1) Warren Central (10-1) - 12/29 55-45 W Eastside (GA) (at Rocky Top Sports World), 12/30 51-49 OT W Knoxville Farragut (TN) (at Gatlinburg-Pittman), 12/31 74-62 W Louisville Ballard (at Gatlinburg-Pittman), 1/2 69-45 W #7 Bowling Green    
Previous Rank: 1    
This Week: 1/6 vs. #5 Barren County, 1/9 at #4 South Warren    
    
2) Clinton County (12-2) - 12/29 58-42 W Breckinridge County (at Edmonson County), 12/30 75-23 W Kipp Collegiate (TN) (at Edmonson County), 12/31 61-58 W at Edmonson County, 1/2 64-44 W #15 Metcalfe County    
Previous Rank: 2    
This Week: 1/5 vs. #16 Todd County Central    
    
3) Monroe County (9-3) - 12/29 46-63 L Northview Academy (at Gulf Breeze Recreation Center), 12/30 59-47 W Oliver Springs (TN) (at Gulf Breeze Recreation Center), 1/2 59-49 W #6 Russell County    
Previous Rank: 3    
This Week: 1/5 vs. #13 Russellville    
    
4) South Warren (10-2) - 1/2 69-59 W at #9 Greenwood    
Previous Rank: 4    
This Week: 1/6 at #9 Franklin-Simpson, 1/9 vs. #1 Warren Central    
    
5) Barren County (9-3) - 1/2 72-49 W #18 Warren East, 1/3 74-89 L at Adair County    
Previous Rank: 5    
This Week: 1/6 at #1 Warren Central, 1/9 vs. #7 Glasgow    
    
6) Bowling Green (8-5) - 12/29 60-55 W Sayre (at Lexington Christian), 1/2 45-69 L at #1 Warren Central, 1/3 72-47 W #11 Allen County-Scottsville    
Previous Rank: 7    
This Week: 1/6 at Taylor County, 1/9 vs. #8 Greenwood, 1/10 vs. Madison Central (at Montgomery County)    
    
7) Glasgow (7-4) - 1/2 74-55 W #11 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/3 74-66 W #13 Logan County    
Previous Rank: 8    
This Week: 1/5 at Hart County, 1/6 vs. Adair County, 1/9 at #5 Barren County    
    
8. Greenwood (9-3) - 12/29 46-45 W at El Cajon Christian (CA), 12/30 64-51 W Cedarcrest (WA) (at El Cajon Christian (CA)), 1/2 59-69 L #4 South Warren    
Previous Rank: 9    
This Week: 1/6 vs. Butler County, 1/9 at #6 Bowling Green, 1/10 vs. Muhlenberg County    
    
9) Franklin-Simpson (5-6) - 12/29 63-43 W Leslie County, 12/30 55-67 L Portland (TN)    
Previous Rank: 10    
This Week: 1/6 vs. #4 South Warren, 1/9 at #16 Todd County Central    
    
10) Russell County (7-6) - 12/29 92-54 W Newport Central Catholic (at East Jessamine), 12/30 73-65 W McCreary Central (at East Jessamine), 12/30 66-61 W Bullitt East (at East Jessamine), 1/2 49-59 L at #3 Monroe County    
Previous Rank: 6    
This Week: 1/5 vs. Adair County, 1/8 vs. Mercer County, 1/10 at South Laurel    
    
11) Allen County-Scottsville (5-8) - 12/29 88-94 2OT L Union County (at Ballard Memorial), 1/2 55-74 L at #8 Glasgow, 1/3 47-72 L at #7 Bowling Green    
Previous Rank: 11    
This Week: 1/9 vs. #18 Warren East    
    
12) Logan County (7-6) - 1/2 56-50 W Ballard Memorial, 1/3 66-74 L at #8 Glasgow    
Previous Rank: 13    
This Week: 1/6 at Edmonson County, 1/9 vs. #13 Russellville    
    
13) Russellville (9-3) - 12/29 62-27 W Menifee County, 12/30 73-28 W Hopkinsville Heritage, 12/30 68-66 W John Hardin
Previous Rank: 14    
This Week: 1/5 at #3 Monroe County, 1/9 at #12 Logan County    
    
14) Cumberland County (4-9) - 1/2 45-76 L at Jackson County (TN)    
Previous Rank: 12    
This Week: 1/8 vs. TBA (All A Classic Semifinals)
    
