The first round of the 12th Region Tournament will be played March 5th and 6th at Lincoln County. 
 

March 5th

6:30 PM

Pulaski County vs. Lincoln County - This year’s tournament won’t waste any time getting to the good stuff. This is that one team Pulaski County didn’t want to draw.   Back on February 12th, the Patriots prevailed at home in double overtime by 2 points over the Maroons. Cash Baird had 20. The Patriots didn’t shoot particularly well, going 43 percent from the field, 23 percent from three, and 55 percent from the free throw line. Zack Anderson had 22 points and 8 rebounds. Carson Fraley played but was limited to 8 points. In a nutshell, even though it was a hyper-competitive game, both teams are capable of even better basketball. It will be fun to see who will prevail and I am sure the environment will be electric.

8:15 PM

Mercer County vs. Wayne County - The Titans clearly come into the regional as the second best choice to win behind DCA. There’s an argument to be made that they may be built better for a tournament run. Wayne County on the other hand has had the ultimate rollercoaster year - controversy in the off-season including a coaching change and transfers, high quality wins and surprising losses during the season, and turmoil off the court to start the postseason (referencing the unbelievable events of the first rift tournament). Kendall Phillips for Wayne vs. Trevor Ellis of the Titans will be fun to watch and it hasn’t been seen this year. But hard to see Wayne coming out on top here.

March 6th

6:30 PM

Southwestern vs. West Jessamine - The Warriors pulled off the rare 4 seed district tournament championship but their reward is a date with a very solid Colts team. Since January 24th when they lost to Mercer, the Colts have lost just one game - it was to Mercer again, this time by 5 last time out in the district title game. They are probably playing their best basketball. Problem for them is so is Southwestern. The Warriors defeated the Colts 60-44 at home on January 4th. One has to think this game will be a lot closer this time out.

8:15 PM

DCA vs. Somerset - This one could go a lot of ways. DCA beat the Jumpers in the All A 49-36. With DCA often scoring in the 40s and 50s and having a short bench, it leaves them vulnerable to an upset and Somerset has shown the ability to hang with the big dogs, especially when at or close to full strength. DCA is still the clear front runner to win the region but it honestly wouldn’t shock me at all if Somerset pulled this off.

1 hour ago, se7ens said:

The first round of the 12th Region Tournament will be played March 5th and 6th at Lincoln County. 
 

March 5th

6:30 PM

Pulaski County vs. Lincoln County - This year’s tournament won’t waste any time getting to the good stuff. This is that one team Pulaski County didn’t want to draw.   Back on February 12th, the Patriots prevailed at home in double overtime by 2 points over the Maroons. Cash Baird had 20. The Patriots didn’t shoot particularly well, going 43 percent from the field, 23 percent from three, and 55 percent from the free throw line. Zack Anderson had 22 points and 8 rebounds. Carson Fraley played but was limited to 8 points. In a nutshell, even though it was a hyper-competitive game, both teams are capable of even better basketball. It will be fun to see who will prevail and I am sure the environment will be electric.

8:15 PM

Mercer County vs. Wayne County - The Titans clearly come into the regional as the second best choice to win behind DCA. There’s an argument to be made that they may be built better for a tournament run. Wayne County on the other hand has had the ultimate rollercoaster year - controversy in the off-season including a coaching change and transfers, high quality wins and surprising losses during the season, and turmoil off the court to start the postseason (referencing the unbelievable events of the first rift tournament). Kendall Phillips for Wayne vs. Trevor Ellis of the Titans will be fun to watch and it hasn’t been seen this year. But hard to see Wayne coming out on top here.

March 6th

6:30 PM

Southwestern vs. West Jessamine - The Warriors pulled off the rare 4 seed district tournament championship but their reward is a date with a very solid Colts team. Since January 24th when they lost to Mercer, the Colts have lost just one game - it was to Mercer again, this time by 5 last time out in the district title game. They are probably playing their best basketball. Problem for them is so is Southwestern. The Warriors defeated the Colts 60-44 at home on January 4th. One has to think this game will be a lot closer this time out.

