5th Region Week 5 Review and Rankings

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Every team was in action following the Christmas holiday. Most teams didn’t play any in-region matchups, so very little change in the rankings. As a whole, the region is below .500 with a 105-111 win/loss record. This week the region went 21-24. A couple of notables though, Taylor County, Adair County and Caverna all hit double digits in the win column. Thomas Nelson finally broke through with a win this season. Marion County and John Hardin are still without a win. This week will see several 2A sectional games as well as district matchups. Here’s a look at the rankings heading into week 6 of the season. Very few changes.

(Ranking) (Team) (Record) (Previous Ranking)

1.       Elizabethtown (8-4) (1)

The Panthers went 2-1 this week at the Campbellsville Holiday High School Classic. They took 3^rd place as the result of a loss on day 2 of the tournament to Oldham County, 63-60. They started off with a big win over Crittenden County and ended the tournament with a win over Southern. The Panthers are on the road this week for 2 games against Meade County and Green County.

2.       Taylor County (11-2) (2)

Taylor County had a good week as they went 2-1 at the Murray Bank Hardwood Classic. They defeated White’s Creek TN and Webster County with a loss to St. Benedict from Cordova TN sandwiched in between. The Cardinals will have one of the 2 marquee matchups in the region this week. Their lone game is against Larue County in the 2A Sectional.

3.       Larue County (8-5) (3)

The Hawks traveled to Gatlinburg, coming off a much better than expected showing at the King of the Bluegrass. Larue County dropped their first game to Alcoa TN, but rebounded nicely with wins over Murray and Briarwood Christian from Montgomery Alabama. Daniel Allen had a nice week with 19 points and 25 points in the first 2 games. Carson Childress picked up 27 points in the win against Briarwood. Allen did not play in the final game of the trip as he is out with some sort of foot injury. Larue County plays Taylor County in the 2A Sectional at Marion County on Thursday night, with the winner playing the winner of the Marion County/Russell County game.

4.       Central Hardin (8-5) (6)

The Bruins had a great week going 3-0 at the Ellis Trucking Christmas Classic. The Bruins defeated Danville, Rockcastle County and Knox Central. As a result, the Bruins jump up 2 spots from last week. Liberty commit, Brett Decker had a nice tournament scoring 21, 29 and 11 points in the 3 games. The Bruins have 2 district games this week. They host John Hardin on Tuesday night and then travel up to Radcliff for a game against North Hardin on Friday night, in what should be the 2^nd of 2 marquee matchups in the region.

5.       Washington County (8-5) (5)

The Commanders hold steady at no. 5 this week after going 2-1 in the Ellis Trucking Christmas Classic. The week started off rough with a 10-point loss to Rockcastle County, but the Commanders came back with back-to-back wins against Boyle County and Lafayette. Washington County will have a few days off before returning to the court. They play one game this week, a district matchup at Thomas Nelson.

6.       North Hardin (6-5) (4)

The Trojans drop a couple of spots this week. They only played one game. It was a loss to Franklin-Simpson. It was just a 2-point loss. Taveon Smith had 21 points in the game. Their drop is more about what Central Hardin and Washington County did this past week, then what the Trojans did. North will have a chance to move back up in the top 5 this week as they have two home games against Hart County and then the big district matchup against Central Hardin on Friday night.

7.       Adair County (10-3) (7)

Adair County played one game this week, it was a 26-point win over Allen County-Scottsville. Connor Loy had 27 points in the game. The Indians travel to Rockcastle County for their only game this week on Saturday.

8.       Caverna (10-5) (8)

Caverna went 1-2 this week, but both losses came to very quality teams. They took a beating at the hands of Evangel. A 32-point loss. But they were able to beat Riverdale out of Murfreesboro TN by 15. They dropped a rematch to Barren County, as Barren was able to avenge a 2-point loss earlier in the year with a 5-point win in the return game. Caverna will host Marion County on Tuesday night and then they look to get even with district rival Hart County on Friday night in a game at Hart County.

