Friday night's round 2 of the Male-Ballard battle for supremacy produced a 76-67 Male win and set things up for the rubber match between the two expected in the Seventh Region tournament. At least for those two teams, it may be that very little will matter until then. They both will win most, perhaps all, of their games until then, but what people will remember is who wins the anticipated third game between the two and probably represent the Seventh Region in the state tournament. I hope that game materializes, and I expect it to not be disappointing.

 

But there still is something for every other Seventh Region team to play for. With only three weeks left in the regular season, it is yet to be decided who might win 20 games, who might end up with a winning record, who might reach double figures in wins, who might win more games than last year, etc. Here's hoping that every team reaches its own goal.

 

TEAM RANKINGS

 

1. Male Bulldogs (19-4)

 

The Bulldogs return to the top spot after their 76-67 win over Ballard on Friday night. Howard Fleming has returned for Male and, while he certainly is not back in top form yet, he will get there and adds an additional weapon to Male’s vast offensive arsenal. As they showed against Ballard, Tyren Moore (18 points), Cam Pope (16 points), and Kaleb Glenn (18 points) all can produce a big scoring night. They looked really good Friday night. Prior to beating Ballard, the Bulldogs beat a good Collins team from the Eighth Region 81-77; Tyren Moore had 25 and Kaleb Glenn added 24 in that one. The Bulldogs, who now have won 8 of their last 9 (the lone loss being to Ballard in the LIT), play Collegiate, PRP, and Trinity this week.

 

2. Ballard Bruins (19-3)

 

After beating KCD 105-69 to extend its win streak to 10, Ballard fell to the Male Bulldogs 76-67 in the much anticipated rematch of the two top-ranked teams in the region. Poor shooting did in the Bruins; after hitting 16 of 29 (55%) 3-pointers against KCD, the Bruins hit just 2 for 20 (10%) against Male. Ballard got a monster game from Rashad Bishop, who scored 30, which is a good sign for the Bruins. My guess is that Ballard will not have another shooting night like that the rest of the season. Ballard has three games on its schedule this week, playing Christian Academy, North Oldham, and Eastern.

 

3. Seneca Redhawks (16-7)

 

Seneca went 1-1 this week, beating Brown 80-36 but falling to Jeffersontown 75-60. Going into the week, Delshawn Simms was leading Seneca in scoring at 16.9 ppg. The Redhawks take on St. X Tigers and Madison Central this week.

 

4. Eastern Eagles (15-8)

 

Eastern had lost 3 games in a row to upper tier teams in the Seventh Region but this week showed it belonged in that upper tier with an impressive 47-45 win over the St. X Tigers. Junior Ben Craig led the way with 18 points. The Eagles followed that up with a 71-41 win over Dixie Heights. The Eagles have a challenging week ahead with games with PRP and Ballard.

 

5. St. Xavier Tigers (14-7)

 

The Tigers have hit a rough spot, going 1-2 this week. The win came against the Brown Bears (67-36), while the losses were to Eastern (47-45) and Dunbar (62-60). Cold shooting (37.5%) seems to have been the culprit against Eastern. St. X has an opportunity to bounce back this week with games against Seneca and DeSales.

 

6. Trinity Shamrocks (13-10)

 

The Rocks had a great week, going 3-0. After dispatching Atherton 69-42, Trinity took care of Madison Central (61-53) and Woodford County (68-40). Trinity will look to continue its winning ways this week when they take on Carroll County, Lexington Catholic, and the Male Bulldogs.

 

7. Waggener Wildcats (13-8)

 

Waggener also had a good week, going 2-0. They got the best of North Oldham 72-60 and then took care of business against Central by a 87-63 margin. The Wildcats face a couple Sixth Region teams this week, taking on the Valley Vikings and the Western Warriors.

 

8. Dupont Manual Crimsons (11-8)

 

Manual split the two games it played against Sixth Region teams this week, falling to Jeffersontown 69-55 but beating Valley 67-62). The Crimsons face Butler and Central this week.

 

9. Louisville Collegiate Titans (15-5)

 

Collegiate went 3-0 this week, with each win being by at least 15 points. The victims were Bardstown Bethlehem (52-37), Shawnee (66-44), and St. Francis (80-37). The Titans have an interesting week ahead, with a rematch against the Male Bulldogs, who beat the Titans 78-55 in the LIT, and with the KCD Bearcats, who the Titans beat 66-38 in the finals of the Seventh Region All A Classic tournament.

 

10. Christian Academy of Louisville Centurions (9-10)

 

The Centurions started the week with a good 65-61 win over Holy Cross. Unfortunately, the rest of the week was not as kind to CAL, who lost to three good teams in Breckinridge County (78-75), Elizabethtown (90-69), and Bardstown (85-46). CAL has three games on the schedule this week with Ballard, Caverna, and Lexington Christian.

 

11. Central Yellowjackets (7-14)

 

Central lost both of the games it played this week, falling to Butler 61-24 and to Waggener 87-63. The Yellowjackets have a full week ahead with games on the schedule against Fern Creek, St. Francis, Manual, and North Oldham.

 

12. Kentucky Country Day Bearcats (10-9)

 

The Bearcats had a busy week, going 2-2 in the four games they played. The wins came against Walden (76-47) and Beth Haven (78-50). The losses were to the Ballard Bruins (105-69) and Bullitt East (81-52). The Bearcats have games this week against Portland Christian, Collegiate, and Fort Knox.

 

13. Atherton Rebels (7-12)

 

The Rebels lost to Trinity 69-42 and then fell to Doss by a respectable 61-55 margin. On the season, Da Von Johnson leads Atherton in scoring at 17.9 ppg. The Rebels face Holy Cross, Sayre, and Shawnee this week.

 

14. Shawnee Golden Eagles (12-9)

 

After beating Evangel Christian 68-31 to start the week, Shawnee dropped the other two games it played, falling to Collegiate (66-44) and Western (70-49). The Golden Eagles have games on their schedule this week against Fairdale and Atherton.

 

15. Walden Wolverines (13-7)

 

Walden split the two games it played this week, beating Maysville St. Patrick (76-45) but losing to KCD (76-47). The Wolverines play Evangel Christian and Burgin before playing in the Warrior Classic at Danville Christian on the weekend.

 

16. St. Francis Wyverns (3-14)

 

With Darian Wade recording a triple double (17 points, 16 rebounds, 10 blocks), the Wyverns recorded their third win of the season against Burgin by a 68-44 margin. St. Francis lost the other two games it played this week, falling to Whitefield Academy (83-75) and Collegiate (80-37). The Wyverns have home games this week against Central and Villa Madonna.

 

17. Brown Bears (3-16)

 

Brown played a lot of basketball this week. The Bears lost to Seneca (80-36), St. X (67-36), and Iroquois (68-19) this week. But there was a highlight on Friday night when the Bears beat Portland Christian 80-70. Josiah Bibb, who is averaging 19.3 ppg, had 35 against Portland Christian. That win moved the Bears ahead of Portland Christian in this week rankings. The Bears play Frederick Fraize and Evangel Christian this week.

 

18. Portland Christian Eagles (5-15)

 

It was not a good week for the Eagles, who went 0-3 with losses to Highlands Latin (58-57), the Louisville Tigers (a home school team, 73-52) and Brown (80-70). Portland Christian is on the road this week with games at Kentucky Country Day, Frankfort Christian, and Burgin.

Bump.