article 7th Region Week 7 Review: Things Are Starting To Get Good

[Smallhoops]

Things are starting to get good in the Seventh Region. Three teams got back significant players from injury this week, with David Johnson’s return to the Trinity Shamrocks getting the most attention. Friday’s Trinity-Waggener and Male-St. X games showed what Seventh Region fans have to look forward to for the rest of this season. This week, that will include seven teams from the Seventh Region participating in the 72nd annual Louisville Invitational Tournament being played at Valley High School. I have taken a look at the LIT in a separate post.

 

Plus, congratulations are in order for the Kentucky Country Day Bearcats and the Christian Academy Centurions. KCD won the All A Classic Seventh Region tournament with a 52-47 win over the Collegiate Titans. CAL finished as runner-up in the 2A sectional tournament, thus qualifying to advance to the 2A tournament in Owensboro.

 

I have made a few adjustments to the rankings this week, but will look to do more based on what happens in this week’s LIT.

 

TEAM RANKINGS

 

1. Trinity Shamrocks (11-5)

 

Trinity won the battle of St. Matthews Friday night, beating the Waggener Wildcats 59-39. David Johnson returned for the Rocks and looked to be fine, scoring 19 points, pulling down 10 rebounds, and contributing a number of assists, steals, and blocks. He gets a lot done when he is on the floor. Ethan Hodge also played well against Waggener, adding 15 points off the bench. With Johnson’s return, Trinity enters this week’s LIT as the favorite (even though it is not the number one seed). The Rocks open play in the LIT Monday night against Bullitt East.

 

2. Waggener Wildcats (15-2)

 

Waggener beat Bullitt East 56-47 earlier in the week before playing Trinity Friday night. After gaining a small lead early in the game, Waggener trailed for the rest of the game, usually by double digits, but cut the lead to 8 with about 4 minutes left in the game before falling 59-39. JJ Kalakon led the Wildcats with 17 points. While disappointing, it was only Waggener’s second loss of the season. Waggener enters the LIT as the no. 3 seed and plays the Valley Vikings Monday afternoon.

 

3. St. Xavier Tigers (11-4)

 

The Tigers played just once this week, losing on Friday night to the Male Bulldogs 66-49. Sebian Dillard again led the Tigers in scoring with 23 points. For the season Dillard is averaging 19.3 ppg. The Tigers are the number 5 seed in this week’s LIT and play PRP in the opening round on Tuesday night.

 

4. Ballard Bruins (9-7)

 

In its only game this week, Ballard beat Eastern 69-61. Rashad Bishop led the Bruins with 18 points. An encouraging development for Ballard was the return to action of Alexander Holley, who has been out due to injury. Look for Holley’s minutes and productivity to increase. The Bruins are the no. 4 seed in the LIT and play the Doss Dragons in the first round at 5:00 p.m. on Monday.

 

5. Central Yellowjackets (12-3)

 

Central was 2-0 this week, beating Fairdale (75-63) and Portland Christian (75-26). The Yellowjackets are 12-1 in their last 13 games. Josh Watkins leads the Yellowjackets in scoring at 15.1 ppg. The no. 6 seed in this week’s LIT, Central plays Jeffersontown in the opening round on Tuesday afternoon. That game is a repeat of a game played in the City of Middletown Holiday Classic, when Central beat J’Town 65-62.

 

6. Male Bulldogs (10-5)

 

Howard Fleming is back for the Bulldogs, and that is good news for Male. Fleming had off-season shoulder surgery and is now back on the court. Fleming had 19 points Friday night in Male’s attention-getting 66-49 win over the St. X Tigers. Tyren Moore added 17 for the Bulldogs. Fleming and Moore give Male two players with the potential to score big on any given night. Male, the no. 7 seed, plays Fern Creek in the first round of this week’s LIT on Tuesday night. Male defeated Fern Creek 77-75 in overtime earlier in the season.

 

7. Seneca Redhawks (10-6)

 

In its only game this week, Seneca beat Atherton 65-49. Seneca is the no. 9 seed in this week’s LIT and plays no. 8 DeSales Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. That game is a rematch of a game played in the Ashland Invitational Tournament, with DeSales prevailing in that one 79-70.

