With only 3 full weeks left in the regular season, the districts are starting to take shape. By the end of the week, we should have the seedings decided. This week’s ratings were more difficult than usual to determine. I try to consider week-to-week rankings, head-to-head matchups, overall record, record that week, and then who I just think are the best teams. This week’s ratings don’t reflect that as much as I’d hope for them to do.

1.       Taylor County (19-3)

Taylor County continues it’s winning ways, and one win shy of the 20-win mark on the season. They take a 5-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s game against Adair County. With their win against Campbellsville last week, they secured the number 1 seed for the 20^th district. They travel to Adair County on Tuesday night and then host Doss on Saturday.

2.       Washington County (16-7)

The Commanders had an impressive come from behind win against Lexington Christian at the All A State tournament. I thought with a win in that game, they would be able to make it to the semi-finals against Evangel, but that was not to be. It was a disappointing loss to Owen County in the quarterfinals. Washington County is off until Friday, they host Bluegrass United, a Lexington homeschool team.

3.       Elizabethtown (13-7)

The Panthers have all but clinched the number 1 seed in the 17^th district. As long as they don’t falter to John Hardin this week, they’ll be sitting in a good spot and play the winner of the 4/5 game which will be John Hardin and Fort Knox. Etown defeated North Hardin and Fort Knox this past week. They host John Hardin and Bardstown this week and take on Dupont Manuel to close out the week.

4.       Larue County (14-6)

Larue County needs one win in it’s next two district games to secure the 18^th district. They were supposed to play Hart on Monday night in a game that has been cancelled due to weather. They’ll meet up with Caverna on Friday night and then they host Louisville Eastern on Saturday.

5.       Adair County (17-5)

The Indians crack the top 5 for the first time this season. They have quietly been getting it done in Columbia. They get a rematch this week with top ranked Taylor County. Taylor defeated Adair by 28 on December 13^th. With this game being at Adair and the Indians playing quite a bit better, this should be an excellent game to watch. The Indians only other game will be an important game as well as they travel to Campbellsville.

6.       Central Hardin (13-11)

The Bruins are maybe the most confusing team in the region to me. They should be a top 3 team in the region. But based on record and head-to-head, 6 is probably a generous ranking. They beat Marion County by 33 but then dropped a district game to North Hardin (their 2^nd loss to North) and then a 16-point loss to Warren East. They’ll play Fort Knox on Tuesday, and then they travel to Knightstown Indiana for a very cool experience where they’ll play two games in the Hoosiers Gym, the gymnasium used to film the movie, Hoosiers. They’ll play Newport Central Catholic and Atherton.

7.       Caverna (16-8)

Caverna goes 0-2 this week, with a 20-point loss to Larue County. They’ll get a chance to do better than that quickly as they play them again on Friday in their only game this week. Caverna also lost to Bethlehem.

8.       North Hardin (11-9)

The Trojans should probably be ranked higher. They lost to Etown on Tuesday, but rebounded with a win over Central Hardin. That should set them up as the 2 seed in the 17^th district and set up a rematch between them and Central Hardin. North plays PRP, host their final district game against John Hardin and then close the week with Spencer County.

9.       Bethlehem (12-9)

The Eagles big win this week came against Caverna. They also defeated Brown. They matchup against Bardstown on Tuesday night to determine the 2/3 seeds. It will also guarantee that those two teams play again. The Eagles will also be traveling to Knightstown Indiana. They’ll face Newport Central Catholic as well.

10.   Hart County (9-9)

The Raiders continue to play .500 basketball. They went 1-1 this week. The Raiders most important matchup this week comes on Friday, when they travel to Greensburg for a game against Green County. The Raiders need the win to stay out of the 4 seed and guarantee a first round matchup with Larue County.

11.   Green County (9-12)

The Dragons went 2-1 this week, and played pretty good basketball with the exception of their loss to Larue County. As mentioned above, the Dragons host Hart County on Friday night. If Green wants any chance to advance to the regional tournament they need to win on Friday.

12.   Bardstown (8-10)

Bardstown has a busy week on the road this week with 3 away games. They meet Bethlehem to determine the 2/3 seed, travel to Etown on Friday night and then to Kentucky State to play Tates Creek. The Tigers have a 3 game winning streak that they’ll try and extend.

13.   Campbellsville (8-13)

Campbellsville has been heading in the wrong direction lately. With losses last week to Clinton and Taylor Counties, their losing streak sits at 6. They have a chance to snap that skid with a game against Marion County at home on Tuesday night. Friday night they host Adair County and Saturday they play at Larue County against Edmonson County.

14.   Nelson County (6-15)

Nelson County goes 1-2 on the week. A 4-point win against Bullitt Central was a good start to the week, but then disappointing efforts against Bardstown and Green County to finish out the week. Nelson County goes on the road 3 times this week with games at Hart County, Model (Richmond) and Marion County

15.   John Hardin (2-20)

The Bulldogs defeated Fort Knox to pick up their 2^nd win of the season. Instead of a 2-point loss, this time it was a 14-point win. John has a grueling schedule to close out their season. 7 games left that consist of road games at Etown, North Hardin, Trinity and Lyon County. Home games against Eastern and Washington County. A win in any of those games would be huge for the Bulldogs. They end the season against Marion County.

16.   Fort Knox (5-12)

The Golden Eagles picked up a win against Portland Christian but dropped games to John Hardin and Etown. They host Central Hardin and then travel to Whitefield Academy this week.

17.   Thomas Nelson (2-19)

It would be hard to say that this week was more disappointing than any other week for the Generals as hardly anything has gone right this season, but in a week where I thought they had a chance to win 3 games, they ended up losing all 3 games. It’s been a long season for first year head coach Terrence Miles.

18.   Marion County (1-19)

Another coach that it’s been a long season for is Maze Stallworth. The Knights lost 3 times last week, their closest defeat was 9 points. Add into the mix the off-court team chemistry issues that seem to be happening and I would imagine Coach Stallworth is thinking the end of this season can’t come fast enough. The Knights are on a 8-game losing streak.

 

Central Hardin should never be a hard team to figure out. With their current coach they are a 500% team every year. They will never win a Region title unless the AD starts taking this program seriously and goes out and makes a coaching hire with a proven track record. Thirty- two years without a Region Championship is both stunning and sad for a school that has a yearly enrollment of around 1,800 students.