The postseason is upon us and the 6th Region really has gotten messy. No team has really avoided stumbles. The question is who takes the lessons learned during the regular season and converts them into postseason success.

Rankings:

1. Jeffersontown - The Chargers enter postseason play on a 4 game skid but wow, was the competition stiff. They lost to Ballard, North Oldham, and CAL (in overtime) this week. Now they await the winner of Fern Creek and Whitefield Academy, neither of which stand much chance against JTown. 

2. Butler - On the flipside, the Bears are on a 9 game winning streak but the competition has not been anywhere close to what Jeffersontown has seen the past week or so. So Butler may have the momentum, Jeffersontown holds the title as best team in the region still. Butler now awaits the winner of Western and Iroquois, two teams towards the very bottom of the region.

3. WEB DuBois - The Lions lost to Ballard but defeated Bullitt East by 6. Ja Rye Brown had 26 in the win. On January 9th they defeated Evangel Christian by 1. Now they get to replay that game with a regional berth on the line. 

4. Evangel Christian - And here are those very Eagles, preparing for that do or die game against the Lions. They beat Lincoln County, Atherton and CAL this week before losing to Warren Central and North Bullitt. Defeating CAL in the same week as losing to North Bullitt is a real head scratcher, but there is little doubt the Eagles are capable of big things. But can they even get out of the district?

5. DeSales - The Colts fell to Trinity and now have a clear path to the regional tournament as only struggling Doss stands in their way.

6. Pleasure Ridge Park - PRP took down Male and Seneca this week. They now face Valley in the district semifinals. They previously blew out the Vikings by 46 points.

7. Bullitt Central - The Cougars defeated Highlands Latin and Marion County. They now face Southern in the first round of the district, a team they previously beat by 29. If they defeat the Trojans, they will face North Bullitt, a team they beat twice.

8. North Bullitt - And here are those very Eagles, preparing for that do or die game against the Cougars, if that is who escapes the first round game. It is hard to beat a quality team three times, but that is most likely what North Bullitt will have to do to make the regional tournament.

9. Fairdale - The Bulldogs have had an inconsistent year but should make it easily past Holy Cross to the regional tournament. The question is what can they do with that opportunity?

10. Moore - The Mustangs ended the regular season with a win over Fern Creek and now face Bullitt East, a team they beat by 13. The winner moves on to the district finals and the regional tournament. 

11. Bullitt East - The Chargers will look to avenge that loss to the Mustangs and come in off a close loss to WEB DuBois. 

12. Valley - The Vikings ended the regular season with a win over Fern Creek. They now square off PRP who they failed to compete with earlier.

13. Whitefield Academy - The Wildcats are on a four game win streak and take on struggling Fern Creek in the first round of districts, a team they beat by 5 on January 8th.

14. Fern Creek - And here is that Fern Creek squad. It has been a year to forget and they hope to at least get one more win against Whitefield, a victory that would avenge that earlier loss.

15. Southern - The Trojans were able to beat the Christian Educational Consortium and Doss before falling to Washington County. They now face Bullitt Central in the postseason.

16. Western - Western ends their 5 game skid by absolutely demolishing Holy Cross. They now square off against Iroquois for the honor of taking on the Butler Bears.

17. Holy Cross - The Cougars have lost 8 out of 9 and now face Fairdale in the district tournament.

18. Doss - The Dragons face DeSales in the district tournament, a team they lost by nearly 50 recently.

19. Iroquois - The Raiders are on a 9 game win streak and that doesn't look to change as they face off with Western again.

The regional bracket is now out and the table is set for another fun March in the 6th Region. The district tournaments included some thrilling games and the parity of this region has become clear. There is an easy argument for 3 teams to be contenders for the title but you can definitely extend that argument to two additional darkhorses. 

21st District

The two teams most likely to escape the district did so as Fairdale defeated Holy Cross and PRP rolled over Valley. The Fairdale Bulldogs repeated their regular season over Pleasure Ridge Park, though PRP kept it closer this time as they fell by 2.

22nd District

The opening game featured long-suffering Iroquois get just their fourth win of the year and their first against a regional foe. The Raiders defeated Wesern by 7, a team they previously lost to by 11. Their road ended after that as they were blown out by Butler. Butler faced DeSales in the title game after Desales cruised past Doss. In the title game, Butler was able to secure a very comfortable 81 to 54 win over DeSales. 

23rd District

A 4 seed emerges from the 23rd district as Bullitt Central was able to make it to the title game with wins over Southern and North Bullitt. They tested themselves fairly rigorously compared to some of the other teams in the district, most noticeably North Bullitt. That paid off. They weren't able to take down Moore in the district title game though. The Mustangs got there via a close win over Bullitt East.

24th District

WEB DuBois took down Evangel Christian by double digits to advance to the title game. Jeffersontown nearly beat Fern Creek by 20 in their district semifinal. Fern Creek had defeated Whitefield Academy to get there. In the the championship, the Lions of WEB DuBois knocked off Jeffersontown by 1.

Regional Tournament Preview

PRP faces Butler in the top game of the bracket. The Bears won this matchup 51 to 45 on February 13th. Even though they lost, PRP outrebounded Butler in that game 31 to 22. Neyko Jenkins had 16 points for PRP and Santana Anderson had 16 for Butler. This should remain a competitive game though Butler enters the tournament as a contender to win the whole thing.

Bullitt Central takes on WEB DuBois as the Lions are fresh off those two huge district tournament wins. These teams have not met this year. The Cougars certainly are capable of pulling off the upset, but the likely result is WEB DuBois continues their impressive run.

In the bottom bracket, Fairdale is awarded for their district title with hosting Jeffersontown. These teams have not met this year. Michael Ray Stinnett Jarel Butler, and Kamari Roberts make up the three-headed-monster for Fairdale. Can JTown limit their production and bounce-back from their district championship loss?

The last game features DeSales and Moore. These two teams have not met but both have tested themselves this season with tougher schedules. Moore is probably hitting more of a stride right now but no reason DeSales cannot compete. 

This is a fascinating region with the draw playing out as it did.

Mid season with the draw like this everyone would have assumed JTown vs Butler (my guess). Now????

You can certainly make a case for PRP to upset Butler, but I like Butler. Dubois looks like they are playing their best ball. Butler vs Dubois should be a great semi final.

In the bottom half, JTown has lost five of six and Fairdale can match them athletically. Flip a coin. DeSales vs Moore. Use the same coin!

 

Bump.

Semifinal Saturday starts at noon with Butler versus WEB DuBois followed by Jeffersontown versus DeSales.

Finals are set - Butler vs JTown.

Bump.