11th Region Week 12 Review

 

Lexington Catholic finishes the regular season No. 1 in the regional rankings. The Knights are the only team in the region to go unbeaten against regional competition. Lexington Catholic, No. 2 Great Crossing and No. 3 Frederick Douglass went unbeaten against their districts. The temptation for much of the back half of the season has been to move Frederick Douglass into the top two especially as the winning streak got longer and longer. But I wasn't able to justify dropping a team that beat the Broncos behind the Broncos, and that's what I would be doing if I decided to put Great Crossing (or LexCath) behind Frederick Douglass. The top three all enter the postseason riding winning streaks of various lengths. The district tournaments start today. Individually, the KABC named Madison Central's Jaylen Davis and LexCath's Reece Potter region co-players of the year and Wes Scarberry of Frederick Douglass coach of the year.

 

Regional Rankings:

 

1. Lexington Catholic (28-2, 12-0, 8-0 43rd): The Knights went 2-0 the final week, beating Lincoln County with 22 points and 10 rebounds from Reece Potter and Franklin County. They have beaten Great Crossing by nine, Frederick Douglass by 12 and Lexington Christian by 28. They ended the regular season on a nine-game winning streak. Their only losses have come against North Laurel and Mason County. Other wins include Trinity, Bowling Green, Lyon County, North Oldham, Male, Harrison County and Calloway County. The top-seeded Knights await Monday's 43rd District tournament first-round winner of Paul Laurence Dunbar vs. Lafayette in Tuesday's semifinals at LexCath.

 

2. Great Crossing (25-5, 12-1, 7-0 41st): The Warhawks wrapped up the regular season with victories against Madison Southern and Oldham County for a season-ending four-game winning streak. Malachi Moreno had 27 points and 12 rebounds versus Madison Southern. They won 12 of their final 14 games. Their losses have come against Covington Catholic, Warren Central, George Rogers Clark, Lexington Catholic and Grant County. They also beat George Rogers Clark plus Ashland Blazer, Lyon County, Covington Holy Cross and Spencer County. They crushed Frederick Douglass by 18! The top-seeded Warhawks await Monday's 41st District tournament first-round winner of Frankfort Christian vs. Franklin County in Tuesday's semifinals at Western Hills.

 

3. Frederick Douglass (26-2, 15-2, 9-0 42nd): Two more victories for the Broncos with relatively easy wins against Bryan Station and Lafayette to stretch the winning streak to 23. Melo Boone and Kai Simpson scored 22 points each against Bryan Station. The Broncos have beaten George Rogers Clark during the streak. Their only losses are to rankings leaders Great Crossing and Lexington Catholic, who are much more battle-tested than Frederick Douglass. The top-seeded Broncos await Monday's 42nd District tournament first-round winner of Henry Clay vs. Bryan Station in Tuesday's semifinals at Frederick Douglass.

 

4. Lexington Christian (22-8, 11-3, 5-3 43rd): The Eagles went 2-1, beating Bourbon County and Franklin County but losing to South Laurel. Anderson Green scored a team weekly high 25 points vs. Bourbon County. They won seven of their final nine and have beaten Madison Central. Play Tates Creek in the district semis.

 

5. Madison Central (16-14, 7-4, 1-0 44th): The Indians went 1-1, beating South Laurel with 26 points from Jaylen Davis and losing to Covington Catholic despite 16 from Davis, who averaged 20 points for the week and a team-best 21.8 on the season. As I've been saying, they handed Warren Central its only loss 60-43 but that came with point guard Hagan Harrison who left the team after the Dec. 29 Bowling Green game. The Indians are 11-8 following his departure (they were 5-6 with him) as Davis, Robby Todd (13.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg) and Jayden West (12.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg) all stepped up after the sudden change. They won six of their final nine games. Central beat Madison Southern by 20 with their original PG. If Central wins the region, Davis, Todd and West not to mention Eli Steele (4.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg) should be decorated as basketball heroes at their school. None of them missed a regular season game and all four finished top-5 on the team in scoring and rebounding. They play Model in the district semifinals Monday at EKU.

