Well, here we are. The final week of the regular season is upon us. The postseason stage is nearly set and most teams turn towards more for preparing for district play than racking up wins, though surely everyone still wants to win. That includes the biggest game of the week, the matchup tonight between the two top ranked teams in the region. You have to think that game will be a preview of either a regional semifinal or the title game itself. 

There isn't much shakeup at the top of bottom, just a little rearrangement in the middle as Garrard rises, Southwestern continues to slide, and McCreary Central swaps places with Somerset Christian, a team they defeated this week.

Rankings:

1. Danville Christian Academy - The Warriors defeated Boyle County, Danville, and Lincoln County to cement an undefeated district record in the regular season. Geu Ateny had 19 in the 3 point win over Boyle. Ben Mikels had 22 in the convincing win over Danville and 15 in the 4 point win over Lincoln. They are the one seed in the district and will face the winner of Lincoln County and Danville. They have an epic matchup tonight against fellow contender Wayne County and then wrap up the regular season with Lexington Catholic and Bryan Station.

2. Wayne County - It was a very impressive stretch for the Cardinals last week as they beat both Pulaski County and Somerset by double digits before squeaking past Corbin. They continue to battle injuries and adversity but Kendall Phillips remains the constant, having appeared in all 25 games and averaging over 20 points. They wrap up their season early this week as they have DCA on Monday and McCreary Central on Tuesday. That is a district game and it is a very rare sight indeed to see the regular season end on one. Winning that one would give Wayne an undefeated record in the district.

3. Somerset - The Briar Jumpers are 7-1 in February, a ten point loss to Wayne County last week being their only blemish. After that loss they earned an impressive win over Clinton County by 2 points and defeated Boyle by nearly 20. Aedyn Absher scored 26 against the Rebels. There is a lot of talk about Phillips and Ateny being the regional MVP this year, but no one should sleep on Absher. They have Metcalfe County and Southwestern this week. It is already determined that they will be the one seed and face Casey County in the district tournament.

4. Pulaski County - The Maroons failed to compete with Wayne County last week but were able to bounce back to defeat a reeling Southwestern squad. Kade Hargis had 25 points in that win. They have Lincoln County and Monroe County this week. For them to make the regional tournament, they will have to beat a solid Rockcastle squad for the third time. That is going to be an extremely tall order so taking these next two games to fine tune their game plan will be essential. 

5. West Jessamine - The Colts are 6-1 over their last 7 games. They defeated Burgin handily to start the week but nearly slipped again to East Jessamine, the team they lost to before this 6-1 streak. They eluded the Jaguars by 6 and now look ahead to being the one seed and facing the winner of Mercer County and Trinity Christian when the time comes. They need to formally lock that up by beating Burgin again this week and dispatching Trinity Christian, but both should happen fairly easily. They finish their regular season Thursday against GRC.

6. Rockcastle County - The Rockets picked up two wins last week as they defeated Somerset Christian and Madison Southern. Walker Craig totaled 50 between the two games. They have just one game this week, a road trip to Dunbar. Their district tournament game is set as they will have to face Pulaski County for a third time having lost the first two. 

7. Garrard County - The Golden Lions did what they had to do and now will find themselves opposite DCA in the district tournament with Boyle County being the team they will have to get past to make it to the regional tournament. This was accomplished with their 3 point win over Lincoln County. They also defeated McCreary Central but lost to Marion County. They have two road trips to finish off the regular season as they face Knox Central and Madison Southern.

8. Boyle County - The Rebels defeated McCreary Central but fell to DCA and Somerset. They have Collins and LaRue County to finish out the regular season.

9. Lincoln County - The Patriots got two nice out-of-region wins over Lafayette and South Laurel but fell to district foes Garrard County and DCA. They face Evangel Christian, Pulaski County, and Lexington Catholic this week in what is certainly a very challenging set of games to end the regular season on. 

10. Southwestern - The Warriors were once a firm top 4 team in the region earlier in the season but have gone 1-9 over their last 10 including losses to Somerset, Adair County and Pulaski County this past week. Zachary Hutchinson continues to shine amid the skid but he is going to need some help if they want a postseason run of any kind. They have one more district game this week as they face Somerset Christian and then they play Somerset yet again in their regular season finale.

11. McCreary Central - McCreary did what they had to to keep their hopes of a 3 seed alive as they defeated Somerset Christian after losing to them earlier this year. They face Clinton County before ending the regular season with their last district game, a match against the mighty Wayne County Cardinals who they nearly upset in overtime last time around. Wayne has the 1 seed in the 48th for sure and Southwestern has the 2 seed. SCS and McCreary enter the week tied.

12. Somerset Christian - And here are those very Cougars. Before losing to McCreary they also lost to Rockcastle County. Their second half of the season has been really challenging as they have faced many of the teams ranked ahead of them. Can that tough scheduling help them pull off a win over Southwestern to earn them a third game against the Warriors in the district semifinals? After that game, they also play Greenwood and Letcher County Central.

