4th Region Week 8 Review and Rankings

[DragonFire]

1) Warren Central (19-1) - 1/17 72-41 W #3 South Warren, 1/20 57-43 W at #3 South Warren    
Previous Rank: 1    
This Week: 1/24 vs. Kenwood (TN), 1/27 vs. #12 Greenwood    
    
2) Bowling Green (19-4) - 1/17 75-47 W Muhlenberg County, 1/20 65-52 W #12 Greenwood, 1/21 61-48 W at McCracken County    
Previous Rank: 2    
This Week: 1/23 at Ohio County, 1/27 vs. #3 South Warren    
    
3) South Warren (14-4) - 1/17 41-72 L at #1 Warren Central, 1/20 43-57 L #1 Warren Central    
Previous Rank: 3    
This Week: 1/24 at #6 Warren East, 1/27 at #2 Bowling Green, 1/28 vs. #17 Logan County    
    
4) Franklin-Simpson (10-6) - 1/17 61-51 W #12 Greenwood, 1/20 70-36 W at #15 Logan County    
Previous Rank: 4    
This Week: 1/24 vs. #16 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/27 at #8 Todd County Central    
    
5) Barren County (13-8) - 1/17 48-74 L at Pulaski County, 1/20 63-35 W #17 Allen County-Scottsville    
Previous Rank: 5    
This Week: 1/24 at #9 Russellville, 1/27 vs. #14 Glasgow    
    
6) Warren East (9-6) - 1/17 54-24 W #18 Foundation Christian Academy, 1/21 58-60 OT L Daviess County    
Previous Rank: 6    
This Week: 1/24 vs. #3 South Warren, 1/27 vs. Central Hardin, 1/28 vs. Russellville    
    
7) Monroe County (13-7) - 1/16 74-73 2OT W #11 Clinton County, 1/19 64-54 W #7 Todd County Central, 1/20 55-59 L #16 Cumberland County    
Previous Rank: 8    
This Week: 1/24 vs. #10 Metcalfe County, 1/27 vs. Bluegrass Blazers    
    
8. Todd County Central (12-8) - 1/16 78-71 W #10 Metcalfe County, 1/19 54-64 L at #8 Monroe County    
Previous Rank: 7    
This Week: 1/23 vs. Edmonson County, 1/27 vs. #4 Franklin-Simpson, 1/28 vs. Paducah Tilghman    
    
9) Russellville (5-11) - 1/16 40-56 L at #16 Cumberland County    
Previous Rank: 9    
This Week: 1/24 vs. #5 Barren County, 1/27 at #17 Logan County, 1/28 at #6 Warren East    
    
10) Metcalfe County (7-11) - 1/16 71-78 L at #7 Todd County Central, 1/20 71-56 W Somerset, 1/21 at Adair County    
Previous Rank: 10    
This Week: 1/24 at #7 Monroe County, 1/28 vs. John Hardin    
    
11) Clinton County (9-10) - 1/16 73-74 2OT L at #8 Monroe County, 1/21 81-91 L Madison Southern    
Previous Rank: 11    
This Week: 1/23 at Campbellsville, 1/24 at Pulaski County, 1/28 vs. #12 Greenwood    
    
12) Greenwood (6-16) - 1/17 51-61 L at #4 Franklin-Simpson, 1/20 52-65 L at #2 Bowling Green, 1/21 50-40 W Campbellsville (at John Hardin)    
Previous Rank: 12    
This Week: 1/27 at #1 Warren Central, 1/28 at #11 Clinton County    
    
13) Cumberland County (8-11) - 1/16 77-65 W #9 Russellville, 1/19 61-51 W #13 Glasgow (at Monroe County), 1/20 59-55 W at #8 Monroe County, 1/21 vs. #14 Russell County    
Previous Rank: 16    
This Week: 1/24 vs. #15 Russell County, 1/26 vs. Owensboro Catholic (at EKU)    
    
14) Glasgow (6-11) - 1/16 78-30 W at #18 Foundation Christian Academy, 1/19 51-61 L #16 Cumberland County (at Monroe County)    
Previous Rank: 13    
This Week: 1/24 at Green County, 1/27 at #5 Barren County    
    
15) Russell County (7-12) - 1/17 56-53 W at Casey County, 1/19 67-84 L at Taylor County, 1/21 vs. #16 Cumberland County    
Previous Rank: 14    
This Week: 1/24 at #13 Cumberland County    
    
16) Allen County-Scottsville (3-14) - 1/17 58-45 W at #15 Logan County, 1/20 35-63 L at #5 Barren County    
Previous Rank: 17    
This Week: 1/23 vs. Butler County, 1/24 at #4 Franklin-Simpson, 1/28 vs. Apollo    
    
