16th Region Week 5 Review

 

Happy new year, folks. Let's take an updated look at the region. Russell and Morgan County enjoyed unblemished weeks. Russell went 3-0 to push its winning streak to six, the region's current longest. Ashland Blazer (3-0) and Morgan County (1-0) are the only unbeaten teams against regional competition. Russell is 7-1 against the region. Boyd County, Bath County and Raceland have also suffered just one regional loss. Despite a better overall record, Boyd County remains behind top-ranked Ashland Blazer due to the head-to-head loss to the Tomcats at home Dec. 13.  Bath County fell out of a three-way tie for No. 3, dropping to No. 5, while Russell and Fleming County remain deadlocked at No. 3. This is how they look at the end of the calendar year.

 

Regional rankings:

 

1. Ashland Blazer (7-6): The Tomcats took some lumps at their own Ashland Invitational, going 1-2 with a win against The Carmel School (VA). They lost to Simon Kenton, 55-54, despite team-high totals of 19 points and five rebounds from Zander Carter, and were beaten by Blue Ridge (VA), 81-66. 

 

2. Boyd County (10-2): The Lions went 2-1 against Florida teams at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational, beating Palmetto, 89-77, and King, 77-71. They lost to Leto, 65-63.

 

3. Russell (11-3): Another strong week for the Red Devils, who went 3-0 at the King of the Smokies Tournament in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. They took down North Greene (Tenn) and two Alabama schools: Phil Campbell in overtime and Good Hope. Damon Charles scored 23 against North Greene. Carson Blum led with 16 versus Phil Campbell. Caleb Rimmer was tops with 20 vs. Good Hope.

 

3. Fleming County (8-6): The tough-scheduling Panthers split a pair of games at the Independence Bank Classic in Owensboro, losing to once-beaten Owensboro Catholic and beating Meade County. Other previous regional results: Beat Russell by 21 Dec. 16, lost to Bath County by one in overtime Dec. 13. Other losses have come against 10-2 Mason County, 10-4 Butler, 11-3 Highlands and Ashland Blazer.

 

5. Bath County (8-3): The Wildcats finished an underwhelming 1-2 at their own Dan Swartz Classic. They routed an overmatched Berea, lost to a 6-8 Paris squad and lost to a solid Harlan unit by 19. Zack Otis scored 23 in the win over Berea. Lost to Russell by nine earlier in the season and beat Fleming County by one in OT.

 

6. Morgan County (9-2): Won its only game of the week, beating Knott County Central by 21. Gatlin Griffith posted team-highs of 25 points and eight rebounds.

 

7. Rowan County (6-6): The Vikings finished 1-2 at the Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic in Gatlinburg, Tenn., defeating Briarwood Christian (AL) and losing to Grace Christian Academy (Tenn) and Alcoa (Tenn). Dashawn Watson scored a team-best 20 points vs. Grace Christian. I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt over Raceland for the time being because of their 46-20 win over Raceland in last year's first round of the 16th Region tournament.

 

8. Raceland (7-4): The Rams haven't played since Dec. 20. Their leading scorer is Christian Large (18.7 ppg).

 

9. East Carter (6-5): The Raiders went 2-1 at Estill County's Railroad Classic. They beat Oneida Baptist Institute and Bethlehem but lost to Paintsville. Evan Goodman scored 27 and 17 points, respectively, in the wins. Lost to Rowan County earlier in the season.

 

10. Fairview (4-6): The Eagles finished the week 2-1 with victories against Dawson-Bryant (OH) and host Pendleton County and a loss to Anderson County at Pendleton County's Phillip Wood Classic. Steven Day led with 26 versus Dawson-Bryant. Tanner Johnson was the leader with 27 vs. Pendleton County.

 

11. Menifee County (5-8): The Wildcats finished 1-2 at the Railroad Classic at Estill County. They fell to host Estill County, beat Jackson City and lost to Oneida Baptist Institute.

 

12. Lewis County (3-8): The Lions went 1-2 at Bath County's Dan Swartz Classic, losing to Frederick Douglass and Bishop Brossart and beating Elliott County.

 

13. Greenup County (3-9): The Musketeers finished 0-3 at the Carolina Invitational in Charleston, S.C., falling to Darlington (SC) and to Kentucky schools Johnson Central and Lawrence County.

 

14. West Carter (2-7): Haven't played since Dec. 20. Brett Dailey leads the team with 14.8 ppg.

 

15. Elliott County (2-9): The Lions went 0-3 at the Dan Swartz Classic at Bath County, losing to Paris, Berea and Lewis County.

 

16. Rose Hill Christian (1-8): The Royals haven't played since Dec. 22. Christian Blevins is the scoring leader with 18.6 ppg.

Ashland may still be the best in the 16th, but their not what they have been over the past few years.

5 minutes ago, 4 Quarters said:

Ashland may still be the best in the 16th, but their not what they have been over the past few years.

This is probably true, but the season is still rather new. I have to think things are that much more difficult this season after the difficult coaching change just before the start of the schedule. Odds are Ashland will be playing its best ball in February and March.

Morgan Co. sure is playing lights out right now. They are hitting on all cylinders right now, and will be interesting to see how they play come February and March. Last night, defensively they handled Bath County's senior star Zach Otis. The cougars came out on top against the Wildcats 81-54 at veterans memorial gymnasium known as "The Tundra". 

Next up, The Cougars will face the Comets of West Carter tonight in West Liberty. 

Menifee beat Raceland 70-65 last night

 

Ricker had 40

On 1/3/2023 at 11:26 AM, Cougarfan22 said:

Morgan Co. sure is playing lights out right now. They are hitting on all cylinders right now, and will be interesting to see how they play come February and March. Last night, defensively they handled Bath County's senior star Zach Otis. The cougars came out on top against the Wildcats 81-54 at veterans memorial gymnasium known as "The Tundra". 

Next up, The Cougars will face the Comets of West Carter tonight in West Liberty. 

They're in the conversation for the #3 spot in the region and they may have it outright by season's end. They've got more growth potential than anyone in the 16th, considering they had to integrate a few new pieces into the puzzle and they've got a young, first year coach.

Morgan has Russell next Tuesday. That's a big opportunity to climb a few more rungs on the ladder.