6th Region Week 6 Review

 

Western remains atop the rankings despite a second straight loss to an out-of-state team. In fact, no changes to the top five despite a thorough reexamination of the rankings. The first change is Iroquois moving up to No. 6 from No. 8 in a leap over Holy Cross and Fern Creek. Everything else is pretty much the same although Moore moves up some in the back half of the rankings. Individually, Holy Cross junior Jacob Hand had a hand in some school history last week. You gotta hand it to this guy for having a handy last name.

 

Regional Rankings:

 

1. Western (12-3): The Warriors finished 2-1 for the week at the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans, losing by one to New Orleans Newman and beating New Orleans St. Augustine by eight and Miami Norland (FL) by five. At 4-0, they are one of five teams still unbeaten against regional foes among teams that have played at least one regional contest. They are joined by Evangel Christian (5-0), Fern Creek (4-0), Butler (3-0) and DeSales (1-0). Western's only in-state loss came against top-ranked Warren Central by seven Dec. 10.

 

2. Evangel Christian (14-2): The Eagles extended their winning streak to nine with their third straight 3-0 week that included wins against Bullitt Central, Shawnee and Lou. Holy Cross. Christian Doerr scored 21 points against Holy Cross. Their two losses have come by a combined six points to a pair of teams with a 21-9 combined record (Walton-Verona and Danville Christian) but they have beaten just five teams with a winning record. They did beat Pleasure Ridge Park by three Dec. 30.

 

3. Pleasure Ridge Park (11-2): The Panthers won their only game of the week, routing DuPont Manual by 26 with 21 points from Jakob Dixon. Their losses have come against Cincinnati Taft by nine and Evangel Christian by three, so 12 points separate them from an unbeaten season. Though they are 5-1 against regional teams, there are not a lot of quality wins overall, victories over 12-4 Lou. Holy Cross and 8-6 St. Xavier being the most prominent. Those are their only wins against teams with winning records, so they haven't really been tested a lot. But you know what? They have the region's second-best scoring defense (52 ppg) and they've been handling Butler and DeSales head-to-head of late.

 

4. Butler (12-4): The Bears went 2-0 and pushed their winning streak to four with lopsided victories against Doss and DuPont Manual. Dayton Williams had 17 points versus Doss. Butler is unbeaten against the region but hasn't really been tested a lot either, with three wins overall against winning teams: Kentucky Country Day, Ballard and Fleming County. PRP doesn't quite have a win over an opponent like Ballard. Butler's schedule looks a bit tougher than PRP's. But Butler lost to PRP twice last season, one of them by six in double overtime during the regular season. Butler lost to PRP, 79-45! in the first round of the Sixth Region Tournament, then lost the majority of its starters to graduation. PRP lost to Jeffersontown by eight in last year's regional semifinals and returned three starters. Is it really a slam dunk to say that Butler can make up 34 points on PRP with fewer returning starters than PRP? That's a pretty tall order. Can't wait to find out. Butler was in the regional for the first time since 2020. Butler is 0-2 in regional tournament play since winning the region in 2019. PRP is 2-3 in the tournament in the same span, so PRP during that time has had the strongest, most sustained presence when the chips are down in the regional tournament plus they have won three of their last four games against Butler since the beginning of the 2018-19 season. I'm pretty much of this mind: Until Butler shows me it can beat PRP, PRP will be ahead of Butler in the rankings. But they don't play each other until Feb. 10. That's another month of hair-splitting between these two squads.

 

5. DeSales (11-5): The Colts went 3-0 for the second week in a row, blasting Nelson County at the Kentucky 2A Championship Sectional Tournaments and beating Iroquois and Bardstown. Crew Gibson had a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds vs. Iroquois. They have won six straight games. DeSales' four in-state losses have come against Warren Central, Ballard and Trinity twice. But, as I've said, Desales lost to Butler twice last season and hasn't beaten Butler since January of 2020. That's a factor in the rankings. However, DeSales has played a tougher schedule than Butler and PRP suggesting that the Colts have been tested more. So, they've got that going for them. DeSales and Butler square off Jan. 26 at Butler. It should be noted too that DeSales hasn't beaten PRP since 2016. Though their games have generally been close, PRP has won three straight against DeSales. That's a factor, as well. But they are not scheduled to play this season. Right now, DeSales has stronger wins than PRP but that doesn't necessarily mean DeSales can beat PRP.

