13th Region Boys Basketball Week 12:

12th week in the 13th in the books, let's look at it. The District Tournament is here, and it's do or die! Let’s check it out. 

Rankings:

1. Bell County (23-6) - The Bobcats went a perfect 2-1 this past week. They beat 50th district foes Whitley County and South Laurel by 32 and 25 respectively. They finished the week with a home loss to Ashland by 6. The Bobcats went 6-0 in the district, and an unblemished 13-0 in the region. They are probably considered the favorite right now to win the 13th. They kick off the district tournament with Middlesboro at home on Tuesday.  The championship game is slated for Friday night at 7:00 at Bell County. 

2. North Laurel (23-7) - The Jags went 1-1 to finish out the season. They were run out of the gym by GRC by 28, and then rebounded with a 28 point win over Whitley County. They finish the regular season 8-0 in district, and 12-1 in the region with their lone loss to Bell County. The Jaguars await the winner of Red Bird and OBI. They play Tuesday at Clay County, and then will likely be playing in the championship game Thursday night at 6:30 at Clay. 

3. Clay County (19-8) - The Tigers went 1-1 this past week with a 36 point win over Red Bird and a 13 point loss to Hazard on the road. Clay went 15-2 in the region this season, their only two losses to the top seed of the 49th, North Laurel. They’re a dark horse IMO for the tournament, barring they avoid Bell County. They will be opposite North Laurel, and that’s been their kryptonite. Clay is the two seed in their district, and they will take on Jackson County. They are the host school for the district so they will be at home all week. 

4. Whitley County (18-10) - The Colonels went 0-2 on the week. They did lose to the top two teams in the region, but they weren’t really competitive in either. They were beaten by Bell County by 32, and North Laurel by 28. Whitley finished 9-6 within the region. They did, however, lock up the one seed in the district. They get to open up with Williamsburg who has won one game all season, so they will likely be going to the region. Coach Swords has done a great job thus far. 

5. Corbin (13-13) - The Redhounds went 2-1 on the week. I’m not really sure what to make of them. They lost to Leslie County by 15, beat Barbourville by 41, and needed a buzzer beater three to knock off Middlesboro by 1. I’m not sure they’ve been over .500 once on the season. The plus side for them? They get the chance to be Tuesday at home. They take on South Laurel, who they’ve beat by 6 and 17 already this season. If they can play inspired basketball, they will be in the region. If not, they will finish the year under .500 for the first time in a long time, with no region birth. 

6. South Laurel (14-14) - The Cardinals went 0-2 this past week. They lost to Madison Central by 17, and Bell County by 25. I don’t consider either of those bad losses, and they were heavy underdogs in both. South Laurel has been 6-7 in the region this year. They get the chance to push that to .500. The only problem? Corbin lies in the way, and they’ve not been able to knock them off this year so far. Tuesday night at Corbin at 7:30, they will get their shot. 

7. Harlan County (19-10) - The Black Bears went 2-1 this past week. They had a nice 8 point win over Breathitt County, lost to Knott County Central by 21, and finished it up with a nice 6 point OT win over Knox in the battle of the 7-8. HC is the two seed in the 52nd, and will open with Harlan IND. They are 2-0 against the green dragons this year, with a 19 point win and a 3 point win. This could be a great game. They play Tuesday night at Bell County at 7:30. 

8. Knox Central (15-9)  - The Panthers went 1-2 this past week. They had a nice win over Garrard County by 9, but followed that up with two losses. A 6 point OT game to Harlan County, and a 7 point loss on the road at Hazard. The Panthers finish as the one seen in the 51st, and have gone 7-5 in the region this year. KC is the district host, and they take on Lynn Camp Tuesday night at 7. The championship will be Friday night at 7. 

9. Jackson County (21-9) - The Generals were 2-0 this past week. They beat Pineville by 11, and Buckhorn by 16. They are winners of 7 of their last 8. The problem? They enter the 49th as the three seed and will be playing Clay County at Clay County in the first round. They’ve been beaten by 20+ both games they played this year. They will have to pull the rabbit out of the hat if they want to pull off the upset. 

10. Harlan (11-17) - The Green Dragons went 0-1 this past week. They lost to Belfry on the road by 12. They have now lost their last three. The Green Dragons finished 3-4 in the district to get the three seed, and have gone 8-8 in the region this year. They open it up with Harlan County at Bell County on Tuesday at 7:30. The positive side is they played HC to 3 on the 13th. They showed they can play with them, but are going to have to put it all together if they want to pull the upset. 

11. Barbourville (12-13) - The Tigers went 1-2 on the week with a win over OBI and a loss to Model and Corbin. They look to punch their ticket to the region with a game against Pineville Wednesday night at 7 at KC. They knocked Pineville off both games they’ve played this season.  

12. OBI (11-14) - The Mountaineers went 1-1 this past week with a loss to Barbourville and a win over Owsley County. OBI will play Red Bird in the 5-6 game on Monday at 5:30, and then will likely move on to play North Laurel Tuesday night. 

13. Middlesboro (12-16) - The Yellow Jackets went 1-1 this past week with a win over Lynn Camp and a loss to Corbin. Barring a miracle, the yellow jackets season will end Tuesday night at 6 as they play Bell County. 

14. Pineville (12-16) - The Mountain Lions went 0-2 on the week with losses to Jackson County, and Washburn TN. They have a shot to punch their ticket to the region in the 2-3 seed game as they take on Barbourville. 

