article Inside the 6th Region (12/22/14)

[GoHardITP]

With several top teams from the 6th region in the King of the Bluegrass, and others playing in holiday events as well it made for an exciting weekend to find out who can play consecutive games with depth and focus. The Preseason top teams seem to be showing why they deserved those rankings and the jury is still out with several teams as well. Here is the Top 10 recap after Monday games:

 

1.) Doss

Doss had played only three game leading up to this weeks KOB schedule. They pulled off two close victories by beating Newport Central Catholic by 66-63 and Owensboro 75-71. In a semi-final game with Taylor County they lost ground at the end and lost 94-83. They are now 5-1 with three victories over tough teams and a solid hold on the #1 spot in the 6th region rankings. Weaver continues to impress and along with Gray they make up the toughest tandem of guards in the city if not state.

 

2.) PRP

After an opening season loss to Doss by a single point, the Panthers have went on an 8 game winning streak. They went 5-0 since the last rankings and won the Wes Unseld Classic this weekend by defeating Bryan Station, Fern Creek & Seneca. They had to work hard and play all 4 quarters for those victories after blowing out Seneca and Shawnee during the week. They deserve the #2 ranking because they know how to win and having Richard Gaines sure does help.

 

3.) DeSales

DeSales is now 7-2 and has played a few good teams to base their capabilities against. They had a big win over Mercer County in the Holiday event at Spencer County. But they came back and loss to Shelby County the next game. They have had some large margin victories against the teams they should beat that way, but they have lost to Oldham County and Shelby County. The Colts are a solid team, but they are not in the same tier as Doss & PRP.

 

4.) Bullitt East

Bullitt East is now 6-2 after going 2-1 at the KOB this weekend. They beat Holmes by 2 and the Brooklyn, NY team by 4. However, they lost by 14 to St. Johns College out of Washington DC. They also have the loss to Butler which is a bit of a mystery how that happened. They may be deserving of a ranking better than DeSales, but they are not in the same tier of the Top 2 teams and the DeSales losses may be understood better.

 

5.) Fern Creek

This young team is exactly what you would expect from a team that has started 3 freshmen and their older players just do not have the experience to really lead the younger guys on the team. Fern Creek is now 6-5 after going 2-3 since the past rankings. The recent losses have been to solid teams, including 6th regional favorite PRP by a 77-69 margin. They play great in spurts and appeared to have PRP on the verge of an upset, but then have trouble finishing games. They lost to North Hardin in the 3rd place game at the Wes Unseld Classic after leading by 18 in the 3rd quarter. The team has plenty of talent, but it needs to learn how to play more consistent.

 

6.) Fairdale

Fairdale is 4-3 and has beat the teams on their schedule they should beat and struggled to beat the teams that would indicate they deserve to be higher. However, nobody expected Fairdale to be a top contender and they seem to be capable of playing teams tough such as they did at the KOB this past weekend when they lost to Wayne County by 11 and Waggner by 5. They had lost to Waggner by double digits earlier this season so it looks like they are also improving.

 

7.) Western

Western is 4-4 after going 2-2 at the Twin Lakes Classic in Clinton County. They have lost to Doss by 13 and to Fairdale by 8. They may not have as good a record as some other 6th region teams, but they have more credibility with their schedule than some others.

 

8.) Southern

Southern is 4-5, but they have beaten several teams in the 6th region who might be under consideration for the last few spots in the Top 10. They have wins over Evangel Christian, Holy Cross, & Iroquois. However, they have losses to Butler, Bullitt Central & DeSales.

 

9.) Butler

Butler is now 3-5, but they have looked good in victories and actually have a win over #8 Southern. However, they may have lost their best player, William Johnson it appears. He played in their first game at the Wes Unseld Classic, but was not in uniform for the next game. Word was that there is still a lack of cohesiveness in the Butler locker room and it is possible that the Coach may just need to move on from his best player in order to build for the future.

 

10.) Holy Cross

Holy Cross is getting the final spot in the Top 10 ranking, but their recent level of competition is very suspect. They have won 5 in a row since the last rankings and now are 6-4. It is tough to run a string of five victories so the final spot goes to Holy Cross this week.

 

Top Player

Chase Shellman from DeSales has stepped up as a senior leader should to pick his team up after the season opening loss to Oldham County. He is scoring, rebounding, and also the primary ball handling option on his team. He really is a leader with this team and keep DeSales near the top of the ranking by pretty much being the only threat on the team that would score in a consistent manner. Teams are trying to shut him down, but few achieve that goal.

