1) Warren Central (4-0) - 12/10 84-62 W at #3 Glasgow, 12/13 82-44 W #16 Franklin-Simpson

Previous Rank: 1

This Week: 12/20 vs. Macon County (TN) (at Gatlinburg-Pittman), 12/21 vs. TBA (at Gatlinburg-Pittman), 12/22 vs. TBA (at Gatlinburg-Pittman)

 

The Dragons just keep trucking along. They're unbeaten, and all four of their games have featured scores of 80+ by the Central offense. They did have very slow starts against both Glasgow and Franklin, but once the pressure defense settled in, things got out of hand quickly. Their scoring has been very balanced, with Kobe Brents leading the team with just over 15 PPG, but three players averaging in double digits. The Killer B's of Brents, Boyd, and Bibb have each led Central in scoring in a game. They travel to Gatlinburg for their first Christmas tourney. Their first holiday tournament tends to go poorly - it's been five years since they've won their opening tournament.

 

2) Bowling Green (4-1) - 12/11 79-56 W #8 Greenwood, 12/15 60-64 L at McCracken County

Previous Rank: 2

This Week: 12/18 at #3 Logan County, 12/20 vs. Daviess County (at OIT), 12/21 vs. John Hardin (at OIT), 12/22 vs. Apollo (at OIT)

 

The Purples were going to make me seriously question whether I should move them up before they suffered a late loss to McCracken County in what was by far their most difficult road test to date. Still, Bowling Green has been shock and awe this season. They scored the first 17 points against Greenwood and led 29-2 at one point. Like their game against Glasgow, they rocked the Gators with an opening salvo that completely ended the game before the first quarter was over. While the Purples lost an 11 point lead against McCracken, I would not advise falling behind this Purple team. Logan County will get to host Bowling Green in the latest attempt by a team to break into the top two. The Cougars have not beaten Bowling Green in nearly 13 years.

 

3) Logan County (6-0) - 12/10 74-62 W #6 Monroe County, 12/15 68-53 W at #11 South Warren

Previous Rank: 4

This Week: 12/18 vs. #2 Bowling Green, 12/20 vs. Hopkins County Central (at Butler County), 12/20 vs. Caldwell County (at Butler County), 12/21 vs. Webster County (at Butler County)

 

Speaking of Logan County, you'll see only two results up there but they got an additional win this week when their opening loss to Clarksville Academy was negated by an ineligible player. Thus, the Cougars are 6-0 for the first time since 2010/11 when they started 8-0. The marquee win was the home win over Monroe County. I'd love to give you some stats, but the Cougars haven't been reporting individual scores yet. Their Tuesday game against Bowling Green is ultimately meaningless in the long run, but it's huge for the Cougars in terms of figuring out just where they stand in the region. They've lost 15 of 16 against the Purples, and actually haven't beaten Bowling Green at Logan County in the lifetime of any player on the team (1996).

 

4) Clinton County (6-1) - 12/11 84-75 W at #15 Cumberland County, 12/14 61-52 W #17 Russell County

Previous Rank: 5

This Week: 12/20 vs. #10 South Warren, 12/20 vs. Monterey (TN), 12/21 vs. Elliott County, 12/22 vs. Christ Prebyterian Academy (TN)

 

Jackson Harlan returned against Cumberland County and didn't miss a beat, pouring in 33 points in the win. Still, those are somewhat disconcertingly close scores against their 16th district rivals, teams that the Bulldogs are expected to completely obliterate. Still, they're 3-0 in the district, right where they want to be. They host their Christmas tournament this week, opening against 14th District foe South Warren.

 

5) Monroe County (6-2) - 12/10 62-74 L at #5 Logan County, 12/11 63-48 W at #17 Russell County, 12/14 77-75 W at #3 Glasgow

Previous Rank: 6

This Week: 12/20 vs. Owensboro Catholic (at OIT), 12/21 vs. Hopkinsville (at OIT), 12/22 vs. Owensboro (at OIT)

 

The Falcons took the L against Logan County, but got the much more important game when they knocked off Glasgow 77-75 on the road. That was despite trailing entering the fourth quarter 62-55. Monroe County battled to a 66 all tie, and made their free throws late to steal the win. Chandler Clements had 26 points for Monroe in the win, with Geralds chipping in 19. Monroe County is now 2-0 in the very balanced 15th District. They have two gigantic tests this week when they play Owensboro Catholic and Hopkinsville.

