Inside the 6th Region (2/1/15)

Not a great week for the teams at the top of the 6th Region this week as 4 of the Top 5 teams lost games to opponents from out of the region. Only DeSales won and their 3 victories were over teams that were not on paper going to challenge them anyway. There is 3 weeks remaining in the regular season and the final remaining games give teams an opportunity to get on a roll entering the district tournaments.

Top 10

1.) Doss

Despite losing their only game of the week, overall it was a decent bounce back game after the really bad lost to Trinity which also was the site of the reported attack on the Doss Head Coach, Tony Williams, after that game ended. The bad news is Doss has lost two in a row, the good news is that each of those losses were to the Top 2 teams in the powerful 7th Region, Trinity & Ballard. It appears the potential fall out from the controversy that erupted from the post game fight that resulted in the arrest of a parent and player did not surface against Ballard. Doss made the game very competitive and only lost by the score of 76-69. However, it is likely the Doss team has also lost the services of Tyler Jefferson who is rumored to be off the team going forward. That will be a blow to the team as he was a dominating inside force and also had extensive big game experience. Doss has three games this next week, with the only competitive game being next Saturday when the play Dunbar in Lexington. They remain undefeated in regional play and are 17-5 overall.

2.) DeSales

18-5 with a 8-2 record in the region after 3 victories last week. Each of the victories were from outside the 6th Region and were expected on paper to be easy wins. DeSales moves up to the #2 spot this week, but it is more because of the losses PRP incurred versus what DeSales accomplished. The only game on the schedule this coming week for DeSales is against John Hardin who actually upset PRP this past week and could be a tougher game than what their record might suggest.

3.) PRP

13-6 with a 6-1 record in the region, but they lost 2 consecutive games last week and 3 out of their last 4 games which caused some thought to move them down further. However, who do you place above them at the moment plus they have only lost to Doss in the region which makes it hard to drop them any further for the time being. The team does appear to be struggling, but the loss to Covington Catholic came when PRP was missing their starting PG who had to sit after getting two technical fouls in the previous game. This week PRP plays an out of state opponent from Ohio and Moore HS as they attempt to right the ship.

4.) Fern Creek

Fern Creek rises to 4th in the rankings with a record of 13-8 and 6-2 in the region. They went 1-1 last week with a split when they lost 63-65 in a close game to Waggener, while beating 13th Region opponent Knox Central in the KOB Showcase. Fern Creek moved past Bullitt East in the rankings this week, despite having lost to BE in their only head to head match up. That was a close game won in the final minute of play so these two teams are very close. They likely will play in the District Final to see who moves to the regional tournament as the #1 seed. The nod to Fern Creek is based on recent play as they have went 3-1 since the LIT. Meanwhile, Bullitt East has went 2-4 during that same period. Their respective 6th Region records also favor FC who is 6-2 while BE is 3-3. Fern Creek has two 6th Region games this week against Whitefield and Iroquois.

5.) Bullitt East

After going 1-2 last week, the Chargers are now 14-9 and 3-3 in the region which is probably not where they expected to be at this point in the season. Quite a few of the 9 losses leave you wondering how they could have lost to what would seem lesser opponents. The two recent losses from last week were to respectable teams in Fairdale and Bardstown, but both of those losses were played at home. This coming week brings a huge district game at Jeffersontown where they could lock up the #1 seed for district play and they end the week at CAL.

6.) Fairdale

Fairdale climbs up once again moving up to the 6th spot on the strong week where they went 2-1, including a big win over 6th Region foe, Bullitt East. They followed that with a 1 point victory in the KOB Showcase over Newport and prolific scorer Ethan Snapp. Their lone loss was to Jeffersonville, IN in their final game at the Showcase. They are now 10-10 and also 7-1 in regional play, with games against Atherton and Butler this coming week.

7.) Western

Western switches spots with Fairdale after losing their only game of the week to 7th Region foe Central. They have a .500 record at 7-7 and 4-3 in the region. They have 3 games this week starting with an easy tune up with Walden and then play rival Butler. They finish the week playing Trinity so if they can finish 2-1 it will be a good week for them.

8.) Southern

Southern stays at the 8th spot even though they went 1-2 to fall below .500 on the season with a 10-11 record. After a hard fought 68-64 victory over Shawnee, they suffered a blowout loss to Waggener followed by a closer loss to Eastern, 85-76.

9.) North Bullitt

North Bullitt rises to the 9th spot after Whitefield Academy lost consecutive contests last week and drops out of the Top 10. North Bullitt went 1-1 in close contests losing to North Oldham and beating Bethlehem. They are 12-8 overall and 4-2 in the region, however it is hard to consider a higher ranking given their region losses are to #8 Southern and unranked Holy Cross. None of the teams they have beaten in the 6th region are ranked in the Top 10 either. THey only have 1 6th region game remaining when they play Bullitt East on February 13. Until then they really are not playing any significant teams to consider moving them up beyond the 9th spot they currently hold.

10.) Bullitt Central

With a win last week over previously ranked Whitefield Academy the final spot goes to Bullitt Central who plays both Valley and Holy Cross this coming week in addition to LaRue County. All three games are on the road so this will be a good challenge for Bullitt Central to prove they belong in the Top 10. They are 9-12 on the season and 4-5 within the region.

Top Player(s)

Co-Players for the week are the Trio of Freshmen from Fern Creek- Ahmad Price, Anthony Wales, & Trey Hill. Against Waggener Trey Hill has 12 points, 3 Rebounds, 3 Assists and 2 blocks while against Knox Central Ahmad Price had 19 points and Anthony Wales had 15. Fern Creek has played a very competitive schedule starting the three freshmen and currently has 13 wins. In their last game they accounted for 60 % of the points, 50% of the rebounds, 70% of the assists and 70% of the steals. They form the nucleus of what many believe will be a strong Fern Creek team for the foreseeable future.