13. East Jessamine - As a district, the 46th has been very lackluster this year. West has definitely underperformed. East took advantage of that but has also lost to Mercer and lost 5 in a row after that win over West. They just lost to West this past week while earning two wins over small, out-of-region competition with Bellevue and Bluegrass United. They finish up the district schedule with Burgin and Mercer this week before playing Powell County in their regular season finale. They would have to lose both before that conversation of Burgin passing them opens up so were most likely looking at an East Jessamine - Mercer semifinal with a trip to the regional tournament on the line. 

14. Danville - The Ads defeated Bethlehem but could not replicate their last game against DCA (where they fell short by 2) and instead lost by double digits. They have Russell County, Shelby County and Marion County this week.

15. Mercer County - The Titans still have hope. It is going to come down to beating East if they want to make a regional tournament, something they have already done. Now, can they do anything if they get there? Probably not. It has still been a brutal year for them and they lost two more last week to Dunbar and GRC. They have Casey County, East Jessamine, and Green County this week. That East game is intriguing for the question about how Coach Adkins best utilizes it when he knows he will almost certainly see them again the following week with the season on the line.

16. Burgin - The Bulldogs seem to be destined to play West Jessamine in the district semifinals, although they still have district games this week against West and East. They also play Taylor County and Bluegrass United. They did soundly defeat Trinity Christian this past week, the team they will have to beat in the 4/5 game.

17. Casey County - Casey got a win over the Kentucky School for the Deaf, their only win since January 17th. They have Mercer County, Cumberland Christian Home, Lynn Camp and Barbourville this week.

18. Trinity Christian - The Titans have just three regular season games left and still no wins on the year. They face West Jessamine, Francis Parker, and Collegiate.

19. Kentucky School for the Deaf - KSD faces their Ohio counterparts Saturday in their regular season finale. 

Somerset beating Clinton County without Kole Grundy was a huge win. 

Is the DCA/Wayne County game being streamed?

16 minutes ago, 24Rocks said:

Is the DCA/Wayne County game being streamed?

I believe there’s is Cardinal TV on YouTube, and may even stream on their Facebook as well.

I still think the top 3 teams are Wayne, Somerset, and DCA (in no particular order).  Since the first of the year Wayne has been the most consistent followed pretty closely by Somerset.  DCA has been more inconsistent, partly due to injuries and illness operating on an already short bench.  That's not a good excuse though because everyone deals with injuries and illness.  When they are good they are really good and have a tremendous upside.  When they aren't good they struggle.  It could prove to be an interesting tournament this year and it's possible a dark horse could sneak in and win it.

Boyle knocked off Collins tonight down Driver, Akers, and Webb. Good game for some other guys to get some PT. Drakeford looked good. Need him to give them a spark come district. 

17 minutes ago, 24Rocks said:

I still think the top 3 teams are Wayne, Somerset, and DCA (in no particular order).  Since the first of the year Wayne has been the most consistent followed pretty closely by Somerset.  DCA has been more inconsistent, partly due to injuries and illness operating on an already short bench.  That's not a good excuse though because everyone deals with injuries and illness.  When they are good they are really good and have a tremendous upside.  When they aren't good they struggle.  It could prove to be an interesting tournament this year and it's possible a dark horse could sneak in and win it.

All three of those teams have a short bench and have delt with injuries and illness. 

I think with West adding Steifel, it makes them a contender. 

Wayne held home court against the 2 other top teams in region.  Their home court environment is pretty elite.  Will be interesting to see these matchups on a neutral court if they happen.  

8 hours ago, DearToday said:

Boyle knocked off Collins tonight down Driver, Akers, and Webb. Good game for some other guys to get some PT. Drakeford looked good. Need him to give them a spark come district. 

Hopefully Webb can get back.  Really solid kid and player, that comes from a great family! 

Is DCA in trouble in their semifinal game?  They been getting just by in their recent district games.  Danville at home or Lincoln Co. could absolutely clip them next week IMO.

8 hours ago, Statsdontlie said:

I think with West adding Steifel, it makes them a contender. 

Definitely agree with this.  If they can figure out the mins, and get buy in. 

10 hours ago, DearToday said:

Boyle knocked off Collins tonight down Driver, Akers, and Webb. Good game for some other guys to get some PT. Drakeford looked good. Need him to give them a spark come district. 

Has Drakeford been sick, hurt or coaches just not playing him?  He hasn't played at all in the last 5-6 games.  

1 hour ago, RVaughn said:

Has Drakeford been sick, hurt or coaches just not playing him?  He hasn't played at all in the last 5-6 games.  

I think a mix of sickness and being banged up. Looked fresh last night. 

2 hours ago, RVaughn said:

Has Drakeford been sick, hurt or coaches just not playing him?  He hasn't played at all in the last 5-6 games.  

He was always a quality player coming up in the system at Mercer Co.  I was wondering why he wasn't getting much run too.  Boyle has a lot of the same player.  Their 4 position is over packed with guys.