8:15 PM

DCA vs. Somerset - This one could go a lot of ways. DCA beat the Jumpers in the All A 49-36. With DCA often scoring in the 40s and 50s and having a short bench, it leaves them vulnerable to an upset and Somerset has shown the ability to hang with the big dogs, especially when at or close to full strength. DCA is still the clear front runner to win the region but it honestly wouldn’t shock me at all if Somerset pulled this off.

Mercer has lost ten games. They’re no juggernaut. Wayne has wins over some of the better teams in the region. (Boyle, Southwestern, West Jessamine) Lost a close one to Pulaski,and were robbed of the opportunities to play Lincoln and Dca at the end of the year. When the ball is tipped,  all the off court stuff makes no difference. The pressure will be all on Mercer. The Cards will play loose, and they always play hard. Having arguably the best shooter in the region in Kendal Phillips doesn’t hurt either. Wayne County has just as good a shot as anybody else outside of Dca to make a run!! 

5 minutes ago, Hillbilly He-Man said:

Mercer has lost ten games. They’re no juggernaut. Wayne has wins over some of the better teams in the region. (Boyle, Southwestern, West Jessamine) Lost a close one to Pulaski,and were robbed of the opportunities to play Lincoln and Dca at the end of the year. When the ball is tipped,  all the off court stuff makes no difference. The pressure will be all on Mercer. The Cards will play loose, and they always play hard. Having arguably the best shooter in the region in Kendal Phillips doesn’t hurt either. Wayne County has just as good a shot as anybody else outside of Dca to make a run!! 

Have to disagree here. No doubt they’re good enough to beat Mercer, maybe 3/10 times. I’m a big fan of Phillips’ game and was glad to see him stay home to play for his home team this season. I just don’t think they have enough to beat Mercer, at least most of the time. But who knows on a given night? That’s the beauty of a one and done format.
 

Also, although Phillips and Ellis are the best players on their teams, they play different positions. So they aren’t going head to head. I am looking  forward to watching this one!

1 hour ago, se7ens said:

The first round of the 12th Region Tournament will be played March 5th and 6th at Lincoln County. 
 

March 5th

6:30 PM

Pulaski County vs. Lincoln County - This year’s tournament won’t waste any time getting to the good stuff. This is that one team Pulaski County didn’t want to draw.   Back on February 12th, the Patriots prevailed at home in double overtime by 2 points over the Maroons. Cash Baird had 20. The Patriots didn’t shoot particularly well, going 43 percent from the field, 23 percent from three, and 55 percent from the free throw line. Zack Anderson had 22 points and 8 rebounds. Carson Fraley played but was limited to 8 points. In a nutshell, even though it was a hyper-competitive game, both teams are capable of even better basketball. It will be fun to see who will prevail and I am sure the environment will be electric.

8:15 PM

Mercer County vs. Wayne County - The Titans clearly come into the regional as the second best choice to win behind DCA. There’s an argument to be made that they may be built better for a tournament run. Wayne County on the other hand has had the ultimate rollercoaster year - controversy in the off-season including a coaching change and transfers, high quality wins and surprising losses during the season, and turmoil off the court to start the postseason (referencing the unbelievable events of the first rift tournament). Kendall Phillips for Wayne vs. Trevor Ellis of the Titans will be fun to watch and it hasn’t been seen this year. But hard to see Wayne coming out on top here.

March 6th

6:30 PM

Southwestern vs. West Jessamine - The Warriors pulled off the rare 4 seed district tournament championship but their reward is a date with a very solid Colts team. Since January 24th when they lost to Mercer, the Colts have lost just one game - it was to Mercer again, this time by 5 last time out in the district title game. They are probably playing their best basketball. Problem for them is so is Southwestern. The Warriors defeated the Colts 60-44 at home on January 4th. One has to think this game will be a lot closer this time out.

8:15 PM

DCA vs. Somerset - This one could go a lot of ways. DCA beat the Jumpers in the All A 49-36. With DCA often scoring in the 40s and 50s and having a short bench, it leaves them vulnerable to an upset and Somerset has shown the ability to hang with the big dogs, especially when at or close to full strength. DCA is still the clear front runner to win the region but it honestly wouldn’t shock me at all if Somerset pulled this off.

