BluegrassPreps.com 9th Region Week 10 Review and Rankings

[B-Ball-fan]

BluegrassPreps.com 9th Region Week 10 Review and Rankings

Week 10 throughout the state of Kentucky saw the White Death try its best to disrupt most every teams' schedule, yet where there's a will there's a way, and many important games got off of the ground, and especially some important district seeding games. 

The 33rd District finished up their seeding games, and Cooper has earned the number 1 seed by going 6-0 in the district. Conner has the 2nd seed going 4-2. Ryle and Boone County have tied for the 3rd & 4th seed both going 1-5 in district play. My understanding is that this will ultimately be decided by their RPI ranking which presently Ryle has a slight edge over Boone Co at .49393, and Boone sits at .48695. Ryle has 6 more games on their regular schedule, and Boone has 5. Stay tuned to see how it all plays out. The 33rd District tournament will be held at Ryle. 

The 34th District has pretty much been wrapped up with Dixie being the top seeded team, and St. Henry and Lloyd being 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the district trournament being played at Ludlow, Dixie will play the winner of the Ludlow and Villa Madonna game, and on the other side of the bracket St. Henry will play Lloyd. That there will be a huge game as the winner of that game will punch their ticket into the 9th Region Tournament. 

One more game needs to be played in the 35th District seeding games, Holmes at Beechwood. CovCath has already secured the top seed, and Holy Cross has locked in the the 2nd. it's still to be seen whether Holmes or Beechwood get to avoid CovCath in the first round of the 35th District tournament. At present I'm still not sure who is hosting the 35th District tournament this year, so maybe someone out there has the skinny on this. 

The 36th District has pretty much wrapped up with Highlands earning the top seed, and get to play the winner of the Dayton/Bellevue game in the 36th District tournament. 2nd seed Newport will have to face 3rd seed Newport Central Catholic. There again a huge game to see who gets into the 9th Region tournament. 

A few games this past week stuck out, 1st with Holy Cross beating Beechwood in 35th District seeding play 74-69.

St. Henry impressively took down Lloyd 60-47 in a 34th District seeding game. 

Cooper snapped their 8 game winning streak with a beatdown from Cincinnati Elder 64-34 showing a bit of their vulnerability. 

I had trouble this week deciding on the Top 10. A few games here and there threw things into a bit of a mess where more than ever one can argue for different rankings than the one that I will ultimately list. There will be no exact perfect answers here, but I will do my best to make sense of it. 

Week 10 Rankings: 

1). Covington Catholic - (18-4)

Nothing has changed here. The Colonels have been in the top postition all season long, and nothing has come close to threatening their standing. They've lost a couple of games recently to state powerhouses, so they've presently been demoted to the Number 5 spot in the state on the BGP Rankings. This coming week will see them at Oldham County from the 8th Region on Feb 7, then a huge spotlight game against Reed Sheppard's Number 6 North Laurel Jaguars from the 13th Region at the BB&T arena at NKU on Friday night, Feb. 11. 

2). Highlands - (16-6) 

The Bluebirds have been tearing up their opponents. In their last 5 games they have netted 90 points or more, with one game only managining 86. They're putting up the big points at a good time in the season as they prepare for post season play. They'll be some busy birds this coming week with 4 games. They'll be at Bellevue on Feb. 7, at home against Lloyd on Feb. 8, a big game at Conner on Feb. 10, then another huge home game against Cooper on Feb. 12. 

3). Dixie Heights - (15-4)

The Red Colonels continued their winning ways with a district seeding win over Villa Madonna 68-30, then a nice win over the Simon Kenton Pioneers 69-41. They've one game this coming week at Walton Verona on Feb. 11. 

4). Cooper - (18-4)

The Jags only played on game this past week, but got smacked up pretty good by Cincinnati Elder 64-34. This week sees them hosting Newport  on Feb. 8, then a huge 9th Region game at Highlands on Feb. 12. 

5) Conner - (16-6) 

The Cougars have somewhat quietly remained a 9th Region force with a consistent winning record. They beat Ryle pretting commandingly in a 33rd District seeding game 82-54. They've two homes games this coming week, first hosting Holmes on Feb. 7, then Highlands on Feb. 10 in a huge 9th Region game. 

6). Holy Cross - (18-7) 

Holy Cross wrapped up the 2nd seed in the upcoming 35th District tournament with their 74-69 win over Beechwood allowing them to avoid CovCath in the first round game. The Indians also beat Ludlow this past week 74-32 while resting Jacob Meyer, and Javier Ward who were both nursing injuries. Those two were back at it against Beechwood with Meyer netting 33 points, and Ward getting his. The Indians will need both of them healthy as they approach post season play. 