15. Red Bird (5-15) - Red Bird went 0-2 this past week with losses to Clay County, and Jackson City. They open up postseason play in the 5-6 seed game with OBI on Monday night at Clay at 5:30. 

16. Lynn Camp (8-21) - The Wildcats went 1-2 this past week with a win over Casey County, and losses to Frankfort Christian and Middlesboro. They open up postseason play with Knox Central on the road at 7 on Tuesday. 

17. Williamsburg (1-26) - The Yellow Jackets went 0-1 this past week with a loss to Berea. They take on Whitley County in the first round of the 50th district tournament.

The Region field is almost set. 

49th: North Laurel and Clay County

50th: Whitley County and Corbin

51st: Knox Central and winner Barbourville and Pineville tonight. 

52nd: Bell County and Harlan Independent

Harlan Ind. beating Harlan Co. is a pretty big upset, right?  Big time win for the city school.

52 minutes ago, LethalPG said:

Harlan Ind. beating Harlan Co. is a pretty big upset, right?  Big time win for the city school.

First time they've beat them since 2022 I believe. I've always thought Coach Akal does a good job. 

Pineville knocks off Barbourville tonight. Barbourville had won the two regular season matchups by 14 and 15. 

13th Region Boys Basketball POSTSEASON:

Regular season play, and district play are in the books! Let’s look at how we expect the region to play out, as well as a rankings of the teams remaining. My prediction is a Bell vs North final that will be what we all thought would happen at the start of the year. 

49th District:
This one basically played out chalk and there were no surprises. OBI beat Red Bird by 37. North Laurel then knocked off OBI by 40, and Clay County knocked out Jackson County by 26. Neither game was competitive. The finals saw North Laurel complete the season sweep for a third win over Clay County, this time by 10. I think Clay is a really good team, but they are stuck with one of the two region favorites. IMO, North Laurel got a very favorable draw, and Clay County got the toughest draw they could’ve had. 

50th District:
We knew Whitley County was going to knock off Williamsburg, and they did so by 40. The other game was the toss up. Corbin ended South Laurel’s season by completing their own sweep, knocking the Cardinals off by 21. The championship saw Corbin get revenge on the Colonels, and finally knock them off for the first time this season. Corbin won this game by 4. I actually think Whitley being the loser has the easier first round game than Corbin. But both have a great chance to win their first round region game. 

51st District:
This district was madness all the way around. Knox opened up with a 49 point win over Lynn Camp, which was to be expected. Pineville then flipped the script on Barbourville, and beat them by 8 for the first time all season. Not to be out done, Pineville also knocked off district host Knox Central at home, by 1 in double overtime. What a year for the Mountain Lions after losing the majority of their roster to graduation last year. Both teams have tough first round games as Knox takes on Corbin and Pineville takes on Whitley County. 

52nd District:
The first game was chalk. Bell County knocked off Middlesboro by 34. The next game was another big upset. The Harlan Green Dragons got revenge on the Black Bears of Harlan County and pulled the win by 4. The championship game saw Bell County dominate by 32 in a game that was never close. 

Rankings:

1. Bell County (25-6) - The Bobcats open up with Clay County. A pretty tough draw, for your first round game, but they do await the Pineville and Whitley County winner. They play Wednesday at 6. 

2. North Laurel (25-7) - North has the more favorable draw IMO between them and Bell. They open up with Harlan, and then play the winner of Corbin and Knox Central. These are all teams they’ve dominated this year. They play Thursday at 6. 

3. Clay County (20-9) - Clay has a very tough draw, but if they can pull the upset they avoid North Laurel and Corbin on the other side. They play Wednesday at 6. 

4. Corbin (15-13) - The Redhounds take on Knox Central Thursday night at 7:30. This should be a winnable game. They then would likely take on North Laurel who they played decently earlier in the year. 

5. Whitley County (19-11) - The Colonels lost in the district finals which was extremely disappointing considering the season they have had. However, the silver lining is they open up with Pineville who won their district as a big underdog. They play Wednesday at 7:30. 

6. Harlan (12-19) - What an upset for the Green Dragons to make the region. Coach Akal does a pretty good job year in and year out. They did get the short end of the draw as they play North Laurel in the first round, Thursday at 6. 

7. Pineville (14-16) - An awesome season for Pineville so far. They do open up with Whitley County which will be a tough game for the Mountain Lions. 

8. Knox Central (16-10)  - A disappointing result in district has led the Panthers here. They do open up with Corbin, and they played them pretty close in the regular season. 

9. South Laurel (14-15) - Eliminated

10. Harlan County (19-11) - Eliminated

11. Jackson County (21-10) - Eliminated

12. Barbourville (12-14) - Eliminated

13. OBI (12-15) - Eliminated

14. Middlesboro (12-17) - Eliminated

15. Red Bird (6-16) - Eliminated

16. Lynn Camp (8-22) - Eliminated

17. Williamsburg (1-27) - Eliminated

Bump.

Bell County and Whitley County both win convincingly tonight. 

Corbin and North Laurel both pull away in the second half tonight. 
 

Semi’s will be Whitley v Bell, and Corbin v NL. 

North Laurel leads 33-13 at the half over Corbin. Bell throttled Whitley earlier. 13th has been chalk so far!

Bump.