Excellent analysis. Appreciate your thoroughness and the effort you put into it. This one and for the whole year.
 

I feel good about Mercer and DCA. Boy, Somerset sure got a tough draw here. I guess I’ll go with Pulaski and Sothwestern in the other two. I feel like Southwestern has the pieces to be 2 or 3 in the region but they haven’t shown it, at least not yet. Maybe they make a run?

6 minutes ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

Excellent analysis. Appreciate your thoroughness and the effort you put into it. This one and for the whole year.
 

I feel good about Mercer and DCA. Boy, Somerset sure got a tough draw here. I guess I’ll go with Pulaski and Sothwestern in the other two. I feel like Southwestern has the pieces to be 2 or 3 in the region but they haven’t shown it, at least not yet. Maybe they make a run?

There’s not a team in the tournament that can’t make a run. Dca is the clear favorite. I just don’t see why there’s so much hype with Mercer. They have double digit losses on the year and I don’t see them being clearly better than the rest of the field. 

37 minutes ago, Hillbilly He-Man said:

There’s not a team in the tournament that can’t make a run. Dca is the clear favorite. I just don’t see why there’s so much hype with Mercer. They have double digit losses on the year and I don’t see them being clearly better than the rest of the field. 

There isn’t a team in the field that isn’t capable of beating the others. It’s an incredibly equal region when it comes to any given game. However, the body of work for the year says it’s DCA first, Mercer second, Lincoln and Pulaski next in a virtual tie, then everyone else. Heck, Wayne and Southwestern came from probably the most even district in the state. 
 

With that all said, there isn’t an outcome in the first round that would absolutely stun me. And to put another way how I feel about Mercer and Wayne:

On their best nights, they might be equal. But Mercer has played to their best more nights than Wayne has throughout the year.

So I certainly am not saying Mercer is a juggernaut, just that they have the second best body of work in the region.

5 minutes ago, se7ens said:

There isn’t a team in the field that isn’t capable of beating the others. It’s an incredibly equal region when it comes to any given game. However, the body of work for the year says it’s DCA first, Mercer second, Lincoln and Pulaski next in a virtual tie, then everyone else. Heck, Wayne and Southwestern came from probably the most even district in the state. 
 

With that all said, there isn’t an outcome in the first round that would absolutely stun me. And to put another way how I feel about Mercer and Wayne:

On their best nights, they might be equal. But Mercer has played to their best more nights than Wayne has throughout the year.

So I certainly am not saying Mercer is a juggernaut, just that they have the second best body of work in the region.

Let’s be honest. It’s Dca and then the rest of the field. I agree Mercer is the favorite over Wayne, but to say it’s hard to see Wayne coming out on top is quite a stretch. Wayne has shown the ability to be competitive with good teams several times this season, including teams with wins over Mercer County.

DCA/Somerset is at 6:30 Thursday, and SW/West 8:15.  They switch the game times to accommodate West since they don’t get out at school til 4:00.  As for the games, every district final was a highly contested possession game outside of 45th.  

It would surprise me if there wasn’t four pretty highly contested first round games.  These elimination games have a way of tightening games up typically.  Whacky things can happen. 

1 hour ago, Hillbilly He-Man said:

There’s not a team in the tournament that can’t make a run. Dca is the clear favorite. I just don’t see why there’s so much hype with Mercer. They have double digit losses on the year and I don’t see them being clearly better than the rest of the field. 

Records alone can be deceiving. Mercer went 21-10, and a 20 win season is pretty strong. But I’m guessing they’ve played one of the toughest schedules in the 12th. 6 of their of their 10 losses came against Harlan County (twice), Bryan Station, GRC, Spencer & Adair. All teams that I think are or have been top 10 during the year. They also beat Lex Catholic, Madison Central and Ballard. All top 20 teams at some point. They could’ve instead scheduled 6 more mid to lower 12th region games instead and probably have lost only 4 games, being 27-4 right now. But instead they challenged themselves. While I’m not familiar with every team’s schedule, it seems like Mercer and DCA really challenged themselves more than most 12th region teams. Perhaps Lincoln too.

