11th Region Week 3 Review

 

Defending regional tournament champion Henry Clay was knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten after a 4-0 start. The hot teams now are this season's favorites. Great Crossing is unbeaten since losing to Covington Catholic. Lexington Catholic hasn't lost since dropping the opener to North Laurel. They are 1-2 atop this week's rankings. Lexington Christian makes a little move in the top 10. Individually, Vince Dawson and Malachi Moreno maintained greatness for Great Crossing while Reece Potter continued to have great nights for Lexington Catholic. Madison Central's Big 3 of Hagan Harrison, Jaylen Davis and Robby Todd also had big weeks. Javeon Campbell of Western Hills muscled his way to another strong week. Moreno, Potter, Todd and Campbell are walking double-doubles waiting to happen.

 

Regional Rankings:

 

1. Great Crossing (7-1): The Warhawks pushed their winning streak to seven with a second consecutive 3-0 week. They dismantled Western Hills at home, beat Spencer County by 11 at the King of the Bluegrass Tournament in Fairdale and edged George Rogers Clark, 64-62, in overtime also at the King of the Bluegrass. Vince Dawson nailed all four 3-point shots and led with 24 points against Western Hills. He scored 26 against Spencer County. Malachi Moreno had 14 points and seven rebounds versus Western Hills. He had 22 points and 14 rebounds vs. Spencer County.

 

2. Lexington Catholic (6-1): The Knights enjoyed another 2-0 week while extending their winning streak to six. They clobbered Tates Creek and handled Paul Laurence Dunbar. Seven-foot senior center Reece Potter, a Miami University recruit, had a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds vs. Tates Creek. Rowan Williams also had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Potter had 27 points and 15 rebounds against Dunbar. Potter shot 17-for-31 from the field for the week and made 11 of 13 free throws.

 

3. Madison Central (4-3): The Indians moved above .500 with two straight wins last week. They downed Scott County by 26 with 33 points and 10 rebounds from Hagan Harrison. They defeated Madison Southern by 20 with 21 from Harrison and 26 from Jaylen Davis. Both players are averaging better than 22 ppg. Robby Todd had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds against Madison Southern. Todd is averaging 14.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. The combined record of the three teams that have beaten Madison Central (Pulaski County, George Rogers Clark and Ballard) is 18-2.

 

4. Henry Clay (4-2): The Blue Devils won their first four games then went 0-2 last week with double-digit losses to 5-2 Eastern and 7-1 Harrison County. Mason Hawkins led Henry Clay with 17 points against Eastern.

 

5. Frederick Douglass (3-2): The Broncos did not play last week. They take the court again Wednesday with the first of three games at The Gateway Holiday Classic at Montgomery County. Kai Simpson leads the team with 23.2 ppg. Their only losses have come against Great Crossing and Lexington Catholic.

 

6. Madison Southern (3-4): The Eagles broke even for the week, beating South Laurel and losing to Madison Central. Zach Hudson had 29 points in the win. Braden Hudson added 19.

 

7. Lexington Christian (5-1): The Eagles edged Paul Laurence Dunbar, 61-59, in overtime in their only game of the week. Tyler Hall led a balanced effort with 14 points and seven rebounds.

 

8. Paul Laurence Dunbar (2-3): Lost two straight road games, by two in overtime to Lexington Christian and by 11 to Lexington Catholic. Nick Spalding scored 17 in both games.

 

9. Bryan Station (3-4): The Defenders split a pair of games, beating Lafayette and losing to Grant County. Amari Owens had 16 points in the win and Jaden Biggers and Felix De Los Santos both registered double-doubles.

 

10. Scott County (3-5): The Cardinals lost two games, falling to Madison Central and Collins, extending their losing streak to four.

 

11. Tates Creek (4-4): Went 2-1 for the week, opening with a loss to Lexington Catholic but ending the week with two straight in the win column vs. Lafayette and Franklin County. Eric Hackett scored a team-high 28 points against Lafayette.

 

12. Western Hills (2-5): The Wolverines lost their first five games but have now won two straight with home wins against Sayre and Shelby County. Javeon Campbell had a massive double-double of 21 points and 20 rebounds against Sayre. He's averaging around 21 points and 14 rebounds per game.

 

13. Sayre (3-3): The Spartans lost by three to Western Hills in their only game of the week. Brock Coffman had 23 points and eight rebounds in the win.

 

14. Lafayette (4-6): The Generals went 1-3 for the week with the lone win coming against Doss. They lost to Bryan Station, Tates Creek and Pleasure Ridge Park. Beat Franklin County earlier in the schedule.

 

15. Franklin County (4-3): The Flyers split a pair of road games, routing Frankfort Christian behind Andrew Chenault's 17 points but losing to Tates Creek.

 

16. Frankfort (4-2): The Panthers went 2-0, defeating Waggener and Model in competitive home games.

 

17. Model (4-4): The Patriots went 1-1 for the week, losing to Frankfort and beating Robertson County. Keshav Bhandari paced the win with 15 points.

 

18. Frankfort Christian (3-5): The Royals were 0-2 for the week with losses to Franklin County and Paris. Michah Sowders scored 27 against Franklin County.

 

19. Berea (2-6): The Pirates went 0-3 for the week with losses to Jackson County, East Carter and Elliott County.

The Warhawks are growing up.

Another terrific Region Review. Thanks @Basketball Jones! 

Jonesy covers the 2nd, 11th, 14th, and 16th Regions; takes off one hat and another mysteriously appears ...

15 hours ago, Runcible Owl said:

Another terrific Region Review. Thanks @Basketball Jones! 

Jonesy covers the 2nd, 11th, 14th, and 16th Regions; takes off one hat and another mysteriously appears ...

Hats off to you for capping my rankings with a funny...

Just curious why Western Hills at 2-5 would be viewed higher than a team like Franklin Co? 

Bump.

On 12/19/2022 at 7:30 PM, Hard Work said:

Just curious why Western Hills at 2-5 would be viewed higher than a team like Franklin Co? 

Hey thanks for reading so closely. I couldn't look Coach Cody in the eye if I outranked his 15-15 team from 2021-22, that returns four starters, by a 9-20 squad he beat three teams last season at home, on the road and on a neutral court while eliminating Franklin County from the 41st District tournament. Three of Franklin County's last 10 games last season were losses to Western Hills. Even if Franklin County has more wins right now, I'd like to see Franklin County actually beat Western Hills for the first time since Jan. 22, 2021, before I rank Franklin County ahead of Western Hills, if that makes any sense. They play each other Jan. 6 at Western Hills. The rematch is Jan. 27 at Franklin County.