - assuming Davis is back, match up Mercer player for player with those other teams. It may bear out that they are a year away - but the match-ups don't point to that.

Couple of points - why Southwestern? Realistically, they probably don't have one top ten player. Plus, can anyone argue that Wright has overachieved in the past? Edwards was a HUGE, HUGE loss for them.

 

Second thing - assuming Davis is back, match up Mercer player for player with those other teams. It may bear out that they are a year away - but the match-ups don't point to that.

 

They may not have a top 10 player but they probably have 3-5 top 20 players. They also have guys that have won at the varsity level and were on a pretty good team last season. Every team they lost to was ranked last season if I am not mistaken. They know how to win and that is huge. Did they get the big 6'8" kid this season? That's a shot eraser if they do. Butt and Fitzgerald are players and they added Gover also? Take away Hager and Dow and who does Mercer County have that can hang with Southwestern's crew? Trevon is a great player with a bright future but I'm thinking Butt and Fitzgerald are both freshman also who are a little further along than Trevon.

 

I'll believe Davis is playing if he can make it through football. Which everyone says isn't happening until October at the earliest.

Yes, they have the 6'8" kid. I'm hearing he's closer to 6'6" and likely won't start. Not that he won't be a factor, but....I do agree that they're a very solid group with most of their players falling in the 10-20 range. They may end up being the 3rd or 4th best but I would be surprised.

 

After seeing all 3 of those freshmen play multiple times this summer, I wioukd take Trevon Faulkner. And that's a compliment because I'm a fan of the SW freshmen. Mark my words - people are going to be surprised by what he does this year. And the other is Davis. If healthy, he would do much better than just hang with the SW players. Healthy, he's a top 10 in the region caliber player.

 

As I said, Mercer being able to compete with those top 3 (or 4) teams is contingent upon Davis being healthy - I'll give you that. But if he is, then I think they will be (very) relevant this year, especially come tourney time.

Regardless, all of this points to the fact that there's a tremendous amount of talent in the 12th this year. It will be very high level basketball and extremely fun to watch!!!

Regardless, all of this points to the fact that there's a tremendous amount of talent in the 12th this year. It will be very high level basketball and extremely fun to watch!!!

 

No doubt. It's going to be a lot of fun this season.

I'm still picking Wayne. Why? They just win. That group always has at every age level - and they have 3 kids that can put up 20 on any given night and have phenomenal chemistry. Always fun to watch as they play at a very fast pace. Three of the top 10 players in the region.

 

On paper, Boyle is a huge threat. They have two of the best seniors in the state: arguably the best scorer in the region in Tyler and the newcomer, Bell, who is capable of putting up 20+. Then they have Elkins, one of the top juniors in the state - who is by far the best shot blocker in the 12th, capable of changing the game with his help defense. Throw in Bean who can knock down the three ball and you have a really nice team capable of beating Wayne. Three of the top 10 players in the region. It will be interesting to see if Coach Adams let's them run as they will have the horses to do so.

 

Lincoln, like Wayne, seems to "just win." They have one of the best pure PG's (Taylor) in the state to go with scorer Conway, a kid that averaged in the low 20's as a junior. They also have Conley who is a tremendous 3 point shooter as well as some nice role players. Very, very well coached. The knock on them is that they have 2 great players as opposed to 3. Two of the top 10 players in the region.

 

Southwestern has Gover, Cromer, Fitzgerald, Butt & Gaskin. That's 5 really solid players. Their 4th and 5th players are better than those of the other teams mentioned above but their top 3 (or 2) aren't on the same level.

 

Mercer is the wild card. They have two of the more highly rated juniors in the state in Hager and newcomer Dow; one of the top freshmen in the state (IMO) in Faulkner; and Drew Davis. Davis is the kid most people don't know or have forgotten about as he's missed the last 2 years due to an ankle injury (now surgically repaired). He started varsity as an 8th grader. If he's healthy, you can make a strong case for them competing with any of the aforementioned teams. Like Boyle, they are well suited for an up tempo style. Two to three of the top 10 players in the region.

 

Beyond that, I think West Jessamine will be better than most expect. They always are. They return some nice players and have a top-notch coach.

 

Then there's Danville and Casey, two teams that will be better. And East Jessamine. Who knows about Pulaski with a new coach and 3 new players?

 

The one team I know very little about is Somerset - so I acknowledge that I may not be giving them enough credit.

 

- Don't forget Issacs (SR PG) for SW. He's definitely worthy of being mentioned as one their top players.

 

- Somerset, you're probably giving to much credit. ON paper they're behind Pulaski/Casey. I would expect those two teams to come out of that district. Pulaski has to be the favorite going in I would think.

 

- Overall the top 4 teams are clear going into the season. But as stated before, those 4 teams represent two districts so two top 4 teams (going into the season) will be losers. With some solid teams in the 5-8 area, the draw will be very interesting. Keep in mind the Region will be at Lincoln this year as well. Gotta help them out some.

Look forward to keeping up with this region this year. Love reading about other regions and players on here all year. Makes watching the state tourney so much more informed on the teams and players. Keep up the good job you all on this region.