article 5th Region Week 5 Review: Top Three Continue To Impress

1. Larue County (10-2): The Hawks won all three games and won the Magnolia Bank Holiday Classic. They beat Carlisle County 68-29, beat Bullitt Central 52-50, and beat Southwestern 80-40. The Hawks took care of business and had to win a close game against Bullitt Central to get to the finals. Mark Goode had 23 points and 7 rebounds in the win over Bullitt Central. They can throw so many big bodies at you that it makes it tough for its opponents. This team hasn’t done anything to make you think this team can’t represent the 5th Region in State.

2. John Hardin (12-0): The Bulldogs won all three games and won the Taylor County Holiday Classic. They beat Warren Central 58-51, beat Moore 60-44, and beat Taylor County 68-64. John Hardin has yet to lose a game this year and they have been nothing short of great so far this season. Alex Matthews, has been tremendous all year and led them in points with 19 points against Taylor County. John has been so balanced all year, which makes them very good. John has shown that they are a legit threat to win the region again this year.

3. Central Hardin (8-4): The Bruins played three games in the Central Bank Classic and won two out of the three. They beat Paducah Tilghman 73-63, beat West Jessamine 74-54, and beat Lexington Christian 69-58. This Tournament had a lot of good teams and to get second place in this was no shame at all. Standout Jacob Hobbs had 26 points and 13 rebounds in the win over Paducah Tilghman, he is one of the regions best. The schedule has been good so far and even though they have four losses they have a lot of quality wins as well.

4. Taylor County (10-3): The Cardinals played two games in their Taylor County Holiday Classic which they won the first game and lost in the title game. They beat Doss 57-44 and lost to John Hardin 68-64. Even with the loss to John Hardin, that was an encouraging game as they competed with a very good John Hardin team till the end. Trevon Smith had 24 points in the loss to John Hardin as he has really improved since last year. Taylor has had a good bounce back year so far after last year’s disaster.

5. Marion County (12-3): The Knights played three games in the Campbellsville High School Holliday Classic where they won two out of the three games. They beat Madison Southern 81-72, lost to Elizabethtown 77-76 in overtime, and beat Casey County 99-73. The Knights was probably the favorite to win this tourney so not doing it was disappointing but to have a nice bounce back win was important. Tyshay Epps had 21 in the win over Casey County as he has been tremendous all year long. Overall this has been a good start to the season for Marion.

6. Elizabethtown (6-5): The Panthers played three games in the Campbellsville High School Holiday Classic and won all three games to win it. They beat Green County 85-52, beat Marion County 77-76 in overtime, and beat Washington County 69-64. What a week for the Panthers as they got a huge upset win over Marion and ended up winning the Classic. Camden Williams had a breakout game against Green County leading them with 27 points in that contest. For as much as they lost last year and how young they are this is a great start for the Panthers.

7. Bardstown (6-8): The Tigers played three games in the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic and they won one of them. They lost to Cooper 40-33, beat Hancock County 76-60, and lost to Fredrick Douglas 59-48. The tigers played some good teams and was very competitive with a very good Cooper team. JaRel Montgomery had 18 points in the loss to Cooper. Bardstown after a slow start has played better ball lately.

8. Adair County (7-6): The Indians played three games in the Dan Swartz Classic as they won one of the three games. They lost to East Carter 77-64, lost to Russel 80-67, and beat Estill County 68-61. Not the best of week for Adair as the defense really struggled this week, which had been a strong point all year. In the win over Estill County Jordan Simpson had 16 points to lead Adair. Despite the bad week Adair has been a pleasant surprise so far.

9. Washington County (6-4): The Commanders played three games in the Campbellsville Holiday Classic which they won two of the three. They beat Grayson County 60-49, beat Casey County 80-72, and lost to Elizabethtown 69-64. The Commanders would have loved to win the Classic but it was still a solid showing. Cameron Willis has been great as expected for them, coming into this Classic he was averaging 17 points a game. Washington as a team has been what most expected.

10. Campbellsville (6-7): The Eagles played three games in the Campbellsville High School Holiday Classic as they won two of the three games. They lost to Casey County 71-60, beat Grayson County 61-50, and beat Madison Southern 70-64. Eagles had a disappointing loss to start it off but answered with two straight wins to close it out. Coming into the Classic Malachi Corley was leading Campbellsville in scoring at 20.7 points a game as he is a special athlete.

11. North Hardin (4-9): The Trojans won one of three in the Christmas tournament this week. They continue to be competitive with good teams as they are really close to becoming a sleeper in the region if they can pull out these close games at the end.

12. Thomas Nelson (8-5): The Generals won two out of the three games they played in their Christmas tournament this week. Thomas Nelson has been as good of a surprise as anyone in the region so far after last year’s bad season.

13. Hart County (3-9): The Raiders lost all three games they played in their Christmas tournament this week. They need to stop the bleeding as they have lost seven straight games.

14. Green County (5-9): Dragons lost all three games they played in their Christmas tournament this week. After a good start they have struggled lately losing four out of their last five. Gunnar Bush had 26 points in the last game of the tournament.

15. Bethlehem (2-9): The Eagles played one game this week and it was a loss. It has been a struggle this year but with new coach and a lot of new kids playing it will take time.

16. Caverna (1-8): Did not play this week.

17. Nelson County (1-13): The Cardinals lost all three games they played in their Christmas Tournament this week. It has been a very disappointing start to the season so far.

18. Fort Knox (1-7): Did not play this week.

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