4th Region Week 6 Review and Rankings

1) Bowling Green (13-4) - 1/2 88-39 W #15 Russellville, 1/5 82-38 W #2 South Warren, 1/6 68-56 W Henderson County    
Previous Rank: 1    
This Week: 1/9 vs. #11 Franklin-Simpson, 1/12 vs. #8 Greenwood, 1/13 vs. Nashville Ensworth (TN) (at Greenwood)    
    
2) Warren Central (3-5) - 1/2 74-87 L at Lyon County, 1/5 82-61 W at #5 Greenwood, 1/6 87-68 W at Wayne County    
Previous Rank: 7    
This Week: 1/9 vs. #4 Barren County, 1/12 at #7 South Warren, 1/13 vs. Taylor County    
    
3) Russell County (8-6) - 1/2 69-60 W at #10 Monroe County, 1/4 56-70 L Adair County    
Previous Rank: 3    
This Week: 1/8 at Southwestern    
    
4) Barren County (10-3) - 1/2 67-51 W at #2 South Warren, 1/5 60-55 W at #6 Warren East, 1/6 62-49 W Whites Creek (TN) (at Bowling Green)    
Previous Rank: 4    
This Week: 1/9 at #2 Warren Central, 1/12 vs. #12 Glasgow    
    
5) Warren East (9-5) - 1/2 64-60 W at #8 Cumberland County, 1/5 55-60 L #4 Barren County    
Previous Rank: 6    
This Week: 1/12 vs. DeSales (at Owensboro Sportscenter)    
    
6) Cumberland County (9-7) - 1/2 60-64 L #6 Warren East, 1/6 69-64 OT W Apollo    
Previous Rank: 8    
This Week: 1/8 at #13 Todd County Central    
    
7) South Warren (7-6) - 1/2 51-67 L #4 Barren County, 1/5 38-82 L at #1 Bowling Green    
Previous Rank: 2    
This Week: 1/12 vs. #2 Warren Central    
    
8. Greenwood (9-6) - 1/2 82-47 W at #17 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/5 61-82 L #7 Warren Central, 1/6 50-67 L Owensboro (at Bowling Green)    
Previous Rank: 5    
This Week: 1/9 at Butler County, 1/12 at #1 Bowling Green, 1/13 vs. Kirkwood (TN)    
    
9) Clinton County (8-8) - 1/2 53-65 at Pickett County (TN), 1/5 67-49 W #16 Metcalfe County, 1/6 59-62 L WEB DuBois    
Previous Rank: 9    
This Week: 1/11 vs. TBA (All A)    
    
10) Monroe County (9-5) - 1/2 60-69 L #3 Russell County, 1/4 64-57 W at Campbellsville    
Previous Rank: 10    
This Week: 1/8 vs. #18 Foundation Christian Academy    
    
11) Franklin-Simpson (7-6) - 1/5 64-61 W at #11 Todd County Central    
Previous Rank: 13    
This Week: 1/9 at #1 Bowling Green    
    
12) Glasgow (5-8) - 1/2 69-58 W Hart County, 1/5 42-33 W at #17 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/6 64-67 L Ohio County (at Bowling Green)    
Previous Rank: 12    
This Week: 1/12 at #4 Barren County    
    
13) Todd County Central (7-6) - 1/5 61-64 L #13 Franklin-Simpson    
Previous Rank: 11    
This Week: 1/8 vs. #6 Cumberland County, 1/12 at #14 Logan County    
    
14) Logan County (8-6) - 1/5 72-70 OT W #15 Russellville    
Previous Rank: 14    
This Week: 1/9 at Edmonson County, 1/12 vs. #13 Todd County Central    
    
15) Russellville (2-12) - 1/2 39-88 L at #1 Bowling Green, 1/5 70-72 OT L at #14 Logan County    
Previous Rank: 15    
This Week: 1/8 vs. #16 Metcalfe County    
    
16) Metcalfe County (4-10) - 1/2 70-88 L at Green County, 1/5 49-67 L at #9 Clinton County    
Previous Rank: 16    
This Week: 1/8 at #15 Russellville    
    
17) Allen County-Scottsville (2-12) - 1/2 47-82 L #5 Greenwood, 1/5 33-42 L #12 Glasgow    
Previous Rank: 17    
This Week: 1/9 vs. Westmoreland (TN)    
    
18) Foundation Christian Academy (6-5) - 1/5 44-58 L at Christian Education Consortium, 1/6 42-39 W at Cornerstone Christian    
Previous Rank: 18    
This Week: 1/8 vs. #10 Monroe County    

Notes

-And we're back! We return from the holiday break to find probably not as much shuffling as you'd think.