 

6) Glasgow (4-3) - 12/10 62-84 L #1 Warren Central, 12/14 75-77 L #6 Monroe County

Previous Rank: 3

This Week: No games scheduled

 

Glasgow proved their capability when they battled Warren Central to a 32 all tie at the half on Monday, but the game got away from them in the third quarter leading to a double digit loss. That funk extended to Friday's loss to Monroe County, dropping them to 0-1 in the district. Nik Sorrell is doing his part, with 22 against Warren Central and 26 against Monroe County. They've taken too many hits now to remain at #3 in the region, so down they go. On the schedule, they don't have another game until they meet Barren County on the 28th.

 

7) Allen County-Scottsville (6-1) - 12/11 72-54 W #12 Warren East, 12/14 58-56 W at #9 Barren County, 12/15 58-60 OT L #16 Franklin-Simpson

Previous Rank: 7

This Week: 12/18 at #12 Todd County Central, 12/20 vs. Fairview (at Raceland)

 

Well, the sparkling start for the Patriots is over and the week marred by a very hard to believe loss to Franklin-Simpson, but the highlight will remain the two point victory over in-district rival Barren County. ACS won their first contest against Barren County since 2014, staking them to a 1-0 start in the 15th District. Brett Rippy had 20 points in the win, right on his average for the season. Perhaps the loss to Franklin was a hangover type game, in a contest that had 10 ties and 14 lead changes.

 

8) Barren County (3-4) - 12/10 64-49 W Edmonson County, 12/11 75-45 W at Caverna, 12/14 56-58 L #7 Allen County-Scottsville

Previous Rank: 9

This Week: 12/19 vs. Elizabethtown, 12/20 vs. Clay County (TN), 12/21 vs. Lighthouse Christian (TN)

 

The fourth straight 15th district team in the rankings, the Trojans have still not been over .500 this season. Crucially, they are now 0-2 in district play, losing both games by a combined five points. The positive of that is that they are really right there with those teams, but they may still have a difficult road ahead. Will Bandy is leading the team with 18.4 points per game.They open with Elizabethtown in their home Christmas tournament.

 

9) Greenwood (2-3) - 12/11 56-79 L at #2 Bowling Green, 12/14 58-47 W #11 South Warren

Previous Rank: 8

This Week: 12/18 vs. #11 Franklin-Simpson, 12/20 vs. Hart County (at Edmonson County), 12/21 vs. Green County (at Edmonson County), 12/22 vs. Grayson County (at Edmonson County)

 

The win at the end of the week was nice, but by almost any measure Greenwood had a terrible week. First came the 17-0 and 29-2 start against Bowling Green. Then came the news that best player and cornerstone Jack Roberts had suffered a broken hand, and will miss the next month. That would put him out for the home engagement against Bowling Green, cementing that as an almost certain loss. They'll certainly hope to have him back by the time they take on Warren East in a very necessary district game on January 11th. As for the win, they overcame a late deficit, scoring the final 12 points of the game to secure the win over South Warren. The back and forth rivalry is led by South Warren 11-10.

 

10) South Warren (3-4) - 12/11 52-40 W #10 Todd County Central, 12/14 47-58 L at #8 Greenwood, 12/15 53-68 L #5 Logan County

Previous Rank: 11

This Week: 12/20 at #4 Clinton County, 12/20 vs. TBA (at Clinton County), 12/21 vs. Elliott County (at Clinton County), 12/22 vs. TBA (at Clinton County)

 

The Spartans have gotten reinforcements in the form of their state champion football players. Gavin Spurrier led the Spartans with 14 points in the loss to Greenwood on an off night for star Tyler Martin. The Spartans sit at 1-1 in district play, and have a very challenging week with a road game at Clinton County and the #1 team in the 16th region in Elliott County.

 

11) Franklin-Simpson (2-4) - 12/10 60-54 W #12 Warren East, 12/13 44-82 L #1 Warren Central, 12/15 60-58 OT W at #7 Allen County-Scottsville

Previous Rank: 16

This Week: 12/18 at #9 Greenwood, 12/20 vs. Webster County (at Butler County), 12/21 vs. Caldwell County (at Butler County), 12/21 vs. Hopkins County Central (at Butler County)

 

Ignore the loss to a Warren Central team that they obviously weren't going to beat. Franklin otherwise had a phenomenal week. First they knocked off Warren East, snapping a two game skid against the Raiders. There's never a bad win over a 14th District team. DeMarco Chatman had 19 in the victory, raising his average to 14.3 PPG on the year. Then came the super-surprise, when they ended Allen County's unbeaten start with an overtime victory on the road at the Patriots. The two wins doubled the total they have had since the beginning of 2018. The 60 points they had in each win are the only times they have scored more than 46 points this season.

