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The first round of the 12th Region Tournament will be played March 5th and 6th at Lincoln County. March 5th 6:30 PM Pulaski County vs. Lincoln County - This year’s tournament won’t waste any time getting to the good stuff. This is that one team Pulaski County didn’t want to draw. Back on February 12th, the Patriots prevailed at home in double overtime by 2 points over the Maroons. Cash Baird had 20. The Patriots didn’t shoot particularly well, going 43 percent from the field, 23 percent from three, and 55 percent from the free throw line. Zack Anderson had 22 points and 8 rebounds. Carson Fraley played but was limited to 8 points. In a nutshell, even though it was a hyper-competitive game, both teams are capable of even better basketball. It will be fun to see who will prevail and I am sure the environment will be electric. 8:15 PM Mercer County vs. Wayne County - The Titans clearly come into the regional as the second best choice to win behind DCA. There’s an argument to be made that they may be built better for a tournament run. Wayne County on the other hand has had the ultimate rollercoaster year - controversy in the off-season including a coaching change and transfers, high quality wins and surprising losses during the season, and turmoil off the court to start the postseason (referencing the unbelievable events of the first rift tournament). Kendall Phillips for Wayne vs. Trevor Ellis of the Titans will be fun to watch and it hasn’t been seen this year. But hard to see Wayne coming out on top here. March 6th 6:30 PM Southwestern vs. West Jessamine - The Warriors pulled off the rare 4 seed district tournament championship but their reward is a date with a very solid Colts team. Since January 24th when they lost to Mercer, the Colts have lost just one game - it was to Mercer again, this time by 5 last time out in the district title game. They are probably playing their best basketball. Problem for them is so is Southwestern. The Warriors defeated the Colts 60-44 at home on January 4th. One has to think this game will be a lot closer this time out. 8:15 PM DCA vs. Somerset - This one could go a lot of ways. DCA beat the Jumpers in the All A 49-36. With DCA often scoring in the 40s and 50s and having a short bench, it leaves them vulnerable to an upset and Somerset has shown the ability to hang with the big dogs, especially when at or close to full strength. DCA is still the clear front runner to win the region but it honestly wouldn’t shock me at all if Somerset pulled this off.

And unbeknownst to me until this afternoon, Landon Lorms has passed Doellman in all time points at Ryle. That’s wild. I think the Lloyd Ryle game should be incredible. Also, autocorrect made me say don’t count on Ryle. I meant don’t count them out. Definitely see them being competitive here.

The draw is set. The only thing that will happen this week is the opening round, all games at NKU on Saturday 3/8. 1:00 PM Cooper vs. Highlands - The first version of this game occurred at Cooper on January 31 and was a 68-56 Jaguar win. Nathan Richard and Finn Bouldin had 17 a piece for the Birds. Vincent Listerman was held to 4. Andy Johnson went off for Cooper for 31 points, the only double digit scorer for the Jags. He went 5 of 8 from 3. The Jaguars are more than Andy Johnson. But the Birds simply didn’t do what was required to limit the best player on the court last time. On the flip side, the Birds are capable of a better game than they produced. But they will need to be on their A game this time out, something that wasn’t apparent last night in the district finals. 2:30 PM Covington Catholic vs. Dixie Heights - The battle of the Colonels, this matchup just played out two weeks ago at Dixie and it was a run away win for CovCath, 79-53. Cash Harney had 19 with McGillis and Bradshaw both scoring 17. Dixie has been a great story this year and performed better than expected. However, it is clear that CovCath is the superior squad, especially at this moment. 6:30 PM Newport vs. Holy Cross - Griffin Starks had 27 and Yamil Rondon had 23 when Newport beat Holy Cross back on January 25th with a score of 70-59. Luke Arlinghaus had 21. Holy Cross is capable of winning this one but Newport may be playing their best ball of the year at the right moment. 8:00 PM Lloyd Memorial vs. Ryle - These two teams played the first week of the season and it was a Juggernaut win 65-57. Lloyd has not last since playing Simon Kenton on January 21. Ryle has only lost to St. Xavier, Cooper and CovCath since they lost to Conner on January 24th. They avenged that loss in the district semifinals. Lloyd has the edge here but don’t count on the Raiders.

