Many have argued this region is Danville Christian and then everyone else. What we are starting to see through 2 weeks is DCA, Pulaski County, and West Jessamine rising above the fray, though DCA is still the top dog of those 3. Once you get past those 3, it is complete anarchy. These teams are capable of beating each other on any given night and whoever can reach consistency quickest may join the top 3.

The pre-holiday tournaments and classics really get into the swing of things later this week. It is an interesting mix this week as there are both some intriguing in-region matchups and some games between teams that are far-flung geographically.

Rankings:

1. Danville Christian Academy (3-1) - Ben Mikels scored 19 and grabbed 10 rebounds in a convincing Warrior win over Garrard County. DCA goes to Bracken County this weekend to participate in the Colby Hause Classic where they will square off with host Bracken County and Dixie Heights. It really looks like Coach Busick built this schedule designed specifically for preparation for the All A state tournament as their holiday classics feature All A regional favorites from elsewhere in the state (Bracken in this one and Holy Cross (Louisville) in their post-Christmas event) and they have no other in-region non-All A schools scheduled before the regional All A tournament.

2. Pulaski County (5-2) - It was an undefeated week for the Maroons as they won over McCreary Central, Russell County, Casey County and South Oldham. That McCreary game was an overtime scare where Blake Fraley scored 18, Kam Measel had 17, and Carson Fraley had 16. Pulaski has two road games this weekend as they travel to face Rockcastle County and Somerset. If Pulaski wants to be a contender on the level of DCA, these are two games they should win. However, they are still two true road games against top ten teams in the region.

3. West Jessamine (3-1) - The Colts picked up two convincing victories over Somerset and Dunbar. Their only loss in the young season is to Pulaski County. The game of the week in-region takes place Tuesday at they host Lincoln County. They also host Garrard County later in the week. Gavin Murphy had one of the highlight performances of last week as he had 32 points on 7 made threes in the blowout of Somerset.

4. Lincoln County (3-1) - A huge win over Southwestern on the road was followed up with a convincing win over Sayre at the Patriot Classic. Sawyer Robbins is averaging over 16 points per game. Lane Sergent and Tucker Foster appear to be the two Patriots stepping up the most alongside Robbins and Cash Baird right now as the Patriots still have questionable depth to deal with. They face West Jessamine Tuesday then head to George Rogers Clark for the WinCity Classic where they face Boyd County.

5. Southwestern (5-1) - The Warriors only blemish this year is the loss to Lincoln County. They defeated Boyle County and Madison Southern after that loss. Zachary Hutchinson is averaging over 22 points per game. They face Somerset Christian and McCreary Central this week.

6. Wayne County (2-3) - The Cardinals couldn't manage a win last week as they fell to both Taylor County and Bell County. Wayne has the potential to really compete in the region but they may be the poster child for needing to find consistency.

7. Somerset (2-2) - The Jumpers were blown out by West Jessamine but recovered for a ten point win over Rockcastle County. Brock Stevens scored 24 in the victory. They host Casey County and Pulaski County this week. It will be interesting to see if they can compete against the Maroons. I truly believe they are capable of doing so, but are they at that point just yet?

8. Boyle County (3-1) - The Rebels defeated Dunbar but lost to Southwestern. Seneca Driver is already averaging 16 points per game and it should be fun to see how good he can get the farther we are removed from football season. Boyle hosts Taylor County before they head out to Berea this weekend for that holiday event. They are set to play Morgan County, Russell County and Magoffin County.

9. Rockcastle County (2-2) - The Rockets defeated Danville but fell by 10 to Somerset. Walker Craig is up over 22 points per game in scoring. They host Pulaski County and travel to Casey County. Starting Saturday they are participating in the Legacy Nissan Dribble Drive Challenge at South Laurel where they start with Harlan and Russell.

10. Somerset Christian (5-1) - The Cougars got a huge 1 point win over Garrard County behind the 17 points of Adam Marcum as well as Jack Baker's 15 points. They also had a 42 point victory over Pineville. They host Southwestern before heading to Owensboro for the Southwire Classic.

11. Garrard County (3-3) - The Golden Lions fell to Somerset Christian and Danville Christian before beating Model by 20. They feature four double digit scoring averages and offer a balanced scoring attack. They face Anderson County, West Jessamine, and Estill County all on the road this week.

12. McCreary County Central (2-4) - The Raiders fell to Pulaski County in overtime before winning over Danville and Owsley County by wide margins. The Raiders are poised to quickly rise from this spot but they are going to need to close some big wins. They have Scott (TN), Williamsburg, and Southwestern all on the road this week.

13. Danville (2-3) - The Ads got drummed twice last week against Rockcastle County and McCreary Central. They host Madison Southern and Dunbar this week before traveling to Washington County then starting the Capital City Classic in Frankfort Sunday against Western Hills.

14. Mercer County (1-3) - The Titans picked up their first win of the year as they defeated Model by 8. They host Marion County before heading to the Berea Holiday Classic.

