6th Region Week 9 Review

[Basketball Jones]

6th Region Week 9 Review

 

Last week, I wrote that a nice run at the All "A" Classic state tournament by then-No. 2 Evangel Christian coupled with another loss by then-No. 1 Western would switch them in the rankings. That's exactly what happened, and then some. Western was soundly beaten by DeSales during an 0-2 week. Evangel Christian won the small-school state tournament in impressive fashion behind junior guard Christian Doerr who averaged 22.5 points per game. So, meet the new No. 1: Evangel Christian. There are no other changes in the rankings although DeSales tried to make some noise.

 

Regional Rankings:

 

1. Evangel Christian (20-3): What a week for the Eagles and Christian Doerr. The Eagles went 4-0 and won the All "A" Classic state championship with wins against Murray, Martin County, Owen County and a 65-62 win over Covington Holy Cross in the final, all in McBrayer Arena at Eastern Kentucky University. Doerr led the team in scoring every game. He scored 19 points against Murray. He had 22 vs. Owen County. He dropped in 31 against Martin County and Kyran Tilley added 26. Doerr scored 18 in the final, but did not earn MVP honors, losing out to high-scoring Jacob Meyer of Holy Cross who scored a single-game record 49 points in the final and averaged nearly 40 points at the event. Doerr, Tilley and teammate Cyr Malonga were named all-tournament. The Eagles are 6-0 vs. the region and 4-0 against the 23rd District. Their best regional win came against Pleasure Ridge Park. Outside the region, they have beaten Lincoln County, St. Xavier and Elizabethtown.

 

2. Western (15-7): The decidedly unhot Warriors have suddenly lost four of their last five games. After getting upset the previous week by Jeffersontown, they took it on the chin last week against DeSales, 74-52, and Indianapolis Cathedral, 63-49. They are 5-6 since the 10-1 start. They have beaten Trinity and Elizabethtown out of the region and are 5-3 against mostly solid out-of-state competition. Until the Jan. 13 loss to Male, their only loss to a Kentucky team was against Warren Central. Western is now 5-2 against regional competition. Last season the Wariors beat Pleasure Ridge Park by one in overtime. They play each other in the regular season finale Feb. 17.

 

3. Pleasure Ridge Park (16-3): The Panthers won their only game, beating Portland Christian with 16 points each from Keith Robinson and Jacob Dixon. PRP is 8-1 against the region, including wins against Holy Cross and Jeffersontown. Outside the region, the Panthers have beaten St. Xavier and DuPont Manual, and that's about it. But they did beat Butler by 34 in last season's regional tournament and they haven't lost to DeSales since 2016 so for now, they rank higher than those two teams.

 

4. Butler (16-6): The Bears won their only game, dropping DeSales at home by 20 with 20 points from Terry Walker, nearly double his season average. They have beaten DeSales by at least 20 points in two of their last three meetings. Beat DeSales last season by 21 and 10. They have also beaten Male, Ballard and Fleming County this season. Four losses have come against Mason County, Eastern, Male and LaRue County.

 

5. DeSales (15-7): The Colts went 2-1, defeating Western, 74-52, losing to Butler, 68-48, and beating Christian Academy-Louisville, 75-43. Julian Bunton and Tyler Klein both scored a team-high 16 points against Western and Crew Gibson had a double-double. They also have beaten Iroquois. As I have said, DeSales and Butler have probably played the most challenging schedules of any of the teams in the top five but you can't ignore the fact that PRP has been a major pain to both squads in the past. That said, either Butler or DeSales are capable of winning the region.

 

6. Iroquois (14-8): The Raiders won their only contest, beating Bullitt Central. Have yet to win a district game in three tries but defeated Holy Cross by 18.

 

7. Holy Cross (14-7): The Cougars were idle last week. They haven't played since Jan. 20. They have beaten Fairdale and Beth Haven.

 

8. Fern Creek (10-10): Some positives here. The Tigers went 2-0 last week, beating WEB DuBois and a 14-7 Elizabethtown squad with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds from Camren Trice and 15 points from Noah Glover. The Tigers have beaten Trinity, too. The previous week, they beat Jeffersontown. They have won three games in a row. As I've said, Fern Creek thrashed Fairdale by 30 last season. So Fairdale pretty much has to beat Fern Creek to be ranked ahead of them despite the better overall record right now. They play. Feb. 7.

 

9. Fairdale (16-6): The Bulldogs finished the week 2-0 with victories against North Bullitt and Brown. Jacob Tucker erupted for 33 points against North Bullitt. He had 21 vs. Brown. The 'Dogs have won six straight. They have beaten Beth Haven twice and Jeffersontown.

 

10. Jeffersontown (8-9): The Chargers lost their only game to DuPont Manual. They are 6-4 since the 2-5 start. They have beaten Western. Also beat Bullitt East.

 

11. Beth Haven (16-7): The Bearcats went 2-1, beating the home school Christian Educational Consortium and Kentucky Country Day and losing to 8-12 Atherton. Yawn. They have beaten Iroquois, Lou. Holy Cross and Doss, which doesn't exactly inspire either.

 

12. Bullitt East (9-13): Enjoyed a 3-0 week, beating Shawnee, Christian Academy-Louisville and Waggener. Had lost six of eight. Has beaten Doss.

 

13. Doss (5-17): The Dragons lost to Spencer County in the only game of the week. Have beaten Moore and also beat Oldham County in a non-region game back in December.

 

14. Moore (9-13): The Mustangs went 1-1 for the week with a win over Central. They have beaten Beth Haven, Bullitt Central and North Bullitt.

 

15. Southern (8-15): The Trojans went 1-2 last week. They have beaten North Bullitt, Iroquois and Bullitt Central.

 

16. North Bullitt (9-12): The Eagles' only game of the week was a loss to Fairdale. North Bullitt has split two games vs. Bullitt Central.

 

17. Bullitt Central (3-19): The Cougars went 1-2 on the week.

 

18. Valley (0-16): The Vikings were 0-2 last week.

 

19. Whitefield Academy (6-14): Went 1-2 for the week.

[coachb110]

Another nice summary of the weeks action!  Thanks!