15) Metcalfe County (4-8) - 12/29 56-36 W South Greene (TN) (at Gulf Breeze), 12/30 62-43 W Coalfield School (TN) (at Gulf Breeze), 1/2 44-64 L at #2 Clinton County    
Previous Rank: 15    
This Week: 1/5 at #17 Foundation Christian Academy, 1/10 at #18 Warren East    
    
16) Todd County Central (3-10) - No Games    
Previous Rank: 16    
This Week: 1/5 at #2 Clinton County, 1/9 vs. #9 Franklin-Simpson    
    
17) Foundation Christian Academy (8-2) - 1/3 83-22 W Knoxville Christian (TN), 1/3 70--26 W Francis Parker    
Previous Rank: 17    
This Week: 1/5 vs. #15 Metcalfe County, 1/9 at Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy (TN)    
    
18) Warren East (1-12) - 12/29 33-89 L Gainesville (FL) (at Rocky Top Sports World), 12/30 56-80 L Lumpkin County (GA) (at Rocky Top Sports World), 12/31 52-75 L West Hall (GA) (at Rocky Top Sports World), 1/2 49-72 L at #5 Barren County  
Previous Rank: 18    
This Week: 1/9 at #11 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/10 vs. #15 Metcalfe County

Notes:

-Warren Central had a very signficant week, as they continue to cement themselves as the region's top team, perhaps unimpeachable in that regard. They closed the last three days of 2025 with three wins in the red bracket of the Smoky Mountain Winter Classic, culminating with their first win in program history over Louisville Ballard.  The Bruins have eliminated them from three Sweet 16s, including a "shot heard around the state" buzzer beater in their previous meeting, the 2010 Sweet 16 quarterfinals.  Armani Byrd scored the first 11 points of the game for Central, who never trailed en route to a 74-62 victory. Two days later, they took on their archrivals, Bowling Green.  It was a slow start in that one, as Bowling Green jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but that was followed by a 26-5 run for Warren Central as they coasted to a 69-45 victory, their second largest in the series since 2007.  The Dragons are 10-1, and looking at their schedule, there aren't a wealth of games that may be potential losses.  They'll face their two most significant challenges remaining in region play this week, hosting Barren County on Tuesday, and visiting South Warren on Friday.  It will be the first time they see Barren County since their stunning loss to them in last year's region tournament, and last year's visit to South Warren yielded a two overtime thriller, ultimately won by the Dragons.

-Clinton County continues to await the arrival of Cade Button, who should be eligible soon, but that hasn't slowed down their record any.  They've now won more in a row than any other team in the region has total wins - raising their streak to 11.  They closed 2025 with three wins in the Caveland Classic, gaining the tournament title by knocking off host Edmonson County 61-58.  They finished the week with another crucial win in district play, finishing a season sweep over Metcalfe County with a 64-44 drubbing.  Senior William Beaty continued his stellar play with 27 points in the victory over Metcalfe County, on 11/22 shooting from the field.  His season average is now 21.2 PPG.  Senior Jaxson Mason had a great game too, adding 16 to raise his season average to 15.4 PPG.  The addition of Button should help big-time by adding a third dynamic scorer.  It's a bit of a shame that they will be done playing Metcalfe County already, preventing us from seeing Button square off with his former team....

-Monroe County continued to keep pace with Clinton County atop the 16th District (with that earlier win over Clinton County on the road still in hand as well) as they knocked off rival Russell County by a 59-49 score.  That snapped a four game losing skid to the Lakers, giving the Falcons their first victory in the series since February 2023.  The Falcons continue to get it done on defense, allowing only 50.16 PPG through 12 games.  Their game against Russell County was the eighth game this year where an opponent failed to hit the 50 point mark against Monroe County.  The only challenge for Monroe is finding scores of their own - they've scored 60+ only three times. 

-South Warren has not been known for their long tenured coaches, with no one coaching more than four seasons at the school thus far, with seven coaches at the helm.  Nevertheless, Carlos Quarles has stood out in the program thus far, notching his 60th win at the helm against 31 losses.  That 60th win came on Friday at Greenwood, and made him the winningest head coach in program history, surpassing Derrick Clubb, who was the inaugural coach.  His .659 win percentage is aloso the best for the program by a wide margin.