7). Lloyd Memorial - (17-5) 

The Juggs lost a big 35th District seeding game 60-47 this past week against a vastly improving, and impressive St. Henry team. Lloyd will have a busy week first in a tough game at Highlands on Feb. 8, then at Frankfurt on Feb. 11, then they'll host Paris from the 10th Region on Feb. 12th. 

8). St. Henry - (11-7)

The Crusaders are really gelling at the right time. They had to replace losing 10 graduating seniors from last year, so it's been a journey this season to get some of their upstarts some experience. It's beginning to pay off, and we know that we can always trust Coach Faust to have his boys ready by post season play to give themself a chance. Their first big statement win came this past week with a 60-47 win over their 34th District foe the Lloyd Juggernauts. These two teams will face each other again in the 1st round of the 34th District tournament. 

9). Holmes - (9-14)

The Bulldogs got in a good win this past week against Boone County 64-59. They've two big games this coming week, first at Conner on Feb. 7, then at Beechwood in a 34th District seeding game on Feb. 12. 

10). Ryle - (10-15)

The Raiders lost 2 games this past week, first in a 33rd District seeding game against Conner, losing 82-54. They then lost in a squeaker against Augusta 60-57. They'll have a busy week ahead with 4 games. At Bourbon County on Feb. 7, a home game against Scott on Feb. 8, at Campbell County on Feb. 10, then they'll be at St. Henry on Feb. 12. 

11). Boone County - (12-11)

12). Beechwood - (7-14)

13). Newport - (7-14)

14). Newport Central Catholic - (7-15)

15). Dayton - (12-10)

16). Villa Madonna - (6-14)

17). Ludlow - (9-12)

18). Heritage Academy - (7-11)

19). Bellevue - (3-17)

20). Covington Latin - (0-15)

[FrankNicodemus]

I thought you'd hold out on me until this week to see how the Birds go thru these games to give them back their #2 seed. I agree they have been playing extremely well lately. Witnessed the thrashing last night against NCC, they played aggressive defense and Barth was UNSTOPPABLE! 

Going to be a FUN and EXHAUSTING week, added bonus on Sat against Cooper will be Senior Night so I feel like the Nest will be hopping.

Any chance @859Radio going to be there???

Great write up as always!!!

GO BIRDS!

[AirYardGo]

3 hours ago, B-Ball-fan said:

 At present I'm still not sure who is hosting the 35th District tournament this year, so maybe someone out there has the skinny on this.

Holy Cross is the host this year.

[B-Ball-fan]

2 hours ago, AirYardGo said:

Holy Cross is the host this year.

Thanks for the heads up!

[859Radio]

9 hours ago, FrankNicodemus said:

I thought you'd hold out on me until this week to see how the Birds go thru these games to give them back their #2 seed. I agree they have been playing extremely well lately. Witnessed the thrashing last night against NCC, they played aggressive defense and Barth was UNSTOPPABLE! 

Going to be a FUN and EXHAUSTING week, added bonus on Sat against Cooper will be Senior Night so I feel like the Nest will be hopping.

Any chance @859Radio going to be there???

Great write up as always!!!

GO BIRDS!

You want it, you got it!  The (859) Sports Radio will be there!  Also at hhs girls Monday as Jaime Walz Richey goes for win #400 and at HHS Tuesday boys hosting Lloyd.

[Mr. Sixer]

Not that it matters much at all but I was surprised that Cooper dropped to 4 especially when they have beaten Dixie and won 8 of their last 9 games.  The loss to Elder was certainly expected and having 2 starters out with injuries added to the margin of the loss.  There is not a team in the 9th, other than CCH, that would come within 15 points of Elder playing at Elder (where all visiting fans must sit in the rafters lol) because Elder is just that good.  So I don't put too much stock in this loss and it will become more clearer how good Cooper really is once they travel to Highlands and to Dixie over the next week and a half.

[FrankNicodemus]

If it makes you feel better @The Double Deuceprobably would say again, Cooper, Dixie & Highlands are 2a, 2b, & 2c BUT with that being said I can’t wait to settle this debate on the hardwood on Saturday.

For what its worth BluegrassPreps still has your Cooper Jags #20 in their Statewide Rankings just released along with Dixie at #19, with the Birds Unranked, they probably are #21 LOL

BIG WEEK!!!

Go Birds!