[BigDuke6]

Pretty much in agreement, with the exception of Desales above Bullitt East...East has showed up well at the KOB!

[Northstar85]

I agree. Bullitt East has really shown up at the KOB this week. They beat a really tough prep school from Brooklyn last night. I think they can actually make a strong case for #2 in the region. They have one bad loss, where they may have overlooked Butler. When you've been as dominate as they've been for so long, that can happen. I don't really understand why you're so high on Fern Creek. Their best game was a loss to Hopkinsville, which hasn't been as dominate as they usually are and very well may have overlooked Fern Creek. The only other good team they've played is Male, and Male basically controlled that entire game. Fern Creek will be fine in a year or 2. They're learning and they have a lot of talent. But they can't continually get a pass based on their youth.

[Getslow]

Any word on what's going on with Tyler Jefferson for Doss? The Dragons are squarely on top of the region right now but I feel like they'd have some real separation if the team was all healthy. Hopefully he's back playing soon.

[Northstar85]

I do agree that Doss is clearly #1. And by far. I wasn't sold on them until I got to watch them this weekend.

[dawgs83]

Any word on what's going on with Tyler Jefferson for Doss? The Dragons are squarely on top of the region right now but I feel like they'd have some real separation if the team was all healthy. Hopefully he's back playing soon.

 

Word around the KOB is its a discipline issue. I don't think he has even attended the games. Hearing Doss has lots of internal issues going on. They are extremely talented. If they get things figured out in house they will be a tough out come regional time.

[TheVille30]

Being that Tyler is signed with Western ky for football, basketball may not be something on his mind. He is a great kid but I think coach expects a lot from his kids.

[Northstar85]

After the KOB, I'm really sold that Doss and Bullitt East number 1 and 2. Bullitt East won games a variety of different ways. They're just tough and know how to win. Doss has been really exciting to watch. Coach Williams has completely changed the culture there. They're playing hard, and playing together. 6th region tournament will be a hot ticket.

[TheVille30]

Would like to see East play PRP or Doss early but I believe they do belong in the conservation.

[GoHardITP]

Not to sound defensive, but I did the recent rankings before I knew the score of the Bullitt East and Brooklyn NY game and obviously before they won against Wayne County. I would agree that the showing at the KOB makes the loss to Butler look like an anomaly. But that was a bad loss at home because Butler is not that impressive. Now, even the KOB loss to eventual champion St. John of Washington DC does not look too bad even if it was a 14 point loss. The win against Holmes at the beginning of the KOB was the best opponent they have played so with the Butler loss I gave the nod to DeSales. In hindsight I would move BE ahead of DeSales, but I still would put them behind Doss & PRP for the moment. Doss finished 3rd in the same KOB field and PRP's only loss is to Doss at Doss by a single point.

 

As for Fern Creek, they are not in the same tier as the Top 3 and likely not DeSales either. They play Bullitt East after the New Year so we will see how much separation between the District foes really does exist. However, who would you put above them in the 6th? Fairdale or Western maybe? Fairdale beat Western, but has not really beaten any significant opponent and the teams that have beaten Fern Creek are stronger with all having winning records than the teams that have beaten Fairdale who are either 500 or sub 500. Fact is beyond what appears to be the Top 3 or 4, the rest of the 6th is not real strong and Fern Creek would appear to be the best of the rest of the bunch. They did come within 2 of the #5 ranked team in the state at their home court where they have not lost in years. I think that lost tells you what Fern Creek could become, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[BigDuke6]

After the KOB, I'm really sold that Doss and Bullitt East number 1 and 2. Bullitt East won games a variety of different ways. They're just tough and know how to win. Doss has been really exciting to watch. Coach Williams has completely changed the culture there. They're playing hard, and playing together. 6th region tournament will be a hot ticket.

 

Bullitt East was the underdog in all 4 games at KOB, to come out 3-1 is a tribute to the team. They are playing with more purpose now, early in the schedule they were lackadaisical and going through the motions, they thought they would just show up and win. Doss plays harder than any team I seen at KOB, haven't seen PRP yet this year, but they seem to be doing well. Regionals should be a lot of fun!

[VilleCat23]

At this point in the season I think Doss is clearly no. 1. They had an outstanding showing in the KOB. PRP is no. 2 and I like DeSales but I would still put BE no. 3.