SixthRegionHoops

Saturday's eight-team basketball scrimmage at PRP is as follows: Kentucky Country Day v. Buckhorn (3:00); Lafayette v. Hazard (4:30); PRP v. Perry County Central (6:00); Iroquois v. Lexington Catholic (7:30)

Ballard v. Eastern and PRP v. Butler appear to be the best "matchups" if that means the most competitive and evenly matched teams.

Butler's linebackers took a hit injury-wise in the Meade County game, and you need your best defenders against the PRP offense. PRP will survive a close game.

If Taeshaun Gibbs plays for Central, the Jackets should win. If he doesn't play (and I believe he missed most of the Wayne County game), Bell County has a real chance. Central's linebackers, however, are absolute beasts who can make getting a first down a very difficult proposition. Does Bell County have an answer to the speed of Central? If so, Bell County will win a very close game (again assuming that Gibbs is out).

6'7 wing players who can run, shoot, block shots, and win are always going to get more interest from Division 1 coaches than 6'2 or 6'3 wing players. As Harris and Hunter get stronger and bigger, they will be the most highly sought-after (if they are not already) kids in region. Derek Willis and Josh Payne are both outstanding perimeter shooters. Being 6'9 gets you opportunities that Payne can't get.

Taywon Taylor at PRP is the best (along with James Quick at Trinity) on ball defender in the city. Strength, balance, and tenacity make him a nightmare for opposing scorers. His defense and open court steals will make him a double figure scorer as well. He will have several games at or above 20 points. His stat lines for 2011-12 may not be eye-popping, but the opponent who is guarded by Taylor this year will vouch for the fact that he is a top-10 player in the region. Jaelin Sanford at Moore and Cory Thomas at Fairdale are also two of very best point guards in the city, and each possesses great quickness and an ability to score in a variety of ways. Combine these two with Antonio McDaniels at PRP and Quentin Snider at Ballard, and the Class of 2014 in Louisville has an unbelievable collection of talent at the point.

Not sure of the specifics but I know Rakes and Willis missed a couple of weeks of conditioning/practice.

Doss, Iroquois, DeSales, and Western.

No surprises here. Superbly talented seniors Derek Willis, Rusty Troutman, and Trey Rakes (not to mention the return of 6'6 Senior Elliott Young from a leg injury) make the two-time defending 6th Region champions the favorite in 2012-13. Bullitt East also has plenty of depth in the junior and sophomore classes to compliment the talented seniors. Bullitt East has had some preseason injury issues with Willis and Rakes, but they should be 100% by the opening week.

Senior Demetrius McReynolds is one of the most talented and physically gifted players in the state. Seniors Rashawn Farrell and Monty Harbin are skilled ball handlers and very good defenders who can score as well. Their scoring opportunities should be substantial because of the double teams and box and one defenses that teams are likely to throw at McReynolds. Sophomore Jeremiah Bell is very talented, and his continued development will make Butler an even more formidable threat as the year progresses. Interior size may be a problem for the Bears, and 6'4 Senior Andrew Phillips must rebound and defend the post without getting in foul trouble. The Bears have several football players who will provide additional depth.

Short handed PRP defeated Owensboro 101-63 in a scrimmage on November 10 at OHS. D'Angelo Hunter, Taywon Taylor (football), and sophomore Richard Gaines did not participate. Juniors Antonio McDaniels, John Oyler and Lamontray Harris led PRP with 32, 19, and 14 points respectively. Junior Bryce Byrd and senior Robert Sawyer added 10 apiece, and senior Jovante Lavender scored 8 and made several steals. Senior Richard Clemons added stability to the backcourt with 8 points and good defensive pressure. PRP hosts Perry County Central in a scrimmage on November 17 at PRPHS. Hunter and Gaines should return to action, and Taywon Taylor will be off the court so long as the PRP football continues to advance in the 6A playoffs.

Butler v. PRP and Ballard v. Eastern are huge 6A rivalry games.

Even though the playoff system has a ton of flaws, Butler v. PRP, Eastern v. Ballard, and Trinity v. St. Xavier will make the third round matchups the best games of the entire playoffs. Three of the four biggest rivalry games in Jefferson County (Male v. Manual is the other) should be extremely competitive. I think St. Xavier will play at its highest level and has a shot at knocking off Trinity.

Butler at Meade Co. will be a war. If Butler wins, they play archrival PRP (assumes a win tonight against Central Hardin) next week. If Meade Co. wins, they will host PRP next week. A huge game with a lot on the line for Butler and Meade Co. Henderson Co. hosting Eastern is also very intriguing. Eastern is very good and getting better. Henderson Co. can make a big statement with a win. I don't believe that Male at St. Xavier will be competitive. St. Xavier is too strong and Male just doesn't have the talent this year to compete with the Tigers. Campbell Co. looks to be playing extremely well, but Simon Kenton is dangerous.

