This was one of the craziest weeks in the regular season I have seen in the 12th in quite some time. We should be used to a level of parity and epic battles in the 45th, but not only did that district deliver this week but so did the 46th. There were a ton of district games this week and some other high profile regional contests. The results were all over the place and it really made adjusting the rankings exceptionally challenging. Several teams had great wins just days apart from some stunning losses creating a real yo-yo sensation. 

Rankings:

1. Danville Christian Academy - The Warriors got wins over Southwestern (in overtime), Spencer County, Pulaski County and Boyle County. The win over the Maroons of Pulaski was a dominant statement game as DCA won by 19 with Leek Ateny scoring 30 and grabbing 14 boards. Ben Mikels had 10 points and 17 rebounds. Only one game on the schedule for DCA this week, a road trip out of the region to Taylor County.

2. Wayne County - A win over West Jessamine and a thrilling overtime win over McCreary Central extended the Cardinal winning streak to 5. Interesting fact - besides their early season loss to Taylor County at home, all of the Cardinals' losses have been in showcase or tournament games. They play Somerset Christian and Lincoln this week. 

3. Somerset - Somerset has not yet lost in 2026. This past week they recorded wins over Casey County, Garrard County, and Somerset Christian. Aedyn Absher scored 32 in that most recent win over Somerset Christian. They face Walton Verona out of the 8th region in the opening round of the All A Classic Statewide Tournament Thursday.

4. Pulaski County - The Maroons got a win over Rockcastle before losing by 19 to DCA. Pulaski is certainly a contender but the shine really has been off the apple since Christmas compared to their start to the season. They face Adair County and Somerset Christian this week.

5. Southwestern

6. Somerset Christian - The Cougars lost again to Somerset, though by a slightly thinner margin this time (14 in the All A, 10 this time). Earlier in the week they did win a high scoring affair over McCreary Central, 87 - 75. Adam Marcum had 24, Jack Baker 21, and Isaiah Hensley 19. They face Wayne County, Bluegrass United, and Pulaski County this week.

7. Boyle County - The Rebels went 1 - 2 in three district games this week, beating Garrard County but losing to Danville and DCA. Seneca Driver had 25 points in the loss to DCA. They have just one game this week, a road game at West Jessamine.

8. West Jessamine - The Colts are reeling. Once thought to be contenders in the region, West has lost 7 of their last 8 games. That includes a loss to Madison Central to start last week and a shocking loss to arch-rival East Jessamine by 9 on Friday. Because of another surprising upset we will discuss momentarily, they can still win the district by simply winning out in district play. They host Boyle County earlier in the week before going on the road to Mercer County for one of those district games.

9. Rockcastle County - The Rockets lost to Pulaski County and Knox Central. They have just one game this week, a home game against Casey County on Friday.

10. Lincoln County - Two non-competitive games, one win and one loss - that sums up the Patriots' week. They thumped Danville by 31 behind Cash Baird's 21 points. They then got drilled by 32 by North Laurel. They play Madison Central, Garrard County and Wayne County this week, all three games on the road.

11. East Jessamine - A few times had yo-yo weeks with great wins and bad losses. No one had it more severe than the Jaguars. East fell to a struggling Mercer County squad by 5 before upsetting district leader West Jessamine by 9. Now they sit on top of the district with the Colts from West. The district, barring Mercer, Burgin, or Trinity Christian causing anymore upsets, will probably come down to the Jessamine Showdown Round 2 late in the year on February 13. For now, the Jaguars have Dunbar, Russell County, and Marion County this week.

12. Danville - Another yo-yo team this week, the Ads had their doors blown off by Lincoln, losing by 31, before coming back and taking down another district foe, Boyle County, in a 3 point victory. They have another district game this week as they travel to Garrard County before playing Madison Southern. 

13. Garrard County - The Golden Lions lost to Boyle County and Somerset before beating Mercer County. They play Danville and Lincoln County this week.

14. Mercer County - Mercer County got an unexpected win over East Jessamine as they held the Jaguars to 32 percent from the field including 4 from 27 from 3 point range. They also beat Collegiate before losing to Garrard County. Weirdly enough, with as challenging as this year has been, they are currently in 1st place in the district. They have two small schools, Trinity Christian and Model, before they square off with who most would tell you are the district contenders, West Jessamine. Can they surprise their second Jessamine school in so many weeks?

15. McCreary Central - The Raiders lost to Somerset Christian and Wayne County. They host Southwestern this week.

16. Burgin - The Bulldogs lost to Cumberland Christian Home, Washington County and Dunbar this week. They face Casey County, Brown and Highlands Latin this week.

17. Casey County - The Rebels lost to Somerset but beat Trinity Christian and Bath County. They face Burgin, Rockcastle County and Collegiate this week. 

18. Trinity Christian - The Titans are 0-16 and face Mercer County, Calvary Christian and Barbourville this week. 

19. Kentucky School for the Deaf - The Colonels beat their Tennessee counterparts for their first win of the year. They have Summit Christian Academy this week.

I have been told that Mercer has lost 9 players in the past 2 seasons that should be playing this season.  If that is the case, then their current district 1st place standing (however briefly it may be) is really amazing.

1 hour ago, Joe LeDuc said:

I have been told that Mercer has lost 9 players in the past 2 seasons that should be playing this season.  If that is the case, then their current district 1st place standing (however briefly it may be) is really amazing.

And if they are capable of beating East, they are capable of beating West given how the Colts are playing at the moment. 

Coach Bentley does a great job.  He was very successful at Estill Co., and appears to be flipping the culture.

Injuries have played a big role in the records of the 12th region teams this year and it's difficult to get a handle on things.  Injuries are always an issue but this year they've hit some of the better players as well as some good teams who already have short benches.

