6th Region: Week 4

This region is starting to sort itself into tiers. Butler, PRP, and Jeffersontown are the contenders in this region. JTown is starting to look like the team we expected, while PRP is showing some vulnerabilities, but these three teams are in a group of their own, at least for the moment. The next tier of teams include squads that look to eventually land themselves in that top group. WEB DuBois, Evangel Christian, DeSales, and Fairdale all have some good wins so far and have enough talent to compete with the contenders above them. From there, we have a larger group in the middle of teams that aren't really contenders but are good enough for "any given night" kind of wins. There is then another "sandwich group before it plummets to the basement.

Rankings:

1. Butler - The Bears ended up with a 2 and 2 record in the King of the Bluegrass and currently have a 1 and 1 record out in Jefferson City, Missouri. They lost both of those KOB losses by 3 points. The team they lost to yesterday in Missouri by 15, Principia, is the MaxPreps top-rated team in that state. So while they may be taking a loss here and there, they are really preparing themselves for a strong postseason run when the time comes. I really believe this team could win a state title. That said, they could also lose in the regional tournament to any of the next 5 or 6 teams. The Bears have one more game in Missouri and are off the rest of the week.

2. Pleasure Ridge Park - The Panthers lost to Manual in their last game in the Mac's Holiday Classic and lost in their opening game of the Taylor County Farm Bureau event at Campbellsville to Beechwood. They finished up in Campbellsville with two blowout wins over Cumberland County and Pendleton County. They host Atherton Friday.

3. Jeffersontown - The Chargers are closer everyday to passing PRP, a team that beat them earlier in the year. However, their schedule isn't the strongest ever assembled and that, especially paired with the fact they don't play top-ranked Butler in the regular season, will make it hard for them to reclaim the top spot. The rebuttal to my criticism of their schedule is that they are currently one win away from winning the Ashland Invitational and they have Male looming in the near future. But if you put their schedule next to Butler's, there is a huge discrepancy in difficulty. The Chargers look to win the AIT today with a win over Henry Clay and extend their winning streak to six.

4. WEB DuBois - The 9 and 2 Lions are on a six game winning streak and have scored 100 points in back-to-back games. Ja Rye Brown scored 40 in their blowout win over Jelico (TN) in the opening game of Corbin's Cumberland Falls Invitational Tournament. They play Barbourville in round 2. 

5. Evangel Christian - The Eagles are another team on a winning streak with theirs being at 6 like WEB DuBois'. Evangel Christian won all three games at the BSN Borderline Classic at Whitley County and are off to a good start at Bellevue's Swauger Holiday Classic as they picked up a four point win over Newport. Myles Johnson had 16 points in that win. They play Scott and Holy Cross (Covington) in that even and face Corbin on the road this weekend. That Holy Cross game tomorrow is setup to be absolutely spectacular. 

6. DeSales - The Colts are 10-2 with their only blemishes this year being a loss to LaRue County and that still stunning overtime loss to North Bullitt. They went undefeated in both their pre-Christmas event at Carroll County and their post-Christmas event at Henderson County, meaning they are on a 5 game winning streak. They travel to South Oldham Saturday. 

7. Fairdale - The Bulldogs are 3-5 but are playing just a brutal schedule. They are currently in Tennessee and lost their first game by 19 to Olympia (FL). After returning from out of state play, they will travel to Grayson County Saturday to face off with Caverna.

8. Bullitt Central - The Cougars blew out Gallatin County in their last game in Carroll County's event. After Christmas, they played in Logan County's event, losing to Raceland but beating two Tennessee teams. They face Spencer County at home Saturday.

9. Bullitt East - The Chargers fell in both their games in Somerset's pre-Christmas event. They travel back to the 12th region where they participate in East Jessamine's tournament. They open with Western Hills. They travel Saturday to Grayson County to play Madisonville-North Hopkins.

10. North Bullitt - The Eagles are 6-1 with that only blemish being that brutal blow out loss to Bullitt Central a couple weeks ago. They beat Seneca last week and are in Tennessee this week before hosting Elizabethtown Saturday.

11. Fern Creek - The Tigers are 4 and 7. Fortunately, they just ended their four game skid with a win over Southern. That win happened in the second round of the Planet Fitness Holiday Tournament at Central Hardin. They play Green County there today for their finale.

12. Western - Western was off last week and is still off this week.

13. Southern - The Trojans are on a four game skid. They look to recover in their final game at Central Hardin as they face Central.

14. Holy Cross - The Cougars are 0-2 at the Henry County Invitational so far and look to escape the event with a win over Shelby County.

15. Moore - Moore only has 1 win on the year and does not play again until the 5th.

16. Valley - Valley went winless at McLean County last week in three games. They resume play next week.

17. Doss - Doss is 1 and 1 in Bath County's Dan Swartz Classic so far, beating the host team and losing to West Carter. They finish with Lewis County. 

18. Iroquois - The Raiders are 0-2 so far in Estill County's Railroad Classic. They play Breathitt County there today. They then host a classic Saturday where they face MHP Prep Academy.

19. Whitefield Academy - The Wildcats won both of their games in the Ray Zeller Classic at their gym. They play Eminence at Iroquois Saturday.