Inside the 3rd Region (12/19)

Through 3 weeks of the season, things are clear as mud across the 3rd region. It seems like everyone is beating each other, which makes ranking these teams very difficult. While Meade County seems to be the clear cut #1 team, there is not much margin between being #1 and #8. Throwing results out the window, we can try to rank the teams based on the eyeball test…

1.Meade County Greenwave(6-1) - SAME – Meade scored 2 district wins this past week, knocking off Breck County 72-49 and previously unbeaten Hancock County 51-46. James Baker continues to lead the way, averaging 22ppg and 7rpg. The Waves only put one other scorer in double figures(Noah Schwartz 11ppg) and may need more consistency out of the other role players to reach their celling.

This week: Webster County’s holiday tournament this week(Calloway, Webster & Barren).

2.Apollo Eagles(4-1) – UP 3 -Since dropping the first game of the season to Catholic, there hasn’t been a more impressive team in the region than Apollo. They knocked off Grayson County 54-44 on Tuesday and got a big district win over Owensboro 68-53 on Friday. The Eagles finally seem to be buying into what Coach Steve Barker is selling. They are getting steady contributions from 7 different guys. If Apollo continues to play as a team instead of individuals, they have potential to be a pretty good team.

This week: OIT(vs Greenwood, Ohio Co & OHS)

3.Muhlenberg County Mustangs(5-2) –UP 1 – The Mustangs continue to get healthy as they strung together 2 hard fought wins this week. On Tuesday, they held off an Ohio County team that seems to be getting better every time out. 10th district wins are huge, as the #1 seed gets a bye into the 3rd region tournament. On Friday, Muhlenberg outlasted Hopkins Central 70-65. Noah Mcelwain has bounced back nicely after being slowed by an ankle injury to start the season. He put up 20 plus in both games this week.

This week: Mercer County Tourney(Montgomery, Lincoln, Campbellsville, Boyle, Eastern, Knott Cen.)

4.Hancock County Hornets(6-1) – UP 2- The Hornets are a hard team to get a pulse on, but earned a lot of respect with their showing vs #1 Meade County on the road. Although they came up short, they battled Meade to a very close game in the 4th quarter. Brendan Lewis continues to be a star for Coach Lynam, as he is putting up 19ppg. It will be interesting to see if this team is able to maintain this high level of play. They will have an opportunity to improve their record at home this week.

This week: Hosting their own Christmas tourney(Shawnee, Livingston Cen, Morgan, Rockcastle, Western, Lou Holy Cross)

5.Owensboro Red Devils(3-4) –DOWN 3- The Devils are a bit of a frustrating team at this point in the season. OHS has dropped 3 games in a row and 4 of its last 5. You can see the potential they have on the court, but they just haven’t put things together yet. They have played the toughest schedule in the region by far, but a blowout loss to Apollo and some departures from the team have added some questions to a promising young squad. While im not sure anyone in the 3rd could beat the likes of Warren Central, Evansville Harrison or Christian County, the Devils are going to need to show the ability to play hard for 4 quarters to reach their potential.

This week: OIT(Ohio, Greenwood & Apollo)

6.Owensboro Catholic Aces(3-3) – DOWN 3 -After a hot start, the Aces freight train as slowed down in the past week, losing 2 district overtime games in a row. Catholic battled a scrappy Daviess County team on the road Friday but fell 54-52 in double overtime. Bailey Ballard hit a 3 to force the first overtime and Peyton Survant hit one to force a second, but the Panthers outlasted Catholic to get the upset win. While Catholic is deep and talented, they are still inexperienced in several spots and will no doubt continue to improve under Coach Tim Riley.

This week: OIT(Memphis,TN, Hopkins Cen, Daviess County)

7.Daviess County Panthers(4-4) –SAME - Im not sure there is a team in the region that plays as hard as Daviess County. Coach Neil Hayden has done a fantastic job early in the season. The Panthers have been searching for the guys that are going to lead them this season and they may have found them in Blake Bosewell(13ppg) & Jay Owen(11ppg). DC got two nice wins against Butler County(71-65) and Catholic(54-52) but dropped a game to Marshall County(67-56) on Saturday. Look for the Panthers to be a tough game for anyone as the season moves along.

This week: OIT(Memphis,TN, Hopkins Cen, Daviess County)

8.Ohio County Eagles(3-4) – SAME - Since their 0-3 start Ohio County has reeled of wins in 3 of their last 4 games. They dropped a tightly contested 10th district game against Muhlenberg earlier in the week before bouncing back with a 55-40 blowout win over a solid Butler County team. Coach Hopper is getting double digit scoring from Ross Tichenor(14ppg) & Connor Wilson(13ppg). The Eagles have a nice supporting cast as well. Come tournament time, Hopper will have this team in the mix.

This week: OIT(OHS, Apollo & Greenwood)

9.Butler County Bears(2-5) –SAME - At this point in the rankings, there is a slight gap between the top 8 and the bottom 7. The Bears showed promise to start the season, but have dropped 4 straight games. They lost both games this past week to region opponents(DC & Ohio Co). The scoring potential is there, but the Bears just haven’t put it together yet.

This week: Host their own Christmas Tourney(Buckhorn & Hickman County)

10.Edmonson County Wildcats(2-5) – UP 2 -The Wildcats got out of the winless column this week, winning 2 games. On Thursday, they got a nice win over a solid Barren County team 52-50. They continued that momentum into Friday, as they knocked off Metcalfe County 72-41. Edmonson is getting balanced scoring from Iszic Blankenship, Caleb Skaggs and Bailey Board(13ppg).

This week: Wed vs Cloverport

11.Grayson County Cougars(2-5) –SAME - The Cougars went 1-3 this week, getting a hard fought road win over Breck County. They dropped 2 games in the Breck County holiday tournament and a regional game against Apollo. Trey Goff had a monster game vs Apollo and Grayson will need him to be that guy if they are going to contend with teams around the region.

This week: at Graves County Holiday(Murray & Carlisle Co)

12.Breck County Tigers(3-7) –DOWN 2 - Already 10 games under their belt, the Tigers continue to look for improvement. They took their lumps this past week, going 1-4. They dropped regional games to Meade and Grayson and split games in their holiday tournament, knocking off Ft Knox before losing to Moore. They have one more game tonight against Atherton before the Christmas break.

13. Mclean County Cougars(0-6) – SAME- While the Cougars remained winless this past week, they showed a ton of improvement, pushing a very good Henderson County team until late in the 4th quarter on Friday. Mclean has one of the most dynamic players in the region in Sam Miller(17ppg/11rpg). Keenan Smith is starting to emerge as another player coach Stevens can rely on, as he is coming off a very good game vs Henderson.

This week: at Butler County tonight vs Henry County

14.Cloverport Aces(4-5) – SAME - The Aces are finding ways to win close games. They went 2-1 this week, knocking off Cannelton, IN(63-62) & Columbus Christian(62-57) before dropping a game to Atherton on Saturday. Steven Jennings is off to a great start, averaging 14ppg.

This week: Louisville Moore & Edmonson Co

15.Trinity Raiders(4-6) – SAME -The Raiders went 2-2 this past week. They dropped games to Ft Knox and Dawson Springs before bouncing back with wins against Fulton City and Christian Fellowship. They have 1 more game in the Itty Bitty Trees Classic at Christian Fellowship before Christmas break. Eric Howard, the lone returning contributor from last year’s team is leading the way with 11ppg.