-This could be a real watershed year for the Spartans.  In addition to Coach Quarles' milestone, there is strong optimism that this is the year they break through to reach the region tournament for the first time.  A key component of that hope is staying away from Warren Central in the district semifinals.  To do that, they'll need to stay ahead of Greenwood, and they got a critical 69-59 win at Greenwood on Friday.  The first quarter was back and forth, but the Spartans took control with an 11-0 run and never trailed again, though they were twice tied.  South closed the game with a 14-6 run, pushing the margin out and finishing things off from the foul line. South was incredibly balanced in their scoring, with five players in double figures, led by Jaxen Decker and Johan Pratt, both with 15.  South Warren was 9/17 from three in the game, and shot 55.8% from the field go get the big road win.  

-Glasgow took down a title on their homecourt on Saturday, knocking off Logan County by a 74-66 score to claim the 2A Sectional 2 title, advancing to the invitational tournament in two weeks, where they'll meet the Section 8 champion, which has yet to be determined.  It's the first sectional title for Glasgow, who up until a few years ago competed in the All "A".  This year has been a strong return to form for the Scotties, who already have more wins than they had in the entire season last year.  They have not had a winning record since 2018/19, and appear to be in great shape to add that to their accomplishments this year.  

-Russellville is another team having greater success than they've had in recent years.  Their nine wins are already their most in a season since 2021, and even that was the exact nine win number they currently have.  You'd have to go all the way back to the 2016/17 season when they reached the region finals to find a season they had more wins than they have right now, when they reached the region finals at 22-12.  They have hardly faced a Murderer's Row, but any improvement is welcome for a program that has really struggled.  They visit Monroe County for an All A quarterfinal on Monday, and then have their big rivalry game with county rival Logan County on Friday, at the Cougars. Russellville has lost five in a row in the "Clash of the Cats". 

-Seven teams will take part in the All "A" region tournament.  Cumberland County will serve as the semifinal and final host of this edition, those games being played on Thursday and Friday. Cumberland County has the bye, and will play the winner of Metcalfe County and Foundation Christian Academy, with that played at FCA on Monday.  Cumberland County is probably a slight favorite in that side of the bracket, but it wouldn't be the most surprising for any of the three to end up in the finals. The big guns are on the other side, as Monroe County hosts Russellville and Clinton County hosts Todd County Central, with both games on Monday.  The two host teams will be heavy, heavy favorites, with both teams in the top three of the entire region.  The winners will play on Thursday in Cumberland County, and should that be Clinton County and Monroe County, it will be an anticipated rematch of Monroe's December upset of the Bulldogs.  

Games to Watch
-#1 Warren Central at #4 South Warren (1/9) - A matchup with Warren Central will be a measuring stick for pretty much every team in the region, to help them see where they stand for March.  The Spartans have dropped 14 in a row to Warren Central, but have always fared better at home (naturally), with their lone series win coming at home in 2019.

-#2 Clinton County vs. #3 Monroe County (1/8) - It's cheating because technically we don't know this will happen, but I'm pretty confident this All A matchup will happen.  The winner of this is highly likely to go on to win the All A region.  This game won't count towards the district standings - that one comes on January 16th.

-#8 Greenwood at #6 Bowling Green (1/9) - The Purples have won the last 8 in the series and haven't lost at home to the Gators since 2009.  The loser of this game will really be behind the 8-ball at 0-2 in the district. The Gators haven't even been within single digits of Bowling Green on the road in 6 years.

-#7 Glasgow at #5 Barren County (1/9) - The winner of this will have the inside track on the district's #1 seed, which given the state of Warren East this year, is basically the equivalent of a bye to the region tournament.  The Trojans won all three meetings last year, but the regular season matchups were decided by a combined four points, with one of those coming on overtime.  

District Matchups:
--13th District - 1/9 #9 Franklin-Simpson at #16 Todd County Central, #13 Russellville at #12 Logan County
--14th District - 1/9 #1 Warren Central at #4 South Warren, #8 Greenwood at #6 Bowling Green
--15th District - 1/9 #7 Glasgow at #5 Barren County, 1/9 #18 Warren East at #11 Allen County-Scottsville
--16th District - None (technically)

I don't think any team in the 4th Region will defeat Warren Central this year.  For that to happen, Central would need to play/shoot their worst game and the other team play their best game and be on the road for the Dragons.  Even with that, the other team would need some more factors to go in their favor IMO.  Just don't see it happening this year.  But should one team get to meet Central 4 times, then you just never know, but I wouldn't count on it.

Really interested to see how the January 9th games in the 14th go this week!  Hoping BG can hold serve at home vs the Gators!

Thanks for your efforts @DragonFire!

Bump.