15th Region: Week 10

Week 10 is now over. Johnson Central has been red hot lately after a tough start to the season. Martin Co proved you can’t write them off with their win over Paintsville, but they’ve also been up and down this last half of the season. Paintsville gets a third rematch with Martin Co this week. JC gets a shot at Ashland. Pikeville gets a shot at Paintsville. This has all the recipe to be an exciting week in the mountains. Here are your rankings! 

Week 10 Rankings: 

1. Johnson Central (14-7): The Golden Eagles are your new number 1. They just capped off a perfect 4-0 week with a revenge win over Paintsville. They knocked off Powell by 16, beat HEP WV by 3, Paintsville by 14, and Magoffin by 37. They’re red hot and look to keep it rolling. Austin Slone had a monster game against HEP with 46 and 12. He dominated. They have a huge week this week with Ashland on Wednesday, Martin Co on Friday, and Pineville on Saturday. They need to at least win 2 of the 3 to keep spirits high. 

2. Martin County (15-7): The Cardinals went 1-2 this week but their one win was over Paintsville and their two losses were to out of state teams. If not for the win over Paintsville, the Cards would’ve really dropped. I’m not sure how Hurricane and South Charleston WV are so it’s tough to say if those were good or bad losses. The Paintsville win was big though. Peyton Davis had 19, and Bryson Dials had 17 in the win. Martin Co has Paintsville again this week, as well as Magoffin County, Johnson Central, and Hazard. If they can go perfect on the week they will be back at number 1 in the region. 

3. Paintsville (15-6): The Tigers cooled back off going 0-2 this week with both losses to region opponents. The first was a 3 point game to Martin County. Ethan Cole had a monster game with 38 on 17/21 shooting. The rest of the team didn’t shoot well though. They were also only 50% from the line. Then they were beat soundly by Johnson Central by 14. They get the chance to bounce back this week with Magoffin County, Martin County, Pikeville, and Prestonsburg. 

4. Lawrence County (18-6): The Bulldogs went a perfect 3-0 on the week. They won two of their games by 13 and 17, and then won their other games by 7. In the Magoffin win, Hayden Perry finished with 26 and Gunnar Woods had 22. This week they are set to play Wayne WV, Raceland, Ashland, and Pike County Central. The PCC game will be big in showing how the middle of the pack teams in the region fare. 

5. Pikeville (12-7): The Panthers are still improving after going 2-1 this week. This isn’t a team you’re going to want to play come region time. Their one loss was to Boyd County and it was only by two. They had three players score in double figures; Ian Onkst, EB Walters, and Ethan Sykes. They bounced back nicely by knocking off East Ridge by 27, and HEP WV by 6. Pikeville is starting to shape up well. They play Shelby Valley Tuesday, Paintsville on Thursday, and then Holy Cross Lou on Saturday. A win over Paintsville would be big. 

6. Pike County Central (13-8): The Hawks had a great week going 2-0. They blew Grundy VA out of the water by 41, and then had a nice 9 point win over 14th Region Breathitt County. Jaden Stewart had 32 in the win over Grundy and 28 in the win over Breathitt. He shot extremely well in both games. They have a shot to move up the rankings this week with Betsy Lane, Belfry, Ligon Cogo, and Lawrence County. 

7. Shelby Valley (12-9): The Wildcats had a great week going perfect 3-0 with all three wins over region opponents. They knocked off East Ridge by 18, Phelps by 15, and P Burg by 4. In the win over Prestonsburg, Caden Johnson had 24 and Gavin Hamilton had 21. As a team they shot a stellar 15-18 from the line. This week the Wildcats play Pikeville, Betsy Lane, and Mountain Mission School. A win over Pikeville would move them up the rankings. 

8. Betsy Lane (12-9): The Bobcats went .500 on the week, won one and dropped one. They blew out Ligon Cogo by a final of 75-45. Unfortunately for them though, they lost to Lawrence County by 17 on the road. They have a busy week ahead with five games scheduled. They begin the week with PCC on the road tonight, Belfry on the road tomorrow, PBurg at home on Thursday, Shelby Valley at home on Friday, and then Barbourville on the road Saturday unless it gets cancelled. 

9. Floyd Central (8-15): The Jaguars went 1-1 this week. I probably have them too high as they’ve gone 2-7 in their last nine games, but they beat Prestonsburg and I wasn’t sure where to rank them after the week Phelps had. Hopefully they come through tough this week. They only play East Ridge this week, and it is tonight. From there, they won’t play again till next Monday. Freshman Wesley Buck had a nice game for the Jaguars in their loss against Breathitt and went for 12 and 3. 

10. Phelps (11-11): Has the news of their HC being done after the season derailed them? Either way, the Hornets went 2-3 this week. They beat Mingo Central and Scott WV, but lost to two region opponents in Belfry and Shelby Valley. Toby Adese had a decent game for the Hornets with 27 in the loss to Belfry. One of the state's rebound leaders Tyler Weddington had 13 in the loss. Phelps plays East Ridge, Fairview, and Elliott County this week. 

11. Belfry (8-15): Belfry went 1-2 on the week with a win over Phelps and losses to two teams from WV. This week they play Betsy Lane, PCC, and Magoffin. 

12. Prestonsburg (9-11): The Blackcats had an awful week losing all three games to Betsy Lane, Floyd Central, and Shelby Valley. This week they play Jackson County, Betsy Lane, and Paintsville. 

13. Magoffin (6-16): Magoffin went 1-3 this week with their lone win over Menifee. This week they play Paintsville, Martin Co, West Carter, and Belfry. 

14. East Ridge (5-13): East Ridge went 1-2 this week with their lone win over Twin Valley VA. This week they’re set to play Floyd Central, Phelps, Morgan County, and Hurley VA.