Possibly the biggest surprise in the region. Lots of seniors, and some real talent in the junior and sophomore classes. The coach is outstanding, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them advancing to the semi-finals of the 6th Region. They must win their district to avoid an early regional matchup with Bulliltt East or PRP. We will get a sense of how good Doss will be after their first four games, including a tough contest at North Hardin, a home game against a loaded PRP team, and a big road district contest with Jeff Morrow and his Iroquois team. If Doss beats North Hardin and Iroquois, and competes against PRP, that bodes well for them

That was a major oversight on my part. I was looking at last season's results and didn't fully consider Central's returning players. Jackson, Johnson and Chandler are all very good. They must stay healthy and get others to compliment their experienced and talented players. Cedric Daniels will be a key player for them to develop. If he does, they could be very dangerous. Still worried about their depth, and fatigue at the end of the year could be a problem.

The 11th Region must be considered the best because of the depth of the teams in that region. Madison Central, Henry Clay, Lexington Catholic, Scott County, Dunbar, and Lafayette will easily be in the preseason top 25, and Bryan Station may join them. The others (namely Tates Creek, Franklin County, Woodford County, Lexington Christian) aren't bad either. The 6th and 7th Regions are next with two extremely high level teams in both regions (Bullitt East and PRP in the 6th and Trinity and Ballard in the 7th), but am not sure how many other teams in the 6th and 7th will make the preseason top 25. Perhaps Fairdale, Jeffersontown and Butler in the 6th will be in the top 25, but not all three. Perhaps St. Xavier and Eastern in the 7th, but Eastern has a new coach and several new players that will take a few weeks to build. Male is still rebuilding. One could make the case that the 9th Region has better depth than the 6th or 7th, with Dixie Heights, Holy Cross, Newport Catholic, Covington Catholic, Holmes and Boone County being quality teams.

Butler's skill players will make the difference. Losing to Meade County two weeks ago may have been the best thing to happen to Butler, who are very good when focused. Butler in a very close game in a great environment.

Spencer Sumpter/Taywon Taylor/Jacob Clair/Delvon Dunn are the best QB/WR/WR/RB position players in Kentucky outside of the Trinity skill players, and should win handily this week. Alex Hibbs is a FCS lineman who should make them slight favorites to win in weeks 3 and 4 as well. Trinity's defenders, however, will make a championship for PRP a very long shot.

I have not heard of that arrangement so I can't say whether it is in place. Regardless, Bullitt Central and North Bullitt are already prevented from playing in the 2013 LIT because they played games last year during LIT week that were not part of the LIT. Now, Bullitt East is out of the LIT for this year and next. I have heard that the Bullitt County schools despise playing in the 6th Region, and Bullitt East's participation in the Bass Pro tournament in lieu of the LIT seems to confirm this dislike. No Bullitt County teams in the 2013 LIT, and probably the same for 2014. The Bullitt schools are probably banking on getting moved out of the 6th Region in 2014, and are taking a "what the hell" approach to all things LIT.

Surprised to hear that Bullitt East will be playing in the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions instead of the LIT this year. If my understanding of the rule is correct, their decision to play in a tournament during LIT week this year not only knocks them out of the 2013 tournament, but also precludes them from participating in the 2014 tournament.

Central would absolutely be a top 5 team in 6A this year, and for several of the past years. They have as many kids in FBS schools as Trinity or St. Xavier in the past 5-10 years. The best way to describe Central is that they are getting many of the kids that Male used to get. When Bobby Redman coached at Male, they would get a handful of very talented kids from outside of JCTMS, Johnson and Barrett middle schools. Now, Male cannot take kids that don't attend these middle schools, and Central seems to get a lot of that talent. And Ty Scroggins gets them to play. Central can play with anybody in any class.

Add Jalin Sanford (Moore HS) to the list of possible collegians from the class of 2014 in the 6th Region. Loves the game, is very quick, and will score a lot this year and next.

Until someone beats Bullitt East, they are the favorites, followed by: PRP (tons of talent, depth, and Division 1 players) Fairdale (four very good starters) Jeffersontown (Richard Deloney will help them; may be very good by January) Butler (McReynolds is second best player in the Region, behind only Derek Willis; Ray Farrell and Jeremiah Bell are good players too) Doss (up and coming with excellent coaching) Fern Creek (has talent again this year, but plays in the same district as Bullitt East and J'town) Iroquois (Jeff Morrow will make them competitive) Southern (good senior talent, and in a fairly weak district) DeSales (typical tough nosed and good shooting team with excellent juniors)

Yes. And Harris is the kid who dunked over Nathan Dieudonne at the end of the third quarter.