It’s hard to put much stock into results yet, only being 1 week into the season, but being able to watch several teams play this week and seeing some highlights from other games has helped. Week 2 should help crystalize rankings a little more. But after week 1, I would put the region into about 4 tiers. The top tier is going to be Green, Adair and Larue County. These are the front runners for regional champion. The second tier would be Caverna, Central Hardin, Taylor County and North Hardin. These teams could be contenders.  The third tier would be teams ranked 8-13. These teams will win a few games, be competitive in some games, but will probably not make much noise come regional tournament time. The last tier, teams 14-18, well it looks like it will be a long season for those teams.

A couple of things of note:

-Green County is as good as advertised. The two transfer players are difference makers for them and take them from a team that had a chance to compete to a team that should be considered regional favorites.

-Adair County will be just fine as well. They had an early slip-up against Cumberland County, who is a good team in the 4^th region, but they looked like the Adair County team I expected against Taylor County.

-Elizabethtown starts the season 0-3. This is the worse start to a season for the Panthers since 2021-22 season, where they started 0-5. That season they ended up losing in the regional finals in overtime.

-I thought John Hardin and Thomas Nelson would be much improved, and while I do think they will get better than they were last season, my expectations I believe were too high. I am not convinced from what I’ve seen this week that they will win many more games than they did last season.

-Washington County did not score more than 40 points in either of their games this week (37,32). Scoring will be problematic for them, which will make winning that much more difficult.

-There are a number of district games this week that will begin shaping up the seeding for districts. I’m certain that there are always district games early in the season, but it seems that there are more this year than in previous years. Maybe not, maybe just my thinking, but sure does feel that way to me.

Rankings

1.      Green County (3-0) Results- W-Barren County 69-38, Logan County 69-52, Doss 93-56
Games this Week- at Marion County, Caverna, Butler

 

2.      Adair County (3-1) Results- W- Elizabethtown 79-72, L- Cumberland County 77-82, W-Taylor County 77-50, Bullitt East 77-50
Games this Week- at Campbellsville, at Barren County
 

3.      Larue County (1-1) Results- W- Collins 58-55, L- South Warren 82-88
Games this Week- at North Hardin, at Hart, at Barren County
 

4.      Caverna (2-1) Results- W- Fort Knox 86-69, Hart County 73-56, L-Lyon County 50-61
Games this Week- Barren County, at Green County, Mercer County (at Bardstown)
 

5.      Taylor County (2-1) Results- W- Doss 65-28, Bethlehem 80-60, L- Adair County 55-87
Games this Week- Wayne County, Marion County, at Bardstown
 

6.      Central Hardin (3-0) Results- W-Breckinridge County 74-56, Apollo 64-56,  Thomas Nelson 78-62
Games this Week- at John Hardin, at Elizabethtown, Russell County (at Green County)
 

7.      North Hardin (0-1) Results- L- Danville Christian 65-70
Games this Week- Larue County, at Fort Knox, Greenwood (at Barren County)
 

8.      Bethlehem (2-1) Results- L-Taylor County 60-80, W- Nelson County 62-61,  Iroquois 59-43
Games this Week- Washington County, at Thomas Nelson, Grayson County (at Green County)
 

9.      Bardstown (2-1) Results- L- South Oldham 54-80, W- John Hardin 81-67,  Hopkinsville 66-54
Games this Week- at Nelson County, Taylor County
 

10.  Marion County (2-1) Results- W- North Hardin Classical 95-15, Campbellsville 49-42, L- Apollo 42-45
Games this Week- Green County, at Taylor County, at Whitley County
 

11.  Elizabethtown (0-3) Results- L- Adair County 72-79, Grayson County 61-62,  Barren County 56-70
Games this Week- Bowling Green, Central Hardin, at Fort Knox
 

12.  Hart County (0-2) Results L-Russell County 63-90, Caverna 56-73
Games this Week- Franklin Simpson, Campbellsville, Larue County
 

13.  Nelson County (0-2) Results L- North Bullitt 52-82, Bethlehem 61-62
Games this Week- Breckinridge County, Bardstown
 

14.  Campbellsville (0-2) Results L- Marion County 42-49, Warren East 62-65
Games this Week- at Hart County, Adair County
 

15.  John Hardin (0-2) Results L- Bullitt East 55-74, Bardstown 67-81
Games this Week- at Hancock County, Central Hardin, WEB DuBois
 

16.  Washington County (0-2) Results L- Grayson County 37-63, Anderson County 32-68
Games this Week- at Bullitt Central, at Bethlehem
 

17.  Thomas Nelson (1-2) Results W- Brown 76-48, L- Garrard County 48-56,

Central Hardin 62-78
Games this Week- Edmonson County, Bethlehem, TBA at Richmond Model
 

18.  Fort Knox (0-2) Results- L- Caverna 69-86, Edmonson County 56-75
Games this Week- North Hardin, Elizabethtown

I said in their last game thread. Green County’s region to lose. Eric James is the best player the 5th Region has seen in a while.

Taylor’s Adair County loss was surprising to me. Not that they lost but the margin. Did they have everyone healthy and playing?

14 hours ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

Taylor’s Adair County loss was surprising to me. Not that they lost but the margin. Did they have everyone healthy and playing?

I was surprised by the margin as well. Taylor hasn't listed any stats for that game and I haven't been able to find any video of it either, but I'm not aware of anyone being out. 

This game was over in the 1st quarter.  Taylor looked rattled from the tip.

Adair came out looking like they did at the end of last season. You could tell the loss to Cumberland was the wake up call they needed and had them refocused. They took Taylor County's Davier White out of anything he wanted to do and their offense got anything it wanted. If they play like they did Friday it'll be hard for anyone in the region to beat them. Loy was the best player on the court and their was quiet a few really good players out there including Cochran, Lyons and White.