The reign of the Butler Bears has seemingly begun. After this region appeared to be in the hands of the Chargers of Jeffersontown, Butler has quickly asserted themselves as a team to be feared on a statewide basis while the Chargers have faded a bit. Other potential contender candidates have also presented themselves early in Pleasure Ridge Park, Fairdale, WEB DuBois and possibly even DeSales. This week presents some interesting matchups as holiday classics start up this weekend.

Rankings:

1. Butler - The Bears are 5-0 as they blew out Central and Bardstown last week. Adrian Wilder had 27 points in the win over Central. They travel to Bullitt East before they compete in the King of the Bluegrass starting on Friday. They open with Frederick Douglass at Fairdale. This is a real fun way to open a real fun tournament. 

2. Pleasure Ridge Park - The Panthers got their first loss of the year as they fell to Manual by 6. They host the Christian Educational Consortium this week before hosting the 2025 Mac's Holiday Classic this weekend where they play Shawnee. Neyko Jenkins and Keion Gray are leading the way for the Panthers and seem to complement each other very well with Jenkins running the point and Gray operating at the wing and in the paint.

3. Jeffersontown - The Chargers picked up win number one of the year as they beat Evangel Christian by 11. Damere Clark is averaging 18.3 points per game while Dayvonne Harrison has 17 points per game. Clark, the starting point guard, is also leading the team in rebounds with 5.7 per game. That certain aspect of the game seems to be one of the Chargers' weaker spots and hopefully they can find a way to generate more boards. They face Moore and Collins before heading to play in the legendary Ashland Invitational Tournament this weekend. They open up against Hopkinsville.

4. Fairdale - The Bulldogs got wins over Moore and Franklin County to get back to .500 on the year. Michael Ray Stinnett had 31 in the win over Moore. They are off this week until Thursday when they host the legendary King of the Bluegrass tournament. They open up with LaRue County. 

5. WEB DuBois - The Lions blew out Brown but lost to Spencer County by 4. Ja Rye Brown is averaging just over 26 points per game. All of their games have been on the road so far and will continue to be that way until late January. They play Central, Manual, and the LKY Saints (homeschool) before playing Taft (OH) and Augusta in Bracken County's Colby Hause Classic.

6. DeSales - The Colts defeated Barker College Prep out of Australia and Iroquois. Cameron Bischoff is averaging 20 points per game. They face Waggener and North Bullitt before playing in Carroll County's Christmas Classic against Ryle, Gallatin County, and South Dearborn (IN).

7. Fern Creek - The Tigers beat Southern by four before losing to Male by twenty. Jeromey Harmon is averaging nearly 15 points per game. Fern Creek plays Eastern, Central and Shawnee this week.

8. North Bullitt - The Eagles are 3-0 in this young season. They face Barker College Prep of Australia, DeSales, and Bullitt Central this week.

9. Bullitt East - The Chargers picked up wins over Henry County and Bullitt Central. They play Butler and Meade County before heading up 71 to play in the Carroll County Christmas Classic. 

10. Southern - Southern fell to Fern Creek by 4 before beating Shawnee. They have Portland Christian and Shelby County this week.

11. Evangel Christian - The Eagles had a hard schedule last week as they lost to Jeffersontown and Spencer County but pulled out the win over Christian County. They play Holy Cross, LCA, and Letcher Central this week.

12. Western - The Warriors have only played two games, albeit both were wins. They have Spencer County this week.

13. Bullitt Central - The Cougars beat Washington County and fell to Bullitt East. They play Iroquois, Kentucky Country Day, and North Bullitt this week.

14. Holy Cross - The Cougars fell to Kentucky Country Day but beat Portland Christian by 1. They play Newcomer Academy and Bardstown this weekend. 

15. Moore - The Mustangs got their first win of the year (and right now their only win) as the bested Valley. They play Jeffersontown, Atherton and Marietta (GA) this week. 

16, Iroquois - The Raiders are still in pursuit of win number 1 as they play Bullitt Central and Marion County this week.

17. Doss - The winless Dragons have a busy week as they face Thomas Nelson, Nelson County, Collegiate and Henderson County. 

18. Whitefield Academy - The Wildcats were off last week and play Highlands Latin this week.

19. Valley - The Vikings had just one game last week, a blow out loss to Moore. They play Atherton and Shawnee before opening up against Brown in Portland Christian's tournament. 

Bump.