17) Logan County (6-13) - 1/17 45-58 L #17 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/20 36-70 L #4 Franklin-Simpson    
Previous Rank: 15    
This Week: 1/23 at Heritage Christian, 1/27 vs. #9 Russellville, 1/28 at #3 South Warren    
    
18) Foundation Christian Academy (4-9) - 1/16 30-78 L #13 Glasgow, 1/17 24-54 L at #6 Warren East    
Previous Rank: 18    
This Week: 1/24 vs. Owensboro Knights Christian, 1/27 vs. Whitefield Academy, 1/28 vs. Somerset Christian School    

Notes

-Coming into this year's edition of the All A Regional Tournament, of the eight teams in the field, six had won an All A region title before, and in fact all had won at least one in the last eight tournaments.  One of the two that hadn't won was Foundation Christian Academy, who were competing in their very first tournament.  That left only Cumberland County as a team that had been competing year after year that had yet to grab a title.  No more.  The Panthers, who had lost all five games against teams in the field this year, won three games in five days en route to what felt like an unlikely title.  They first upset Russellville at home 77-65, scorching the nets on 56.2% shooting including going 8/15 from three, and had four players score 15+, led by Tristan Caprietta's 19 points on 8/11 shooting.  They next toppled Glasgow by a 61-51 score, winning against the Scotties for just the third time in the Riherds era (since 1998). They finished with their best win yet, knocking off semifinal and final host Monroe County 59-55, a team that they had already lost to twice this season. It was a magical run for a Cumberland County program that has not had a great deal of success in recent years, and shows just how dangerous they can be, despite the fact they will almost certainly be the #5 seed in the 16th District tournament when it begins next month.  They take on Owensboro Catholic on Thursday in the All "A" Classic.

-Monroe County's loss in the final somewhat spoils what was the most thrilling result of the tournament.  On Monday they hosted district rival Clinton County, a team they'd defeated earlier the year but had lost ten in a row to prior to that.  The two teams went back and forth with Clinton County generally having leads, but unable to get the final knockout blow to get the win.  The game took two overtimes to settle, with Branson Williams rebounding a missed corner three and banking in a short jumper for a 74-73 win.  Austen Arnett had 25 in the victory to lead the Falcons.  The two teams will meet again nine days from now in Albany, by which point the Falcons may already have wrapped up the #1 seed, depending on other results. 

-Warren Central knocked off South Warren twice in the span of four days, a scheduling oddity due to Warren Central's participation in the King of the Bluegrass tournament back in December.  The history between these two tends to show a pretty marked difference from game to game, and this was no exception.  At home on Tuesday the Dragons were dominant, winning 72-41 to remain unbeaten at home in 13 matchups with the Spartans.  That might lead one to expect a lopsided contest in the second, but the Spartans managed to control the pace and keep the game within reach through three quarters, with the game tied at 8 after one, 21-20 Warren Central at the half, and it was 33-31 entering the final quarter.  But an 11-0 run by the Dragons proved decisive, and they won 57-43 to move to 19-1 overall, pushing their win streak to ten. That is the best mark through 20 games in the history of the Dragon program. They are closing in on the first perfect January for the program.

-Bowling Green has spent this season in the shadow of Central, but have put themselves in a position to be the first 20-win team in the region with a three win week.  That included a win over rival Greenwood, who they defeated for the 17th consecutive time at home, despite a game effort from the Gators. They followed that with a win over fellow BGP-top 15 ranked McCracken County, winning on the road by a 61-48 score. They take on Ohio County tomorrow in their pursuit of their 20th win, and then they host South Warren on Friday as they look to stay alive for the top seed in the 14th District.  If they win that game, they can achieve a tie for the top spot with an upset of Warren Central the following Friday.

-Other games of note for this week - #4 Franklin-Simpson at #8 Todd County Central (Franklin-Simpson can put a stranglehold on the district's top seed with a victory), #3 South Warren at #6 Warren East (former district rivals will have their sole meeting this year, as the Raiders look to build momentum while South Warren will try not to get caught looking forward to Friday's matchup with Bowling Green), #14 Glasgow at #5 Barren County (rivalry game - a Barren County win locks up the #1 seed as they close out their district schedule), and #10 Metcalfe County at #7 Monroe County (another important 16th District game, and a Monroe County win just about makes the top seed a wrap for them).

[Purple88]

Best Basketball Thread I know right here!  