Final. Both teams will be hard outs at Northern.

Final from NCC.

I would be 100 percent okay with a prohibition on opting out of regular season play and automatically taking the lowest seed, as KSD does. If you want to play in the district, play a district regular season schedule as well.

This. We don’t “lose” a full week of competitive games in basketball as we do in football. The blowouts happen mostly on Monday and Tuesday. Just the different nature of the sports thus making a more heightened response in football. Also there is a natural wider gap of competitiveness in football than basketball due to the number of players used. If I were to make one adjustment it would be to not wait so long between major redistricting. Because of the ebb and flow of teams naturally, we have ended up with 3 team districts and 6 team districts, sometimes in the same region. I know, for example, that if you took Garrard out of the 45th you wouldn’t have a contender like Lincoln playing KSD. KSD instead would be in the 4/5 game as opposed to the 3/6.

Great minds think alike.

I'll be honest - if I'm Coach Snapp I'm really happy I don't have to play in the 2/3 game because it will be nice to have a week separation from this rumor starting before playing in an elimination game against tough competition. I am becoming more and more bullish on NCC upsetting Highlands. I am also interested in what you think on Beechwood vs. Holy Cross @Baseball Nut 24 now that Jack Sullivan is out for the rubber match. Will the home environment keep the Tigers in it?

Both of these are upsets in my book. Like decent sized upsets and something each of these programs can build on going into next year. Danville has been in the bottom rung of the region all season. Can they ride the magic? DCA, though a power, relies so much on defense and pace of play. That makes them capable of beating almost anyone in the state but also vulnerable to get beat in a rock fight by a less talented team.

Host school Boone County holds off Heritage, denying them the long elusive postseason win. Boone advances to play the one seeded Cooper Jaguars.

If Southwestern wins the district, will they be the only 4 seed to do so in the state?

I agree with all of this except I will take Conner over Ryle. Which is why I think it’s the game of the week.

It’s going to be so much fun.

There were a few quality games last week but overall it was fairly quiet as we head into the district tournaments. There were no shakeups in the rankings but I will go ahead and repost those again here before the district tournament breakdowns. Bottom line, we have two semifinal games that will be hotly contested and are near tossups. There will be a third semifinal that may present an upset alert but that is a big if. Rankings 1. Lloyd 2. Cooper 3. Covington Catholic 4. Conner 5. Newport 6. Dixie Heights 7. Highlands 8. Ryle 9. Beechwood 10. Holy Cross 11. Newport Central Catholic 12 Holmes 13. St. Henry 14. Boone County 15. Ludlow 16. Heritage 17. Bellevue 18. Villa 19. Dayton 20. Covington Latin District Previews 33rd District The 33rd is hosted at Boone and opens with Boone taking on Heritage. Heritage has a chance at an elusive postseason win here but it won’t be just given to them. Cooper awaits that winner in the semifinal. Conner and Ryle are playing in the 2/3 game for a berth in the regional. Conner won the first meeting by 5 in January. This is sure to be a dandy and is setup to be possibly the best elimination game of the week. 34th District It will be surprising if it is anyone other than Dixie and Lloyd out of this district. Dixie is host and only needs to beat St. Henry. Early in the year St. Henry lost by only 8 to the Colonels. However, their seasons since then have told different stories as the Cru have won just twice since then and Dixie has achieved greater success since then. Lloyd awaits the winner of Villa and Ludlow, two teams they have previously defeated with ease. 35th District Covington Latin doesn’t participate so this is already down to the semifinals. Games are at Beechwood. One seed Covington Catholic has Holmes, who they have blown out earlier in the year. The other semifinal is intriguing as host Beechwood plays Holy Cross, a team they beat in the All A but lost to by 2 last time out earlier in the month. It should be a lot of fun in a tremendous environment. 36th District Newport Central Catholic is the host and will try to play the role of Cinderella as they face rival Highlands with a regional tournament berth on the line. The Birds beat the Breds by 12 in Fort Thomas last time. Newport awaits the winner of Bellevue and Dayton, two teams they defeated with ease previously.