 

6. Madison Southern (18-12, 3-2, 1-1 44th): The Eagles lost to Great Crossing and Bracken County the final week and dropped five of their final seven games. Braden Hudson and Jay Rose scored 20 points apiece against Great Crossing. The Eagles don't play much in-region with just three regional wins including Model and Paul Laurence Dunbar twice. But out of region they have beaten South Laurel, Estill County and Pulaski County twice. Play Berea in the district semis.

 

7. Sayre (19-11, 10-6, 4-4 42nd): The Spartans went 2-0 with wins over Wolfe County and Berea. Ian Reesor scored 21 points against Wolfe Co. They have two wins each against Henry Clay, Scott County and Frankfort in the region but have just two wins against Kentucky non-region teams with winning records (Estill County and East Carter). They play Scott County in the district semis.

 

8. Henry Clay (16-14, 10-8, 2-6 42nd): The Blue Devils went 3-0 last week, taking down Tates Creek, Lafayette and Williamstown. Konlin Brown averaged 20 ppg over the final two contests. The Blue Devils ended the season on a five-game winning streak that came after a 4-11 stretch. They have beaten Butler, Sayre and Western Hills in the region and Conner, Highlands and Butler out of the region. Play Brian Station in a first-round district contest.

 

9. Western Hills (16-10, 9-5, 6-2 41st): The red-hot Wolverines beat Beth Haven with 17 points and seven rebounds from Will Wilder in their only game for their ninth win in 10 games and 12th in 14. They have region wins against Sayre, Scott County and Tates Creek. They pay Frankfort in the district tournament semis.

 

10. Scott County (10-20, 4-9, 3-6 42nd): The Cardinals lost to George Rogers Clark despite 21 points and 11 rebounds from Nick Mosby in their only game the final week. They have beaten Bryan Station, Lafayette and Henry Clay twice in the region and that's it.

 

11. Paul Laurence Dunbar (9-20, 5-12, 3-5 43rd): The Bulldogs went 1-1 losing to Christian County in quadruple overtime despite 38 points from Nick Spalding and beating Bryan Station for the second time to stop a six-game losing streak. They have also beaten Tates Creek. The Bulldogs take on Lafayette in a first-round district contest at LexCath.

 

12. Tates Creek (11-17, 5-10, 3-5 43rd): The Commodores went 1-1 with a loss to Henry Clay and a win over Garrard County. They have previous wins over Bryan Station and Paul Laurence Dunbar. They have also beaten Lafayette twice and Franklin County.

 

13. Bryan Station (10-18, 6-9, 3-5 42nd): The Defenders went 1-2 for the week. They have a win against Western Hills and two against Sayre.

 

14. Lafayette (9-21, 2-15, 1-7 43rd): The Generals were 0-2 for the week, losing to Henry Clay and Frederick Douglass. Their two regional wins came against Lexington Christian and Franklin County.

 

15. Franklin County (10-17, 2-12, 2-5 41st): The Flyers went 0-2 vs. the season-ending Lexington gauntlet, falling to Lexington Christian and Lexington Catholic on the road. Their only regional wins are against Frankfort and Frankfort Christian.

 

16. Frankfort (15-12, 5-9, 3-6 41st): The Panthers won their last two games. Among five regional wins are Lafayette, Franklin County, Model and Frankfort Christian twice.

 

17. Model (13-16, 1-3, 1-1 44th): The Patriots were 1-2 last week.

 

18. Frankfort Christian (11-19, 1-6, 0-5 41st): The Royals finished the week 0-1.

 

19. Berea (9-21, 0-4, 0-1 44th): The Pirates went 0-2 the final week.

11th Region Top Scorers

Noah Sowders Frankfort Christian 25.6
Caleb Hack, Frankfort 23.8
Jay Rose, Madison Southern 21.5
Nick Spalding, Paul Laurence Dunbar 21.4
Jaylen Davis, Madison Central 21.4
Walter Campbell, Western Hills 19.7
Javeon Campbell, Western Hills 19.2
Reece Potter, Lexington Catholic 18.0