Couple things:

1.  It's still Central and everyone else.

2.  BG with a really nice road win at McCracken, but did McCracken have their starting lineup or were a couple starters still out?  Regardless, very good win.

3.  Interested to see if East can make South sweat or even upset them.  Then the Friday game, can South repeat the previous close game?

4.  Interested in the early February #3 South at #4 Franklin Simpson.  South won by 12 at South in early December.  This game should be interesting.

[Purple_Reign]

Bowling Green has played a very tough schedule this year with a young team.  As of today, 9 of their 30 games will be against BGP top 20 teams. They are 2-4 so far against the top 20 with Evangel Christan, Trinity, and Warren Central still to come with 2 of those 3 on the road. Will be interesting to see if that pays off at the end of the year, but my guess is it will be more of a benefit to next year's team.  To my knowledge they still haven't played a single game this year with their full roster available, but time is running out to get everyone healthy to compete with the well-established chemistry of the Dragons. 

[Purple88]

11 minutes ago, Purple_Reign said:

Bowling Green has played a very tough schedule this year with a young team.  As of today, 9 of their 30 games will be against BGP top 20 teams. They are 2-4 so far against the top 20 with Evangel Christan, Trinity, and Warren Central still to come with 2 of those 3 on the road. Will be interesting to see if that pays off at the end of the year, but my guess is it will be more of a benefit to next year's team.  To my knowledge they still haven't played a single game this year with their full roster available, but time is running out to get everyone healthy to compete with the well-established chemistry of the Dragons. 

This is likely spot on!  Any insight as to the likelihood of getting to full strength by the time district or region rolls around?

[Purple_Reign]

1 hour ago, Purple88 said:

This is likely spot on!  Any insight as to the likelihood of getting to full strength by the time district or region rolls around?

I think they have just been unlucky and dealt with growing pains of having a young team.  The football team advanced all the way to the state finals, so they were without a few at the start of the season (this happens most years).  Briar Griffin started a few games early and gives them a 3 and D type of player, but as of last week he was still in a walking boot.  Trevy Barber has been in and out of the team due to some disciplinary issues, but he is working his way back to playing more minutes. We know they've lost a starter/rotation player in Starks halfway through the year.  In light of Starks departure, they have leaned havily on freshman Gavin Lightning to start as their other big. Backup big Drevan Bratton missed a game for an ejection. All they are really missing now is Griffin, but not sure on his timetable to return.  I think they will just have to develop chemistry and get solid rotations down before the district tournament.  Up to this point, they've played so many different lineups and players that it's been hard for them to really get in a good flow.  This makes beating Central even more daunting when they've essentially played the same 6-7 guys more or less for 3 straight years.  They know exactly who they are and who is going to play.  Can BG figure all of that out in a month? My gut says no, but stranger things have happened. Still expect it to be these 2 in THAT game in Diddle come March. 

[Purple88]

15 minutes ago, Purple_Reign said:

I think they have just been unlucky and dealt with growing pains of having a young team.  The football team advanced all the way to the state finals, so they were without a few at the start of the season (this happens most years).  Briar Griffin started a few games early and gives them a 3 and D type of player, but as of last week he was still in a walking boot.  Trevy Barber has been in and out of the team due to some disciplinary issues, but he is working his way back to playing more minutes. We know they've lost a starter/rotation player in Starks halfway through the year.  In light of Starks departure, they have leaned havily on freshman Gavin Lightning to start as their other big. Backup big Drevan Bratton missed a game for an ejection. All they are really missing now is Griffin, but not sure on his timetable to return.  I think they will just have to develop chemistry and get solid rotations down before the district tournament.  Up to this point, they've played so many different lineups and players that it's been hard for them to really get in a good flow.  This makes beating Central even more daunting when they've essentially played the same 6-7 guys more or less for 3 straight years.  They know exactly who they are and who is going to play.  Can BG figure all of that out in a month? My gut says no, but stranger things have happened. Still expect it to be these 2 in THAT game in Diddle come March. 

GREAT Stuff here PR!  What's your take on the Ohio County game?  They are playing pretty well right now and will be up in Hartford.

[DragonFire]

13 hours ago, Purple88 said:

Best Basketball Thread I know right here!  

Couple things:

1.  It's still Central and everyone else.

2.  BG with a really nice road win at McCracken, but did McCracken have their starting lineup or were a couple starters still out?  Regardless, very good win.

3.  Interested to see if East can make South sweat or even upset them.  Then the Friday game, can South repeat the previous close game?

4.  Interested in the early February #3 South at #4 Franklin Simpson.  South won by 12 at South in early December.  This game should be interesting.

