6th Region Week 5 Review

 

Western, ranked tied for sixth in Kentucky in the last Associated Press state poll, remains atop our rankings this week despite a home loss to an out-of-state team. Evangel Christian is up a spot to No. 2 following a three-point win against Pleasure Ridge Park on a neutral court. That knocked PRP from the ranks of the unbeaten versus Kentucky competition. Everything else is pretty much the same. Individually, there were some nice duo performances by Evangel Christian's Kyran Tilley and Cyr Malonga, Iroquois' Jordan Wiliamson and Jamir Ford, Fairdale's Dalton Hicks and Jacob Turner, and the lofting hands of Holy Cross shooters Jacob Hand and Mike Loftis. 

 

Regional Rankings

 

1. Western (10-2): The Warriors lost their only game of the week 49-41 to St. Louis Vashon at home, snapping a five-game winning streak. At 4-0, they are one of four teams still unbeaten against regional foes among teams that have played at least one regional contest. They are joined by Evangel Christian (3-0), Fern Creek (3-0), and Butler (2-0). Western's only in-state loss came against top-ranked Warren Central by seven back on Dec. 10.

 

2. Evangel Christian (11-2): The Eagles pushed their winning streak to six with a 3-0 week at the Trojan Hoops Holiday Classic at Barren County. They blasted Caverna with 21 points from Kyran Tilley and took care of Southwestern with 18 points and 11 rebounds from Cyr Malonga. They outlasted Pleasure Ridge Park with 21 points from Tilley, 18 points and 10 rebounds from Malonga and 16 points from Christian Doerr. The Eagles' two losses have come by a combined six points to a pair of teams with a 17-7 combined record (Walton-Verona and Danville Christian).

 

3. Pleasure Ridge Park (10-2): The Panthers are no longer unbeaten versus Kentucky schools after a loss to Evangel Christian at Barren County's Trojan Hoops Holiday Classic. PRP routed Marion County, 70-34, and took care of Station Camp (TN), 58-48, before the loss. The Panthers' only previous loss was against Cincinnati Taft. Evangel Christian has beaten Pleasure Ridge Park and Taft.

 

4. Butler (10-4): The Bears went 2-1 at the City of Middletown Holiday Classic, losing to host Eastern in the opener then defeating St. Mary and Atherton. Jaron Sullivan scored a team-high 23 points, 18 above his season average, against. St. Mary. Dontre Russell and Dayton Williams led with 14 apiece against Atherton.

 

5. DeSales (8-5): The Colts went 3-0 at the City of Middletown Holiday Classic at Eastern, beating Central, Hopkinsville and the host. Crew Gibson and Tyler Klein scored 19 points each against Central. Gibson scored 22 against Hopkinsville. He had 21 against Eastern. Crew is averaging a team-high 16.4 ppg. Remember, DeSales' four in-state losses have come against highly decorated teams Warren Central, Ballard and Trinity twice. Also, Desales lost to Butler twice last season and hasn't beaten Butler since January of 2020, so that's a factor as well in the rankings. However, DeSales has played the much tougher schedule so far this season.

 

6. Holy Cross (11-2): The Cougars extended their winning streak to 10 with a 3-0 performance at the Bill Perkins Holiday Classic. They defeated Sayre, Barbourville and Newport Central Catholic. Jacob Hand (33 points) and Mike Loftis (20) led the way against Sayre. Loftin scored 32 and Hand had 20 against Barbourville. Hand scored 20 against NCC and Loftis had 14. On the season, Hand is averaging 24.5 ppg and Loftis 17.9 for 58 percent of the scoring. That season-opening loss to 2-8 Waggener is becoming more of an outlier as the season goes along. Their only other loss came against Pleasure Ridge Park.

 

7. Fern Creek (4-6): The Tigers ran into a couple of buzzsaws and lost two games at Lexington Catholic's White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic, dropping decisions against Bowling Green and Warren Central. They have lost five in a row against a tough schedule after a 4-1 start that included a win over state-ranked Trinity and three quick regional victories.

 

8. Iroquois (9-4): The Raiders went 2-1 at the South Oldham Christmas Tournament, beating Garrard County and Beechwood and losing to host South Oldham. Jordan Wiliamson scored 27 points and Jamir Ford added 20 vs. Garrard.  Ford scored 26 against Beechwood. Williamson had 22 vs. South Oldham and Ford added 21. Ford leads the team with 20.5 ppg.

