article 4th Region Week 11 Review

1) Warren Central (20-6) - 2/14 60-52 W #5 Greenwood

Previous Rank: 2

This Week: 2/18 at #10 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/21 at LaRue County

2) Bowling Green (22-5) - 2/11 62-61 W at Owensboro, 2/14 74-47 W #14 Warren East

Previous Rank: 1

This Week: 2/18 vs. Hopkinsville, 2/21 at Ballard

3) Logan County (23-3) - 2/11 75-66 W #5 Greenwood, 2/15 77-49 W #10 Allen County-Scottsville

Previous Rank: 3

This Week: 2/18 at Ohio County, 2/20 at #15 Cumberland County

4) Barren County (19-8) - 2/11 70-63 W #11 Russell County, 2/14 93-61 W at #15 Cumberland County

Previous Rank: 4

This Week: 2/18 vs. #13 Metcalfe County, 2/20 at #6 Clinton County

5) Greenwood (15-13) - 2/11 66-75 L at #3 Logan County, 2/14 52-60 L at #2 Warren Central

Previous Rank: 5

This Week: 2/18 vs. #12 Monroe County, 2/21 vs. Edmonson County

6) Clinton County (20-6) - 2/11 54-48 W at McCreary Central, 2/14 59-53 W at #12 Monroe County

Previous Rank: 7

This Week: 2/17 vs. #8 South Warren, 2/20 vs. #4 Barren County

7) Franklin-Simpson (12-13) - 2/10 64-70 L at Butler County, 2/13 78-74 W at #6 South Warren

Previous Rank: 8

This Week: 2/18 vs. #14 Warren East, 2/20 at #9 Glasgow

8) South Warren (14-13) - 2/11 76-50 W at #14 Warren East, 2/13 74-78 L #8 Franklin-Simpson

Previous Rank: 6

This Week: 2/17 at #6 Clinton County, 2/21 vs. Butler County

9) Glasgow (12-13) - 2/10 64-65 OT L #10 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/11 71-49 W at #13 Metcalfe County, 2/14 66-52 W at Caverna

Previous Rank: 9

This Week: 2/18 vs. #15 Cumberland County, 2/20 vs. #7 Franklin-Simpson

10) Allen County-Scottsville (13-13) - 2/10 65-64 OT W at #9 Glasgow, 2/13 89-78 2OT W Metcalfe County, 49-77 L at #3 Logan County

Previous Rank: 10

This Week: 2/18 vs. #1 Warren Central, 2/20 at #17 Russellville

11) Russell County (13-14) - 2/11 63-70 L at #4 Barren County, 2/14 61-45 W Adair County, 2/15 60-47 W Jackson County

Previous Rank: 11

This Week: 2/18 at Danville, 2/21 at Rockcastle County

12) Monroe County (10-15) - 2/11 59-50 W #15 Cumberland County, 2/14 53-59 L #7 Clinton County

Previous Rank: 12

This Week: 2/18 at #5 Greenwood, 2/20 at #14 Warren East

13) Metcalfe County (14-13) - 2/11 49-71 L #9 Glasgow, 2/13 78-89 2OT L at #10 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/15 87-78 W #17 Russellville

Previous Rank: 13

This Week: 2/18 at #4 Barren County, 2/21 at Caverna

14) Warren East (4-19) - 2/11 50-76 L #6 South Warren, 2/14 47-74 L at #1 Bowling Green

Previous Rank: 14

This Week: 2/17 at Caverna, 2/18 at #7 Franklin-Simpson, 2/20 vs. #12 Monroe County

15) Cumberland County (6-18) - 2/11 50-59 L at #12 Monroe County, 2/14 61-93 L #4 Barren County

Previous Rank: 15

This Week: 2/18 at #9 Glasgow, 2/20 vs. #3 Logan County

16) Todd County Central (6-18) - 2/14 80-78 2OT W at #17 Russellville

Previous Rank: 16

This Week: 2/17 at Hopkins County Central, 2/18 vs. Muhlenberg County, 2/21 at Dawson Springs

