2nd Region Week 8 Review

**Basketball Jones** · January 22, 2023

The region is solidifying its order as there are no changes to the rankings. The toughest decisions were deciding between Lyon County and University Heights at No. 1 and deciding between Webster County and Hopkins County Central at No. 7. Lyon County continues to get a lot of scoring from sources other than the hot-shooting Travis Perry. University Heights heads to the All "A" Classic state tournament riding a six-game winning streak. Those two teams remain tied at No. 1. Gerard Thomas continued to shine for Henderson County, averaging 20 ppg last week. Another hot team is Crittenden County, which has won three games in a row. Madisonville-North Hopkins has hit a rough patch, losing four straight and six of nine after an 11-1 start.

Regional Rankings:

1. Lyon County (16-5) The defending regional tournament champion won both games last week, beating Webster County, 89-79 and crushing Trigg County, 80-38. The Lyons have won five of their last six. They are 8-1 versus regional competition and 5-0 against the Fifth District. Travis Perry led the way against Webster County with 33 points, padding the second-highest point total in state history. Perry shot 3-for-7 from 3-point range, 10-for-15 from inside the arc and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He is averaging 30.4 ppg and shooting 50.7 percent from the field, 45 percent on 3s and 88.4 percent from the line. The kid can absolutely shoot the basketball from anywhere like few high school juniors can. Jack Reddick added 23 points against Webster. Brady Shoulders had a double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds.

1. University Heights (11-6): The 2021 regional champion went 2-0 at home, beating Hopkins County Central, 78-51, with 16 points from Trevonne Wallace,

and taking down Madisonville-North Hopkins, 62-41, extending its winning streak. The Blazers are 7-2 against the region and 0-1 vs. the Eighth District, the loss coming against Christian County. This week, University Heights will be making its 26th All "A" Classic state tournament appearance. The Blazers play 16th Region champ Raceland in a first-round contest Jan. 26 at Eastern Kentucky University. They will be well-tested. They have also beaten Lyon County, Henderson County and Murray. Their two regional losses have come by one at Madisonville-North Hopkins and by two at Christian County. Their four other losses came against McCracken County, Bowling Green, Owensboro and Ohio County.

3. Henderson County (14-6): The Colonels went 2-1 for the week, losing to Castle (IN) and beating Daviess County, 74-43, and Evansville Central (IN), 80-59. Gerard Thomas had the high scoring game of the week with 26 points vs. Evansville Central. Henderson County beat Madisonville-North Hopkins by 21 on the road in December and are 4-1 in regional action, with the lone loss to University Heights. They have not played in-district yet. They have some nice wins outside the region. They beat 17-4 Calloway County by 21 and beat 17-4 Ohio County by 17.

4. Madisonville-North Hopkins (14-7): Yikes, the Maroons nearly doubled their season loss total in a matter of days with a surprising 0-3 week. They lost 65-50 at home to Hopkinsville, lost 62-41 at University Heights and fell to LaRue County, 82-69, at the Nathan McCurry Classic at John Hardin. The Maroons have previous wins over University Heights, Christian County and Hopkins County Central. Coming into the week, a home loss to Henderson County was their only regional defeat, but they are now 8-3 in the region (3-0 in the Seventh District).

5. Christian County (11-9): The Colonels went 1-1 for the week, losing to twice-beaten McCracken County, 58-52, and beating Hopkinsville for the second time this season, this one by 30. The Colonels have also beaten University Heights, but they have won more than two games in a row only once this season with a three-game winning streak in December. Their in-state losses have come against the likes of Lyon County, Madisonville-North Hopkins, Paducah Tilghman and Bowling Green. They are 4-3 versus the region and 3-0 in Sixth District play.

6. Hopkinsville (7-12): The Tigers went 1-1 with a win over Madisonville-North Hopkins and a loss to Christian County for the second time this season. Beat Owensboro earlier in the season and also beat regional mate Webster County, but the Madisonville-North Hopkins win is probably the most impressive. The returning regional runner-up has losses of 11 points or fewer against Madisonville-North Hopkins, Ohio County, Henderson County and McCracken County. The Tigers have also lost to Murray, Warren Central, DeSales and Bowling Green twice, so it's not like they have shied away from top-notch competition. Twelve losses are a lot of losses, true. But man, look who've they've come against. And they haven't lost to a bad team. Beat Webster County by 10 in December.

7. Webster County (9-9): The Trojans lost to Lyon County by 10 and defeated Union County and Caldwell County. They beat Crittenden County and Trigg County earlier in the season but not a lot of quality wins here.

8. Hopkins County Central (9-9): The Storm had a 2-1 week with victories against Caldwell County and Trinity (Whitesville) and a loss to University Heights. They have wins against Trigg County and Union County, keeping the Storm above those squads, but they don't have a lot of big wins, although they did beat 14-6 McLean County on the road in December.

9. Crittenden County (10-10): Lookout! The Rockets went 3-0 last week, beating Livingston Central, Christian Fellowship and Trigg County for the second time this season. Suddenly, they have a .500 winning percentage, with a previous win over Union, as well. They are 4-1 vs. the Fifth District.

10. Trigg County (9-10): The Wildcats went 0-2 with losses to Crittenden County and Lyon County and fell below .500. Beat Union County by 16 earlier in the season.

11. Union County (8-9): The Braves finished 1-1 for the week, with a second win of the season over Livingston Central and a loss to Webster County.

12. Livingston Central (5-13): The Cardinals went 0-3 with losses to Carlisle County, Union County and Crittenden County, extending their losing streak to five. They have defeated Dawson Springs, Caldwell County and Fort Campbell.

13. Dawson Springs (8-14): Went 2-1 with wins against Paducah Community Christian and Cloverport and a 51-37 home loss to Caldwell County. Beat Caldwell County by two in an earlier meeting and has beaten Fort Campbell three times.

14. Caldwell County (4-13): The Tigers went 1-3, losing to Marshall County, Hopkins County Central and Webster County but managing a win against Dawson Springs. Beat Fort Campbell by one earlier in the season.

15. Fort Campbell (4-12): The Falcons went 1-2 against out-of-state schools at the Superman Classic in Metropolis, Ill. They beat Century (IL), capping their stay, after losing to Charleston (MO) and Carterville (IL).