article 16th Region Week 12 Review and Post Season Preview

The real tournament starts!! Regular season is out of the way now the real fun starts.

1) Ashland (Season: 28-0 This week: 2-0)

Ashland finished the regular season flawless. According to local historians, this is the first time it has happened in the 16th region since the 1920’s. Ashland has certainly exceeded expectations. When watching them live, what I was most impressed with is the collective vision on the court and their ball movement. Opposing teams seems to spend a lot of time trying to “catch-up to the ball” this allows for many uncontested shots. The Tomcats finished the season with wins over West Carter and Rose Hill. The West Carter game was harder than anticipated. The Tomcats needed a half-court shot at the buzzer for the win. Now, they are “Going to Cracker Barrel!”

2) Rowan County (Season: 23-7 This week: 2-0)

Rowan County was 2-0 for week 12. The Vikings finished the regular season strong winning 11 of their last 12 games. This week Rowan recorded wins over Bath County and Mason County. Heavy favorites to win their district, the Vikings are looking to make a run close to home in the regional tournament.

3) Boyd County (Season: 17-13 This week: 1-2)

Boyd County was 1-2 for the last week. Important to note that the Lions didn’t schedule cupcakes to end the season. Boyd had a win against East Carter and losses to George Rogers Clark and Huntington High (WV). Boyd is certainly looking ahead to their next battle with rival Ashland.

4) Raceland (Season: 18-8 This week: 1-1)

Raceland went 1-1 for the week. The Rams had a win over Paintsville and a loss to highly ranked Cabell Midland (WV). Leading scorer, Kirk Pence has been back on the court while still being rested some to allow healing for the tournament. Their Wednesday night battle with Russell will be a game to see.

5) Greenup County (Season: 21-9 This week: 3-0)

Greenup County had a roller coaster week for week 12. On the court, they went 3-0 with victories over Fairview, St Patrick, and Fleming County. However, this week, Greenup’s challenges came from off the court. The school system self-imposed penalties and suspended 2 coaches and a player for the rest of the season. The player was one of the top rebounders in the state as well as a threat from anywhere on the court. What impact this will have on the team will show in time as the team still has talent on it.

6) Bath County (Season: 15-15 This week: 0-3)

Bath County has been on a steady climb up the rankings over the last several weeks. During week 12, they certainly stumbled across the finish line. The Wildcats were 0-3 for week 12 with losses to Rowan County, East Carter and Lewis County. The Wildcats will look to forget about the week and regain momentum when it means the most.

7) West Carter (Season: 15-12 This week: 1-2)

West Carter was 1-2 this week. West had a home win with Tolsia and losses to Ashland and Elliott. The Ashland loss was a difficult pill to swallow. The Comets led most of the game but allowed a 4th quarter comeback and a buzzer beater for the loss.

8) East Carter (Season: 10-14 This week: 1-1)

East Carter finished week 12 1-1. They had an overtime win with Bath County and a road loss to Boyd County. The Raiders will look to get the wheels rolling again as they finished the regular season losing 8 of their last 9.

9) Russell (Season: 11-14 This week: 2-0)

Russell finished the regular season 2-0 for the week. The devils had wins over Elliott County and Belfry. Tournament time could be interesting for the Devils. They had shown flashes of some awesome play. However, those flashes all too often haven’t been long enough to get the wins.

10) Lewis County (Season: 14-15 This week: 2-0)

Lewis County was 2-0 for the week. Lewis had wins over Augusta and Bath County. Lewis is the #4 seed in the district tournament but is very dangerous. It would not be shocking to see the Lions win the tournament, that is how close these good teams are. One thing for certain, not a lot of love lost between Lewis and Greenup. As a result the district game between the two on Tuesday will be a war.

11) Fleming County (Season: 10-20 This week: 1-1)

Fleming County was 1-1 for the week. Fleming has a win against Morgan and a loss to Greenup County. Fleming plays Bath in district. They are 0-2 against Bath in the regular season.

12) Elliott County (Season: 8-13 This week: 1-1)

Elliott County was 1-1 for week 12. Elliott lost to Russell and then had a win against West Carter. The win against West Carter is what Elliott County will build on as they will look to get another win against the district’s #1 seed.

13) Menifee County (Season: 11-19 This week: 1-2)

Menifee County went 1-2 for the week. Menifee beat Lee County this week and had losses to Estill and Fairview.

14) Morgan County (Season: 9-17 This week: 0-1)

Morgan County went 0-1 for the week. The Cougars lost in a game with Fleming County.

15) Fairview (Season: 8-17 This week: 1-1)

Fairview was 1-1 for the week. The Eagles had a home win against Menifee County. Their loss was a road loss to Greenup County. Terrick Smith had quite a game with 33 points and 6 rebounds against Menifee County.

16) Rose Hill (Season: 6-21 This week: 1-1)

Rose Hill was 1-1 on the Week. The Royals had a win against Hannan (Ashton WV). They lost a road game to Ashland.

61st District Preview

Games will be played at Bath County starting on Feb 25.

6:00 #4 Menifee vs #1 Rowan County

7:45 #3 Fleming County vs #2 Bath County

Finals Feb 28

Rowan County is the heavy favorite for this district going 6-0 against district rivals in the regular season. Prediction: Champion: Rowan County Runner-up: Bath County

62nd District Preview:

Games are played at Elliott County. First round play is Feb 25 and 26th.

Feb 25 7:00 #4 Morgan County vs #1 West Carter

Feb 26 7:00 #3 Elliott County vs #2 East Carter

Finals Feb 28th

Prediction: Champion West Carter Runner up: Elliott County

63rd District Preview

Games are played at Greenup County High School. First Round is Feb 25 and 26.

Feb 25 7:00 #4 Lewis County vs #1 Greenup County

Feb 26 7:00 #3 Raceland vs #2 Russell

Finals Feb 28

Prediction: Champion Russell Runner-up Lewis County

64th District Preview

Games are played at Boyd County Middle School. First Round games are Feb 24 and 25.

Feb 24 7:30 #4 Rose Hill vs #1 Ashland

Feb 25 7:30 #3 Fairview vs #2 Boyd County

Finals Feb 27

Prediction: Champion Ashland Runner-up: Boyd County

Bump.

How bout them Tomcats!

How bout them Tomcats!

I can hear them purring.

I can hear them purring.

Like a well oiled machine! Regardless of what happens the rest of this season it's been a great one.

Honestly Ashland is a year or two ahead of schedule and most of these kids will be around for 2 or more years. The kids coming up from middle school look promising as well. Its an exciting time for Tomcat fans.

Like a well oiled machine! Regardless of what happens the rest of this season it's been a great one.

 

Honestly Ashland is a year or two ahead of schedule and most of these kids will be around for 2 or more years. The kids coming up from middle school look promising as well. Its an exciting time for Tomcat fans.

Do you anticipate any losses to prep schools anytime soon? There is some amazing young talent there.

Do you anticipate any losses to prep schools anytime soon? There is some amazing young talent there.

Porter possibly. But I have no insight on that, just a possibility that it happens. I wouldn't necessarily say soon though. But with Huntington Prep right down the road it's certainly a possibility.