 

9. Fairdale (7-5): The Bulldogs went 3-1 at the Daytona Beach Sunshine Classic, losing the opener to David Crockett (TN) but winning the next three against Hialeah (FL), Cincinnati Hughes and Science Hill (TN). Dalton Hicks (26) and Jacob Turner (25) combined for 51 points against Hialeah. Hicks had 20 vs. Hughes. Fairdale has beaten Beth Haven and Jeffersontown.

 

10. Beth Haven (11-2): The Bearcats went 2-1 at the Henry County Invitational Tournament, beating 2-11 Henry County and 5-8 Western Hills and losing to a once-beaten Grant County squad by 20. Connor Stinnett scored 23 points versus Henry County. Jordan Harris went off for 39 against Western Hills. I'm moving Beth Haven into a tie at this spot with Jeffersontown because I am underwhelmed by Jeffersontown so far. Even so, Beth Haven's only regional win in two games is against Valley. Beth Haven lost to Fairdale.

 

10. Jeffersontown (4-5): The Chargers were idle last week. They lack a quality win against a Kentucky team. Their only common opponent with Beth Haven is Fairdale. Fairdale beat Jeffersontown by four in overtime. Fairdale beat Beth Haven by 14. Still can't see Beth Haven beating Jeffersontown head-to-head but I'm putting them into a tie for 10th for now. The last time Jeffersontown and Beth Haven played was 2021 and JTown won by 17. JTown was 14-3 versus the region last season and regional champion. Beth Haven was 2-5 vs. the region with a lot of competition against smaller schools outside the region.

 

12. Bullitt East (4-8): The Chargers went 1-2 at the Henry County Invitational Tournament, beating host Henry County and losing to Western Hills and Shelby County. They are 1-1 against the region.

 

13. Southern (4-8): The Trojans split a pair of games at the Campbellsville High School Holiday Classic, beating host Campbellsville and losing to Franklin County. Southern is 2-3 against the region.

 

14. Doss (2-12): The Dragons went 1-2 at the Grace Health Cumberland Falls Invitational at Corbin, beating Whitley County in the opener before losing to Knoxville Catholic and a good Newport squad by just two. They've yet to beat a regional opponent in four tries.

 

15. Bullitt Central (1-10): The Cougars went 0-3 at the Owensboro Health Holiday Classic at Grayson County with losses to Nicholas County, Glasgow and Daviess County. Bullitt Central beat North Bullitt by 15 on the road but has done little else while going 1-1 vs. the region.

 

15. North Bullitt (8-5): The Eagles went 2-1 at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational, beating Florida teams Armwood and Riverview but losing to Palm Beach Lakes. North Bullitt is 0-2 vs. the region and needs some quality wins against in-state competition. The Eagles' four Kentucky wins outside of a 9-4 Anderson County squad have come against teams combining for just 10 wins.

 

17. Moore (4-7): Won its only game, beating Portland Christian, but is 0-3 versus the region

 

18. Valley (0-8): The Vikings have been idle since Dec. 17. They are 0-5 against the region.

 

19. Whitefield Academy (3-10): Snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 2-1 week at its own Ray Zellar Christmas Classic. Defeated  Cloverport and Villa Madonna and lost to Leslie County. Have yet to play a regional foe.

Nice work. I’d quibble with PRP at 3rd. They’ve beaten nobody.  You have a good rationale for Butler ahead of Desales based on past but. I’d go Western #1. Evangel and Desales basically tied at 2/3. Next Butler followed by PRP. 

47 minutes ago, Hoopstars said:

Nice work. I’d quibble with PRP at 3rd. They’ve beaten nobody.  You have a good rationale for Butler ahead of Desales based on past but. I’d go Western #1. Evangel and Desales basically tied at 2/3. Next Butler followed by PRP. 

Thanks. But I would argue that PRP's 10-point win over St. Xavier and 20-point win against Lou. Holy Cross did not come against nobodies. Those teams aren't bad, dude, and PRP handled them.

St x is an ok win. Holy cross similar.  Certainly not like butler beating Ballard or desales beating Huntington prep- or even Simon Kenton/eastern/male.  Look forward to next weeks recap!  Thanks for doing this

9 minutes ago, Hoopstars said:

St x is an ok win. Holy cross similar.  Certainly not like butler beating Ballard or desales beating Huntington prep- or even Simon Kenton/eastern/male.  Look forward to next weeks recap!  Thanks for doing this

Valid points and worth consideration. Thanks again, man.