There wasn’t a whole lot of action this past week so there was only limited shakeup in the rankings as wrap up the regular season. We will cover the final rankings of all regional teams then preview each district tournament. Southwestern was the big story this week and the reason we saw any movement at all. They took down Mercer and may very well be playing their best basketball of the year. They can only hope that continues into the postseason. Rankings 1.Danville Christian 2. Mercer County 3. Boyle County 4. Lincoln County 5. Pulaski County 6. West Jessamine 7. Southwestern 8. Somerset 9. Wayne County 10. McCreary Central 11. Rockcastle County 12. Somerset Christian 13. Garrard County 14. East Jessamine 15. Danville 16. Trinity Christian 17. Burgin 18. Casey County 19. Kentucky School for the Deaf Previews 45th District The first round features Garrard vs. Danville in the 4/5 game and Lincoln vs. KSD in the 3/6. DCA waits for the 4/5 winner and Boyle will get the winner of Lincoln and KSD, anlmosg certainly the Patriots. There is an argument that Jayden Noe and the Golden Lions, if they even get there, could take down DCA, but that would be the upset of the year. Lincoln and Boyle will meet in the semifinal in what is the 3rd game of the annual series between these two teams, the score current at 1-1. This is most likely the game of the week as loser goes home. What a dandy. 46th District This is a low drama district tournament as anything other than West Jessamine and Mercer County meaning in the finals would be an epic upset. West plays East Jessamine and Mercer waits on the winner of Burgin and Trinity Christian. 47th District Pulaski County faces Casey County and Somerset faces Rockcastle County. Rockcastle beat Somerset January 3rd but since then Somerset has really turned it on. 48th District Everyone has beat up on everyone in this district and it really is anyone’s chance to make it to regionals. McCreary and Southwestern square off in one semifinal while Wayne County and Somerset Christian play in the other. Southwestern has played pretty good again and Wayne County may very well crush Somerset Christian, though the Cougars did beat them earlier in the year.

Yes, it has been officially announced this is last season. The core group of this team is comprised of seniors. That senior group includes his daughter. They celebrated him and his career last night and rightfully so. Tommy and Jaime Richey are the longest tenured active coaches in the 9th region. He has multiple conference titles and COY awards under his belt. He also taken Bellevue to the regional tournament twice in a district that includes Highlands and NCC.

I kind of thiugh when I got called out on my oversight that I may have spoken this into reality. What an awesome win for the Titans.

In my mind’s eye, I read it as Ballard Memorial, not Ballard. So yes, I tend to agree they won’t win that one and Adair will also be a challenge. Overshot myself on that one.