17) Russellville (6-18) - 2/11 76-78 L Edmonson County, 2/14 78-80 2OT L #16 Todd County Central, 2/15 78-87 L at #13 Metcalfe County

Previous Rank: 17

This Week: 2/18 vs. Fort Campbell, 2/20 vs. #10 Allen County-Scottsville

Notes

-In a true rarity, all the district matchups are set without requiring tiebreakers - everything settled on the court. The only tie across all four districts was for the 2 seed in the 16th District - Russell County won the coin flip with Cumberland County for that - but that didn't alter the matchup. In the 13th at Russellville, it will be Logan County (6-0) vs. Russellville (0-6) and Franklin-Simpson (4-2) vs. Todd County Central (2-4). In the 14th at South Warren, South Warren (2-6) will open with Warren East (0-8), with the winner facing Warren Central (7-1) - Bowling Green (6-2) will face Greenwood (5-3) in the 2/3 game. In the 15th at Allen County-Scottsville, Barren County (5-1) will face Monroe County (0-6), while Glasgow (4-2) will take on Allen County-Scottsville (3-3). Finally, in the 16th at Russell County, Clinton County (6-0) will face Metcalfe County (0-6) with Russell County (3-3) hosting Cumberland County (3-3). It all makes life easier on the district tournament managers.

-The highest drama of the week came in battles for the top seed in the 14th and 15th. Glasgow hosted Allen County-Scottsville on Monday, needing a win to tie Barren County to push that to a coin flip. The Scotties finally had the services of their full team, and jumped out to a five point halftime lead on AC/S. But they were unable to hold it as Mason Shirley began an assault that would see him score 32 of the final 45 points for ACS en route to a (then) career-high 35 points. The game would go to extra time tied at 56, and Shirley would draw a questionable foul with 2 seconds remaining, hitting a pair of free throws to give them a 65-64 OT win, pulling Glasgow into the 2/3 game with them. Meanwhile in the 14th District on Friday, Greenwood visited Warren Central, hoping to get a road win and force a three-way tie for #1 along with Bowling Green. The first half was not a pretty sight as both teams saw huge stretches of time with difficulty making shots. Central jumped out to a 14-4 lead with 1:45 left in the first, and then scored only four points in the next 12 minutes of game-time. Greenwood took a while to take advantage, before grabbing a 19-18 lead after scoring five straight to start the third quarter. A Dragon three ended the run and the Gators never led again, frequently trailing by between 8-12 points in the second half. They whittled it down to four at 52-48 with just over a minute remaining, but a pair of Tay Smith threes pushed it back to ten, and that was that. It gave Warren Central their first outright #1 seed in six years, and pushed them back to our #1 for the first time since December. Greenwood would have needed some luck plus the win over Warren Central to grab the #1 seed, but with that loss, Warren East in 2013 (beneficiaries of a three-way tie that broke for them) remains the only team besides Warren Central or Bowling Green to be the #1 seed since it began in the 14th District in 1999.

-Mason Shirley had a career week in an overtime week for the Patriots. Following that thriller against Glasgow, they needed two overtimes to knock off Metcalfe County. Shirley posted a double double in that one, with a new career high of 39 points to go with 11 rebounds. His 39 was just three shy of the school record. It's not been quite as good a year from Shirley as was expected after his breakout sophomore campaign a season ago, but those two games this week raised his scoring average by two full points, and they'll look to build some momentum going into a home district tournament meeting with Glasgow. They had won four in a row prior to dropping a matchup at Logan County on Saturday.

-Logan County moved to 23-3 by knocking off Greenwood on Tuesday 75-66 and AC/S 77-49 on Saturday. Though they still have a matchup with Cumberland County, realistically, the matchup with Greenwood was their last hurdle between them and a perfect region record. With wins over Barren County and Greenwood under their belt, it adds some legitimacy to that record, despite not playing Warren Central or Bowling Green this season. They're 13-0 in region play, 13-1 at home, and carry a 19 game winning streak. If they clear Ohio County on Tuesday, they will almost certainly enter the region tournament in a few weeks on a 23 game winning streak and with their best record overall since 1984.