 

6. Iroquois (11-5): The Raiders went 2-1 for the second consecutive week beating WEB DuBois by 48 and Lou. Holy Cross by 18. But they lost at DeSales by seven. Not a lot of quality wins here with just four victories against teams with winning records but boy do they have two great scorers. Jordan Wiliamson (35) and Jamir Ford (33) combined for 68 points in the win over Holy Cross.

 

7. Holy Cross (12-4): The Cougars were 1-2 for the week, the loss snapping a 10-game winning streak. They beat Beth Haven by nine at the 6th Region All "A" Classic with 25 points from Jacob Hand but lost to Evangel Christian by 19 to get eliminated from tournament play. They also lost to Iroquois at home. Hand became the school's all-time leading scorer against Iroquois, moving past Dominique Mack.

 

8. Fern Creek (5-7): The Tigers won their only game of the week, beating Bullitt East with 20 points from Camren Trice to stop a six-game losing streak. Fern Creek has a 12-point victory against 12-4 Trinity but it's their only quality win. Their losses have come against the likes of once-beaten Warren Central, 14-3 Bowling Green, 11-2 Harrison County, Male and St. Xavier, so they have been tested more than Fairdale, which lost by 30 to Fern Creek in last season's meeting.

 

9. Fairdale (9-5): The Bulldogs have won five in a row after a 2-0 week with easy wins against Valley and the Kentucky home school Christian Educational Consortium. Dalton Hicks had 27 points against CEC. Fairdale has beaten Beth Haven by 15 and Jeffersontown and they also beat 10-4 Spencer County.

 

10. Beth Haven (11-3): The Bearcats lost their only game of the week, falling to Lou. Holy Cross by nine at the 6th Region All "A" Classic. I'm keeping Beth Haven in a tie for 10th with Jeffersontown because I remain underwhelmed by Jeffersontown. But it should be noted that Beth Haven's only regional win in three games is against Valley. Beth Haven also lost to Fairdale and hasn't beaten a team with a winning record. The eight Kentucky teams they have beaten have combined for just 24 wins.

 

10. Jeffersontown (5-6): The Chargers split a pair of games, losing to Male by six and beating Waggener by 17. They still lack a quality win against a Kentucky team. Their only regional win is against Doss. Their only common opponent with Beth Haven is Fairdale. Fairdale beat Jeffersontown by four in overtime. Fairdale beat Beth Haven by 14. Standing note: I still can't see Beth Haven beating Jeffersontown head-to-head but they remain in a tie for 10th. The recent history: The last time Jeffersontown and Beth Haven played was 2021 and JTown won by 17. JTown was 14-3 vs. the region last season and regional champ. Beth Haven was 2-5 vs. the region with a lot of games against smaller schools outside the region.

 

12. Southern (5-10): The Trojans halved two games, losing to Eastern and beating the Louisville home school LKY.  Southern is 2-3 against the region with a win against Iroquois.

 

13. Bullitt East (4-10): The Chargers dropped both games, losing to Fern Creek and Ballard. Bullitt East's three in-state wins have come against teams totaling a combined three wins. Bullitt East has just one regional win.

 

14. Moore (6-7): Played one game and beat North Bullitt, 82-56, on the road for its first regional W.

 

15. North Bullitt (9-6): The Eagles finished 1-2 with a 26-point home loss to Moore and a win at Bullitt Central. They are 1-3 vs. the region and still need quality wins against Kentucky competition. Five of the Eagles' six in-state wins have come against teams combining for just 15 victories.

 

16. Doss (2-14): The Dragons went 0-2, losing to Evangel Christian and North Bullitt, and have lost four straight. They've yet to beat a regional opponent in five tries.

 

17. Bullitt Central (1-12): The Cougars have lost 10 games in a row after dropping both contests last week. They fell to Evangel Christian by 30 and to North Bullitt by seven at home. Bullitt Central beat North Bullitt by 15 on the road earlier in the season but has done little else while going 1-3 vs. the region.

 

18. Valley (0-10): The winless Vikings lost both games last week, dropping contests against Fairdale and Shawnee.

 

19. Whitefield Academy (3-11): Played once and lost to Brown at the 7th Region All "A" Classic.

Great write up per usual Basketball Jones.

Why is Whitefield in the 7th region All A but in the 6th region? 
 

Also can’t wait for tourney time. The 6th is loaded!!! Probably more top 20 ish teams than any other region in the State?