BluegrassPreps.com 11th Region Boys Basketball Week 10 Review and District Tournament Preview

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Instead of the usual team by team review of the week, I have decided to do a district by district breakdown this week. Many teams around the region chose not to play this week to avoid any chance of a last minute Covid-19 shutdown. Even though this has been a wild and crazy year in general the basketball season did happen and we got an opportunity to see some great basketball in the 11th region this season. 

41st District

1. Great Crossing (11-11) - The Warhawks finished 4-0 in the 41st District this season and earned the overall 1 seed for the district tournament. Great Crossing will play the winner of Franklin County/Frankfort Christian Academy in the semi finals of the district tournament. Great Crossing pulled out 3 close victories this season in district seed games. An argument could be made they could be the 4 seed but I personally think the narrative is they win close games and find ways to win when it matters. Great Crossing is lead by Tye Schureman, Junius Burrell, and Carson Walls, a trio of guards who share the ball well and knock down perimeter shots on the regular. The key to GC advancing to the region tournament is the inside play of Perry, Dawson, and youngster Moreno. Last season the Warhawks finished as the 1 seed but were upset in the semi finals by Frankfort. Can GC get over the hump this season and advance to the district championship??

2. Frankfort (15-6) - The Panthers finished tied with Western Hills and Franklin County for the 2 seed and won the blind draw. Frankfort was lead all year by big man Jackson Twombly who had a heck of a year scoring 25.6 points per game and pulling down 9.2 rebounds per game. Don't forget about guards Caleb Hack and Jordan Blythe who also had nice years and can fill it up from outside. Frankfort lost early in the season to Western Hills in the "seed" game but beat them more recently later in the season. Frankfort has the weapons to make a run at anyone in this region and have been playing really well lately. 

3. Western Hills (9-12) - The Wolverines ended up with the 3 seed after the blind draw and will host this year's district tournament. Hills has been up and down all year, they have some quality wins of late over Grant County and Lafayette. Western Hills is lead by All Region selection Zach Semones and a couple good bigs in Walter Campbell and Eric Gabbard. Western Hills has been absent from the region tournament for a while now. This is as good of a chance as they've had to advance in a while, but Frankfort will be a tough matchup. 

4. Franklin County (11-9) - The Flyers finished tied with Frankfort and Western Hills in seeding but drew the 4 seed. Franklin County has been up and down all year and a lot of that is due to injuries from main contributors. Starters Zac Cox, Phillip Pfiffer, and Jayden Mattison have all missed significant time this season. For the first time all year it looks like Franklin County will be at full strength. The Flyers will open up with Frankfort Christian Academy and then get the 1 seed Great Crossing. The Flyers and Warhawks had a close game this season which GC eventually won but that was in January. Can FC turn the tide and pick up their first win over Great Crossing ever? 

5. Frankfort Christian Academy (5-16) - The Royals have had a rough year by looking just at the record but this is a young bunch that is made up of mostly Freshmen and Sophomores. The Royals time might be coming soon but its not in the cards this season. They open up with Franklin County in the 4/5 game. 

42nd District

1. Frederick Douglass (15-1) - The Broncos are the defending 42nd District champion and look to repeat this season. Douglass never missed a step this season after new coach Jason Mosely took over. Lead by All State guard and EKU commit DaShawn Jackson, the Broncos have dominated all competition this season, other then a loss to PLD in which they had a big second half lead. FDHS will take on the winner of Bryan Station and Sayre and I don't see either team slowing them down. This Douglass team is a legit threat to win the region title.

2. Henry Clay (11-6) - The Blue Devils finished as the 2 seed in the always tough 42nd District. Henry Clay had a ton of stoppages this year and still managed to put together a great season. Unheard of seniors Aziel Blackwell and Darik Holman really made a name for themselves this season. Henry Clay opens up 42nd district play with Scott County at Bryan Station. Henry Clay has a real chance of challenging Frederick Douglass but they have to get by Scott County first! 

