Boyd Finds The Mountains Uninviting…. Ditto For The Tomcats In NKY…. Hickerson Beats The Buzzer…  And Despite Unseasonably Mild Temps, East Carter and Fairview Hit An Icy Patch....

 

The top two teams in the region left home for holiday tournaments that resulted in a 'Blue Christmas'. The Boyd County Lions ventured to the higher elevation of Pike County, where they promptly suffered their first loss of the season, a surprise one point setback to Pike Central. They recovered to rout Bath County on 15/27 shooting from behind the arc before being shown the door by Pikeville in a 24 point shellacking. 

In other Boyd-centric news, sophomore guard Jacob Spurlock reeled in a D1 offer from the University of South Florida. 

 

The Tomcats strayed in the other direction, sandwiching a win between two losses in northern Kentucky. Ashland got handled by rising 10th Region contender Campbell County before stopping by Fort Thomas, where the Birds were hosting the Carespring Holiday Classic. They comfortably took down Lou. Eastern, but Highlands denied the Tomcats a two game sweep, despite 27 points from Zander Carter. 

Fleming County ran the gamut of highs and lows in the Gateway Holiday Classic. The Panthers got their first taste of defeat this season to open the show, before punctuating their time in Mt. Sterling with a Seth Hickerson three at the horn to beat Taft (OH).

 

Trending ❄: East Carter's name was tossed around as a potential darkhorse contender in the region a month ago, but the results have yet to back up that position. In fact, they're moving aggressively in the other direction. The Raiders have lost six of their last seven, after being dropped by Prestonsburg and Paintsville last week. Fairview's futility of late surpasses East by one, as the Eagles are wallowing in the mire of a seven game losing streak.

 

Despite the losses by Boyd and Ashland, there's no change at the top. They've earned the benefit of the doubt until we see an accumulation of results that dictate a change. The bottom of the region is static, as well. Only some slight shifting of teams in the middle this week.

 

Sixteen For the 16th (Rankings)

1. Boyd County Lions

Record: 8-2

Weekly Results: lost to Pike CountyCentral(72-73) | beat Bath County (88-49) | lost to Pikeville (55-79)

 

2. Ashland Tomcats

Record: 6-3

Weekly Results: lost to Campbell County (59-73) | beat Lou. Eastern (70-53) | lost to Highlands (64-67)

 

3. Fleming County Panthers

Record: 9-1

Weekly Results: lost to Bishop Sullivan (VA) (62-79) | beat The Carmel School (VA) (74-68) | beat Taft (OH) (75-74)

 

4. Morgan County Cougars

Record: 8-2

Weekly Results: lost to Chattanooga Christian (TN) (74-82) | beat Harvest Prep (OH) (72-59) | beat Pineville (93-70)

 

5. Rowan County Vikings

Record: 6-4

Weekly Results: beat Somerset (68-54) | lost to George Rogers Clark (53-58) 

 

6. Greenup County Musketeers

Record: 6-6

Weekly Results: Idle last week

 

7. East Carter Raiders

Record: 4-6

Weekly Results: lost to Prestonsburg (56-66) | lost to Paintsville (57-58) 

 

8. Russell Red Devils

Record: 3-3

Weekly Results: beat Spring Valley (WV) (63-55)

 

9. Raceland Rams

Record: 4-4

Weekly Results: lost to South Webster (OH) (58-71)

 

10. Lewis County Lions

Record: 3-4

Weekly Results: Idle last week 

 

11. West Carter Comets

Record: 3-5

Weekly Results: lost to Estill County (38-66) | lost to Garrard County (39-53) | beat Lee County (61-51)

 

12. Fairview Eagles

Record: 3-9

Weekly Results: lost to Lou. Holy Cross (64-80) | lost to Marion (IL) (55-74) | lost to Graves County (41-87)

 

13. Menifee County Wildcats

Record: 4-6

Weekly Results: beat Lee County (68-49) | beat Model (44-40) | lost to Estill County (57-77)

 

14. Bath County Wildcats

Record: 1-10

Weekly Results: beat Bracken County (75-59) | lost to Pikeville (38-77) | lost to Boyd County (49-88) | lost to Pike County Central (48-83)

 

15. Elliott County Lions

Record: 1-8

Weekly Results: lost to New Boston (OH) (58-61) | beat Rose Hill (75-35)

 

16. Rose Hill Royals

Record: 2-5

Weekly Results: lost to St. Joseph Central (OH) (29-80) | lost to Elliott County (35-75)

 

Get To The Point (High Scorers For The Week)