-Bowling Green pushed their winning streak against Warren East to 52 with a 74-47 win on Friday. The stat is so large it literally numbs you to how impressive it is. FIFTY-TWO. The Raiders haven't beaten Bowling Green in the entire seeded era of the 14th District. They haven't been within single digits of the Purples in six years, and haven't lost by less than five in eight. With the win, Bowling Green closed their regular season region slate at 11-2 in region play, 7-2 against District 14 teams (with an extra win over Greenwood coming in their Christmas tournament). They have a layup on Tuesday in hosting Hopkinsville, before a daunting trip to Ballard on Friday.

-Not much else of note happened during the week, as we've touched on the games that decided postseason seeding. The region now has four teams with 20+ wins with a week to go. Barren County should join them as soon as Tuesday, but it will be a longshot for anyone else to be added. Greenwood is the next highest total at 15 - they will need multiple postseason wins to reach the threshold. They are seeking their first 20-win season since 2011/12.

-Both Greenwood and South Warren have endured a difficult stretch against a challenging schedule. Greenwood is now just 3-6 in their last nine games, with four losses against the #1, #3, and #4 teams in our rankings. South Warren is 3-7 in their last ten games, dropping a pair of games against Warren Central, and falling to Bowling Green, Greenwood, and Franklin-Simpson in-region as well. Both teams remain dangerous, but both are also in serious need of some momentum going into tough postseason games. The Spartans have the tougher schedule this week, and will need to win both to guarantee themselves their second winning record in the past seven seasons, though in all likelihood a split would do it given they'll be favored over Warren East in their first postseason game. If they can reach 17 wins, it would be the second highest total in program history.

Great Report DFire! I may try to make the BG vs Ballard game. Not looking for a BG win, as Ballard could win it all, but looking for BG to compete hard in that game.

Just saw the all region team and wow I’m super surprised that cade stinnet didn’t get on even 3rd team the kid has been help carrying the team I’m shocked

Just saw the all region team and wow I’m super surprised that cade stinnet didn’t get on even 3rd team the kid has been help carrying the team I’m shocked

He’s listed on 2nd Team from what I saw.

Yup I overlooked at him lol

Some big D1 names on that list that kid out of barren county is going to be a player to watch rest of this year and next few years no doubt in my mind he is a power 5 ranked player

These were the all-region teams that are being discussed, as voted on by the coaches of the 4th Region:

First Team

Dre Boyd (Warren Central) - POY

Isaiah Mason (Bowling Green)

Nik Sorrell (Glasgow)

Aden Nyekan (Barren County)

Anthony Woodard (Logan County)

Second Team

Cade Stinnett (Greenwood)

Jose Nazario (Logan County)

Ben Carroll (Greenwood)

Boston Devore (Metcalfe County)

Jaden Franklin (Glasgow)

Third Team

Mason Shirley (Allen County-Scottsville)

Turner Buttry (Bowling Green)

DeMarco Chatman (Franklin-Simpson)

Noah Stansbury (Greenwood)

Kobe Brents (Warren Central)

Of Note:

-Three of the first team members are coming back for another year, and Nyekan is just a sophomore.

-Stinnett and Buttry are also sophomores on the list. In all, there are three sophomores and five juniors out of the fifteen players. The region will remain very talented next season.

-Seven out of the top ten scorers by average in the region are on the list. Dawson Smith, Cumberland County (17.3 PPG), Grayson Rich, Monroe County (16.3 PPG), and Jaquis Todd, Russellville (16.2 PPG) are the ones that missed.

-Will Bandy (Barren County), Conner Cooper (Bowling Green), Jace Carver (South Warren), and Tay Smith (Warren Central) are probably the other notable names that are not present. But this is a pretty good 15. I think I probably would have elevated Smith over Brents, if we were taking two from Warren Central.