Inside the 6th Region (1/1/15)

With month 1 of the 2014-15 season behind us it allows a chance to see which teams jumped out of the gate fast while others may have used the early part of the season to develop roles and find an identity with their team. The last week of the year can provide some insight into how a team is coming together for the grind of the season with many district and regional games ready to begin. So here is a look at the Top 10 for the Region 6 rankings:

Top 10

1.) Doss

After a strong showing at the King of the Bluegrass with only a semi-final loss to Taylor County, Doss looked top be the clear cut favorite of the 6th region. It was their only loss until they lost the first game of the Holiday Event being held in Bowling Green to Christian County. Christian County went on to win the event and Doss won their next two beating South Warren and Bardstown in close games. Not seeing the score of their last game in the event to John Hardin, I am assuming they won to post a 9-2 record in December with a nice match-up with LCA in the Clem Haskins Showcase game at Taylor County on Saturday. They still deserve the clear cut #1 6th region ranking, but the close games indicate that there will be chances to knock them off on nights they are not dialed in. When they are playing focused and at their peak, they will be favored to win their 6th region games.

2.) PRP

After winning the Wes Unseld Invitational the previous week, the Panthers from PRP traveled outside of Atlanta to play a schedule against all GA schools. Although they only went 1-2, those lossed have done nothing to diminish what they have done here in the 6th region and playing KY teams. They were 8-1 and now they are 9-3 with their only loss to Doss from a KY school. They deserve to be right under the Doss team and could very well be in the thick of the hunt. They play East Jessamine next who has lost quite a few games, but has a double digit victory over Southwestern to their credit.

3.) DeSales

I caught some slack over not having Bullitt East above DeSales after the Bullitt East strong showing at the KOB, but I am sticking with the DeSales team for the 3rd spot. They continued to win and despite losing to Shelby County at the end of the last week reporting, they have since went on a four game winning streak. If they can continue to get points from other than Chase Shellman, this team will win games. They play great defense and are well coached. Coach Crews is top notch and these kids fit his system perfectly.

4.) Bullitt East

As mentioned above in the DeSales notes, the KOB was a great showing for Bullitt East. However, they follow it up with a 1-2 record in the Tourney over at Lex Catholic which required me to keep them behind DeSales once again. One loss was a 17 point margin to Central from the 7th region and the only victory came over North Laurel by one point who did not win a game in Lexington and has a 5-8 record. Bullitt East is still a threat and could be better than DeSales, but they have a district match-up with Fern Creek that is looming next Tuesday on January 6th that appears to be a tougher game than what previously may have been thought to be. Let's keep an eye on that game and then reevaluate once they get back in their region contests.

5.) Fern Creek

I was called to task on whether Fern Creek deserved a Top 5 billing in the 6th region on the last reporting, but I pointed out that I am not sure anyone else is better. Perhaps they are separated from DeSales & Bullitt East which will soon come to bear as they play Bullitt East next week. However, since the last ranking the Fern Creek Tigers went to the inaugural Middletown Classic by winning three in a row to take home the championship including a semi-final win over Eastern which was their first loss. They beat a tough Cooper team from the 9th region in the final and appear to be gaining some steam. If the young Tigers gain an upset over Bullitt East, then perhaps the gap between them and the 3rd & 4th ranked teams is not so big after all. Next week will give us that answer.

6.) Fairdale

As with PRP, Fairdale left the state over the past week traveling to FL to play two GA teams and an AL team. They went 1-2, but given they were out of state teams at a nice event there is no reason to move the Bulldogs from their #6 ranking until we see what happens next week when they get back to play Eastern, Valley, & Manual.

7.) Western

Western stays put as they have not played since the last rankings. However, they play two 6th region opponents in DeSales and Valley next week which will give a good look into their prospects in January to move up the rankings.

8.) Southern

Southern has a .500 record after playing 12 games in December. They went 2-1 this past week losing to KCD at the KCD Holiday Classic. KCD is a nice team this season compared to years past, so that is not a bad lost. Southern has a match-up at the end of next week with Fern Creek which will be a good test to gauge both of those teams and see if the rankings are in tune with their abilities.

9.) North Bullitt

North Bullitt is replacing Butler in the 9th spot, but that has more to do with Butler dropping 3 out of 4 with the last two by big margins than what North Bullitt did this past week going 1-2 in Russellville during a Holiday event in which they played two out of state teams as well. They are 8-5, but not a ton of victories over any solid teams.

10.) Beth Haven gets the final spot because they are now 9-1 and Holy Cross who was 10th last week went 0-3 the past week. Beth Haven really has not played anyone that would make the 9-1 record convincing. Unfortunately, the schedule for them does not get better so the 10th spot is about as high as they can get.

Top Player

Tony Washington for Fern Creek is really scoring well. In the last game for the Middletown Classic, he scored 26 points which is not unusual for him to deliver. He is a prolific scorer who is capable of hitting threes all night long as he did against Cooper when he knocked down 5.