Contrast that with a .500 Wayne team whose best opponents were maybe PRP, Clinton County or Taylor County. And their best win appears to be Clay County. 
 

I’m not saying that Wayne can’t beat Mercer. And am not saying this to disparage Wayne or any other 12th region team. Just saying that Mercer is the better team (based on results) and that, if you’re going to challenge Mercer because they lost 10 games, you need to consider their (and others’) strength of schedule.

1 minute ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

Records alone can be deceiving. Mercer went 21-10, and a 20 win season is pretty strong. But I’m guessing they’ve played one of the toughest schedules in the 12th. 6 of their of their 10 losses came against Harlan County (twice), Bryan Station, GRC, Spencer & Adair. All teams that I think are or have been top 10 during the year. They also beat Lex Catholic, Madison Central and Ballard. All top 20 teams at some point. They could’ve instead scheduled 6 more mid to lower 12th region games instead and probably have lost only 4 games, being 27-4 right now. But instead they challenged themselves. While I’m not familiar with every team’s schedule, it seems like Mercer and DCA really challenged themselves more than most 12th region teams. Perhaps Lincoln too.

Contrast that with a .500 Wayne team whose best opponents were maybe PRP, Clinton County or Taylor County. And their best win appears to be Clay County. 
 

I’m not saying that to disparage Wayne or any other 12th region team. Just saying that if you’re going to challenge Mercer because they lost 10 games, you need to consider their (and others’) strength of schedule.

I think all the Pulaski Co. schools played pretty good schedule.  Off top of my I head, I know Pulaski played: Mad Central, South and North Laurel.  SW: Mad Central 2X and Adair Co.  Somerset: Bell Co and Corbin 2X.  Just to name some.  Mercer Co. is absolutely battle tested and plays hard D!  I wouldn’t count out Pulaski on the top.  Heart of a champion for sure. 

3 minutes ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

Records alone can be deceiving. Mercer went 21-10, and a 20 win season is pretty strong. But I’m guessing they’ve played one of the toughest schedules in the 12th. 6 of their of their 10 losses came against Harlan County (twice), Bryan Station, GRC, Spencer & Adair. All teams that I think are or have been top 10 during the year. They also beat Lex Catholic, Madison Central and Ballard. All top 20 teams at some point. They could’ve instead scheduled 6 more mid to lower 12th region games instead and probably have lost only 4 games, being 27-4 right now. But instead they challenged themselves. While I’m not familiar with every team’s schedule, it seems like Mercer and DCA really challenged themselves more than most 12th region teams. Perhaps Lincoln too.

Contrast that with a .500 Wayne team whose best opponents were maybe PRP, Clinton County or Taylor County. And their best win appears to be Clay County. 
 

I’m not saying that to disparage Wayne or any other 12th region team. Just saying that if you’re going to challenge Mercer because they lost 10 games, you need to consider their (and others’) strength of schedule.

While we’re making comparisons let’s realize Dca is 21-3 and class a State champs. That’s very different than what Mercer or anyone else has done, but none of any of that really matters now. Dca is the heavy favorite and then everyone else. Mercer is not head and shoulders above the rest of the field. I will guarantee you that Mercer County is not taking Wayne County lightly.

 

Based on the Massey Ratings the strength of schedule for the top three in the 12th looks like:

Strength of Schedule:

DCA - 70      Mercer - 72      PC - 81

21 minutes ago, 24Rocks said:

Based on the Massey Ratings the strength of schedule for the top three in the 12th looks like:

 

Strength of Schedule:

DCA - 70      Mercer - 72      PC - 81

I wonder how much districted into Burgin and Casey Co. impacts Mercer and Pulaski in this formula.  Sounds about right though.  I would guess Ashland would be the best team played on anyone’s schedule in this region.  Although, Harlan Co and South Laurel are really coming together in the 13th.

 

6 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

I wonder how much districted into Burgin and Casey Co. impacts Mercer and Pulaski in this formula.  Sounds about right though.  I would guess Ashland would be the best team played on anyone’s schedule in this region.  Although, Harlan Co and South Laurel are really coming together in the 13th.

 

Starting on March 5th at 6:30 p.m. none of that’s going to matter at all.