-Bowling Green continues to cement their status as the top dog of the region.  Over the break, Bowling Green placed 4th in the prestigious King of the Bluegrass tournament, which included a team over state power Trinity, before falling to the KOB runner-up Little Rock Central (AR).  They've rebounded from that with six wins in a row, including winning the Buccaneer Bash tournament in Florida.  But most significant is what they did to the region competition they played this week, beating Russellville and South Warren by a combined 93 points.  They exceeded 82 points in each of those games, the 3rd and 4th time they've done that this year. That already is their most such games since their Sweet 16 season in 2021. They should continue to roll this week, as they host Franklin-Simpson and Greenwood.  In their last 197 games against 4th Region competition other than Warren Central, they are 192-5. 

-Speaking of Warren Central, I did mention after their disastrous first week that we'd rate that version of Warren Central as they are, not who they are expected to be.  Well, this is who Warren Central is, and that version is #2, even at 3-5.  The Dragons have received their reinforcements, as three players returned to the team, including Kade Unseld and Elijah Starks.  The duo have combined for an average of 38.3 PPG in the three games they've played, and the Dragons have not scored below 74 points in any of their three games.  Particularly notable was their blowout of Greenwood by 21 points at Greenwood, snapping the Gator's four game winning streak.  Central will get an immediate opportunity to justify this ranking, as they host Barren County on Tuesday.  The Trojans have not won at Warren Central since 1996, losing 11 in a row at the Dragons.

-Russell County supporters are likely to be the ones with the most beef with the ranking of Central, as they own a ten point win over the Dragons from the start of December.  But they continue to win the games that truly matter, as they moved to 3-0 in 16th District play with a 69-60 win at #10 Monroe County.  That gives the Lakers two road wins in district play, always critical in a district race.  They have still not met the other team that sits at 3-0 in district play - Cumberland County - and those two teams still don't meet until January 23rd.  With Clinton County sitting at 3-2, and both Monroe County and Metcalfe County having 3+ losses in district play, those games between the Lakers and Panthers have all the appearances of deciding the top seed in the district.  Russell County did finish as runners-up in the Monticello Bank Classic at Wayne County over the break, and they are just two wins shy of their total for all of last year.

-Barren County has a stranglehold on the top seed in the 15th District, as they are out to 3-0 in district play, but that includes a season sweep over Warren East as the Trojans grabbed a 60-55 win on the road this past Friday.  Incredibly, they can realistically lock the top spot up this coming Friday when they host Glasgow.  A win there would put them at 4-0 in district play, with the tiebreaker over Warren East in hand and Glasgow already with three district losses.  It's just realistically because technically, Allen County-Scottsville could finish at 4-2 as they've just played two district games so far.  In this reality, that is never going to happen.  Barren County will have to not get caught peeking as they play at Warren Central on Tuesday.

-Checking in on how the individuals in the region rate against the rest of the state, several players appear in the top 50 of KHSAA's stat categories.
--Todd County Central's Jamison Glass is #2 in the state in per game scoring, averaging 30.8 points per game.
--Metcalfe County's Cade Button is #21 in the state in per game scoring, averaging 24.6 PPG, and also rates #17 in free throw percentage, shoowing 85.5% from the line.
--Bowling Green big man Mason Ritter is #30 in the state in field goal percentage at 64.9%.
--Warren Central's Drevin Bratton also rates int he top 50 in field goal percentage, coming in at #49 with 62.8%.  He also is tied for #36 in rebounds per game with 9.9 per.
--Barren County has a pair of sharpshooters in William Compton and Tate Spillman, #25 and #42 in the state in made threes per game, respectively.  Compton averages 3.3 makes per game while Spillman averages 3 per game.  
--Joining Button on the free throw percentage leaders list are Glasgow's John Carter Walbert (#4, 88.5%), Logan County's Samson Hightower (#5, 88.1%), and South Warren's Griffin Rardin (T-#35, 82.9%).
--Finally, joining Bratton on the rebounding leader list are Cumberland County's Zachery Harwood (#18, 11.2 RPG), Clinton County's Cannon Young (#32, 10.1 RPG), and Monroe County's Branson Williams (T-#36, 9.9 RPG)

-Games to circle this week are #4 Barren County at #2 Warren Central, #13 Todd County Central at #14 Logan County, and #8 Greenwood stepping out of the region to visit 3rd Region standout Butler County.  Also, Warren East makes the trip to Owensboro to participate in the 2A Classic as they meet state power DeSales.