This week's rankings saw a significant amount of shakeup in the top half with no movement in the bottom. I expect that volatility in the top ten to continue as the tiers shake out, new players get adjusted to their teams, and rosters get completed with football now coming to an end. Some general and thoughts and things to consider to start. First, Boyle County is going to just float around in the rankings until they get consistency. I considered their football players when ranking them in the preseason. However, these week by week rankings have to consider the team on the floor. Obviously help is coming soon, but we cannot ignore a thrashing like the one they took to Adair County. So they fall this week. I think we are also trying to define the group of teams that can win the region. I think I would have put it at six in the preseason. That would have ruled out Rockcastle, Lincoln, Danville, and Southwestern (as well as the teams ranked below them). I think those four teams specifically have a chance to really assert themselves into that conversation but they have a lot to prove. Now, onto the first edition of the weekly rankings:

1. Mercer County - This may very well may be there only week at number 1 or they may make a habit out of it. They have a big week in region looming up after this week but look for them to extend their initial winning streak this week when they play Western Hills and Jackson County. Trevor Ellis opened up the season with back to back 20 plus point performances and the Titans now are sitting at 3 - 0 as they defeated Somerset, Taylor County, and Clay County.

2. Wayne County - It was a drastically different story in the two games the Cardinals won last week. Kendall & Kayden Phillips combined for 41 points in an absolute beat down of Garrard County 83 to 42. However, the Phillips duo were held to 5 points a piece against Whitley County in which Wayne was still able to grind out the win behind Seth Farmer's 14 points and 10 rebounds. Those are two very different ways to win a ball game and, for now, we will chalk that up as a positive for the Cardinals. But single digit nights from Kendall Phillips may spell trouble if they happen with any regularity. They host Taylor County and Southwestern this week.

3. Pulaski County - If we learned anything last week, Will Blankenship and Zak Anderson are going to be trouble for opposing team's offenses. We know that Pulaski has arguably the best point guard in the region in Carson Fraley. They just needed to replace the pieces around him. It looks like that may have happened and, if so, that vaults the Maroons into the contender discussion. They defeated three storied programs in Madison Central, West Jessamine and Jeffersontown. That's an amazing first week, even if those three teams listed aren't necessarily at their peak. This week they face McCreary Central and Casey County.

4. Danville Christian - DCA is still a contender. And Woodford County is a great team in their own right. But when you lose your opening game at home to a team that lost one of the best talents in the state to transfer and is having to reclaim their identity, you don't get to hang on to the top spot. DCA rebounded from that loss to Woodford County with a 77 to 40 blowout victory over East Jessamine, so the first week wasn't all bad. They go on the road to Evangel Christian and Lincoln County this week.

5. Somerset - The good news - Indred Whitaker, Ben Godby & Aedyn Absher are really good. The bad news - Coach Young is looking to fill the gap after them still. They fell to Mercer County and defeated East Jessamine, both at home. They face West Jessamine, Rockcastle County and Danville this week. These three games should be a nice test to see if the triumvirate of scoring can expect help in the points column or if they will have to continue to carry the water.

6. Rockcastle County - Walker Craig scored 33 in the Rockets' lone game of opening week, a 62 to 44 victory over McCreary Central. They face Danville and Somerset this week, two teams who will give them (and Mr. Craig specifically) a harder time.

7. Boyle County - The aforementioned Rebels sit at seventh after their blowout loss to Adair County. Let's name some names in the scoring column because they won't appear too frequently now that the state champion football team is about to send over most of the basketball roster to Coach Webb. Harper Webb had 12, Owen Wheeler had 10, Seneca Driver and Kylar Goodin each had 9, and Collier Sexton had two points. None of those five appeared in a game for the Rebels last year. They face Southwestern and Harrison County this week.

8. Danville - Tryston Ford's Ads took Tates Creek to overtime and fell by 2 but were able to come back and beat another Fayette public school in Dunbar as they beat the Bulldogs 71 to 59 at East Jessamine. Trevarion Paige recorded 23 points in the loss to Tates Creek. In addition to Paige, the Admirals also have Ontario Hill,  Braidin Baughman, DyiRon Moody, and Braylon Guest standing out early this year. They have an incredibly busy week coming up as they play Rockcastle County, Paris, McCreary Central and Somerset.

9. Southwestern - The Warriors started the season out with a trio of wins over Berea, Campbellsville, and Casey County. Connor Hudson has 53 points over those first three victories. Boyle, Wayne County, and Greenwood are on the schedule this week.

