Sixth Region Week 10 Review: Several Teams Playing Well; Fern Creek v. Butler This Week

It was an interesting week in the Sixth Region this week, with several teams notching significant wins. Examples include DeSales' 70-58 win over Collins; Bullitt East beating North Bullitt 87-76 in overtime; Moore getting the best of J'Town by a 68-59 margin; Bullitt Central winning 63-56 in overtime against Holy Cross; and, in perhaps the most impressive win of the week, Valley beating Waggener 60-56. Most of those teams also suffered losses during the week, which just shows you must bring it every night in this competitive region.

This week brings us the much anticipated match up between the Fern Creek Tigers and the Butler Bears. Those two teams have been at the top of the rankings for most of the year, and they will play Thursday night at Butler. That game will be a good preview of what might unfold in the post-season, which starts in just a couple of weeks.

TEAM RANKINGS

1. Fern Creek Tigers (20-6)

Fern Creek extended its win streak to seven and reached the 20-win mark with three wins this week. The closest of the three wins was a 61-55 victory over Southern, with the other two wins coming against Central (65-46, with Jaden Rogers having 23 points) and Great Crossing (64-43). This week brings the much anticipated battle with the Butler Bears on Thursday night. That should be a good one.

2. Butler Bears (15-7)

Butler extended its win streak to six with wins over Manual (77-57) and Valley (79-41), but then lost by 20 points to a very good Madisonville North Hopkins team (91-71). Sophomore Turrell Cleaves led the Bears in scoring against Madisonville with 15 points. The big game this week for the Bears is the Thursday night match up with the Fern Creek Tigers. Before then, Butler will play Iroquois on Tuesday.

3. Jeffersontown Chargers (14-6)

Five Chargers scored in double figures in J’Town’s 71-51 win over Bullitt East, which was the Chargers’ fifth win in a row. But the Chargers then stumbled against Moore, falling to the Mustangs 68-59. J’Town will look to get back on track this week when they play Whitefield Academy, St. X, and Valley.

4. Pleasure Ridge Park Panthers (14-9)

PRP has played a series of games against quality teams, and unfortunately things have not gone very well for the Panthers, who now have lost four games in a row. This week the losses were to Eastern (65-47) and Male (86-74). Josh Williams scored 27 points in the game against Male. Things lighten up for the Panthers this week with a single game against Western on the schedule.

5. DeSales Colts (13-8)

The Colts went 2-1 this week. The wins were against Western (65-48) and Collins (70-58), which was a very nice win for DeSales. Sekou Kalle had a big game against Collins with 25 points and nine rebounds. Unfortunately, the Colts finished the week with a 58-44 loss to the St. X Tigers. The Colts’ schedule this week has games against South Oldham, Male, and Iroquois.

6. Doss Dragons (15-8)

The Dragons went 2-0 this week and now have won five games in a row. The wins this week came against Iroquois (83-64) and Valley (59-41). Doss will look to extend its winning ways even further this week with games against Brown, Western, and Southern.

7. Bullitt East Chargers (10-14)

The Chargers’ six game win streak came to an end with a 71-51 loss to Jeffersontown, but the Chargers then got one of their best wins of their season when they beat North Bullitt 87-76 in overtime. Bullitt East will work to build on the momentum from that game when they play Grayson County and Southern this week.

8. North Bullitt Eagles (18-8)

North Bullitt had a bit of a tough week, going 1-2 this week. After falling to Spencer County 72-68, the Eagles battled cross-county rival Bullitt East. Despite five Eagles scoring in double figures, North Bullitt fell to Bullitt East 87-76 in overtime. The Eagles were able to bounce back with a 59-44 win over Daviess County on Saturday. Up this week are games against Holy Cross and Fairdale.

9. Holy Cross Cougars (14-9)

The Cougars went 2-1 this week. The wins were against Atherton (71-54) and Owen County (84-52), while the loss was a disappointing one, a 63-56 overtime loss to Bullitt Central. The Cougars have games against Beth Haven and North Bullitt this week.

10. Iroquois Raiders (14-11)

The Raiders went 1-1 this week, falling to Doss 83-64 but beating Fairdale 69-58. The win over Fairdale moves the Raiders ahead of the Bulldogs in this week’s rankings. On Iroquois’ schedule this week are games against Butler, DeSales, and Thomas Nelson.

11. Fairdale Bulldogs (11-11)

Fairdale had an interesting week, which started with a 85-74 overtime win over Shawnee in which Charles Ward scored 34 points. Before the Bulldogs played the Brown Bears, Hunter McCutcheon became eligible and he immediately contributed, leading the Bulldogs with 22 points in their 81-41 win against Brown. Ward, McCutcheon, and Tyjuan Walter each scored 16 points against Iroquois, but Fairdale fell to the Raiders 69-58. Fairdale plays North Bullitt and Fairdale this week.

12. Western Warriors (11-12)

Western went 0-2 against two good teams this week, falling to DeSales 65-48 and to Waggener 72-62. This week the Warriors will take on Doss, PRP, and Fort Knox.

13. Moore Mustangs (8-14)

Moore grabbed its best win of the season this week, beating Jeffersontown 68-59. That is one of the most impressive wins in the Sixth Region this season. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the week also had a 69-62 loss to the Southern Trojans. On the Mustangs’ schedule this week is a single game against Bullitt Central.

14. Bullitt Central Cougars (8-16)

It would have been easy to correctly predict the Cougars would go 1-1 this week, although most would have predicted that the win and loss would have been reversed. The loss was to Whitefield Academy (61-59), while the win was perhaps the Cougars’ best win of the season, a 63-56 overtime win over the Holy Cross Cougars. This week Bullitt Central faces Moore, Christian Academy, and Spencer County.

15. Valley Vikings (5-15)

Valley had a very impressive win this week, beating a good Waggener team by a 60-56 margin. Unfortunately, the Vikings could not build on that achievement and lost the other two games they played this week, falling to Butler (79-41) and Doss (59-41). The Vikings face Fairdale and Jeffersontown in the upcoming week.

16. Southern Trojans (5-14)

With Quincy Murrell leading the way with 22 points, Southern notched a nice 69-62 win over the Moore Mustangs this week. The Trojans then fell to Fern Creek, but only a 61-55 final margin. That’s a good week for the Trojans. This week Southern takes on Doss and Bullitt East.

17. Whitefield Academy Wildcats (13-9)

Whitefield is having a really good year. The Wildcats went 3-0 this week and have now won seven of their last eight games. In addition to beating Beth Haven (90-73) and Carroll County (70-67), Whitefield had an impressive 61-59 win over Bullitt Central. This week Whitefield, which already has exceeded last season’s 10-win total, has three more opportunities for wins with games against Jeffersontown, Atherton and Washington County.

18. Beth Haven Bearcats (9-13)

Beth Haven went 1-2 this week to move closer to a double-digit win total for the season, which would be a noticeable improvement on last season’s 6-win total. After falling to Whitefield Academy 90-73, the Bearcats beat Frankfort Christian (83-29) and Evangel Christian (72-51). Up this week for Beth Haven are games with Holy Cross and Christian Fellowship.

19. Evangel Christian Eagles (3-15)

Evangel Christian went 0-3 this week, falling to Brown (63-37), Beth Haven (72-51), and Christian Fellowship (72-48). The Eagles do not have any games on their schedule this week.