15th Region: Region Recap and Semifinal Preview

[DearToday]

Got to love the super region. While the 15th isn’t the most talented region in the state, it’s been one of the most fun to watch with the parity and the matchups. Also, I for one love the super regional. 2/4 the teams in the semifinals wouldn’t have been playing if they played in any other region. They dropped their first game of the district, then went on a run in the region. 

Side note: You can watch every game on D&D Sports. You can find it on YouTube or Facebook. I spent all day yesterday watching the matchups. Let’s get into the semifinal matchups that are set to take place tomorrow. 

Semifinal 1: Pike County Central vs Lawrence County 6:30 at PCC, 3/10/25
Pike County Central has now won five straight and look to keep that rolling tomorrow night. They didn’t trail a lot against Paintsville, but it was also never completely out of hand. The Hawks played a great game. Grant Hall is a blast to watch, and I can see why Jaden Stewart won region player of the year. PCC beat Lawrence Co in the 2A final earlier in the year, but that’s been a while since that game. Stewart had 32 and 12 in the win.
Lawrence County is playing really good basketball at the right time. After an upset to Prestonsburg, they’ve locked back in and won 2 straight against big time teams to put themselves in the region semifinals. The Pikeville game was an instant classic. Even though it was a questionable call, the Bulldogs banked in a 3 to send their game with Pikeville into OT. Not to be outdone, they came from down 1 and hit a buzzer beater to win the game. A massive win, and pandemonium ensued. In their game with PCC earlier in the year they had four players score in double digits, but let them go off for 81. They’ll have to tighten things up on defense to punch their ticket to the championship. 

Semifinal 2: Martin County vs Phelps 8:15 at PCC 3/10/25
Martin County is, and has been the favorite all season. Their lone region game so far saw them put up 100 on Phelps in a game that was never really close. Parker Watts had 31, Bryson Dials had 18, and three other players scored double digits. Watts had multiple dunks in the little bit of the game I watched and is an electric player. He also had 16 boards. These two teams did have a 3 point game last month, but it’s hard for me to think this game will be close at all. Davis had 29, Watts had 27, and Mills had 15 in the win.
Another team that has taken advantage of the super regional, the Floyd Central Jaguars. After a 10 point loss in the first round of district, they avenged that loss to Betsy Lane with a 7 point win. They also knocked off Belfry by 6, and Shelby Valley by 6 to get here. They’re six games under .500, but I don’t think they really care. FC has nothing to lose. They pushed Martin Co to the edge in their earlier matchup losing 93-90. They only had six players score and five of those put up double digits. Is there anyway they can keep the magic slippers on for another monumental upset? 

 

Rankings: 

1. Martin County (20-8): Favorite with the clearest path to the finals. I stand by this statement that I made last week!

2. Lawrence County (21-10): Definitely the most impressive region run so far IMO. Knocked off JC by 12, Pikeville by 1 in OT. 

3. Pike County Central (18-9): Big time win over Paintsville. Can they keep the run going at home? 

4. Floyd Central (12-18): Kept their Cinderella run going. Surely it ends tomorrow, right? 

5. Pikeville (16-9): Eliminated. 

6. Paintsville (19-9): Eliminated. 

7. Betsy Lane (19-10): Eliminated.

8.  Phelps (15-13): Eliminated.

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