coachlee

Final Chance Moore has 19, Ahmad Price 15, Rogers 13 & Wales 8. Fern Creek seemed to coast in the 2nd half and did not play as well as they had the past few games. Freshman Taylor from St. X did a really nice job and looked like he will continue to run the St. X offense for a long time.

If I am not mistaken FC game is "Military Night" or something to do with honoring the military. The ROTC program at FC has been recognized as an outstanding one for a long time. Might be something to consider. I hope I am right about that, at least I recall that was the plan.

You did not, but CardsRule did in the 2nd post on this topic which is what I was not agreeing with. I quoted your post in my initial response that may have left you the impression I was suggesting you did. Sorry and I agree it is a very good team for typical CAL with a great chance to get out of the district with Ballard, Eastern, & KCD. I think they have the chance to be a very good team if they catch fire and close out with a string of victories over some of the best teams on their schedule.

There are 17 teams in the 7th and there about 7 teams that are not very good at all. That leaves 10 other teams and I would rank CAL to be about 7 or 8 behind Trinity, Ballard, Waggener, Eastern, Central, St. X, and then a toss up with CAL or Male. Last year Male was a very good team. Male has dropped this year and CAL is right there slightly above or on the same tier as Male.

I do not want to knock CAL, they are having a good season and I love the Parker Jones kid. But I would not call them a very good team because they played good teams close without any solid wins. Moral victories playing someone close is not enough for me. I want to see some solid victories to go along with it and I can't figure out who is their best win on the schedule because nothing jumps out. They have 4 good teams coming up in their next 5 games. They will kill Franklin, but if they win 3 out of those other 4 games I would upgrade them. Until then I can't give them the very good team moniker. I just have a higher bar that they have to get over.

CAL has had a soft schedule when you dig in. The lone wins in the 7th region are against Manual (way down this year from years past), KCD (might be their best victory), and Louisville Collegiate. The 7th is down this year in depth and they still have a losing record. They have improved from their first meeting losing to Ballard by 40 points to only 8 points in the LIT. If the perception is that CAL is a very good team, that is relative to what you consider a good team. I agree they may be better than the past, but I would not consider them to be a very good 6th or 7th region team. At best they are very middle of the pack in Jefferson County and the Spencer win could be considered their best win of the season if you scroll down and look at who they have played. Who else would get the nod?

Now 3 weeks remain before district play begins and this past week brought a few insights that confirm there are several tiers with the 6th region where teams are falling within. I see a group of teams within a top tier of the likely favorites to contend for the regional title, a second tier that should make it past districts, and a final tier for another 4-5 teams that have some work cut out if they expect to make the regional tournament this year. All other teams I will simply rank with updated records as they have not shown enough to believe they can get out of districts based on their body of work. I would like to see some comments about the 6th region, as not too many here on the board seem to be tuned into the 6th. Let your thoughts be known even if you are a casual observer that follows another region more closely. 1) Fern Creek (22-2)- Fern Creek is at the top of the top tier with a strong performance this past week making a statement they may actually be getting better. Wins over Ballard (a third time) by 15, a 30 point win over Waggener who has Devon Cooper back, and a 26 point win on the road over Taylor County finished it off. 2 games this week with St. X and Whitefield should not derail the Tigers. Chance Moore and Anthony Wales continue to lead the Tigers in scoring with excellent all around play from Ahmad Price, Tony Rogers, and Clint Wickliffe. Smooth Jones has added some shot blocking from the post position which could be an important development. 2) Valley (16-4)- Valley had wins over Meade County and Atherton so there was not much risk against either for an upset. This coming week they play Fairdale and Moore. With the Moore game on the road they could get a test. The leading scorers continue to be Curt Lewis, Eric George, and Cam Wilson with plenty of help from others. The Vikings are in that top tier of 6th regions teams that would be considered to be viable candidates to challenge for the 6th region crown. 3) Doss (14-8)- For the 2nd consecutive week, Doss went 1-1 last week suffering their 2nd region loss before bouncing back against an out of state team from TN at Taylor County. The home loss was to PRP by 4 and Doss struggled scoring against the PRP zone for most of the night. Jaylon Hall is having to carry the load scoring for the Dragons with Stephon Franklin and Cam Mattox also in double figures. But there is little margin for error if any of those three have an off night scoring. Doss should end the regular season on a high note as the remaining schedule should gets easier from here on out. Doss will remain in the top tier capable of defending their regional championship for another trip to Rupp at stake. 4) Bullitt East (15-7)- BE Remains at #4 even with the Doss loss as just as they were poised to jump into third they lost on Saturday to John Hardin. After beating 5th region Bardstown earlier in the week, the Chargers lost to another 5th region team 68-78. Luke Ezell, Connor Green, and Jared Osborne all average in double figures and have shown they can lead their team into a deep post-season run if their supporting cast can bring additional firepower. Bullitt East has a good chance to rebound and finish the season winning out as their schedule like Doss is not as challenging as it has previously been. They should remain in the top tier and be a likely candidate to challenge for the title. 5) PRP (11-8)- PRP jumps back in the top 5 after taking out Doss this last week in a 51-47 road victory for the Panthers. PRP will have a game this week with Ballard that if they can win would set them up for a nice finish to an up & down season. Currently they are just outside the top tier and head up the 2nd tier group of teams that deserve to be kept an eye upon in case they get on a roll before season end. Scoring continues to come from Trey Hill, Gerald Gray, and BJ Robinson. 6) DeSales (13-7)- DeSales gets the nod over Moore again in the rankings, but lost on the road to Moore 49-53 last week so those two teams are very close. They finished the week beating Eastern from the 7th region. Those leading the Colts in scoring are Jaxon Burgess, Austin Black, and Sam Weining. Right now they are in the 2nd tier of teams that should make the region, but have some way to go before challenging for the title. 7) Moore (14-8)- Moore almost jumped past DeSales, but lost to Male after that big home win. Ramon Collins, Antwan Hurt, and Shamar Overstreet lead the Mustangs in scoring. They play Valley later in the week which will be a big test for them to see if they are capable of being a serious threat. Right now they are in the 2nd tier and should be in the regional if they continue to play as they have. 8) Butler (12-9)- Butler has lost 4 of their last 5 with only a win over Southern in that span. They are hanging on to the final spot of the 2nd tier, but unless they quickly change how the season is going they may not be able to make the region much less become a challenger. 9) Iroquois (13-11)- 3rd tier team 10) Fairdale (9-12)- 3rd tier team 11) Western (8-11)- 3rd tier team 12) Jeffersontown (9-12)- 3rd tier team 13) Holy Cross (10-8) 14) Southern (9-12) 15) North Bullitt (6-16) 16) Bullitt Central (7-13) 17) Beth Haven (10-10) 18) Whitefield Academy (6-12) 19) Evangel Christian (4-16)