10. Lincoln County - The Pats opened up the season with a pair of losses, falling to Lafayette and Harrison County. The long distance shots are not falling consistently as they went 7 of 32 for the first two games. That will need to be rectified if they are going to find success this year. They face Henry Clay and Danville Christian this week.

11. East Jessamine - The Jaguars started the week (and the season) off with a win over Scott County but proceeded to lose to Somerset and DCA. This week they face the Wellspring Guardians and the Burgin Bulldogs. Miyo Jones is averaging over 20 points per game through the first three so it will be interesting to see what numbers he can put up this week against weaker opponents.

12. West Jessamine - The Coach Taylor Harper Era started off with losses to Harrison County and Pulaski County but Ethan Little was able to guide the Colts to Coach Harper's first win, the victory coming over Johnson Central. They face Somerset and Sayre this week. 

13. Trinity Christian - The Titans defeated Model and St. Pats but fell to Montgomery County. Alan Coffman had 28 in the win over Model. They face Frankfort, Robertson County, and Casey County this week.

14. Casey County - Casey fell to Southwestern but defeated the homeschooled Kentucky Christian Knights. Reegan Randolph is averaging a clean 20 points per game through the first two contests. They face Burgin, Pulaski and Trinity Christian this week.

15. McCreary Central - The Raiders dropped games to South Laurel and Rockcastle County. They face Pulaski County and Danville this week.

16. Garrard County - Damarion Boatley is averaging 15 points per game as the Golden Lions bested Frankfort but fell hard to Wayne County. They face Somerset Christian, Bryan Station and Whitley County this week.

17. Somerset Christian - So far so good as the Cougars defeated Lynn Camp and Burgin. They play Garrard County and Williamsburg this week.

18. Burgin - The Bulldogs fell to Anderson County, Francis Parker and Somerset Christian last week. They face Casey County and East Jessamine this week.

19. Kentucky School for the Deaf - The Colonels fell to Fairdale in their opening game. They were lead by Dakota Cox with 27. KSD travels to Covington Latin before hosting the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf.

Regarding Wayne, I think Kendall Phillips only took 4 shots in that game. Did he get hurt or get in foul trouble? Can’t imagine a scenario where he only takes 5 shots under normal circumstances.

Somerset should get the same benefit of the doubt as far as football goes.  They went to state-semis, and all 3 of those guys they're getting will start or be rotation guys.  They will continue to to improve as they get more practice and game reps.  Good write-up. 

Danville may be the early surprise of the region for me.  Coach Ford has the boys playing much better than anyone thought. 

20 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

Somerset should get the same benefit of the doubt as far as football goes.  They went to state-semis, and all 3 of those guys they're getting will start or be rotation guys.  They will continue to to improve as they get more practice and game reps.  Good write-up. 

The situation with Boyle and the situation with Somerset are not the same. Whitaker and Godby drive that Briar Jumper team. Will they get better with further additions? Yep. But at Boyle, you literally had the entire team against Adair made up of players who had NEVER experienced playing in a varsity game. Somerset slipped one spot and it was because they got passed up by Mercer, the team that beat them. I think Somerset gets better but the Boyle team against Adair will not be seen again this year.

19 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

Danville may be the early surprise of the region for me.  Coach Ford has the boys playing much better than anyone thought. 

Agreed 1000 percent. I am really excited to see what this team does.

58 minutes ago, se7ens said:

The situation with Boyle and the situation with Somerset are not the same. Whitaker and Godby drive that Briar Jumper team. Will they get better with further additions? Yep. But at Boyle, you literally had the entire team against Adair made up of players who had NEVER experienced playing in a varsity game. Somerset slipped one spot and it was because they got passed up by Mercer, the team that beat them. I think Somerset gets better but the Boyle team against Adair will not be seen again this year.

PG/QB- Bruner, Post/DL-OL- Bartley, SG/WR-Lewis.  Not the same, but the “filling the gap” pieces you mentioned.  Just thought I’d add some context.  I wasn’t arguing them falling in rankings.  They should, but Somerset will be a much different team in the coming weeks IMO.  

1 hour ago, se7ens said:

Agreed 1000 percent. I am really excited to see what this team does.

I’ve been really impressed with Coach Ford observing him helping Coach Mason past few seasons on bench.  Clifford Berry helping him is a seasoned coach as well. 

17 hours ago, LethalPG said:

Danville may be the early surprise of the region for me.  Coach Ford has the boys playing much better than anyone thought. 

Agreed.  Wasn't sure what to expect from this bunch this year as I figured it was a rebuilding year so I entered last week with low expectations.  But Ford has come bursting out of the gates with this team.  Serving under Judie Mason for a few years is never bad training for a head coaching job either!