 

12) Todd County Central (3-5) - 12/11 40-52 L at #11 South Warren, 12/15 54-68 L Ohio County (at Muhlenberg County)

Previous Rank: 10

This Week: 12/18 vs. #7 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/19 vs. Campbellsville (at Warren East)

 

The Rebels saw their two game win streak come to an end with a pair of losses. The 40 points against South Warren represented their lowest scoring effort since December of 2016. The Rebels will take on the still-hot ACS Patriots before playing in the Warren East holiday tournament.

 

13) Warren East (4-4) - 12/10 54-60 L at #16 Franklin-Simpson, 12/11 54-72 L at #7 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/15 79-54 W Trigg County

Previous Rank: 12

This Week: 12/19 vs. Caverna, 12/20 vs. TBA, 12/21 vs. TBA

 

The Raiders have still yet to string together two wins ina row, and have had growing pains in their new up-tempo offense. The good news for them is that the only damaging part of the first eight games was the district loss to South Warren. They'll hope to continue to iron out the issues in the offense during the holiday tournaments, and they also advanced in the Kentucky 2A Championship sectional with the win over Trigg County. They will visit Glasgow in the next round at some point prior to January 10th.

 

14) Russellville (1-6) - 12/11 78-76 W McLean County, 12/13 81-86 L at East Robertson (TN), 12/14 40-66 L at Muhlenberg County

Previous Rank: 13

This Week: 12/19 vs. #17 Cumberland County (at Berea), 12/20 vs. TBA (at Berea), 12/21 vs. TBA (at Berea)

 

Ont he positive side, Russellville got off the schneid with a tight win over McLean County, snapping a ten game losing streak and winning their first game over a team not named Franklin-Simpson since the end of 2017. Their 78 and 81 point efforts represented a significant advance in scoring before bottoming out with their low of the year against Muhlenberg County. They'll meet a reeling Cumberland County team in Berea.

 

15) Russell County (1-5) - 12/10 70-62 W #14 Metcalfe County, 12/11 48-63 L #6 Monroe County, 12/14 52-61 L at #5 Clinton County

Previous Rank: 17

This Week: 12/20 vs. Corbin (at Gatlinburg-Pittman), 12/20 vs. TBA (at Gatlinburg-Pittman), 12/21 vs. TBA (at Gatlinburg-Pittman), 12/22 vs. TBA (at Gatlinburg-Pittman)

 

The win over Metcalfe was enormous, keeping them out of the crosshairs of the #4 seed int he 16th district for now. Ryan Coffey and Scott Hamm combined for 46 in the win. The 70 points they scored is their only effort over 54 points so far this year. Still, they should be encouraged by the relatively close loss on the road to top dog Clinton County.

 

16) Metcalfe County (2-6) - 12/10 62-70 L at #17 Russell County, 12/14 70-86 L at Hart County

Previous Rank: 14

This Week: 12/20 at Edmonson County, 12/21 vs. Grayson County (at Edmonson County), 12/22 vs. Hart County (at Edmonson County)

 

The momentum of the win over Cumberland County did not last. The Hornets trailed by just two at the half and by six entering the final quarter against Russell County, but could not climb back in the eight point loss. Tyler London continued his strong play with 23 in the contest. The Hornets have at least shown they are a legitimate threat, but they are going to have to beat Russell County at some point if they want to get back into the region tournament.

 

17) Cumberland County (1-5) - 12/11 75-84 L #5 Clinton County

Previous Rank: 15

This Week: 12/19 vs. #14 Russellville (at Berea), 12/20 vs. TBA (at Berea), 12/21 vs. TBA (at Berea)

 

A 9 point loss to Clinton County is actually not that bad, and the Panthers have a very healthy 68 points per game average. They just haven't been able to defend well enough to get the victories as of yet. They wouldn't be in this slot if not for Russell County and Franklin-Simpson's improvements. This is the rare year of late where there is a lot of fluidity at the bottom. Dawson Smith has proven to be one of the top scorers in the region thus far, with a 20 PPG average.

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