11th Region Week 6 Review

[Basketball Jones]

11th Region Week 6 Review

 

Great Crossing, Lexington Catholic and Madison Central are the only teams still unbeaten against regional competition. All three remain in the top five although point guard Hagan Harrison's sudden departure from the Madison Central team following his transfer there may affect the Indians in the long run However, they won their first three games without him in the lineup. In fact. I'm moving them up to No. 3. because they beat defending regional champion Henry Clay and Montgomery County last week without Harrison. It seems counterintuitive to move Frederick Douglass down one spot in the midst of a nice winning streak but I just have a feeling about Mad Central and I'm not ready to say Frederick Douglass is better than Henry Clay, based on recency bias. Overall, this is a solid top seven but it's a crapshoot after that.

 

Regional rankings:

 

1. Great Crossing (14-3): The Warhawks went 2-1 with easy wins against Franklin County and Scott County and a tough 52-51 loss to George Rogers Clark after beating Clark by two in overtime earlier in the season. Malachi Moreno had 14 points and 14 rebounds against Franklin County. They have won five of their last six games and 13 of 15. Their other losses came against state powers Covington Catholic and Warren Central. They are 5-0 against the region.

 

2. Lexington Catholic (15-1): The Knights have won 15 games in a row after a 2-0 week in which they downed Lexington Christian, 67-66, and Male, 69-55 at the Second Chance Shootout. Reece Potter scored 28 points against Lexington Christian. Their only defeat was a loss to a 9-7 North Laurel squad that has lost seven of its last 11 games. Lexington Catholic is 5-0 against the region. The Knights play Great Crossing Jan. 28 at Franklin County's Gary Moore Classic. They have never met in Great Crossing's four years with a basketball program. Get your tickets.

 

3. Madison Central (8-6): The Indians, who have a 17-point win against once-beaten Warren Central, went 3-0 with wins against Paul Laurence Dunbar, Montgomery County and Henry Clay. Jaylen Davis scored 30 points against Montgomery County and had 22 against Henry Clay. That is a good week for a team that's down one very important player. They are 6-0 against the region but Hagan Harrison (17.6 ppg) will be missed if he ends up not returning.

 

4. Henry Clay (7-7): The Blue Devils dropped to .500 with two regional losses, pushing their losing streak to four. They lost to regional mates Sayre by six and Madison Central by two. Mason Hawkins scored 26 against Sayre. Henry Clay's other losses have come against 11-3 Eastern, 11-2 Harrison County, 11-4 Simon Kenton, 10-5 Lincoln County and unbeaten McCracken County. They have beaten 9-4 Conner, 12-5 Highlands and 12-4 Butler.

 

5. Frederick Douglass (11-2): The Broncos extended their winning streak to eight games with victories against Tates Creek and Boone County. Kai Simpson scored 22 points against Tates Creek. Henry Clay beat them three times last season, including in the 11th Region tournament final, so they are still behind Henry Clay. Only losses are to regional rankings leaders Great Crossing and Lexington Catholic, but they have beaten just four Kentucky teams with winning records: 10-5 Letcher County Central, 8-7 Garrard County, 11-5 Montgomery County and 13-2 Harlan. Lost to Madison Central by 18 last season.

 

6. Madison Southern (11-5): The Eagles scored 99 points twice last week and went 3-0 with victories against East Jessamine (99-84), Model, and Thomas Nelson (99-34) at Garrard County's Elleman Contracting Classic. Brett Erslan scored 25 against East Jessamine. Jay Rose had 27 against Thomas Nelson. They have also beaten 11-4 South Laurel and handed 14-2 Pulaski County one of its two losses.

 

7. Lexington Christian (11-3): The Eagles were 1-1 for the week, losing to Lexington Catholic and beating Paul Laurence Dunbar for the second time. Anderson Green scored 25 against Dunbar. Until this week, all that was keeping them from being unbeaten was a two-point loss to Grant County and a seven-point loss to West Jessamine.

 

8. Paul Laurence Dunbar (5-9): Winless on the week at 0-3, dropping contests to Madison Central, Lexington Christian, and West Jessamine at George Rogers Clark's Tim Short Automotive Classic. The Bulldogs have just one win against a regional foe and that came against Brian Station in the season opener.

 

9. Bryan Station (4-11): The Defenders finished the week 0-2 with losses to Simon Kenton and Woodford County. They have just two regional wins, against Western Hills and Lafayette.

 

10. Western Hills (6-8): The Wolverines beat Franklin County in their only game. They have other regional wins versus Sayre and Frankfort.

 

11. Sayre (10-4): The Spartans won two road games, beating Henry Clay and Frankfort, extending their winning streak to four. Sayre has few high-quality wins. Their only previous regional victory came against Tates Creek

 

12. Tates Creek (6-8): Split two home games, losing to Frederick Douglass and beating Lafayette for the second time. Also has a regional win against Franklin County but that's it. Lost to Bryan Station by 24 last season.

 

13. Scott County (6-10): The Cardinals were 0-2 with losses to Bourbon County and Great Crossing. They have just one regional win, against Lafayette.

 

14. Frankfort (8-5): The Panthers lost to Sayre and beat Frankfort Christian for the second time. Other regional wins have come against Lafayette and Model.

 

15. Lafayette (5-10): The Generals lost their only game of the week, dropping a contest against Tates Creek. Lafayette's only regional win in seven games came against Franklin County.

 

16. Franklin County (7-7): The Flyers dropped to .500 with an 0-3 week with losses to Great Crossing, Western Hills and Grayson County. Their only regional win in six games came against Frankfort Christian.

 

17. Model (5-8): The Patriots lost both games, falling to the Kentucky home school Christian Educational Consortium and Madison Southern. Model is winless against the region.

 

18. Frankfort Christian (5-10): The Royals went 1-1 for the week with a win vs. Francis Parker and a loss to Frankfort. They are 0-3 in regional play with two losses to Frankfort and one to Franklin County.

 

19. Berea (6-11): The Pirates finished 1-2 last week, beating the Richmond, Ky. home school team Wellspring Guardians and losing to Casey County and Buckhorn. Berea has yet to play a regional game.