I thought the Marshall, McCracken game was headed to another OT finish just like the game at Marshall in December.  But what a full-court pass by Aaron Adams to Garrett Miller with an outstanding turnaround jumper to win the game at the buzzer.  A not-so-bold prediction - these two teams will meet once again in the Regional tournament.  It might be in the semis or it might be in the finals, but let's be honest - that game will be the true 1st Region Championship game no matter what round of the tourney.

Key games this week (I left out the Tuesday games because I think most will be cancelled):

Thurs - Marshall at St. Mary

Fri - Graves at Marshall (PTown Dad's Game of the Week), Tilghman at McCracken, Calloway at Murray, Ballard Mem. at Mayfield

Sat - McCracken at UHA

Honestly, not much changed in these rankings this week.  I feel like all the teams did what they were supposed to do:

1. McCracken Co. (17-3) - W 74-60 vs Carlisle Co., W 70-67 vs Marshall Co., W 75-58 at Calloway Co.

Welcome back to Garrett Miller, and he returned with a bang!  I had heard he would be on a bit of a minutes restriction, but he poured in 21 points against the Marshals, including a beautiful game winner.  I tried to think of a weakness this team has, and I can't think of much.  They're maybe not super athletic, but even that is somewhat of a stretch.  The question now is will they run the table in the 1st Region this year.

2. Marshall Co. (14-5) - W 94-66 at CFS, L 67-70 at McCracken Co., W 63-52 at Tilghman

You'd better not leave Neyland Jezik open from deep.  He is making three 3's per game and is shooting better than 40% from downtown.  It's tough because the gameplan is to slow down Langhi, but Jezik can burn you if you help off of him.

3. Murray (15-3) - W 93-59 vs Livingston Central, W 67-64 Union Co., 

The Tigers are in the finals of the Superman Classic - they take on Goreville, IL and I'm not completely sure when this game will be played.  This team has some impressive depth!  It was Sophomore Haden Parker who scored 20 points in their win over the Braves.  The turnaround of this team versus last year is quite remarkable - Coach Doss has done an outstanding job.

4. Mayfield (10-7) - L 42-66 Lyon Co. (All A Classic)

Tough draw for the Cardinals having to play the Lions in the first round of the All A.  Do we think this team will land the #1 seed in the 3rd District?  That would basically put them in the Regional tournament due to this 3-team district.

5. Graves Co. (10-9) - L 52-60 vs Muhlenberg Co., W 58-57 vs Christian Co., W 44-40 vs Ballard Mem.

This week the Eagles have a barometer game when they travel to Marshall.  I think they can keep it tight - this Junior class is very impressive.

6. Carlisle Co. (13-6) - L 60-74 at McCracken, W 61-29 vs Hickman Co. 

This Comets team is unsurprisingly head and shoulders above the rest of District 1.  I feel like I say that every year.  I'm pretty sure I do.

7. Calloway Co. (7-11) - L 34-49 at Marshall, L 58-75 vs McCracken Co.

I may be the only one who feels this way, but I think it will be a tight game when the Lakers play the Crosstown Classic on Friday.  They didn't show up in the first game at the Jeff, but then they took the Tigers down to the wire in the 2A semifinals.  I look for Luke Armstong to show up in a big way this week.

8. Tilghman (4-13) L 52-63 vs Marshall Co.

This is a dangerous team and I'm not saying that just because PTown Son provides outstanding Bench Energy.  This week Avery Thompson returned from his ankle injury that he suffered in the St. Mary game.  He looked a little rusty, but he's one of the Tornado's top players.  Thompson's basketball scouting report - solid defender who can guard multiple positions, strong rebounder, decent shooter and has some mid-range game too.  Football scouting report - very good route runner, catches everything and I mean everything, not really a speedster but he's fast enough.

9. St. Mary (7-11) - L 54-56 at Massac Co., W 70-40 Century (IL)

JaCobi Nichols is big and athletic and has a bright future.  He scored 24 points in the Vikings win over Century.

10. Ballard Mem. (4-15) - L 40-44 at Graves Co.

Just like the Tornado this team is way better than their record indicates.  They can knock off Mayfield if Ike Miller has a big game.

11. Christian Fellowship (11-7) - Elijah Grigg had 26 points in their loss to the Marshals.

12. Hickman Co. (9-8) - Impressive win over Fulton Co. - Brendan Rosas scored 22 points in that game.

13. Fulton Co. (5-9) - The Pilots have four players that average double figures.

14. Community Chirstian Acad. (9-12) - Big-time congrats to Soph Jonah Anderson who scored his 1,000th point this week.

15. Fulton City (3-15) - Only lost by five points at Fulton City!

Let me know how I did!  Always enjoy everyone's feedback.

I always look forward to your insights from the Purchase @PTown Dad. Thank you for the great work.

Best of luck to PTown Son!

Great job this week, as always! McCracken is really good and very fun to watch. Their game Thursday against Marshall County was a great watch from start to finish. Marshall County is a really good team as well and as good as Langhi is this team as whole is very formidable. I’m excited to see what this St. Mary team can do in a couple of years. 

I was able to catch some games on YouTube and live. 

McCracken and Marshall are the class of the 1st Region. I know Murray has a great record but SOS has not been great. After that it is a free for all. 

 

I was able to catch McCracken's game with Carlisle on YouTube. That was a 5 point game in the 4th quarter. 

The Marshall and McCracken game did not disappoint. Both games have been great. OT in the 1st one and looked like it was headed to OT again until that great pass and shot by the McCracken. 

Paducah Tilghman has looked better. Should have beat Murray and had McCracken down 10 in the 3rd quarter. They are having a hard time finishing games. 

Graves is hard to figure out. Looked good against Marshall but struggled to beat Ballard. Ballard is better than their record but the game was at the Eagles Nest.