Final In the last game of the evening at the Clem Haskins Invitational Fern Creek won with a very strong 3rd quarter. MVP Chance Moore led with 16 and Anthony Wales had 15. Smooth Jones had a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Next up for FC is St. X on Tuesday.

Kids want to play with other good players and good coaches which is why Fern Creek has benefited. It is not like FC is the sole benefactor of transfers. It has been that way not only in Jefferson County, but many places all over the state. I think the schools that receive the most transfers are the places where good players and coaching has an appeal to kids and their families. Parents will move into a district to enable that player to be eligible and it is not that tough to move within the city of Louisville. In Jefferson County there as so many good players that it seems more prevalent and it is easier to be transient. You are not going to have many of the better players move out to Spencer County or the Collins area because the best ones want to stay and play against the other best players in the city. You really can't compare the situations of transfers between FC & Spencer or Collins. But FC also lost a great player to a transfer in Trey Hill last season who is one of the best players in the 6th region this year and only a junior. I agree 100% that Moore is a very big key if not the biggest. He was the only transfer from Eastern on this roster. The player off the bench is probably the one who was at Manual as a freshman and sat out last season at FC as a sophomore. But again, FC lost another a player who transferred to New Albany who was their top guard off the bench last season that started at times. FC basically had 2 transfer out and two transfer in from last season to this season.

They may be up & down, but on any given night can beat anyone in the state as they each have the talent. Sometimes two good teams just neutralize each other and the results look ugly. I am surprised the zone defenses worked best against each other. I understand Coach Williams frustration with the refs, but I do not understand why he went man to man after holding PRP to 20 points in the 1st half and keeping Trey Hill in check. They went man to man in the 2nd half and Hill took over the game as Doss did not have anyone who could stay in front of him.

:popcorn: I really enjoy the banter back in forth with the 8th regions rival fans. As someone who has followed Fern Creek for the last 3 years, I understand the optimism when a team has a strong nucleus of younger players. FC started 3 freshmen in the 6th region in the 2014-2015 season and that does not happen often in the 6th or 7th. Those 2018 kids are juniors now and the experience of playing early is beginning to pay off. At the end of the day the kids have to keep working hard and focus on improving as that is not a given. If your young players in the 8th just keep working at their game it will be a fun ride for both of your programs.

No, I corrected the post. Late night error. It is Jaquez Hobbs. WKU Head Coach Rick Stansbury was in the gym as well as a few other college programs. Southeast Missouri was also there. Quite a few D1 prospects playing on the court tonight.

Final, This one was over pretty quick as Fern Creek led 25-10 at the end of the first quarter. Anthony Wales started 4/4 shooting threes and scored 14 in the first Q and Ahmad Price had a big 2nd quarter as Fern Creek held a 45-24 halftime lead. The lead was never below 20 the rest of the way as Fern Creek again turned the 4th quarter over to their bench. Wales ended up with 19 on 7/8 from the field (5/6 from 3's) and Price 14. Chance Moore was also in double figures with 11. Waggener was led by Devon Cooper with 26 and Jaquez Hobbs with 13. Fern Creek has St. X next on Tuesday.