Some examples:  Lincoln was without Cash Baird for awhile, one of their two best players.

Danville has had injuries to a couple of their better players.  Singleton, for one, has been out.

DCA had a starter out against Somerset, Southwestern, Pulaski and Boyle.  Against Boyle they were missing a starter and 3 players were dealing with injuries.

Wayne has had 3 of their double figures scorers who've missed games.

Somerset - I'm pretty sure I heard that some of their guys were playing despite injuries.

I'm sure there are plenty more.  It's tough to make any good predictions based simply on their records given the number of key players who've been out.  It might be a useful exercise to answer the question "who's the best team IF they're playing up to their potential?"  or maybe divide it up to "who has the best defense?"  "the best size?", "the best shooting?", "the best guard play?" and see if anyone checks several of those boxes.

Who’s everyone mid-season POY?  I think it comes down to these three players: Leek Ateny (DCA), Aedyn Absher (Somerset) and Kendall Phillips (Wayne Co.).  Dark horse, Peyton Higgonbotham Mccreary.

31 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

Who’s everyone mid-season POY?  I think it comes down to these three players: Leek Ateny (DCA), Aedyn Absher (Somerset) and Kendall Phillips (Wayne Co.).  Dark horse, Peyton Higgonbotham Mccreary.

I think it’s Phillips. Having a good year and has his team in contention for region like the others you mentioned but career numbers are way ahead of tge others. If he don’t get injured is going to score 3,000 and has 1,000 rebounds too. 

27 minutes ago, BasketballFan24 said:

I think it’s Phillips. Having a good year and has his team in contention for region like the others you mentioned but career numbers are way ahead of tge others. If he don’t get injured is going to score 3,000 and has 1,000 rebounds too. 

I'll give you that, but he's also been playing since 7th grade.  Absher handled the head to head matchup last season, so I would probably wait until they meet again this year.  If we're talking pure talent/production, Ateny should probably get the nod.  I don't think you could go wrong with either of the three, and in a typical year where the SR. class isn't so loaded all would probably win it. 

Ateny, Absher, Phillips 

If you judge based on their value to their team it’s a toss up.  They’re all three crucial to their team’s success.

If you based it on offense AND defense it would make Ateny the front runner.  And, if you based it on offense, defense, and rebounding he’d be the clear front runner.

15 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

I'll give you that, but he's also been playing since 7th grade.  Absher handled the head to head matchup last season, so I would probably wait until they meet again this year.  If we're talking pure talent/production, Ateny should probably get the nod.  I don't think you could go wrong with either of the three, and in a typical year where the SR. class isn't so loaded all would probably win it. 

When it’s close like this year the career numbers have to be the deciding factor in my opinion. Overall numbers not just points per game. Also how has the team done in district and region tournaments? How has player performed on the big stage of those tournaments over coarse of career?  Being senior only award career has to be top priority to me. 

41 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

I'll give you that, but he's also been playing since 7th grade.  Absher handled the head to head matchup last season, so I would probably wait until they meet again this year.  If we're talking pure talent/production, Ateny should probably get the nod.  I don't think you could go wrong with either of the three, and in a typical year where the SR. class isn't so loaded all would probably win it. 

Phillips had 28-14 and Absher had 22-6 in last year's game. Just looking at numbers like so many do for these awards, one might think Phillips got the best of Absher.  Somerset controlled the game from the opening tip and it was never really in doubt. To me, that's why these awards are so tough and a lot of times come down to who has watched a certain kid the most in person and who has the most hype behind them.  I don't think you could go wrong with either of the 3 players named and a sound argument can be made for all of them.

27 minutes ago, Boyd_Blue said:

Phillips had 28-14 and Absher had 22-6 in last year's game. Just looking at numbers like so many do for these awards, one might think Phillips got the best of Absher.  Somerset controlled the game from the opening tip and it was never really in doubt. To me, that's why these awards are so tough and a lot of times come down to who has watched a certain kid the most in person and who has the most hype behind them.  I don't think you could go wrong with either of the 3 players named and a sound argument can be made for all of them.

When handled, I was referring to who won the game.  I would also say there has been more postseason success for Absher.  Phillips is a great player, so yes you couldn't go wrong either way. 

44 minutes ago, BasketballFan24 said:

When it’s close like this year the career numbers have to be the deciding factor in my opinion. Overall numbers not just points per game. Also how has the team done in district and region tournaments? How has player performed on the big stage of those tournaments over coarse of career?  Being senior only award career has to be top priority to me. 

I'll give you numbers for sure.  If we're talking postseason and team stuff, Wayne Co. hasn't done much during Phillips career unless we're talking MS years.  That could definitely change this season though.  They are playing great basketball.

57 minutes ago, 24Rocks said:

Ateny, Absher, Phillips 

If you judge based on their value to their team it’s a toss up.  They’re all three crucial to their team’s success.

If you based it on offense AND defense it would make Ateny the front runner.  And, if you based it on offense, defense, and rebounding he’d be the clear front runner.

Ateny is the best collegiate prospect I've ever seen come from this region.  And, my knowledge base goes back to early 2000s late 90s. 

On 1/19/2026 at 7:11 AM, Joe LeDuc said:

I have been told that Mercer has lost 9 players in the past 2 seasons that should be playing this season.  If that is the case, then their current district 1st place standing (however briefly it may be) is really amazing.

Adkins teams always play great defense and can keep them in games.  I don't understand the hype with West Jessamine.  They were 17-10 last year and 11-8 in the region.  They have the same players back this year and averaging same PPG as last year.  Not sure why anyone thought they would contend for region this year.