15th Region: Week 3

[DearToday]

The Cardinals remain the top dog in the region. They are starting to pick up steam and continue to roll behind the hot hand of Parker Watts and Bryson Dials. Lawrence has shown they’re no slouch either going 7-1 so far and also perfect on the week. PCC showed they’re capable of beating top region teams behind the hot hand of Jaden Stewart who is one of the regions best. Floyd Central and Pikeville both had disappointing weeks and saw drops in the rankings. Phelps got a big region win and saw themselves jump a few spots. Prestonsburg is still in search of their first win of this young season. 

Week 3 Rankings: 

1. Martin County (7-1): The Cardinals had no let down this week as they extended their win streak to five games by going 3-0 on the week. They beat Shelby Valley by 33, Rowan County by 2, and Shelby County by 40. In the Rowan County win, Parker Watts led the way with 25 and Bryson Dials put up a solid 24. Martin Co is looking like the team to beat so far in the 15th. This week they will play at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus in a tournament. They start things off Friday against Lennard FL, then depending on how that goes will show who they play the rest of the weekend. 

2. Lawrence County (7-1): The Bulldogs only setback on the year has been to Pikeville, but they also had a perfect week going 3-0. This included a 17 point win over Prestonsburg, a 16 point win over West Carter, and a 9 point win at Rusell. Kaiden Harris went off in the Pburg game going for 35 and 5. Hayden Perry had a nice game against Russell going for 33 and 8. Lawrence has a tremendous 1-2 punch. Right now the KHSAA schedule has Lawrence playing today against Portsmouth OH, then a bunch of TBA’s for the weekend. I’m not sure if they’re going somewhere this weekend, but we will revisit this next week in the recap. 

3. Betsy Lane (6-2): The Bobcats also went perfect on the week at 2-0 and extending their win streak to four games. This week's games included a 26 point win over Leslie Co and a 23 point win over West Carter. In the Leslie game Cameron Pente went off for 29 and 7, while Carter Parsons poured in 13 and 4. BL has a slow week as their only scheduled game right now is at LCA on Friday at 4:30. 

4. Pike County Central (3-4): The Hawks went 2-1 on the week but had probably the biggest win in the region. They dropped a 3 point OT game to Tug Valley to start the week. But responded in a big way in the PIT. They beat Pikeville by 8 at their home place, then beat CEC UL by 16 in the next game. The win over Pikeville shows PCC has the talent to make a run and be a dark horse contender within the region. Jaden Stewart is one of the best players in the region and always gives them a shot. He had 28 and 14 in the loss to Tug Valley. PCC has a slower week this week as they only have Tates Creek on the schedule for Friday. It is the State Farm Holiday Basketball Tournament at East Jessamine so more games may follow as the weekend progresses. 

5. Pikeville (4-2): The Panthers had a very bland week going 1-1, with a loss to Pike County Central and a win over CEC UL. Neither game has the stats uploaded yet to look at. After starting off 3-0 looking like one of the region favorites, they have now dropped 2 of their last three with the two being region games. It’s the beginning of the season so there’s no reason to hit the panic button yet as Coach Elisha Justice has shown he can coach in big time games, but you would much rather be winning these games right now as opposed to losing them. I’m not sure if Pikeville will play this week. The schedule has them listed for 3 TBA games at Not Listed from Thursday to Saturday, so we will comment on this next week. 

6. Paintsville (5-3): Paintsville went 2-1 on the week and had a nice week. The first was a 26 point beat down over region foe Floyd Central, and their second win was a 11 point win over Riverside SC. Their lone loss was a 6 point game to Campbell County. The Floyd Central game showed a lot about the middle of the pack teams in the region. Brock Woods had 22, Ethan Cole had 21, Jase Kinner had 13, and Anderson Lauffer had 13 in the win. A very balanced scoring effort which saw the whole team shoot 52% on the game. A very nice win for the tigers. Paintsville is off this week according to the schedule. 

7. Shelby Valley (6-2): The Wildcats went 1-1 on the week. Their loss was to region favorite Martin County by 33. A game you would’ve liked to have seen them be a little more competitive in to show they can hang at the top of the region. They did bounce back nicely though with a 41 point win over Monterey TN. Coach, get your stats in if you’re reading BGP!  Shelby Valley is back in action Thursday against Rye Cove VA at UVA Wise. 

8. Johnson Central (3-3): The Golden Eagles 2-1 on the week with a 47 point dominating win over Magoffin, a 7 point win over Riverside SC, and then a 10 point loss to Campbell Co. Austin Slone had 28 and 4 in the loss to Campbell Co. They shot just 20% from the free throw line in the loss going 2-10. If they can get that straightened out this will put them in a better position to win these bigger games. JC has one game on the schedule for this week and that's Andalusia AL at Arnold on Friday.  

9. Floyd Central (4-3): The Jaguars went 0-2 on the week and took the biggest drop. They have now lost 3 of their last 4. This week saw them get blown out by Paintsville by 26, and then by Campbell County by 18. The schedule has three TBA games for the week. Not sure if they will play again till they play PCC after the new year. The Jaguars need to turn things around quickly.

10. Belfry (4-5): The Pirates went .500 on the week with wins over Tolsia and Jackson County, and then losses to Paintsville and Bell County. The biggest win for the young Pirates was over Jackson County who is a middle of the road team in the 13th. In the win Jaxon Estridge had 16, Matthew Little had 15, Bryce Hagy had 13, Ethan Diles had 13, and Carter Jude had 10. It’s always a good sight to see all your starters finish with double digits. Belfry plays Barbourville tonight in a winnable game, then Shroder OH Friday and Magoffin County on Saturday. 

11. Magoffin (3-5): The Horneys went 2-1 on the week with wins over East Ridge and June Buchanan, before getting blown out by Johnson Central. They play Prestonsburg and Belfry this week which should give clarity to the back half of the rankings. 

12. Phelps (3-3): The Hornets went 2-1 on the week with a big region win over East Ridge, a win over West Green TN, and a loss to Cherokee TN. Phelps plays again on Friday against Tolsia WV. 

13. East Ridge (3-7): The Warriors dropped all four games on the week, this time to Phelps, Holmes, Raceland, and Fairview. They are off this week according to the KHSAA schedule.

14. Prestonsburg (0-5): The Blackcats went winless on the week dropping their only game to Lawrence County. They don’t play again till Friday where they play Magoffin County, then Shroder OH the day after. 

[theguru]

Bump.