1) Hazard (9-2): The Bulldogs made the trip to Las Vegas to participate in the Las Vegas Prep Championship Tournament. Hazard would go 2-2 in their 4 games in the tournament. Defeating Mountain View (Orem) Utah 52-43 but would lose the following two games, 51-50 to Las Vegas and 66-64 in overtime to Foothill, NV. Hazard would win their final game of the tournament, defeating Chaparral, NV 52-33. The Bulldogs are off this week and will return to action on January 8th when they participate in the 14th Region All "A" Classic.

 

2) Knott County Central (8-3): Since they're final game of the WYMT mountain classic, the Patriots have 5 of their last 6 games and some of those wins have came against some big name schools such as Mason County 66-62 and Montgomery County 65-59 both in the Gateway classic at Montgomery County. The Patriots also picked up some region wins against Cordia, Breathitt County and Letcher County Central. The Patriots will host Martin County on Saturday for the second time this season. The Patriots won the first meeting 84-72 on the same floor.

 

3) Wolfe County (9-2): After suffering back to back losses right before Christmas, the Wolves bounced back and won their 3 games after Christmas. Wolfe County would edge out Gallatin County 71-69 at home. Wolfe County made the trip up to Bracken County for a Christmas Showcase. The Wolves would edge out another win, this time defeating Bracken County 75-74 and cruising past Nicholas County 74-54. The Wolves will play host to Lynn Camp on Thursday for they're lone game of the week.

4) Estill County (9-4): The Engineers picked up two wins last week, defeating Fleming County 56-46 and Menifee County for the second time this season, 64-56. The Engineers fell to Elliott County in a heart breaker 57-56 in the opening game of the Dan Swartz Classic at Bath County. Estill County will travel about 30 minutes down the road to Stanton on Friday to take on the Pirates of Powell County in a big boy girl district double header.

 

5) Cordia (6-8): Christmas has not been so kind to coach Fugate and the Lions as they have lost 4 of their last 7 games. 2 of those losses came this past weekend when they fell to both Western 85-53 and Seneca 69-58 in the Panther Holiday Shootout at Knox Central. The Lions would pick up a win in they're final game, defeating Halls TN 91-63. The Lions have just one game this week but it's a big one as they will take on Corbin in the Raymond Reed Classic at South Laurel.

6) Breathitt County (4-5): After a rough start to the season, the Bobcats have rallied to win 3 straight and add a holiday tournament to their resume. Breathitt County made the trip up north to Williamstown for the Williamstown Holiday Tournament. Breathitt County got things started with a 89-78 win over Metcalfe County before cruising past Paris 77-60 and Adair County 75-55 in the championship game. Breathitt County will travel to #7 Perry County Central on Thursday and Grant County on Saturday.

 

7) Perry County Central (3-9): This is not the same Perry County Central team that everyone is use to seeing. The Commodores are off to a 3-9 start and have lost 8 of their 9 games. 3 of those losses came this past weekend when they participated in the Mountain Schoolboy Classic at Belfry, losing to the host school, Belfry 76-71, Johnson Central 78-58 and Shelby Valley 77-60. Perry County Central will host #6 Breathitt County on Thursday and Knox Central on Saturday.

8) Buckhorn (5-6): After going 1-2 in the Smokey Mountain Classic in Gatlinburg TN before Christmas, the Buckhorn Wildcats would return home to host their annual Buckhorn Lake Christmas Classic as they would look to regroup and get back on track and get back on track they did, winning 2 games and making it to the championship game of the Buckhorn Lake Christmas Classic. Buckhorn would defeat both Lee County 82-44 and Jackson City 65-51 before falling to Betsy Layne 63-47 in the championship game. Buckhorn will play Russell County on Saturday at South Laurel in the Raymond Reed Classic.

 

9) Owsley County (4-5): After a rough start to the season, Owsley County has now won 3 of they're last 4 games. Owsley split they're two games in the Buckhorn Lake Christmas Classic. The Owls would fall to Betsy Layne 86-62 but would bounce back and defeat Jackson City 77-65. The Owls will host Lee County on Friday in a big district game.

10) Jackson City (5-7): The Woes continue for the Tigers as they have now lost 5 of they're last 6 games. Jackson City would participate in the Buckhorn Lake Christmas Classic, where they would defeat Lee County 84-50 in the opening round but would fall in their final two games of the tournament, losing 65-51 to Buckhorn and 77-65 to Owsley County. Jackson City will play Berea in Knightstown IN in the classic "Hoosier Gym" The same gym the movie Hoosiers was filmed in.

 

11) Letcher County Central (2-6): The Cougars made their way to Central KY, Bardstown to be exact, where they would play both Bethlehem and Thomas Nelson. The Cougars would fall to Bethlehem 66-60 but would defeat Thomas Nelson 75-64.

 

12) Powell County (3-6): The Pirates would only pick up 1 win in three games in the Dan Swartz Classic. That lone win came in the 7th place game, where they edged out Fleming County 66-63.

 

13) Leslie County (2-8): The Eagles cruised past June Buchanan 74-37 to pick up they're second win of the season.

 

14) Lee County (2-8): The Bobcats losing skid has now reached 4 straight games.

 

15) June Buchanan (0-5): The Crusaders are still searching for that first win. Will Danville Christian be that first victim? We'll find that out Saturday.

Within the next few weeks, I look for Breathitt County to move up in the rankings. Bryndon Slaughter has been a real force and has put together a string of very productive games. They have also seen more production out of their backcourt, as freshman Luke Bellamy has settled into his role. At this point it seems that Hazard owns the 14th region. The Bulldogs are receiving solid play from players such as Wade Pelfrey, Reece Fletcher, and Logan Hall. I still feel like the Wolfe County team hasn’t shown their real potential. They’ve not gotten the production out of players like Sawyer Thompson and Jazz Johnson, specifically from the 3 point line, that they we saw last year. I expect that as the season roles on, they’ll find their grove. Wolfe has a fantastic backcourt in Wilgus Tolson and Jazz Johnson. With the All A looming, the possible Wolfe/Hazard matchup could be a preview of the regional Championship. One thing is for sure, we’ll find out if Wolfe is legit.

Bump.