The home stretch is upon us. One week left in the regular season. For the most part the district tournament schedules are now in stone. Most teams will take this week a little lighter and prep for their district tournament opponent, if that’s known. To me there are 11 teams who are capable of making noise in the postseason. Only 8 of those teams will actually make the region. There will be three extraordinary excellent semifinals in the 33rd, 35th and 36th featuring teams in the top 11. Let’s take a look at the rankings as we enter the last week of the regular season. Rankings 1. Lloyd Memorial - Their winning streak is up to 9 as they took down Highlands, the Trailblazers of Cincinnati, and Collins. The win over Collins was the closest of the streak with a 13 point scoring differential. They have just one game this week but it’s a candidate for game of the week as they square off with Conner. They have clinched the one seed in the district. 2. Cooper - The Jaguars bounced back last week with crushing victories over Fairdale and LCA. They face Dixie and Collins this week. They have locked up the one seed in the district. You are also going to start to see Andy Johnson, scoring 24 points per game, rack up some serious accolades. 3. Covington Catholic - The Colonels had 2 road games last week, falling at Montgomery County but crushing Dixie. Cash Harney had 19 in the win, going 4 for 7 from 3. They face Conner, Moeller and Madison Central this week. They have clinched the 1 seed in the district and will face Holmes in the district semifinal. 4. Conner - The Cougars, after a brutal 0-3 week, bounced back with a 3-0 performance, defeating Newport, NCC, and South Dearborn (IN). Finn Louden had 21 in the thrilling four point win over Newport. Conner faces regional contenders CovCath and Lloyd this week as they prepare for their district matchup against Ryle. 5. Newport - The Wildcats played two tough ones last week, getting a win over Dixie but losing to Conner. They face Beechwood on the road this week to end the regular season. James Turner had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the loss to Conner. 6. Dixie Heights - The Colonels went 2-2 last week with wins over Bracken County and Holy Cross but losses to Newport and CovCath. Griffin Derry had 18 against Holy Cross, going four for seven from three point range. 7. Highlands - The Birds fell to Lloyd, Holy Cross and Montgomery County in what was a really rough week. They host Simon Kenton and Beechwood this week. 8. Ryle - The Raiders had two home wins over Campbell County and Brossart but fell to Louisville St. Xavier on the road. They host East Central (IN) this week before that epic game against Conner the following week with a regional tournament berth on the line. 9. Beechwood - The Tigers defeated St. Henry and Trimble County this week. They have a tough week ahead as they square off with Newport and Highlands as they prepare for their district semifinal game against Holy Cross. 10. Holy Cross - The Indians fell to Dixie but defeated Highlands. They face Landmark Christian (OH) and St. Henry as they get ready for Beechwood. 11. Newport Central Catholic - The Breds fell to Walton and Conner. They face Campbell County and Brossart on the road as well as Dayton in their last district game. 12. Holmes - The Bulldogs have Ludlow, Sayre and Bellevue this week as they get ready for the postseason. 13. St. Henry - The Crusaders haven’t won since January 21st. They have three home games this week as they get ready for their district semifinal against Dixie. 14. Boone County - The Rebels got a win over Dayton. They have two games this week as they prepare for their district semifinal against Heritage. 15. Ludlow - The Panthers lost to Owen County last week. They have two games this week as they prepare for the 4 vs 5 game against Villa. 16. Heritage - The Eagles have three road games this week which is fitting as the 4 vs 5 game is a pure road game for them against Boone. 17. Bellevue - The Tigers square off against Covington Latin and Holmes this week. 18. Villa Madonna - The Vikings face Robertson County and Carroll County this week. 19. Dayton- The Green Devils have St. Patrick and NCC this week. 20. Covington Latin - The Trojans face Bellevue and St. Patrick this week.