9.       Campbellsville (7-6) (10)

The Eagles move up one spot this week after going 1-2 in their tournament. Campbellsville played in 3 close games, losing by 3 to Southern and 6 in overtime to Danville Christian Academy. Their win came against John Hardin. The Eagles travel to Monroe County this week and then host Burgin on Friday night as they prepare for the All A Classic.

10.   Green County (7-7) (11)

The Dragons are back in the top 10 for the first time since the pre-season rankings came out. They went 2-1 this week. They defeated Clinton County by 13, lost to South Warren by 9, and then defeated Nicholas County by 22 to close out the week. The Dragons travel to Metcalfe County and then host #1 Elizabethtown on Friday night.

11.   Bethlehem (6-7) (9)

Bethlehem continues to trend downward after going 1-2 this week, and now having lost 6 of their last 8 games. They had a dominant game against Cordia, winning 80-9, but lost by 10 to East Carter and 7 to Estill County. I said last week that anything less than 3 wins would be a disappointment as I thought Bethlehem would win easily the Railroad Classic, so this week was more than disappointing for the Eagles. They’ll have a chance to right the ship on Tuesday as they play district opponent Thomas Nelson and then on Friday night, they play district opponent Nelson County.

12.   Bardstown (4-7) (12)

Boo Brewer’s Tigers just can’t seem to get any consistency going. They defeated St. Mary by 2, but then dropped their next 2 games to Eastern and Hopkinsville in games that the score would indicate weren’t all that competitive. Bardstown has lost 7 of their last 9 games. They are participating in the 2A Sectionals this week. They will play CAL in their first game. If they’re able to advance, they’ll meet the winner of Nelson County and Desales in the finals.

13.   Hart County (4-5) (13)

Hart County goes 0-1 this week with a 15-point loss to Butler County in their lone game. The Raiders will play #6 North Hardin and then host district rival Caverna. Hart defeated Caverna earlier in the season in a game at Caverna.

14.   Nelson County (3-9) (14)

The Cardinals traveled to Coach Kueker’s hometown in Illinois to play at least 3 games this past week. I say at least as scores from that tournament have been hard to come by. They lost the first 3 games they played in. Their closest effort was a 12-point loss. They have a busy week ahead of them. They play Desales in the 2A sectional on Tuesday, host Breckinridge County on Wednesday and then play district opponent Bethlehem on Friday. Should they defeat Desales, they’ll also play on Saturday against the winner of Bardstown and CAL.

15.   Fort Knox (4-6) (15)

Fort Knox visited Burgin for a trio of games this week, defeating Burgin twice, once in double overtime. In their 3^rd game, they lost to LKY, a homeschool group, from Louisville. The Golden Eagles are off until next week, when they’ll host the semi-finals and final rounds of the All A Classic.

16.   Thomas Nelson (1-9) (18)

The Generals move up 2 spots, as they finally get in the win column. They defeated Pendleton County 50-49 on a last second shot. They lost to Anderson County earlier in the week. They have a tough week ahead, playing Bethlehem on Tuesday night, Washington County on Friday night (both district games) and then on Saturday, they travel to Garrard County to play Madison Southern.

17.   John Hardin (0-12) (16)

The Bulldogs had a tough week in Campbellsville. They went 0-3, losing to Franklin County, Campbellsville, and Crittenden County. The Bulldogs nearly pulled off an upset in their game against Campbellsville. They gave up the lead late in the game after leading the entire game and with under a second to go narrowly missed a full court shot that would have given them the win. Worse than losing 3 games this week, is that leading scorer Jake Owens went down with an ankle injury in the game against Crittenden County. Hopefully, he recovers soon. The Bulldogs meet-up with district rival Central Hardin on Tuesday night.

18.   Marion County (0-11) (17)

The Knights struggled this week in Barren County. Losing 3 times. They played all 3 games without leading scorer Markell Bell and second leading scorer Mason May. Jalil Smith picked up the scoring slack for the Knights this week as he averaged almost 16 points a game and led the Knights in scoring in all 3 games. The Knights travel to Caverna on Tuesday and then host Russell County in the 2A sectionals.