McCracken is still missing a couple of their best players, as Ian Hart (14.6 PPG) has been out for about half the season at this point, and Connor Miller (10.4 PPG) has been out since the Owensboro game (missing last five now).  It's an impediment, and likely robbed them of a realistic chance at the game.  But McCracken should also be used to being without Hart at this point - he's been out a month.  I feel like we're approaching (or past) the point where you just have to take the team as they are, which is a solid team, especially at home.  They had won 20 in a row at home, not losing since falling to Lyon County back in 2021.  So that is impressive no matter the circumstances. 

I think Warren East is definitely talented enough to make South Warren sweat.  They beat them twice last year, and there's a lot of similarities in the personnel of the two teams carrying over.  But for whatever reason, it just hasn't all seemed to click into place for the Raiders this year, at least not consistently.  Take their last game for example - they'd already beaten Daviess County this year (by 10 at South Warren in December), and that came the night after a district game.  You'd have thought they'd have it in hand at home against that same squad when Daviess County was coming off a loss two days prior and East hadn't played in four days - and that was against Foundation Christian Academy, which is a walkover.  It was surprising to me that East lost that game by two to Daviess in overtime.  I noticed their scoring balance was out of sorts again - Isaiah Andrews had 29 points of their 58.  He's a fantastic player, but they are not at their best when he is having to do that much scoring.  So all that being said, I'd expect them to give South a game, I won't consider it the greatest upset ever if they do get South, but I do not expect them to win. 

However, I WOULD be very surprised if South were to beat Bowling Green on Friday, for most of the reasons I've touched on previously.  It is very difficult to beat a team that you've never beaten and has been playing you multiple times a year for over a decade.  It's that much tougher to do it when you're not even at home.  I just saw South Warren play Warren Central twice in a week, and they were markedly better in their home game. Now, that could be because it was the second of the two games and they'd had a bit of time to adjust, but being at home cannot have hurt their cause.  I've mentioned it previously, but it bears repeating that Bowling Green rarely loses at home, even rarer that they lose at home to a team from this region, and almost non-existent that team isn't Warren Central.  They've won 81 of their last 83 games at home against region teams that weren't Warren Central (they're still 9-6 vs. Dragons too).  They lost to Barren County by four in 2018.  They lost to Barren County by 7 in 2013.  That's it, that's the list.  It is not a friendly place to try to go get your first win ever.  And it would frankly behoove South Warren that if there is any crazy adjustments that they could make to give themselves a better chance against Bowling Green to hold that back for a potential district tournament matchup.  It's not that South cannot beat Bowling Green, it just is very, very unlikely.

[DragonFire]

30 minutes ago, Purple_Reign said:

I think they have just been unlucky and dealt with growing pains of having a young team.  The football team advanced all the way to the state finals, so they were without a few at the start of the season (this happens most years).  Briar Griffin started a few games early and gives them a 3 and D type of player, but as of last week he was still in a walking boot.  Trevy Barber has been in and out of the team due to some disciplinary issues, but he is working his way back to playing more minutes. We know they've lost a starter/rotation player in Starks halfway through the year.  In light of Starks departure, they have leaned heavily on freshman Gavin Lightning to start as their other big. Backup big Drevan Bratton missed a game for an ejection. All they are really missing now is Griffin, but not sure on his timetable to return.  I think they will just have to develop chemistry and get solid rotations down before the district tournament.  Up to this point, they've played so many different lineups and players that it's been hard for them to really get in a good flow.  This makes beating Central even more daunting when they've essentially played the same 6-7 guys more or less for 3 straight years.  They know exactly who they are and who is going to play.  Can BG figure all of that out in a month? My gut says no, but stranger things have happened. Still expect it to be these 2 in THAT game in Diddle come March. 

To my eyes, Lightning is the reason that Starks found his role reduced in the first place, as his play necessitated more minutes come his way, and he has continued to build on that.  Lightning had 19 the other night against McCracken, so his ceiling is capable of giving them extremely valuable points and minutes.  He's going to have inconsistency as a freshman, but what they get out of him may be one of the major keys to any chance they have of taking Central down.

[Purple_Reign]

58 minutes ago, Purple88 said:

GREAT Stuff here PR!  What's your take on the Ohio County game?  They are playing pretty well right now and will be up in Hartford.

Will be a tough test for sure though I haven't been able to catch Ohio County this year.  They've played some similar opponents and have done better than BG in those games.  Always a tough place to play and can be a loud gym when their fans show up, which I have no doubt they will.  Could be a big step in the right direction if the Purples can escape with a win.