3. Scott County (8-10) - The Cardinals are the defending 11th Region champion until someone takes it from them, and nobody has beaten Scott County in the regional tournament since 2016!! Scott County has had an up and down year but are always ready come tournament time. Look for the Scott County/Henry Clay game to be an absolute war as it always is. 

4. Sayre (10-6) - The Spartans come in as the 4 seed and have had quite a successful season. Already holding a win over Bryan Station the Spartans have a great chance to advance to play Douglass. Congrats to Junior Zander Collett for being names to the 11th Region Coaches All Region team. 

5. Bryan Station (8-8) - The Defenders had quite the interesting year. At one time Bryan Station was 4-0 before dropping 7 of 8, however they bounced back nicely at the end of the season to beat Great Crossing and Woodford County. The host of the district tournament they open up with Sayre and then would move on to Frederick Douglass. The Defenders could win this district but they also could lose to Sayre. 

43rd District 

1. Lexington Catholic (19-1) - The Knights finished a spectacular season and are the heavy favorite to win the region title this year. Anytime you finish as the #1 seed in the 43rd District you've definitely earned it. Shoutout to Senior Ben Johnson on being named KABC 11th Region Player of the Year, 11th Region Coaches Player of the Year and a finalist for Mr. Basketball. I would say Ben is the FAVORITE to take home Mr. Basketball. The Knights will start off with a bye and face the winner of LCA and Tates Creek. 

2. Paul Laurence Dunbar (10-5) - The Bulldogs have arguably the best 2 wins in the region, over Frederick Douglass and Lexington Catholic. PLD has been lead all year by Tim Hall and lately Nick Spalding has come on and shown he is one of the best guards in the region. PLD will start the district tournament against host Lafayette, a team they beat twice this season both by single digits. 

3. Lafayette (9-12) - The Generals started the season 3-11 and but got things rolling late and finished off winning 6 of their last 7 games against some solid competition. Lafayette was lead this season by Will Stanfield and Abe Nelson but they have a very balanced scoring attack. As the host team the Generals will have a small advantage but it will be a uphill battle to knock off PLD in the opening round. 

4. Lexington Christian Academy (12-11) - The Eagles had an up and down season this year. Capturing the 11th Region ALL A title, LCA looked to be headed in the right direction with the return of Tanner Walton from injury. LCA never seemed to be able to hit a stride at any point this season but as always things can change in an instant in the postseason. 

5. Tates Creek (5-17) - The Commodores are a young bunch and took a lot of lumps and growing pains this season. Coach Gay has done a tremendous job in his time there and after the huge losses to graduation last season there was no expectation of Tates Creek to be on the same level. Youngster Sam Parrish is a budding star and the Commodores will always play you tough. 

44th District

1. Madison Central (17-9) - The Indians are a dark horse for the region title this year and Coach Feldhaus will always have his kids ready and be the toughest team on the floor every night. After the 44th District draw the Indians will face off with Model in the opening round. Look for Central to ease into the finals as they are just too much for Model. 

2. Madison Southern (10-10) - The Eagles return from quarantine just in time to open up district tournament play with Berea. An up and down year for Madison Southern but when healthy this team can compete with anyone. Congrats to Senior Trent DeVries on being names to the 11th Region Coaches all Region Team. 

3. Berea (8-7) - The Pirates have had quite a season with multiple covid quarantines and a coaching change mid season. Still credit to Berea for sticking with it and always being ready to play when the time came. Berea has a tough opening round matchup with Madison Southern but its not impossible although they will need some luck. 

4. Model (8-15) - The Patriots are another team who had to deal with some covid issues late in the season. Unfortunately for the Patriots they drew Madison Central to start the postseason. A tall task indeed, but Coach Morgenson will always have his team prepared and playing hard. 

PREDECTIONS

41st - Frankfort over Great Crossing

42nd - Frederick Douglass over Henry Clay 

43rd - Lexington Catholic over Paul Laurence Dunbar 

44th - Madison Central over Madison Southern