I personally was looking forward to a Male-Ballard match-up in the King of the Bluegrass, but it was not to be. Male suffered its first loss to a Kentucky team before getting to the match-up with Ballard, losing to Justin Powell and North Oldham 78-71. With that loss, the Bulldogs drop to the number two spot behind the 5-1 Ballard Bruins, who will play North Oldham tonight in the KOB championship game. And don't worry about missing out on a Male-Ballard battle; they face-off with one another on January 31 and have the potential to meet two additional times, in the LIT and the Seventh Region tournament.

 

Several other Seventh Region teams are off to tremendous starts. St. X is now 7-1, and Seneca stands 7-4 after winning the first ever Century Mortgage Derby City Jam. Eastern has gotten off to a 7-2 start, Collegiate had two impressive wins this week to move to 7-1 on the season, Shawnee stands 5-2, and the Walden Wolverines are 6-2. As usual, there is a lot of exciting basketball to watch in the Seventh Region. I hope you can get out and see some.

 

TEAM RANKINGS

 

1. Ballard Bruins (5-1)

 

The Bruins move up to the top spot with Male’s loss to North Oldham in the King of the Bluegrass tournament. Ballard so far is 3-0 in the King of the Bluegrass, with a win over Collins (88-81) plus wins over teams from Pennsylvania and Ohio. Ballard plays North Oldham tonight in the KOB championship game. Ballard has been playing without Rashad Bishop ans is getting quality play from its freshman guards, Gabe Sisk and Jack Edelen. Plus, 6’9” sophomore Maker Bar has recently been declared eligible. After Christmas Ballard will travel to Marshall County to play in the Kentucky Lake Showcase.

 

2. Male Bulldogs (7-2)

 

The Bulldogs drop to the second spot after falling to North Oldham 78-71 in the King of the Bluegrass. Prior to that loss, Male had beaten South Oldham (82-69) and McCracken County (65-56, in overtime). The Bulldogs wrap up play in the KOB tonight with what has the potential to be a really good game against Collins. Male then will take off the rest of 2019 and in fact will not be back in action until January 7. Hopefully, Howard Fleming will be back for the Bulldogs by then.

 

3. St. Xavier Tigers (7-1)

 

The Tigers continue to play well and move up in the rankings. The Tigers took care of business against KCD 74-53 and then traveled to Warren East to participate in the Warren East Holiday Hoops Classic. St. X has won its first two games there with wins against Cumberland County (58-43) and Allen County-Scottsville (74-37). The Tigers finish play in that tournament today with a game against 7-0 Ohio County. After Christmas St. X will play in the Legacy Nissan Dribble Drive Challenge at South Laurel.

 

4. Seneca Redhawks (7-4)

 

It would be hard to find a team that had a better week than the Seneca Redhawks. After beating Seventh Region foe Waggener 60-59, Seneca won the inaugural Century Mortgage Derby City Jam with wins over Pleasure Ridge Park (67-60), DeSales (49-47), Paintsville (38-35), and Fern Creek (57-52). The Redhawks have won seven games in a row after losing their first four games. Seneca heads to Knox County Central after Christmas to play in the Panther Holiday Shootout by Bingham Tire, with games scheduled against Cordia and Western.

 

5. Waggener Wildcats (5-5)

 

Waggener lost to Seneca 60-59 and then went 2-2 in the Century Mortgage Derby City Jam, beating Central (68-48) and Owensboro (72-66) while losing to J’Town (69-49) and Pleasure Ridge Park (76-64). The Wildcats will play in the Carespring Holiday Classic at Highlands starting on Friday with a game against Campbell County.

 

6. Trinity Shamrocks (4-5)

 

I walked into the gym in the second quarter of Trinity’s game against Collins in the King of the Bluegrass tournament and the Shamrocks had either three or four freshmen on the floor. Their inexperience has shown itself this season, but these players clearly are competitors, as the margin in each of their nine games has been six points or less. In the King of the Bluegrass this week Trinity took top-five team Collins into overtime before falling 70-69 and also lost to Trotwood-Madison, a really good team from Ohio, 86-83. In between those losses the Rocks beat Clay County 60-58. I think Trinity will continue to get better as the season progresses. Trinity travels to Missouri to play in a tournament starting on Friday.