 

[FrankNicodemus]

1 hour ago, FrankNicodemus said:

If it makes you feel better @The Double Deuceprobably would say again, Cooper, Dixie & Highlands are 2a, 2b, & 2c BUT with that being said I can’t wait to settle this debate on the hardwood on Saturday.

For what its worth BluegrassPreps still has your Cooper Jags #20 in their Statewide Rankings just released along with Dixie at #19, with the Birds Unranked, they probably are #21 LOL

BIG WEEK!!!

Go Birds!

 

I misquoted:  it would be @B-Ball-fan that would say Cooper, Dixie and Highlands are 2a,b,c.  

I apologize.

[FrankNicodemus]

18 hours ago, 859Radio said:

You want it, you got it!  The (859) Sports Radio will be there!  Also at hhs girls Monday as Jaime Walz Richey goes for win #400 and at HHS Tuesday boys hosting Lloyd.

This is AWESOME news.  Can't wait to watch!

[B-Ball-fan]

8 hours ago, Mr. Sixer said:

Not that it matters much at all but I was surprised that Cooper dropped to 4 especially when they have beaten Dixie and won 8 of their last 9 games.  The loss to Elder was certainly expected and having 2 starters out with injuries added to the margin of the loss.  There is not a team in the 9th, other than CCH, that would come within 15 points of Elder playing at Elder (where all visiting fans must sit in the rafters lol) because Elder is just that good.  So I don't put too much stock in this loss and it will become more clearer how good Cooper really is once they travel to Highlands and to Dixie over the next week and a half.

I wouldn't read into it too deeply the way Highlands, Cooper, and Dixie are rated. They're all pretty even if you ask me. When I didn't have Highlands 2nd, FrankNIcodemus wasn't happy. Whenever I've had Dixie ahead of Cooper you weren't happy. Cooper beat Dixie by a whole 2 points. I can't please everyone. I've had each of them at 2nd sometime thoughout the season because they're all deserving. I look at what they've done lately mixed a bit with their whole body of work. Let's call them 2a, 2b, and 2c, and you can place Cooper in there whereever you'd like. That sound fair? Now that the season is advanced, whenever any of these teams play each other we'll have a real good idea how they measure up with each other. Being so close to post season, some teams though might be hiding a bit of their hand when facing each other to save their whallop for when it counts most. 

[FrankNicodemus]

3 hours ago, B-Ball-fan said:

I wouldn't read into it too deeply the way Highlands, Cooper, and Dixie are rated. They're all pretty even if you ask me. When I didn't have Highlands 2nd, FrankNIcodemus wasn't happy. Whenever I've had Dixie ahead of Cooper you weren't happy. Cooper beat Dixie by a whole 2 points. I can't please everyone. I've had each of them at 2nd sometime thoughout the season because they're all deserving. I look at what they've done lately mixed a bit with their whole body of work. Let's call them 2a, 2b, and 2c, and you can place Cooper in there whereever you'd like. That sound fair? Now that the season is advanced, whenever any of these teams play each other we'll have a real good idea how they measure up with each other. Being so close to post season, some teams though might be hiding a bit of their hand when facing each other to save their whallop for when it counts most. 

Keep up the great work @B-Ball-fan! Hopefully the Birds can drop the letter after #2 after this week.

Playing really solid ball right now.

[Mr. Sixer]

13 hours ago, B-Ball-fan said:

I wouldn't read into it too deeply the way Highlands, Cooper, and Dixie are rated. They're all pretty even if you ask me. When I didn't have Highlands 2nd, FrankNIcodemus wasn't happy. Whenever I've had Dixie ahead of Cooper you weren't happy. Cooper beat Dixie by a whole 2 points. I can't please everyone. I've had each of them at 2nd sometime thoughout the season because they're all deserving. I look at what they've done lately mixed a bit with their whole body of work. Let's call them 2a, 2b, and 2c, and you can place Cooper in there whereever you'd like. That sound fair? Now that the season is advanced, whenever any of these teams play each other we'll have a real good idea how they measure up with each other. Being so close to post season, some teams though might be hiding a bit of their hand when facing each other to save their whallop for when it counts most. 

Wasn’t trying to touch a nerve and as my initial post stated “not that it matters much”. This is the first time I’ve ever commented about Cooper not being ahead of Dixie to my recollection but since you wanted to dissect things and point out that Cooper beat Dixie only by a “whole” two points, I’ll remind you that Dixie lost to Beechwood by a “whole” 3 points just 3 weeks ago and no matter how you spin it, it’s a bad loss to a team that had won just 5 games on the year at the time. 
As my post stated, they are all neck and neck and it will all get sorted out in the next week and even then it become more clearer once regional play gets here. 
Your work is good and everyone may have a difference of opinion, noting more, nothing less. 