 

8. Eastern Eagles (7-8)

 

Eastern’s sole game this week was a 69-61 loss at Ballard Friday night. Eastern seems to continue to improve. Eastern did not qualify for the field in this week’s LIT, but has games with Western and Moore on it schedule this week. The Eagles will look to extend their winning ways this week with games against CAL and Fairdale.

 

9. Christian Academy of Louisville Centurions (8-9)

 

Christian Academy also seems to be a team getting better as the season progresses. This week, CAL played in the inaugural 2A tournament, where it went 1-2, beating Taylor County 68-66 and DeSales 67-58 before losing to undefeated John Hardin 84-52. The win over DeSales, the no. 8 seed in this week’s LIT, is noteworthy. As 2A section runner-up, CAL advances to the 2A tournament finals in Owensboro next weekend. Before then, CAL has games scheduled this week with Manual and Jeffersontown.

 

10. Louisville Collegiate Titans (10-7)

 

Collegiate appeared to be the team to beat going into the All A Classic Seventh Region tournament, and they took care of business in the semi-final round, beating the St. Francis Wyverns 57-35. But things did not go well in the final, where the Titans came up short against the Country Day Bearcats 52-47. Collegiate currently has no games on its schedule for the upcoming week.

 

11. DuPont Manual Crimsons (6-10)

 

Manual had a good week, going 2-0 with wins over Atherton (67-55) and Shawnee (60-51). Eli Roberts had 14 against Atherton while Andrew Schaff added 13. The Crimsons have games this week with CAL and Fairdale.

 

12. Shawnee Golden Eagles (10-8)

 

Shawnee started the week losing to Holy Cross 60-46 in the finals of the All A Classic Sixth Region tournament. The Golden Eagles bounced back to win a close one against Iroquois, 41-40, before falling to Manual 60-51. Shawnee does not have any games on its schedule for the upcoming week.

 

13. Kentucky Country Day Bearcats (9-9)

 

The Bearcats emerged as champions of the All A Classic Seventh Region tournament, beating Whitefield Academy 55-51 to make it to the championship game, where the Bearcats beat the Collegiate Titans 52-47. The Bearcats move on to the All A Classic tournament in Richmond, with its first game to be played on Thursday, January 24. Before then, KCD has a home game this Thursday against Atherton.

 

14. St. Francis Wyverns (4-9)

 

The Wyverns beat the Brown Bears 60-43 in the opening round of the All A Classic Seventh Region tournament before falling to the Collegiate Titans 57-35. The Wyverns have three games on their schedule this week, playing Portland Christian and Rock Creek Academy of Sellersburg, IN during the week before having a game against Walden on its schedule on Saturday, although Walden’s schedule shows two games scheduled for the same time on Saturday.

 

15. Portland Christian Eagles (7-7)

 

The Eagles had a nice 75-55 win over Beth Haven before being overmatched against Central, falling to the Yellowjackets 75-26. On Saturday, the Eagles lost a close one to Rock Creek Academy of Sellersburg, IN 66-65. Portland Christian will be busy this week with four games on its schedule, against Whitefield Academy, St. Francis, Brown, and Heritage Academy.

 

16. Atherton Rebels (1-15)

 

Atherton lost both of the games it played this week, falling to Manual 67-55 and to Seneca 65-49. The Rebels’ losing streak now stands at 11 games. Atherton hopes to bring that streak to an end when they face Kentucky Country Day on Thursday.

 

17. Brown Bears (4-12)

 

Brown lost in the first round of the All A Classic Seventh Region tournament to the St. Francis Wyverns 60-43. The Bears play Portland Christian Friday night and may have a game against Walden on Saturday, although the schedule shows Walden to be double booked that day.

 

18. Walden Wolverines (9-4)

 

The Wolverines fell to Henry County 75-41 before facing Whitefield Academy in the All A Classic Seventh Region tournament, with Whitefield prevailing in that one 80-58. Walden got back on the winning side of things with a 63-62 win over Beth Haven. The Wolverines play Frankfort Christian Friday night before playing either St. Francis or Brown on Saturday (their schedule shows games against both, starting at the same time).

[Tigerpride94]

As long as David Johnson healthy, I don’t see anyone in 7th challenging Trinity.