As we wrap up January and sprint towards the post-season, district matchups continue to give us fantastic games and individual performances. The number 1 stays the same this week, but we do have some movement underneath.

Rankings

1. Lincoln County - The Patriots continue to cement themselves as the standalone contender in the region. They had three terrific wins last week, two of them coming in district, as they defeated DCA, Madison Central, and Garrard County. This week features two rematch district seeding games with Boyle County, who previously fell to Lincoln by six, and DCA, who just lost to the Patriots this past week by seven. Jackson Sims will look to recreate his double-double from his last game against the Warriors.

2. West Jessamine - The Colts picked up two more district wins over Trinity Christian and Mercer County. They play another seeding game against East Jessamine this week as well as a trip to Boyle County and a showdown against Moore out of Louisville at Mercer County.

3. Pulaski County - The Maroons picked up wins over Clinton County and Tates Creek but the one the region stood up and took notice of was the overtime loss to Somerset. They play just one game this week, a road matchup against Harlan County.

4. Danville - The Ads fell to eventual All A state runner-up Holy Cross and bounced back with a win over Barbourville. They are back in district play this week with games against Garrard County and Danville Christian.

5. Wayne County - After starting the week off with a win over Somerset Christian, the Cardinals suffered their first loss to a regional opponent since December 13th when they fell to Southwestern in overtime. Kendall Phillips scored 27 in the loss but Mason Burchett was limited to 6 points. They play McCreary Central twice this week with Casey County sandwiched between.

6. Somerset - A huge win over Pulaski made up the entirety of the Briar Jumpers schedule last week. They look to ride the momentum off the win against McCreary Central and Southwestern, both games at home. Indred Whitaker had 39 points against the Maroons and Ben Godby added 27 points and 9 rebounds.

7. McCreary Central - The Raiders fell to the York Institute by 7, Kyle Stephens being held to 16, four points under his average. They look to return to their winning ways this week with a home and home against Wayne County with Somerset in between.

8. Boyle County - The Rebels fell on the road to Collins and Madison Southern. They host a pair of contenders this week in Lincoln County and West Jessamine.

9. DCA - The Warriors fell to Lincoln County but bounced back with a win over Russell County. They get a rematch with Lincoln County this week, this time on the road, and then host another district rival in Danville.

10. Garrard County - The Golden Lions defeated Bluegrass United before falling to Lincoln County. They play Danville, Casey County and Bryan Station this week.

11. Southwestern

12. Rockcastle County

13. Mercer

14. East Jessamine

15. Somerset Christian

16. Casey County

17. Burgin

18. Trinity Christian

19. Kentucky School for the Deaf

Gut prediction- Lincoln drops one of the rematch games this week.  I would lean Boyle on the road.  As Somerset showed, anything is possible in these rivalry games.  

Danville needs to start winning some seed games, or they're going to be staring a play-in game and Lincoln Co at Lincoln Co. in the face for post-season play.

Last note---The 47th District seeding will be determined by a double coin flip.  Pulaski Co. (5-1) and Somerset (5-1) for the 1/2 seed and Casey Co. (1-5) and Rockcastle Co. (1-5) will flip for the 3/4 seed.  

My List for POY Contenders (ONLY SRs)

• Tremane Alcorn (Lincoln Co.)
• Kyle Stephens (McCreary Central)
• Cayden Lancaster (Pulaski Co.)
• Colt Ralston (Lincoln Co.)
• Barek Williams (Pulaski Co.)
• Jalen Dunn (Danville)
• Ethan Cooper (Garrard Co.)
• Ethan Willoughby (Casey Co.)
• Daniel Walters (West Jessamine)

A ton of good SRs in the region this year (Probably left off a few), but I believe the winner will come from this group.  Alcorn probably will get the nod when you factor in how successful his team has been through his career!

50 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

Last note---The 47th District seeding will be determined by a double coin flip.  Pulaski Co. (5-1) and Somerset (5-1) for the 1/2 seed and Casey Co. (1-5) and Rockcastle Co. (1-5) will flip for the 3/4 seed.  

Who hosts the 47th District this year?

38 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Who hosts the 47th District this year?

Pulaski Co.

Lincoln is deserving of first. West is finally where I thought they’d be. Danville is living dangerously with their current district seeding. I still don’t feel like Wayne is a top 5 team. Somerset is the surprise team of the year, the one that has significantly exceeded expectations. On the flip side, DCA sitting at #9 hasn’t lived up to expectations.

Lincoln and West are my favorites at this point. Pulaski also has the ability to put together enough wins to get it done. And if DCA can get back to their early season form, they could be right there as well, but they don’t have much time left to fix things.

2 hours ago, LethalPG said:

My List for POY Contenders (ONLY SRs)

• Tremane Alcorn (Lincoln Co.)
• Kyle Stephens (McCreary Central)
• Cayden Lancaster (Pulaski Co.)
• Colt Ralston (Lincoln Co.)
• Barek Williams (Pulaski Co.)
• Jalen Dunn (Danville)
• Ethan Cooper (Garrard Co.)
• Ethan Willoughby (Casey Co.)
• Daniel Walters (West Jessamine)

A ton of good SRs in the region this year (Probably left off a few), but I believe the winner will come from this group.  Alcorn probably will get the nod when you factor in how successful his team has been through his career!

I'm a huge fan of Jakei Tarters game from Boyle. High energy and motor for the entirety of the game. Great leader as well. 

44 minutes ago, DearToday said:

I'm a huge fan of Jakei Tarters game from Boyle. High energy and motor for the entirety of the game. Great leader as well. 

I haven't had the opportunity to watch Boyle since he's been back from football.  Always thought of him as a high motor/rebounder finisher (which is extremely rare in today's game).  Nothing against him, but the ones I have listed are more skilled to me.

1 hour ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

Lincoln is deserving of first. West is finally where I thought they’d be. Danville is living dangerously with their current district seeding. I still don’t feel like Wayne is a top 5 team. Somerset is the surprise team of the year, the one that has significantly exceeded expectations. On the flip side, DCA sitting at #9 hasn’t lived up to expectations.

Lincoln and West are my favorites at this point. Pulaski also has the ability to put together enough wins to get it done. And if DCA can get back to their early season form, they could be right there as well, but they don’t have much time left to fix things.

I'll be interested to see the rematch between Lincoln and DCA.  Will DCA play Zone, play M2M or a combination of both.  I still think McCreary Central is undervalued, and can do some damage in the regional tournament if they make it.  Kyle Stephens is tremendous PG.  

4 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

I haven't had the opportunity to watch Boyle since he's been back from football.  Always thought of him as a high motor/rebounder finisher (which is extremely rare in today's game).  Nothing against him, but the ones I have listed are more skilled to me.

He's the type of player that probably doesn't win awards but is an absolute must if your team is going to be successful, if that makes sense.

2 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

He's the type of player that probably doesn't win awards but is an absolute must if your team is going to be successful, if that makes sense.

I agree with that.  I'll stand by my comment, and say the winner will come from that group.  And, more than likely will be Alcorn.  Coaches who vote respect the winning factor!

Kyle Stephens is the most underrated player in the region.  Take him off McCreary Central team, and they would struggle a ton.

6 hours ago, LethalPG said:

I agree with that.  I'll stand by my comment, and say the winner will come from that group.  And, more than likely will be Alcorn.  Coaches who vote respect the winning factor!

I think you're right. As the year progressed last year, I thought Alcorn was Lincoln's best player (although Smith was the most important). Alcorn is capable of scoring and defending each position and like you said, is just a winner. I'd have no problem with him being region player of the year, although again there are several excellent choices.