6th Region Week 3 Review

 

Three weeks of basketball does a better job than two when it comes to parsing some of the differences between high school teams during the small sample size that is the December pre-holiday schedule. As the calendar readies its annual flip from December to January, you at long last have football players and other fall athletes getting their sea legs as hoopsters, transfers fully integrating with their new teams and new coaches finally coaxing the buy-in from his charges. All these challenging elements experienced by mere teenagers with so much going on in their ever-changing lives amid the crazy chaos of surprises, upsets and the insidiously deceiving loss. A basketball season is like a fine wine, revealing its true facets over time. But we taste wine when it's time because if we taste too soon we cannot dine with wine. With the perpetually beautiful and renewed boys high school basketball season, we want to know how it's doing before it's done doing what it does, belying the real taste. With wine, we slowly sip. With basketball, we hurry and dunk. With that in mind, I present to you my updated rankings. The top team is the same: Western rules. There is a flip-flop at Nos. 2-3. Butler busts a move. Holy Cross also makes a jump. Doss takes a dive.

 

Regional Rankings

 

1. Western (8-1): The Warriors went 3-0 with local victories against Doss and Central plus a win over Walnut Grove (GA) at the Lemon Street Classic in Marietta, Georgia. Trent Hinkle scored a team-high 21 points against Doss while Julius Edmonds had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Hinkle had 15 points and 12 rebounds versus Central. Hinkle is averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game. He's missed just two free throws in 31 attempts. The Warriors continue play this week in Georgia.

 

2. Pleasure Ridge Park (7-1): The Panthers had their season-opening seven-game winning streak snapped by Cincinnati Taft at their own MAC's Holiday Classic to close the week, but they remain unbeaten against Kentucky schools. PRP beat its first seven KY opponents by an average of 20 points. The Panthers defeated Lafayette in their first tournament game last week. They beat Central and Moore on the road to begin the week. Gregory Cole scored 29 points against Central. He had 21 against Moore. Keith Robinson had 21 vs. Central and 23 against Lafayette and pulled down 10 rebounds in both games.

 

3. Evangel Christian (7-2): The Eagles went 3-1 with wins against Moore, Oldham County and St. Xavier, the last two coming at MAC's Holiday Classic at Pleasure Ridge Park. Cyr Malonga had team-highs of 25 points and 19 rebounds against Moore. Christian Doerr scored 23 against Danville Christian.

 

4. DeSales (5-4): The Colts split two games at the King of the Bluegrass, losing to state-ranked No. 2 Warren Central by just six and beating Woodford County by five. Will Gibson scored a team-high 17 points vs. Warren Central. Brady Cummins added 13. Crew Gibson scored 12. DeSales' three in-state losses have come against teams with a combined record of 16-3 and all three opponents were ranked in the top five of last week's Associated Press state poll: Trinity 5-2, Ballard 4-1, Warren Central 7-0. They play Trinity again tonight at 9 at the King of the Bluegrass.

 

5. Butler (7-1): The Bears went 2-0 with victories against state-ranked No. 4 Ballard and Christian Academy-Louisville. Terry Walker and Dayton Williams scored 18 points each against Ballard. Markel Meriwether led with seven rebounds; Williams corralled six. Walker led with 17 points vs. CAL and Meriwether added 14. Jaymone Clark was top rebounder with six in that one.

 

6. Fern Creek (4-4): The Tigers dropped to .500 after a 4-1 start with an 0-3 week. They fell to DuPont Manual in overtime, Male and Harrison County. Noah Glover scored 24 points against DuPont Manual. Don't forget, they beat Trinity Dec. 10

 

7. Iroquois (4-3): Split two, losing to Shelby County by two in overtime and beating Kentucky Country Day by 14. Jordan Williamson nearly had a double-double with 33 points and nine rebounds vs. Shelby County while Jamir Ford scored 21. Williamson and Ford both scored 20 against KCD with Ford pulling down 10 rebounds for the double-double.

 

8. Holy Cross (7-2): The Cougars are rolling, extending their winning streak to six with a 4-0 week. They beat Fairdale at home and won three games at the Louisville Christmas Classic. Mike Loftis had 31 points against Fairdale. Jacob Hand averaged 26.7 ppg with a high of 35 at the Classic.

 

9. Jeffersontown (2-5): Played once and lost on the road to Seneca despite 16 points each from Brandon Gatewood and Genesis Nimely, who had a double-double with 13 rebounds.

 

10. Fairdale (3-4): The Bulldogs went 0-3 with losses to Louisville Holy Cross, and LaRue County and Harlan County at the King of the Bluegrass. Jacob Tucker scored a team-high 32 points against Holy Cross. He averaged 17.6 ppg for the week.

 

11. Beth Haven (4-1): The Bearcats enjoyed a 3-0 week with a road win over Valley and a pair of wins at the Stock Yards Bank & Trust Challenge against Pendleton County and West Carter at Rowan County. Jordan Harris was top scorer against Pendleton County and West Carter.

 

12. Bullitt East (2-4): The Chargers split a pair of games, losing to Collins and beating Doss. Camron Brogan led with 24 points and 10 rebounds against Doss.

 

13. Southern (3-4): Went 2-0 for the week with wins against Bullitt Central and WEB DuBois. Jaylen Brown scored 19 points vs. Bullitt Central and Caetrell Thompson had a double-double. Tahj Meadows posted team highs of 24 points and nine rebounds vs. WEB DuBois.

 

14. Doss (0-10): The Dragons remained winless, dropping four more during a forgettable week. They lost to Western, Bullitt East, Cincinnati Taft and Lafayette. Crickets at the KHSAA web site where there hasn't been any statistical update since Dec. 10. I wonder how Marcus Barker is doing.

 

15. Bullitt Central (1-6): The Cougars lost all four games, dropping contests against Atherton, Southern, Oldham County and Meade County.

 

16. North Bullitt (5-3): The Eagles went 3-0 with victories against Portland Christian, Shawnee and Waggener. Kaylen Alexander scored 16 points against Portland Christian.

 

17. Moore (3-5): Went 1-2 and stopped a four-game losing streak with a win against Atherton. Lost to Evangel Christian and Pleasure Ridge Park at home.

 

18. Whitefield Academy (1-6): Went 0-3 with losses to Kentucky Country Day, Brown and Trinity Christian.

 

19. Valley (0-8): Still looking for its first win after finishing the week 0-3 with losses to Brown, Beth Haven and Leslie County.

Nice work!  Looks good.

Edited December 19, 20223 yr by theguru

Marcus Barker for Doss scored 96 points in three games at PRP’s MAC’s Childcare Holiday tournament.

Bump.