2nd Region Week 7 Review

 

The region has developed a clear top five. Now, what to do with those five. University Heights upset the apple cart by upsetting Lyon County, the region's defending champion and top-ranked team, at the Second Region All "A" Classic Tournament. The Blazers had not beaten the Lyons since 2020 and entered play ranked tied for fourth in the region with losses to a pair of teams (Christian County and Madisonville-North Hopkins) that were between them and Lyon County in the rankings. University Heights is 5-2 against the region; Lyon County 6-1. Henderson County (4-1) is the only other team with fewer than one loss against regional competition, but that loss came against University Heights. University Heights and Hopkins County Central have two regional losses. Everybody else has three or more.

 

University Heights might be better than we think. The Blazers now have victories against the top two teams in last week's rankings (No. 1 Lyon County, No. 2 Henderson County). No other regional team can say that. Their six losses to teams with a 78-28 combined record have come by an average of eight points. Their nine wins have come by an average of 25 points. The big question is this: Is University Heights worthy of the top spot with very narrow road losses to Madisonville-North Hopkins (by one point) and Christian County (by two points)? Also, if I put University Heights ahead of Lyon County because of the head-to-head advantage, should I put Madisonville-North Hopkins and Christian County ahead of University Heights using the same logic, even though Lyon County has beaten Christian County, and Madisonville-North Hopkins' only regional loss is to Henderson County? Both Lyon County and University Heights have good arguments for No. 1, so let's put them both there, for now.

 

Regional Rankings:

 

1. Lyon County (14-5) The Lyons went 0-1 for the week, which can be counted as a disappointment. They were eliminated by University Heights, 74-64, in the first round of the Second Region All "A" Classic Tournament. The Lyons were defending regional and state All "A" Classic champions. That two high-quality teams like Lyon County and University Heights were meeting in the first round of a tournament while Dawson Springs played Fort Campbell in another opening-round game in an event that produced a 4-10 Heritage Christian squad as a finalist is fairly preposterous. Anyway, the Lyons have now gone 5-4 in the last nine games after a 9-1 start. Brady Shoulders, a recently minted 1,000-point scorer, led Lyon County with 28 points against University Heights. He's averaging 19.1 ppg on the season. Travis Perry scored 21, padding the second-highest point total in state history. Perry is averaging 30.3 ppg.

 

1. University Heights (9-6): The Blazers won the Second Region All "A" Classic, going 3-0 with wins over Lyon County, Crittenden County and Heritage Christian in the final. Lemar Northington scored a team-high 19 points for the Blazers and Quinton Quarles added 10 in the 72-35 rout of Heritage. University Heights, making its 26th state small-school tournament appearance, plays 16th Region champ Raceland in an All "A" Classic first-round contest Jan. 26 at Eastern Kentucky University. The Blazers will be well-tested. They have also beaten Murray and Henderson County. Their six losses have come against regional mates Madisonville-North Hopkins and Christian County plus McCracken County, Bowling Green, Owensboro and Ohio County.

 

3. Henderson County (12-5): The Colonels defeated Christian County, 54-49, with 17 points from Gerard Thomas, and beat North Hardin, 66-48, at the RDT Construction New Year's Classic at Central Hardin. Thomas is averaging 18.7 ppg. The Colonels have won four games in a row and eight of their last nine. Henderson County beat Madisonville-North Hopkins by 21 on the road in Dec and are 4-1 in regional action, with the lone loss to University Heights.

 

4. Madisonville-North Hopkins (14-4): The Maroons finished 1-1 for the week with a 65-35 win over Union County and a 61-37 loss to Evansville Reitz (IN) at the Banterra Bank Warrior Showcase in Indiana. Madisonville-North Hopkins has beaten University Heights, Christian County and Hopkins County Central. A home loss to Henderson County is their only regional defeat in nine games.

 

5. Christian County (10-8): The Colonels went 2-1 for the week. They lost by five to Henderson County despite another double-double, this one for 23 points and 10 rebounds, from Derrell Bateman. They defeated a pair of Indiana squads at the Banterra Bank Warrior Showcase. Bateman leads the team with 17.9 ppg and 10.8 rpg. Christian County has played eight out-of-state teams and has piled up the losses, but the Colonels have beaten University Heights and Hopkinsville. Their in-state losses have come against the likes of Lyon County, Madisonville-North Hopkins, Paducah Tilghman and Bowling Green.

 

6. Hopkinsville (6-11): The Tigers put up some big numbers while going 1-2 for the week. They lost in a rout to Warren Central and split two games against Indiana teams at the Banterra Bank Warrior Showcase. Antonio Williams had a monster double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds against Warren Central. KeiMarion Smith led with 18 points. Williams scored 32 and added 17 rebounds in a 99-59 win against Evansville Bosse (IN), stopping a four-game losing streak. Williams is averaging 20.2 ppg and 11 rpg.  DeTravious Leavell scored a team-high 26 points, double his scoring average, in a loss against Castle (IN). Beat Owensboro earlier in the season and also beat Webster County. Have losses of 11 points or fewer against Madisonville-North Hopkins, Ohio County, Henderson County and McCracken County.

 

7. Webster County (7-8): The Trojans beat Trigg County in their only game. They beat Crittenden County by 25 in December but have only three wins against state teams with winning records.

 

8. Hopkins County Central (7-8): The Storm lost to Apollo in their only contest. They have wins against Trigg County and Union County.

 

9. Crittenden County (7-10): The Rockets went 1-2 with a win against Caldwell County and a loss to University Heights at the Second Region All "A" Classic. They also lost to Trinity (Whitesville). They have beaten Trigg County.

 

10. Trigg County (9-8): The Wildcats lost to Webster County in the only game of the week. Beat Union County by 16 earlier in the season.

 

11. Union County (7-8): The Braves lost to Madisonville-North Hopkins in their lone game. They have beaten Livingston Central.

 

12. Livingston Central (5-10): The Cardinals lost to Heritage Christian in the only game of the week. They have defeated Dawson Springs, Caldwell County and Fort Campbell.

 

13. Dawson Springs (6-13): Went 1-1 with a win against Fort Campbell and an overtime loss to Heritage Christian at the Second Region All "A" Classic. Has beaten Caldwell County and Fort Campbell.

 

14. Caldwell County (3-10): The Tigers fell in their only contest, losing to Crittenden County at the Second Region All "A" Classic. Beat Fort Campbell by one earlier in the season.

 

15. Fort Campbell (3-10): The Falcons lost their only game of the week to Dawson Springs at the Second Region All "A" Classic.

The region's top five scorers, according to the KHSAA top 50 list (through Monday):

Travis Perry, Lyon County 30.3
TaMarcus Eaves, Madisonville-North Hopkins 21.4
Antonio Williams, Hopkinsville 20.2
Gerard Thomas, Henderson County 19.5
Brady Shoulders, Lyon County 19.1

*Only teams having no more than two missing stat reports at compilation time are included.