15th Region: The Super Regional Tournament and Rankings

[DearToday]

The regular season is over! The 15th Region Tournament operates by way of a super region and has actually already started. We will look at the games that have to be played, the games that have been played, and we will go from there. The final 8 that stand, will play all the games of the tournament at Pike County Central. The next four games will take place on March 8th and go throughout the day. The semifinals will be played on March 10th. The finals will be played March 11th. My non-expert opinion would take Paintsville, Lawrence County, Martin County, and Betsy Lane. Then Paintsville and Martin County. Then Martin County with the finals win. We will see what happens! 

Play In Games Round 1:
East Ridge and Magoffin County played each other in the first play-in game. Magoffin won this game by a final of 73-63. This put the nail in the coffin for East Ridge and ended their season at 7-21.
Belfry and Floyd Central played each other in the second play-in game. Floyd Central won this by a final of 64-58. Belfry ended the regular season on a 7 game losing streak and their final record was 8-20. 

Play In Games Round 2:
These games were played last night. The first was Paintsville making the trip to Prestonsburg. It was a close game to the half where it was a two point game. Paintsville eventually opened things up and pushed their lead up to 14 and won by a final of 68-54. Prestonsburg was very streaky this year, and ended the same way. They finish their season at 13-15. Braxton Keathley had a great season for the Blackcats.
Lawrence County made the trip to Johnson Central for this one. Johnson Central, who was as hot as anyone for a little while, eventually cooled off at the wrong time and they dropped this game by a final of 94-82. Defensive woes killed them, as they couldn’t seem to get a stop in any of their final big games to end the season. The Golden Eagles end their season with a 15-11 record.
Magoffin County made the trip to Phelps for the next matchup. The Hornets took care of business and ended Magoffins season by sending them home 70-59. Magoffins season ended with a 7-22 record. Phelps has won five of their last six games played.
The last play-in game saw Floyd Central take the trip to Shelby Valley. Remember, Floyd Central played in the first round as well. The Jaguars were able to avenge a regular season loss to Shelby Valley and knock them off in this game by a final of 73-67. Shelby Valley ends their season at 15-13 on the year. 

Pike County Central vs Paintsville: March 8th 1:00 PM
PCC enters this one at 17-9 on the season. They won the 60th district championship over Phelps by a final of 58-35. Jaden Stewart was named 15th region player of the year and he went for 19 in the win. PCC has won six of their last seven and seem to be rolling at the right time.
Paintsville made it here by knocking off Prestonsburg by 14 yesterday. They lost to Martin County in the first round of the district, but thanks to the format, they have been able to stay alive. Paintsville is 19-8 on the season and has the highest RPI in the 15th thus far. Paintsville is a dangerous team and one that many likely saw as a threat to win the region. This should be a great game that I truly believe could go either way. 

Pikeville vs Lawrence County: March 8th: 2:45 PM
Pikeville enters this one as the 59th district champ. They are sitting at 16-8, and have won six of their last seven. Pikeville knocked off Shelby Valley by 6 to win the district.
Lawrence took the long way in. They were upset in the first round of the district tournament by Prestonsburg, but bounced back in a big way with a 12 point win over Johnson Central. Talk about a big win. The Bulldogs are currently sitting at 20-10. These two teams played earlier in the year, but it was December 10th. Pikeville won this matchup on the road by 22. I wouldn’t put a ton of stock into that game, as both teams have grown a lot throughout the season. 

Martin County vs Phelps: March 8th: 7:00
Martin County is rolling and are the prohibitive favorites right now. They knocked off Paintsville by 14, then Johnson Central by 16 to win the 57th district. Parker Watts had 28, and Peyton Davis also had 28 in the district championship. Martin hasn’t played Phelps so far this year, but they are 13-2 against region competition.
Phelps lost in their district championship game to PCC, but was able to get a favorable draw with Magoffin County and knocked them off by 11 in the play-in games. Phelps is at 15-12 and 7-5 in the region. Phelps goes into this one a heavy underdog, but in March anything can happen. 

Betsy Lane vs Floyd Central: March 8th: 8:45
The Bobcats go into this one a seven game win streak, and winners of the 58th district championship. They knocked off Prestonsburg by 3 in a very heated game that saw some theatrics take place after. Betsy Lane is currently 19-9.
The Jaguars of Floyd Central lost their opening round district game.. Against guess who? Betsy Lane. Since they were able to knock off Belfry and Shelby Valley to find their way with a rematch. They have gone 0-3 this year against Betsy Lane, but all three games were lost by a combined 16 points. This has all the makings of a great game. 

 

Rankings: 

1. Martin County (19-8): Favorite with the clearest path to the finals. 

2. Pikeville (16-8): Playing good ball as of late. 

3. Paintsville (19-8): Having to go the long way around, will have to knock off the regional host.

4. Lawrence County (20-10): Big win over Johnson Central, will have to build off of it to knock off Pikeville. 

5. Betsy Lane (19-9): Will have to beat a good team four times to advance to semi’s. 

6. Pike County Central (17-9): Have the region player of the year, will need to lean on him to keep it rolling at home. 

7. Floyd Central (11-18): Will attempt to keep the cinderella run going, need to knock off Betsy Lane for the first time all year 

8.  Phelps (15-12): Good luck!

9. Johnson Central (15-11): Eliminated

10. Shelby Valley (15-13): Eliminated

11. Prestonsburg (13-15): Eliminated

12. Belfry (8-20): Eliminated

13. Magoffin (7-22): Eliminated

14. East Ridge (7-21): Eliminated

[DearToday]

PCC wins the first game of the day 53-48 over Paintsville. 

[Mountainfan12]

Lawrence county just made a game winner in overtime to beat Pikeville.