There were some flat out amazing games this past week and more than one upset. We are entering the last week of the regular season. There will be less action this week and obviously most of the hotly contested rivalry games don't occur now as regular season district play is over for the most part. However, this is the week when teams start preparations in earnest for district tournament play. It is also a time that the year as a whole starts to get evaluated. The first version of an all-region team has already hit the newswire. Let's take a look at all the exciting action that took place last week and the light schedule we have ahead this week as we break down this week's rankings. Rankings 1. Danville Christian Academy - 16 wins in a row. Undefeated in calendar year 2025. Undefeated in regional and district play. 2 losses on the year. District 1 seed clinched. All A State Title in the books. It has been a storybook year for DCA and they hope to continue adding accolades. They defeated Lincoln County and Boyle County on back to back nights this weekend. If that isn't a statement about being prepared for the postseason, I don't know what is. They face Lexington Catholic and McCreary Central this week. 2. Mercer County - The Titans defeated Madison Central before falling to mighty George Rogers Clark. They have an insanely tight schedule this week as they play four games in five days - Ballard, Trinity Christian, Southwestern and and Adair County, first one on Monday, last one on Friday, Tuesday off. And although that's a crammed schedule, those are four games they should win. 3. Boyle County - The Rebels defeated Somerset by 4 before losing to DCA by 5. They are going to be squaring off with Lincoln County for a regional tournament berth. That'll be the rubbermatch of a split series. But before we get there, they face Taylor County, Henry Clay and Bardstown this week. 4. Lincoln County - In district play, the Patriots defeated Garrard County but lost to DCA. That DCA game was on Saturday, the day after the game of the week. In double overtime, Lincoln took down Pulaski 64-62. Cash Baird had 20 and Sawyer Robbins had 18 points and 8 rebounds. It is slightly concerning for postseason play that the Patriots were not competitive the following day but at least it is a good simulation to prepare for when it really matters. They face Wayne County and Lexington Catholic this week. 5. Pulaski County - The Maroons are on an 0-3 streak for the second time this season, the first occurrence happening in the first three games of the year. This past week they lost the double overtime game to Lincoln and came back the next day to come up two points short again, this time to Southwestern. Hopefully they are able to build from that challenging two day stretch and turn it into post-season success. They face North Laurel and Russell County this week. 6. West Jessamine - The Colts started out the year in good shape and are ending the regular season in good shape, though they've had their struggles in between. Last week they blew out Paris and East Jessamine. This week they face Danville and Trinity Christian at home. Both should be lopsided victories. 7. Somerset - The Briar Jumpers got major quality wins over Southwestern and Wayne and also a blowout win over Frankfort Christian. They fell to Boyle in a very competitive match. Somerset is really clicking at the right time. They face Campbellsville, Metcalfe County, and Southwestern (again) this week. 8. McCreary Central - The Raiders had a 2 point win over Scott (TN) and a blowout win over Garrard. They face Casey County and DCA this week. They are locked in now to face off with Southwestern in the district tournament, a team they split the series with. 9. Wayne County - The Cardinals fell to Somerset in their sole game last week. They face East Jessamine and Lincoln County this week. They are locked in to play the Somerset Christian School Cougars in the district tournament. 10. Southwestern - The Warriors fell just shy of a win against Somerset but were able to pull off the awesome upset over Pulaski, even in spite of a 1 from 8 performance from three point range. They face Garrard, Mercer and Somerset this week. 11. Rockcastle County - The Rockets scored a major win over Somerset Christian. They face Franklin County this week. 12. Somerset Christian - The Cougars fell twice this past week and look to return to winning form against Pineville. 13. Garrard County - The Golden Lions fell to Lincoln and Mercer. They face Southwestern and Model this week. 14. East Jessamine - The Jaguars have Wayne County, Bath County and Western Hills this week. 15. Danville - The Ads got a nice win over Nelson County last week with Trevarion Paige scoring 32. 16. Trinity Christian - The Titans have four games this week including road trips to Mercer County and West Jessamine. 17. Burgin - The Bulldogs have Casey County and Thomas Nelson this week. 18. Casey County - Casey got another win over North Hardin Classical, their second against them and third overall. 19. Kentucky School for the Deaf - The Colonels have two games in Georgia this coming weekend.

So, I am going to have a very unpopular take here, but I don't think Carson Fraley belongs on the list this year. Not his fault at all, injuries have just plagued the kid. But only playing in (and these numbers don't count the most recent game against Lincoln) 16 games and averaging 11.6 points I don't think cuts it. He isn't even the highest average scorer for the Maroons. Cash Baird, Braden Fugate and Sawyer Robbins for Lincoln all have higher averages. Not saying that scoring is the end all be all, just kind of shocked he got on and no kid from Lincoln, especially Baird, did.

I wouldn’t want to face Somerset in the postseason.

The first iteration of this game was a 2 point win for the Patriots at home. Now they travel to Lancaster for their second to last district game. This is the finale for district play for the Golden Lions. They are coming off a 10 point loss to Boyle County. This should be one of the more intriguing games in Central Kentucky tonight.

