A week filled with holiday tournaments produced some exciting games, interesting out of region matchups and some standout performances but not a whole lot of surprises. Let’s jump right into the rankings.

1. Somerset - Playing in George Rogers Clark’s WinCity Classic, the Jumpers lost to Rowan County but defeated Lafayette behind Indred Whitaker’s 28 points. They play in Pineville’s Chain Rock Classic this week.

2. Pulaski County - The Maroons fell twice in overtime at the Gateway Holiday Classic, once to host Montgomery County and once to Taft of Ohio. They defeated The Carmel School from Virginia. They are off this week.

3. Wayne County - The Cardinals won the McCreary Invitational with convincing wins over Clinton County and Knox Central and a squeaker in the title game over Clay County. Antajuan Dumphord had 14 points and 10 rebounds alongside Kendall Phillips’ 18 points in the win over Clay. They host the Monticello Bank Classic this week where they open with Harlan.

4. Danville Christian - The Warriors notched a win over district for Boyle County 44 to 33 behind Emmanuel Dut’s 14 points and 9 boards. They play in the legendary Ashland Invitational Tournament this week, opening up with Morgan County.

5. Mercer County - The Titans had a rough week at LCA in the Jim Rose Classic, losing to the host school as well as Henderson County and Deltona of Florida. Trevor Ellis is still averaging a double double. They host their own holiday classic this week, opening with Franklin County.

6. Rockcastle County - The Rockets defeated Greenwood behind Walker Craig’s 20 points but fell to South Laurel and Corbin, all in South Laurel’s Legacy Nissan Dribble Drive Challenge. They play in the Smoky Mountain Classic in Gatlinburg this week.

7. Lincoln County - The Patriots continue to improve from their rough start to the season, getting a 2-1 performance out of the Gateway Classic with wins over host Montgomery County and The Carmel School (VA) but losing to Bishop Sullivan Classic (VA). They play in Madison Central’s Richmond Car and Truck Holiday Classic this week.

8. East Jessamine - The Jaguars got a big win over Southwestern before getting swept out of the bcbs Holiday Classic at South Warren. They play in Campbellsville’s Holiday Classic this week.

9. Southwestern- The Warriors fell to East Jessamine and Madison Central. They play in the Borderline Classic this week.

10. Boyle County - Boyle fell to DCA and Henry Clay. They open up with Western Hills in the Mercer County Holiday Classic this week.

11. McCreary County Central

12. Danville

13. Trinity Christian 

14. West Jessamine 

15. Somerset Christian

16. Garrard County

17. Casey County

18. Burgin

19. Kentucky School for the Deaf

I think the top 6 is the top 6, but I’m not sure how Pulaski is at #2 with a loss this past week to a not very good Montgomery County team. That’s the same Montgomery team that lost to Lincoln by 20 a few days later. Pulaski did beat Wayne by double figures a few weeks ago but, outside of that, I just don’t see a reason to put them that high. At least until they get Fraley back. 

Right now, I think Somerset and Wayne are a little above the rest of the field. Then I’d put Mercer, DCA & Rock, then Pulaski. And I say that knowing that Mercer and Rock didn’t fare well the week before Christmas. There’s just not much daylight between any of these teams. Once Fraley gets back for Pulaski, I think any of those 6 could win the 12th this year.

Teams 7-12 are a level above those 13 and lower, but I don’t think any have a legitimate shot to make a run in the postseason. Not to say they couldn’t pull off an upset, but I don’t think they could win back to back games in the regional tournament.

Don't look now, but the Patriots are trending up.  Somerset was without Ben Godby for their last two games.  He should be back this week for their post-Christmas tournament.

Aedyn Absher SO. Guard for Somerset is really emerging as a quality secondary scorer/playmaker for the Jumpers.  He's avg. close to 12 per game and shooting 47% from the 3 PT Line.

Danville Christian is 2nd in the state in team defense (giving up only 42 PPG). 

A third of the way through and at this time I think any of the eight teams that get in the region tournament have a shot to win it. Every team has a significant weakness that could be their downfall in a three game stretch and the one that is able to correct or hide theirs between now and March will win it. The 47th is still at this time the top district. How would you like to win your district and then draw the runner up from there?  45th still has a lot of talent and if Boyle gets theirs firing on all cylinders will be a factor. Lincoln is already heading in the direction we all thought Coach Jackson would have them headed. 46th and 48th are probably still two team races with Mercer and Wayne leading. East and Southwestern in the runner up spots for now. I think some teams have challenged themselves early, DCA, Boyle, Somerset, and Mercer especially, playing top teams in the region as well as in the state. We will see how that plays out in preparing them for the end of the season. It will be interesting to see where we stand in another 10 games or so. 