15. East Jessamine (2-3) - The Jaguars picked up their first two wins of the season as they defeated the Richmond Guardians and Trinity Christian. They face Henry Clay and Burgin before heading to South Laurel this weekend for their holiday event.

16. Burgin (2-2) - The Bulldogs defeated Casey County. Hudson Taylor had 21 points. They travel to East Jessamine for a district contest before they play in the Generals Christmas Classic at Thomas Nelson this weekend.

17. Casey County (3-2) - The Rebels fell to Burgin and Pulaski but beat Lynn Camp. They play Somerset, Frankfort Christian and Rockcastle County this week. 

18. Trinity Christian (0-4) - The Titans are still winless and have just simply failed to compete with any opponent yet this year. Bath County, Lynn Camp, and Cornerstone Christian are on their schedule this week.

19. Kentucky School for the Deaf (0-1) - The Colonels were off last week.

It's still too early to tell a lot from the Massey Ratings but there's been some significant upward movement in the top 12th region teams.

DCA +5 to rank 28

Pulaski - +36 to rank 42

Lincoln - +48 to rank 55

Southwestern - +12 to rank 62

West Jessamine - +26 to rank 71

Boyle County - +37 to rank 89

6 hours ago, 24Rocks said:

It's still too early to tell a lot from the Massey Ratings but there's been some significant upward movement in the top 12th region teams.

DCA +5 to rank 28

Pulaski - +36 to rank 42

Lincoln - +48 to rank 55

Southwestern - +12 to rank 62

West Jessamine - +26 to rank 71

Boyle County - +37 to rank 89

Can you explain the Massey ratings? 

Disappointed we didn’t get to see West and DCA last week. Do they play again this season? Will they make it up? 

16 minutes ago, 12th Region Fan said:

Disappointed we didn’t get to see West and DCA last week. Do they play again this season? Will they make it up? 

I agree.  I don't see anything on the schedule about another game.  I'll ask about a make up game.

18 minutes ago, 12th Region Fan said:

Can you explain the Massey ratings? 

The Massey Ratings use an algorithmic based system and rate numerous sports.  Given that it's based on computer algorithms it gets better as the season goes on and more data comes in.  The rankings at the start of the year are loosely based on where teams finished last year.  That's one of the reasons several 12th region teams had huge jumps from last week until this.  By February they'll be pretty good for predictive purposes.

There are ratings for every state for high school boys and girls.  They have an overall rank but also a ranking for offense, defense, and strength of schedule.  They correlated pretty well to the various team's performances in the state tournament last year.  

https://masseyratings.com/hsbb/ky/ratings.     

I like the feature for college basketball where they compile every poll known to man and come up with a composite ranking.  It's pretty interesting to use for a frame of reference when filling out NCAA brackets.  

Big games tonight 

Lincoln at West Jessamine 

Southwestern at Somerset Christian 

Pulaski at Rockcastle 

On 12/15/2025 at 6:41 PM, 24Rocks said:

I agree.  I don't see anything on the schedule about another game.  I'll ask about a make up game.

I don’t think they’re going to make it up.

 

9 hours ago, 24Rocks said:

I don’t think they’re going to make it up.

 

Do you think that is some strategy by both teams? Not wanting to see each other until the region tournament? 

29 minutes ago, 12th Region Fan said:

Do you think that is some strategy by both teams? Not wanting to see each other until the region tournament? 

I don't think so, at least on DCA's part.  All of the players I've talked to were disappointed they didn't get to play.  I haven't talked to Coach Busick but he has always seemed like the type who doesn't back down from a challenge.  I have always gotten that impression from Coach Adams as well.  If one of the two teams wasn't very good I might see that but they're arguably two of the better teams in the region.  

The 46th very well may win the worst district in the state award this year!

10 hours ago, jtb12882 said:

The 46th very well may win the worst district in the state award this year!

West Jessamine has a really good shot at being in the regional semifinals. Outside of them, it is the worst I can ever remember this district being. 

29 minutes ago, se7ens said:

West Jessamine has a really good shot at being in the regional semifinals. Outside of them, it is the worst I can ever remember this district being. 

I think West will be the best team in region by tournament time.  

28 minutes ago, okie1 said:

I think West will be the best team in region by tournament time.  

There is a chance of that, for sure. I think they are clearly 3rd right now behind DCA and Pulaski. I don't know how much DCA has left between their ceiling and where they currently are. I think Pulaski and West have room to grow.

41 minutes ago, se7ens said:

There is a chance of that, for sure. I think they are clearly 3rd right now behind DCA and Pulaski. I don't know how much DCA has left between their ceiling and where they currently are. I think Pulaski and West have room to grow.

DCA's game with Warren Central, a 3 point loss to a Top 20 team, clearly showed them what they need to work on.  Warren Central is way quicker and more athletic than any team in the 12th region.  The positive thing for DCA to take away from that loss is that those things are fixable.  If they can accomplish that their ceiling is definitely higher than where they are now.