I always try to finish this before my 2nd Sunday bourbon.  Remember that I am on Central time.  Here are my current tiers:

Tier 1 - McCracken & Marshall - I think one of these teams will be cutting down the nets at the CFSB Center.

Tier 2 - Teams ranked 3 through 9 below.  Any of these teams could beat the others on any given night.  Especially at home.

Tier 3 - All the rest.  I don't think any of these teams could get a win against the upper two tiers.  Maybe Ike Miller and Ballard?

Key Games this week:

Tuesday - Murray at McClean Co.

Friday - Graves at McCracken (PTown Dad's Game of the Week), Christian Fellowship at Calloway

Saturday - Murray at Mayfield, Tilghman at St. Mary, McCracken vs Daviess Co. (this one should be really good too!)

Here are this week's rankings:

1. McCracken Co. (8-2) - L 82-90 Boyd Co., W 71-61 Taylor County

I think that was a really good Boyd County team that took down the Mustangs and shot the lights out in the process.  I am going to try to talk about a standout McCracken player each week and this week it's Jackson Klope.  His scoring production has been going up each week after he missed his Junior season with a knee injury.  He's now averaging a double-double.  12 points per games and 10 boards.  I think he could play at the next level, and probably at a small school.  He's 6-6 or so and he can rebound with the best of them.  He also handles the ball very well.

2. Marshall Co. (7-2) - L 56-59 North Laurel (OT), W 74-60 Paintsville

It's worth pointing out that the Marshals' star, Matthew Langhi, missed the overtime loss to North Laurel due to an illness.  Then he came back the next day against Paintsville and scored 33.  I feel like this Marshals team is going to get better and better throughout the year.  Outside of Langhi, Stokes and Jezik this really is a pretty young team.

3. Graves Co. (5-4) - W 60-52 Pinkneyville (IL), W 56-55 Christian Brothers (TN), L 53-63 South Warren

This is one of only two teams who have not yet lost to 1st Region competition (McCracken's the other).  I heard some injury news on Raygon Mathis, and I don't know how long he will be out, but it was a non-contact knee injury.  This is not a deep team, and they will feel Mathis' absence pretty bad.  This team still has an outstanding Junior class led by Ty Cavette.  I assume the Friday game at McCracken will be on YouTube.  We'll find out if the Eagles are for real that night - it's PTown Dad's Game of the Week.

4. Murray (7-2) - W 95-25 vs Crittenden Co.

Six times!  That's how many times the Tigers have scored more than 90 points.  If you get a chance to see the Tigers in person, make sure you use the restroom before the game.  Then go again at halftime.  These guys are fun to watch!  I think they will take care of business at Mayfield but I'm guessing they won't get to 90 that night.

5. Carlisle Co. (9-3) - W 53-51 at St. Mary, W 60-58 Owensboro, L 50-55 Barren Co.

The Comets avenged an earlier loss to St. Mary this past week to win the Vikings Classic.  They trailed the whole game but then made a late run to take the victory.  Wyatt Rickard scored 27 points that night.  I'm pretty sure if Riherds tracked blocks he would be leading the 1st Region.

6. Calloway Co. (4-6) - L 54-69 vs Christian Co.

Honestly, I'm giving the Lakers some benefit of the doubt because I've been seeing a lot of DNPs for their players on social media.  I know Stricklin has missed several games and I think that Luke Armstrong has missed a few too.  This is not a team with a lot of depth and they're not going to win very many games without Armstrong.  He's good!

7. St. Mary (4-6) - L 51-53 vs Carlisle Co., L 66-90 at Ashland, L 47-60 Cooper

I know it was in a loss, but how about Jacobi Nichols' 29 points against Ashland!  He has good size and can score in several different ways.  The top of this roster is very, very good.  The bench is quite young and inexperienced.

8. Mayfield (4-4) - W 73-38 Valley, W 71-42 Butler Co., L 49-51 Owensboro Catholic

I feel like I need to move the Cardinals higher in the rankings, but they really just don't have any quality wins yet.  Still, they have some very nice pieces and I think they can pull some upsets this season.  I'm a big fan of point guard Owen Byrd.  He's also the kicker for the Cardinals football team.

9. Tilghman (3-7) - W 43-41 Christian Brothers (TN), L 51-54 Ripley (TN), L 47-71 Jackson Northside (TN)

This Tornado team is better than their record indicates.  This is a deep team that can go eleven deep.  Maybe that's the problem - the Tornado don't seem to have one or two guys that they can give the ball to and have them go get a bucket.  Who should it be?  Thompson? Carruthers? Purdiman? Forthman?  I think they are still trying to figure things out on the offensive end.

10. Christian Fellowship (9-2) - W 79-41 Heritage Christian (Hopkinsville)

Big time congratulations to Elijah Grigg, who became the Eagles' all-time leading scorer this week.  He passed up Chris Johnson, who played in the mid-90s.  Grigg can fill it up.

11. Ballard Memorial (3-9) - The Bombers have played quite a schedule this season so far.  That may pay off later down the road in 3rd District play.

12. Hickman Co. (4-5) - I think this is an up-and-coming team.  Their matchups against the Pilots will be very interesting.

13. Fulton Co. (3-5) - Senior Zayden Kinney makes more than 3 threes per game and is shooting 48% from downtown.

14. Community Christian Academy (4-7) - Bradon DeJarnett scored 38 in the Warriors' win over Fort Campbell!

15. Fulton City (0-8) - Potential win this week against Heritage Christian.  No stats on Riherds.  Nothing.

Let me know what you think!  I feel like most will agree with my one and two but interested to see what you think about the rest.

 

 

I hope Tilghman can get things figured out soon. 

Excellent job as always! I think if Langhi had played Marshall probably beats North Laurel by 10 or so. McCracken had a good performance at Lexington Catholic as they played Boyd County closer than anybody else in the tournament so far. We’ll see how Boyd does against Daviess in the championship game. I’m very excited to see McCracken play Daviess and wish Graves was fully healthy to see how they match up with McCracken when they’re at full strength. I agree with your prediction that the region 1 champion will be either McCracken or Marshall and I give the edge to McCracken at this point. It’s an exciting year for region 1 basketball and thank you for your work with the weekly reviews!