12th Region Week 2 Review: Anticipating Week 3

Week 2 is in the books without a lot of movement in the rankings. Week 3 includes a few of the best matchups of the season, if you’re going to pick a week to watch 12^th Region action this might be the week to do it. Here is a look at the week 2 results, rankings, and Week 3 key match-ups:

1. Wayne County– Two hard-fought road wins, 67-62 at Lincoln County and 64-63 at Southwestern, keep Wayne County atop the poll as the three-pronged attack of Weaver, Spencer and Gehring have opened the season shooting near 50% from the 3-point line collectively. The big game of the week in the 12^th will occur in Danville this Friday evening, as the Cardinals visit the Admirals for the early season right to claim ‘team to beat’ status in the Region.

2. Danville- After trailing 27-19 at halftime to West Jessamine on Tuesday, the Admirals turned up the defense and held the Colts to a single bucket in the 3^rd Quarter on their way to a 56-52 home win. A comfortable 81-47 victory over McCreary Central pushes Danville to a 3-0 start, setting up a big week that includes home games with Mercer County on Tuesday and Wayne County on Friday.

3. West Jessamine– The Colts are off to a 5-1 start, including two wins on the road this past weekend over Montgomery County and Paris. West struggled scoring against a tough Danville defense on Tuesday evening, however, as leading scorers Dalton Bruner and DeJuan Stepp were a combined 7-29 from the field in a 56-52 defeat. The Colts have big games this week and a chance to make a statement, Tuesday night at Lincoln County and Friday night at home against District rival Mercer County.

4. Mercer County– Two wins this week, including a wild 80-78 OT win at Garrard County, along with the return of 6’3” Junior Kaelin Drakeford to the lineup this coming week, bumps the Titans up a spot. Guards Carter Baughman and Jameson Lewis have asserted themselves as possibly the best backcourt in the Region. Like the other top team in the 12^th, Mercer has a couple of big games this week that should provide an indication of what this team is capable of. The Titans host Danville on Tuesday and travel to West Jessamine on Friday.

5. Lincoln County– The Patriots had a tough 67-62 home loss to Wayne County this past week, but bounced back nicely with a comfortable victory over North Hardin. Senior Blake Smith has been a consistent scorer and floor leader while the younger players around him continue to show improvement. Lincoln hosts West Jessamine on Tuesday and travels to Louisville Eastern on Friday this week.

6. Boyle County– A 2-0 start is always nice, perhaps extra nice for the Rebels as they are putting a very young team on the court with veterans Grant Hotchkiss and Reese Smith still sitting out with injuries. A 61-56 home opener win over Somerset and a road win at East Jessamine keep Boyle County in the 6 spot for now. The experience the younger players are getting now may make the Rebels the team to beat once Hotchkiss and Smith return.

7. Pulaski County– Only one game this week, an 88-80 home win over Casey County, and the Maroons hold their ranking. The coming week will be quite challenging, a tough road game at Wayne County on Tuesday will be followed by a Friday night home game against Isiah Cozart and the Madison Central Indians.

8. Garrard County– Despite an 0-2 week, Garrard County holds on to their position. Garrard dropped an overtime game that could have gone either way to Mercer County, and lost a tough road game against an undefeated Hazard team, 70-66. Garrard should get on the winning side with a couple of road games this week, at McCreary Central and East Jessamine.

9. Somerset– The Briar Jumpers played well in their road loss to Madison Central, lost a tough game at Boyle County and had an easy home win over Rockcastle County. There is some young talent on this Somerset team, so the potential is there for their climb up the rankings to continue. Somerset hosts Casey County and travels to McCreary Central this week.

10. Casey County – Only one game this past week, an 88-80 loss at Pulaski County. The Rebels have Somerset and Rockcastle this week.

11. Southwestern- A home win over McCreary Central got the Warriors their first victory of the season, but a tough 63-62 home loss to #1 Wayne County was the eye opener that help move Southwestern up a notch in the rankings. A trip to Pikeville is on the slate for the Warriors this week.

12. East Jessamine– The Jags took it on the chin at home twice this week, losing 65-52 to a young but talented Boyle County team and 84-52 to strong 11^th Region visitor Frederick Douglass. East has Richmond Model, Garrard and Whitley County this week

13. Rockcastle County– The Rockets lost twice this past week, 49-47 at Estill County and 69-45 at Somerset. Anderson County and Casey County are up next.

14. McCreary Central – After a 53-48 home loss to Southwestern and a 81-47 loss at #2 Danville this past week, the Raiders get two home games this week. Garrard County comes to town on Tuesday, Somerset on Friday

15. Burgin– The Bulldogs lost 63-60 at Walden and dropped a home game to Frederick Fraize, 55-40. Three games in the Danville Christian Academy Warrior Christman Classic are up this week.

16. KSD– Three losses on the road in Pennsylvania and Ohio drop KSD to 0-6, the Colonels are off this coming week.

12^th Region Games of the Week:

Tuesday, December 11

West Jessamine @ Lincoln County, 7:30 p.m.

Danville @ Mercer County, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, December 14

Mercer County @ West Jessamine, 7:30 p.m.

Wayne County @ Danville, 7:30 p.m.