Cameron Adams (Morgan County) - 38 against Chattanooga Christian 

Preston Hoskins (Morgan County) - 34 against Pineville 

Lake Adkins (Elliott County) - 30 against New Boston (OH)

Zander Carter (Ashland) - 27 against Highlands 

Tyson Lalonde (Ashland) - 25 against Lou. Eastern 

Jacob Spurlock (Boyd County) - 24 against Pikeville 

Boyd County lost two games to two mountain teams in which they were clear favorites. Ashland lost two games to quality northern Kentucky teams and managed a win against a good Louisville team. Giving Boyd the "benefit of the doubt" is hilarious, especially considering Ashland blew out the team that blew out Boyd County. Boyd County was and still is my pick to win the region, but they should not be the "one" right now. I guess how you perform during the "week" has no bearing on "weekly" rankings.  Hey, Devil, I appreciate the work you put into this but don't let your disdain for the Tomcats keep you from being objective.  Yes, I believe Boyd will end up on top but they are a struggling group right now and clearly not the top team in the 16th at this point in time. Heck, I would be more comfortable putting Fleming at the one right now versus Boyd. You're just rewarding them for mediocrity. Not that these rankings mean anything but if we're going to play the "weekly" game then do it from a "weekly" perspective, not how you or I think the region will end up at the end of the season. 

3 hours ago, rerun said:

Boyd County lost two games to two mountain teams in which they were clear favorites. Ashland lost two games to quality northern Kentucky teams and managed a win against a good Louisville team. Giving Boyd the "benefit of the doubt" is hilarious, especially considering Ashland blew out the team that blew out Boyd County. Boyd County was and still is my pick to win the region, but they should not be the "one" right now. I guess how you perform during the "week" has no bearing on "weekly" rankings.  Hey, Devil, I appreciate the work you put into this but don't let your disdain for the Tomcats keep you from being objective.  Yes, I believe Boyd will end up on top but they are a struggling group right now and clearly not the top team in the 16th at this point in time. Heck, I would be more comfortable putting Fleming at the one right now versus Boyd. You're just rewarding them for mediocrity. Not that these rankings mean anything but if we're going to play the "weekly" game then do it from a "weekly" perspective, not how you or I think the region will end up at the end of the season. 

When it comes to rankings, I eschew being reactionary in favor of patience. Especially when it comes to basketball in December. That was never going to jive with everyone. 

Neither team had a good week. This was the first stumble from Boyd County, and I'm not comfortable rewarding a #2 team that's coming off a 1-2 week themselves. 

Boyd left the door wide open for Ashland to move up, and they were unable to walk through it. Ashland's losses weren't bad losses, but it's not like they lost to Great Crossing and Lyon County. I'm content to give it at least another week. The AIT is just around the corner. The Tomcats have a golden opportunity to kick the door in this time and make a bullet proof case for #1.

The benefit of the doubt was not in reference to Boyd over Ashland. It's Boyd and Ashland vs. everyone else. Fleming at #1 has not been on the table yet, but their time has finally arrived. They've got a chance to throw their name into the #1 conversation this week at Lexington Catholic's holiday event. 

And where you ever got the idea that I have "disdain" for Ashland is beyond me. I deny them #1 after losing two games and now I'm suddenly biased against them?

Maybe I'm mistaken you for another Russell advocate who has openly expressed their "disdain" for anything Ashland. If that's the case then my "disdain" comment was misplaced. And I don't think you denied them anything, this is just a simple message board with opinions, I doubt we make locker room fodder for either team. I do appreciate the time you take in preparing this weekly review. 

Considering Fleming's loss was to the VA State Runner-up, I thought they move up to at least #2, but I can see the logic behind leaving them at 3.  

1 hour ago, LCDAWGS19 said:

Considering Fleming's loss was to the VA State Runner-up, I thought they move up to at least #2, but I can see the logic behind leaving them at 3.  

It's hard to tell how good they are this year, relative to last. They're currently ranked in the middle of the pack of their classification, which is a private school division of about 17-18 teams.

1 minute ago, DevilMayCare said:

It's hard to tell how good they are this year, relative to last. They're currently ranked in the middle of the pack of their classification, which is a private school division of about 17-18 teams.

Also, we'll learn a lot about Fleming County with this week's Traditional Bank Holiday Classic. Washington County is a tough draw.

I am excited to see Fleming County in the Lexington Catholic tournament and as I type this they lead a very good Washington County team. I would have to argue on paper with the wins and losses that Fleming County has to be #1 currently?