 

7. Eastern Eagles (7-2)

 

Eastern went 3-1 in the Twin Lakes Classic this week, beating Hopkins County Central (80-37), Logan County (71-61), and Taylor County 68-58) and losing to Clinton County (61-59). Next weekend the Eagles will play in the Central Bank Classic at Lexington Christian.

 

8. Dupont Manual Crimsons (6-3)

The Crimsons got past Shawnee 66-39 before going 1-2 in the Century Mortgage Derby City Jam, where Manual beat Glasgow 71-60 but fell to DeSales 48-46 and Pleasure Ridge Park 78-73. The Crimsons head to Campbellsville to play in the Campbellsville High School Holiday Classic starting on December 26.

 

9. Louisville Collegiate Titans (7-1)

 

Collegiate had a great week with two impressive wins in the Louisville Collegiate Classic. After beating Anderson County 47-44 on Friday, the Titans led most of the way and ultimately prevailed over the Iroquois Raiders 50-49 on Saturday. Going into the weekend, Chez Moore was leading the Titans in scoring at 23 ppg. Collegiate will look to keep things going after Christmas when they play in the First Southern National Bank Classic at Logan County, where it is scheduled to play the Owensboro Catholic Aces.

 

10. Central Yellowjackets (3-4)

 

Central beat Portland Christian 65-22 before going 1-2 in the Century Mortgage Derby City Jam, losing to Fern Creek (64-46) and Waggener (68-48) before beating Valley (64-52). The Yellowjackets have a challenging game on Saturday against Madisonville-North Hopkins at Lexington Catholic as part of the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic.

 

11. Christian Academy of Louisville Centurions (4-2)

 

CAL dispatched KCD 83-66 before heading to Rowan County to participate in the Kentucky Bank Challenge, where it beat Ludlow 81-53 but lost to St. Henry 74-54. The Centurions play Robertson County on Friday at Montgomery County as part of the Gateway Holiday Classic.

 

12. Shawnee Golden Eagles (5-2)

 

Shawnee is having a good season. After falling to Manual 66-39, the Golden Eagles won the Portland Christian School Holiday Classic with easy wins over Brown (62-31) and Portland Christian (79-53). The Golden Eagles play Whitefield Academy on Friday as part of the Whitefield Down Syndrome Classic.

 

13. Kentucky Country Day Bearcats (1-5)

 

KCD lost to St. X 63-42 in the only game it played this week. The Bearcats are off until January 6.

 

14. Walden Wolverines (6-2)

 

The Wolverines continue to roll, winning their only game this week against L.I.G.H.T. Danville, a home school team, 69-41. Walden plays at Beth Haven tonight and then hosts Danville Christian on Friday.

 

15. Atherton Rebels (3-4)

 

Atherton traveled to McCreary Central to participate in the Arby’s/KFC Holiday Classic and won its first two games there, beating Garrard County 65-60 in overtime and Casey County 72-67. The Rebels’ 3-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday when they fell to Wayne County 71-64. Atherton wraps up play in that tournament today with a game against the host McCreary Central Raiders and then will be off the rest of the week.

 

16. St. Francis Wyverns (1-6)

 

The Wyverns seemed to play well in their two games in the Kentucky Bank Challenge at Rowan County but dropped both of them, losing to Belfry 75-62 and Owen County 59-51. The Wyverns do not play this week.

 

17. Portland Christian Eagles (1-5)

 

Portland Christian started the week with a 65-22 loss to Central but then gained its first win of the season, beating Danville Christian 76-68 in overtime in the first round of the Portland Christian School Holiday Classic. The Eagles lost in the tournament’s championship game to Shawnee 79-53. Portland Christian will play Christian Fellowship on Friday as part of the Whitefield Down Syndrome Classic at Whitefield Academy.

 

18. Brown Bears (1-8)

 

After losing to top-ranked Male 84-19 earlier in the week, Brown lost in the opening round of the Portland Christian School Holiday Classic to Shawnee 62-32. But the Bears rallied and notched their first win of the season in the consolation game, beating Danville Christian 58-57 in overtime. The Bears are off until after the first of the year.

7th region going to be a war come March. Ballard and Male could play each other potentially 3 times. Once in regular season, potentially LIT, and potentially 7th region tourney.

Bump.