You want to know something difficult? Ranking teams six through twelve in the 12th region. Really, once you get past the top spot, these teams just beat up on each other, over and over. Teams four through twelve are capable of beating each other on any given night, and teams two and three, as will be discussed below, are not invulnerable by any means. DCA continues to sit above the fray but with the tenacity of the other teams in the region, I'll still refuse to label them the heir apparent to the regional title. Bottom line - the region is definitely down this year but man, oh, man is it fun. Rankings 1. Danville Christian Academy - The Warriors continue to just win. They defeated Garrard County and Bryan Station last week, that win over Station being at Lafayette and by one point. They face Boyle County and Lincoln County this week in their last two district games. They then get the joy of traveling to Monticello to play Wayne County. It will be a week that definitely tests that unbeaten record against regional opponents. 2. Mercer County - The Titans fell to West Jessamine in overtime but bounced back with wins over Burgin, Rockcastle County and fellow contender Pulaski County. Even if they end up in the 2 vs. 3 semifinal of the district tournament, they'll play a team they have blown out in East Jessamine. They face Russell County, Madison Central, and GRC this week. 3. Pulaski County - The Maroons got just their second loss of 2025, falling to Mercer County. They defeated East Jessamine and Somerset earlier in the week. They face Lincoln County, Southwestern and Rockcastle this week. 4. Boyle County - The Rebels had a pair of district wins over Danville and Garrard County. They have their last district game as they face mighty DCA. They then end the week against Somerset. No matter what, the Rebels hope to avoid what happened in the first game against DCA when they lost 70 to 35. 5. Lincoln County - The Patriots had a rough loss to Southwestern before bouncing back with a win over Danville. Braden Fugate had 26 in the win and Sawyer Robbins added a double-double performance. Lincoln has their last two district games as they face Garrard and DCA with the mighty Maroons of Pulaski sandwiched in between. 6. Wayne County - And so begins the mess that is collected between teams six through twelve. Wayne County sits at .500, having bounced up and down and up again this year. They got wins over Somerset Christian and Southwestern last week. They face Somerset and DCA this week. Kendall Phillips had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the win over the Cougars and he will need to continue to perform at that level if the Cardinals hope to carry out a regional tournament run of any note. 7. West Jessamine - Here is another team that had fallen out of the top ten at some point this season. The Colts had just won game last week but it was a big one as they defeated Mercer County by 2 in overtime. Now there's a chance they may end up with the one seed in the district. They face Paris, Burgin, and East Jessamine this week. 8. Somerset - Another team riding high after previously being in the doldrums, the Briar Jumpers defeated McCreary County and competed with Pulaski County before ultimately losing by 5. Kole Grundy had 22 in the blowout win over the Raiders. Somerset faces Southwestern, Wayne, Boyle and Frankfort Christian this week. 9. McCreary Central - The Raiders fell to Somerset but beat Cordia and Buckhorn. They face Scott (TN) and Garrard County this week. 10. Southwestern - The Warriors beat Rockcastle, Lincoln County and Berea this week but lost to Wayne County. Antajuan Dumphord had 20 points and 12 rebounds against Berea. They face Somerset, East Jessamine, Pulaski County and Letcher County Central this week. 11. Somerset Christian - This one was tough. I have had the Cougars up as high as six in the region. They are 17 - 9 on the year, albeit still having a decent chunk of their schedule against tiny schools. They fell to Wayne County last week before getting two wins against two examples of tiny schools, Cornerstone Christian and Burgin. They have Madison Southern and Rockcastle County this week, the last games currently showing on their schedule. 12. Garrard County - The Golden Lions fell to DCA and Boyle County. Against, just like SCS, this might be too low for them but they are currently on the low end of the cycle in this middle grouping of teams in the region. They will look to return to the win column as they face Lincoln and McCreary this week, though both games will offer serious challenges. 13. Rockcastle County - Somerset Christian, Madison Central and Pulaski County are all on the Rockets schedule this week as they fell three times last week. 14. East Jessamine - The Jaguars haven't won any games in 2025 other than Burgin and Trinity Christian (twice). They face Southwestern and West Jessamine in two tough ones this week. 15. Danville - Tates Creek, Taylor County and Nelson County are on the schedule this week for the Ads as they continue to search for their first 2025 win. 16. Trinity Christian - The Titans fell to Dunbar and then forfeited against West Jessamine. The good news is they were able to get back on the hardwood and had a win over Francis Parker. They face Dayton, Harrison County and Marion County this week. 17. Burgin - The Bulldogs defeated Cornerstone Christian by 2 for their fifth win of the year. 18. Casey County - The Rebels got win number 2 of the year as they beat Frankfort Christian. 19. Kentucky School for the Deaf - The Colonels are slated to play the Light Eagles (home school team from Danville) this week.