[B-Ball-fan]

8 minutes ago, Mr. Sixer said:

Wasn’t trying to touch a nerve and as my initial post stated “not that it matters much”. This is the first time I’ve ever commented about Cooper not being ahead of Dixie to my recollection but since you wanted to dissect things and point out that Cooper beat Dixie only by a “whole” two points, I’ll remind you that Dixie lost to Beechwood by a “whole” 3 points just 3 weeks ago and no matter how you spin it, it’s a bad loss to a team that had won just 5 games on the year at the time. 
As my post stated, they are all neck and neck and it will all get sorted out in the next week and even then it become more clearer once regional play gets here. 
Your work is good and everyone may have a difference of opinion, noting more, nothing less. 

This is how I prefaced my rankings this week:

"I had trouble this week deciding on the Top 10. A few games here and there threw things into a bit of a mess where more than ever one can argue for different rankings than the one that I will ultimately list. There will be no exact perfect answers here, but I will do my best to make sense of it". 

You did indeed comment in the past when I once moved Dixie ahead of Cooper, which is fine and everyone is entitled to and welcome to contribute their thoughts here. As I've tried to explain, I've tried to "spread the love" between these 3 teams, while also trying to fairly please you and others when ranking them when most would agree that there's not much seperation between the 3 teams. Your thoughts about Dixie are worthy, but I'm not judging them on one flukey game in their loss to Beechwood. Their whole body of work would suggest otherwise regarding their strengths. Hairs can be split over and again regarding every nuance of how these teams have faired against each other, and at the end of the day still not everyone will be satisfied with how those 3 teams are ranked. There are so many factors as to how a team might've faired against each other from what defense they chose to play, who was out with an injury, who might've been out with COVID and so on. Most teams improve as the season progresses, some more than others. I've chosen in ranking them to shift them around from time to time between spots 2, 3, and 4 to give each team their deserving acknowledgement. Most would agree that those 3 teams are extremely close to each other, and on any given night either one of them could beat the other, so I really can't and won't get caught up with every little point to ponder as to who is more deserving than the other.  The remaining regualar season will play out, and after that the post season, and while CovCath is strongly the favorite, these 3 teams in someway, shape, or form are bound to face each other again in tournament play depending on how the brackets play out.  Some future games might give us a more definitive take on the strenghs of these 3 teams, then again they might pan out to be exciting OT games that still has us seeing very little seperation between them. It's all worthy of discussion, but then again maybe not enough to crack one's head on the wall from banging it too hard. 

[Mr. Sixer]

13 minutes ago, B-Ball-fan said:

This is how I prefaced my rankings this week:

"I had trouble this week deciding on the Top 10. A few games here and there threw things into a bit of a mess where more than ever one can argue for different rankings than the one that I will ultimately list. There will be no exact perfect answers here, but I will do my best to make sense of it". 

You did indeed comment in the past when I once moved Dixie ahead of Cooper, which is fine and everyone is entitled to and welcome to contribute their thoughts here. As I've tried to explain, I've tried to "spread the love" between these 3 teams, while also trying to fairly please you and others when ranking them when most would agree that there's not much seperation between the 3 teams. Your thoughts about Dixie are worthy, but I'm not judging them on one flukey game in their loss to Beechwood. Their whole body of work would suggest otherwise regarding their strengths. Hairs can be split over and again regarding every nuance of how these teams have faired against each other, and at the end of the day still not everyone will be satisfied with how those 3 teams are ranked. There are so many factors as to how a team might've faired against each other from what defense they chose to play, who was out with an injury, who might've been out with COVID and so on. Most teams improve as the season progresses, some more than others. I've chosen in ranking them to shift them around from time to time between spots 2, 3, and 4 to give each team their deserving acknowledgement. Most would agree that those 3 teams are extremely close to each other, and on any given night either one of them could beat the other, so I really can't and won't get caught up with every little point to ponder as to who is more deserving than the other.  The remaining regualar season will play out, and after that the post season, and while CovCath is strongly the favorite, these 3 teams in someway, shape, or form are bound to face each other again in tournament play depending on how the brackets play out.  Some future games might give us a more definitive take on the strenghs of these 3 teams, then again they might pan out to be exciting OT games that still has us seeing very little seperation between them. It's all worthy of discussion, but then again maybe not enough to crack one's head on the wall from banging it too hard. 

You’re right, not worth anyone’s time splitting hairs. All 3 teams are good.