12th Region Boys Basketball Week 9 Review

[se7ens]

The second-to-last week of the regular season featured its fair share of nail biters and standout performances. This was the last full week of games for most teams as they begin to prepare for their district tournaments.

 

Team Rankings

1. Boyle County – The Rebels had two quality wins early in the week with victories against Lincoln County and Bardstown. However, after just defeating Danville by 24 on February 23^rd, they fell to Danville 82 to 77 in double overtime. As we enter the final week of regular season play, Luke Imfeld’s average points per game sits at 21.1. They face Danville Christian and Garrard County this week.

2. Somerset – The Briar Jumpers fell to Evangel Christian by 2 in the All A Tournament before getting a road win at Marion County. Kade Grundy currently holds a 19.4 points per game average. Somerset finishes the regular season off Tuesday again Lincoln County.

3. East Jessamine – The Jaguars returned to action over the weekend with a pair of wins over Garrard County and Pike County Central in the Lee’s Famous Recipe Holiday Classic at Madison Southern. Their regular season finale is Monday against Montgomery County.

4. Lincoln County - The Patriots started off the week with a loss to Boyle County but bounced back to the tune of wins over both Danville and Danville Christian. Baylor Mattingly and Tramane Alcorn had 17 in the win over the admirals. They follow up their Danville double with a Somerset double this week, squaring off against both Somerset and Somerset Christian.

5. West Jessamine – The Colts defeated Tates Creek on the road 78 to 76. DeAjuan Stepp scored 25 in the victory. West has no more regular season games on the schedule.

6. Pulaski County - The Maroons had three wins last week, defeating Wayne County, Rockcastle County, and Madison Central. Barek Williams had 26 in the win over Wayne County. They have only one game on the schedule remaining, a home game against Clinton County.

[se7ens]

7. Danville - The Admirals have continued to show two things: first, that on any given night they can beat any team in the region; secondly, that on any given night they can lose to any team in the region. Danville defeated both Taylor County and Boyle County last week, losing to Lincoln County in the middle. The Boyle County win is huge and shows just how talented this team is. However, this is still the same team that needed overtime to beat Garrard and fell to McCreary Central, albeit early in the year.

8. Mercer County - The Titans fell to Taylor County by 13. Evan Hart had 16 in the loss. They have no games remaining on the regular season schedule.

9. McCreary County Central - The Raiders fell to North Laurel 80 to 39 in their lone game last week. They face Barbourville on the road on Tuesday. McCreary is already locked into a regional tournament spot as they hold the 1 seed in their district.

10. Southwestern – The Warriors fell to Campbellsville before bouncing back to defeat Somerset Christian School. They face Perry County Central this week in their regular season finale. Their district tournament game is already set with their road to the regional tournament blocked by district host Wayne County. Southwestern won the first matchup 82 to 66.

11. Rockcastle County - The Rockets fell to Pulaski County last week before getting a home win against Lynn Camp. Daniel Mullins scored 29 in the loss to the Maroons. They finish the regular season by hosting Danville on Monday.

12. Wayne County - The Cardinals defeated Cumberland County and Russell County but fell to Pulaski County. Mason Burchett is averaging 17.1 points through 20 games. They face South Laurel and Garrard County this week before their district tournament game against Southwestern on the 15th.

13. Casey County – The Rebels had an exciting week with a double overtime win over Danville Christian followed by a buzzer beater victory over Anderson County. They finished the week with a blowout over Frankfort Christian. Spencer Baird’s average currently sits at 26.8. They end their regular season with road trips to Foundation Christian Academy and Danville. They are assured their first winning season since their 1993-1994 campaign.

14. Garrard County – The Golden Lions fell to Anderson County, East Jessamine and Madison Southern this past week. They face off against Somerset Christian School, Boyle County, and Wayne County this week.

15. Somerset Christian – Somerset Christian fell to Adair County and Southwestern this past week before defeating Foundation Christian. They face Garrard County, Clinton County, Adair County and Lincoln County this week.

16. Burgin - The Bulldogs had their first multi-win week of the Troy Lee Thomas era, defeating both Berea and Cloverport. They also fell twice, losing to Barbourville and Williamsburg. Jacob Qualls scored 17 in the win over Cloverport.

17. Danville Christian - The Warriors have not won in almost a full month. That being said, the almost defeated Casey County in double overtime before falling to Trinity Christian, Lynn Camp, and Lincoln County. Ryan Ridge had 23 in the loss to Casey County. They face Boyle County and Berea this week.

[LethalPG]

West Jessamine is the only team not playing games this week.  I've seen across other regions teams "sitting out" this week to avoid any potential covid issues.  I hope it doesn't affect any of the teams going into district tournaments.

[gchs_uk9]

1 minute ago, LethalPG said:

West Jessamine is the only team not playing games this week.  I've seen across other regions teams "sitting out" this week to avoid any potential covid issues.  I hope it doesn't affect any of the teams going into district tournaments.

I agree with this. You saw several teams do this in football (the KHSAA even added an empty week). However, I think the gap between teams in football is typically wider than in basketball. District 3 and 4 seeds are much more capable of winning a basketball game than they are a football game.

[LethalPG]

Personally, I would rather be playing games as opposed to sitting the last week.  If we're rolling, I want to keep momentum going.  If we're struggling, I want to figure out what we can do to give ourselves a chance.  But, you get a covid case and you're finished so I see the reasoning.

[se7ens]

With all the empty spaces on team’s schedules across the region, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a couple last minute games thrown together for district preparation. I also hold the opinion that too much time in between the last game and the district tournament is not ideal.

[RimRacker]

Its good to play when possible to keep in rhythm for district play. Couple interesting games for tonight are Boyle at Garrard and Somerset at Lincoln. How much will Boyle show and can GC keep it competitive? Somerset and Lincoln is always a grudge match and will go to the wire I'm sure. You can never count teams out in the 12th. 

[LethalPG]

East Jess is the team I'm watching now.  They knocked their covid break rust off this past weekend against Garrard Co. and Pike Central, and had a statement win against Montgomery Co. last night.   I would imagine Boyle will keep it very vanilla tonight, so I expect the game to be closer 10-15 pts range between them and Garrard.