2 minutes ago, BasketballFan24 said:

A third of the way through and at this time I think any of the eight teams that get in the region tournament have a shot to win it. Every team has a significant weakness that could be their downfall in a three game stretch and the one that is able to correct or hide theirs between now and March will win it. The 47th is still at this time the top district. How would you like to win your district and then draw the runner up from there?  45th still has a lot of talent and if Boyle gets theirs firing on all cylinders will be a factor. Lincoln is already heading in the direction we all thought Coach Jackson would have them headed. 46th and 48th are probably still two team races with Mercer and Wayne leading. East and Southwestern in the runner up spots for now. I think some teams have challenged themselves early, DCA, Boyle, Somerset, and Mercer especially, playing top teams in the region as well as in the state. We will see how that plays out in preparing them for the end of the season. It will be interesting to see where we stand in another 10 games or so. 

Love all these takes.  The only difference I would say is Southwestern is not a given in 48th.  Mccreary and Somerset Christian has already played them really tough.  I think Boyle will start playing better, but their lack of shooting worries me.  They need to make games track meets, and should once conditioning improves. 

1 hour ago, LethalPG said:

Don't look now, but the Patriots are trending up.  Somerset was without Ben Godby for their last two games.  He should be back this week for their post-Christmas tournament.

Theyll always be better than you think, but they don’t have enough to win it. Given how Boyle looks, they could be the other team in the 45th to make region. But that’s about all they can realistically be expected to do. 

1 hour ago, LethalPG said:

Danville Christian is 2nd in the state in team defense (giving up only 42 PPG). 

They’re playing a very methodical style this year. That explains a lot of that number. Up tempo teams are going to give up more points and vice versa. I’m not saying they’re not good defensively, but that stat alone isn’t a very good indicator of a team’s quality of defense.

10 minutes ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

Theyll always be better than you think, but they don’t have enough to win it. Given how Boyle looks, they could be the other team in the 45th to make region. But that’s about all they can realistically be expected to do. 

Worst teams than them have won this region before…And the region is down overall.  Definitely not my pick, but just ruling them out is not wise. 

7 minutes ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

They’re playing a very methodical style this year. That explains a lot of that number. Up tempo teams are going to give up more points and vice versa. I’m not saying they’re not good defensively, but that stat alone isn’t a very good indicator of a team’s quality of defense.

I would say playing physical M2M defense and having a shot blocker protect the paint factors in too…PPG is a great indicator for team defense… They’ve played some good teams as I.E. Evangel Christian. 

49 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

Love all these takes.  The only difference I would say is Southwestern is not a given in 48th.  Mccreary and Somerset Christian has already played them really tough.  I think Boyle will start playing better, but their lack of shooting worries me.  They need to make games track meets, and should once conditioning improves. 

Boyle isn’t any worse off this year in terms of 3 point shooters. They have Turner back and he’s a year older. He shot 35% last year and If they get him more (quality) looks, they should shoot better from three as a team than they did last year (29% overall). I also think the addition of Bixler gives them a better second option from deep than they had last year.

Point being I think they have some kids that can shoot it well enough if they get quality looks. But they don’t have the roster where they should try to be a 3 point shooting team. Nor did they last year.

 

7 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

I would say playing physical M2M defense and having a shot blocker protect the paint factors in too…PPG is a great indicator for team defense… They’ve played some good teams as I.E. Evangel Christian. 

I’m not saying it doesn’t fit them. I think it’s wise of them to change to that being their default, and I do think they’ve looked good defensively. I’ve just never liked points allowed being a measure of the quality of D. You almost never see a high scoring offensive team fare well in that measure. It’d be tough for them to do so just due to the number of possessions their opponents will have relative to the team that plays a slow pace.

 

55 minutes ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

Boyle isn’t any worse off this year in terms of 3 point shooters. They have Turner back and he’s a year older. He shot 35% last year and If they get him more (quality) looks, they should shoot better from three as a team than they did last year (29% overall). I also think the addition of Bixler gives them a better second option from deep than they had last year.

Point being I think they have some kids that can shoot it well enough if they get quality looks. But they don’t have the roster where they should try to be a 3 point shooting team. Nor did they last year.

 

I agree with you.  They did have Jakei Tarter cleaning up around the basket.  That hole is pretty glaring right now for them.  

2 hours ago, LethalPG said:

I agree with you.  They did have Jakei Tarter cleaning up around the basket.  That hole is pretty glaring right now for them.  

Just looked it up and Tarter averaged 14 RPG last year and had 19 in their regional game. That’s Rodman like numbers. That level of a rebounder just can't’ be replaced.