Was at game and it was a tale of two halves. Doss played zone first half and PRP struggled only getting 20 points. Doss did not score much better with 26-20 lead, but seemed in control. In the 2nd half Doss went man to man which allowed PRP's Trey Hill to get to the basket or foul line almost at will. He ended up with 18 on game and Doss got behind after only scoring 4 points in 3rd quarter. Behind Jaylon Hall they tried to make a comeback in the 4th, but his 3 point shot when it was 50-47 came up short right before the buzzer. Both teams struggled against the respective zones being played, but PRP took advantage of a poor 3rd quarter from Doss.

You have to account for the defense you are playing against when you talk about top scorers. Most of the top stats leaders coming from the 15th-16th could also mean that players they face are not what you would call defensive stoppers. I think the point being made is that until a team seeks out opponents who will challenge your ability to score by applying defensive pressure and effort then the results you see can be misleading.

You are right, the paper mentioned that. Ballard will bounce back strong. Coach Renner is simply too good of a coach to not have that team ready come post season. I look for them to battle Trinity in the finals of the region unless Waggener comes on strong.

Had someone tell me that Eastern in 2008 was the only other time any team had beaten Ballard three times in a season. That was a very good Eastern team. Ballard is traditionally that good year in and year out. Fern Creek just has their number this year. They match up well as Ballard pressure doesn't get the turnovers like they do with most teams.

Yes, been back the last 2 games for sure.

Final 3rd time these Top 10 teams have played and this time was the largest margin for Fern Creek as they swept all three. No idea, but I doubt Ballard has lost three games in a single season to many teams throughout the years given their track record. This one was a double digit lead at half due to a strong close by Fern Creek before the half. At one point in the 4th quarter lead was over 20 and then each team cleared benches with 5 or so minutes to go and Ballard got it down some. Fern Creek had 5 in double figures with Anthony Wales leading the way with 22. Chance Moore, Ahmad Price, Toney Rogers, and Jalen Howard all hit double figures. Jamil Wilson led Ballard with 13.

1 KCD 1 Russellville 1 Cordia 1 University Heights 1 Owensboro Catholic 1 Paris 1 Walton Verona 1 LCA 2 Russellville 2 University Heights 2 Paris 2 LCA 3 University Heights 3 LCA 5 LCA 67-54 LCA TB=121

That is probably right about Valley and the fact is Doss beat them by double digits, but since that loss the only team Valley has not beaten is Trinity. They beat DeSales and Central in the LIT and then after losing to Trinity they beat PRP and Western. Doss meanwhile has lost 2 out of their last 3 or they would still be #2. I believe the region still has to go through Doss when it is all said and done, as they are the back to back champions of the 6th. Valley, Doss, and BE are all real close in that 2-4 range behind Fern Creek who has for the moment distinguished themselves as the top team so far. The 5th to 8th teams all are bunched together and then the 9th-12th seem to be real close too. It is like there are several tiers in the region where teams have settled so far and the rest of the season will be interesting to see who drops or rises into another tier.

4 weeks remaining in the regular season before district play begins and for most teams that is 8-10 games to post their final records. Now is the time to be playing your best basketball and getting chemistry together for the post season run. Last week there were a few games that clarified the picture, but for the most part the top teams are going to stay pretty much the same. Here it goes.... 1) Fern Creek (19-2)- One game is all the Tigers had and that was at JTown this past Tuesday. The highly ranked team coming off their LIT championship showed no signs of slowing down as they had a 39 point victory against their district rival before having the rest of the week off. They were scheduled to play Southern on Friday but the 30 game KHSAA limit required the game to be canceled as the Tigers played maximum games at both the KOB and the LIT tournaments which caused the need to drop a game. This week will be extremely difficult playing two top teams from the 7th region, Ballard & Waggener. The Ballard game is the 3rd time those teams will have played and Waggener will be hitting strides having their star player, Devon Cooper, back for his 3rd game by the time they meet on Friday. Taylor County is on the schedule for Saturday. 2) Valley (14-4)- Valley has more regional wins than anyone else in the 6th with 8 victories against a lone loss to Doss. The Vikings had a great week beating PRP on the road and then taking care of Western as expected with little trouble. Since 2017 they are 5-2 with only the loss to Doss and Trinity in the LIT. The next 5 games on their schedule are against lesser foes and it will not be until early February when they play DeSales that they should have a tough game. Despite the double digit loss to Doss on January 3rd, they are playing good enough basketball to be the clear #2 team in the region at this time. 3) Doss (13-7)- Doss went 1-1 last week losing to Ballard by 12 before beating J-Town by 10. Like Valley, they only have 1 loss in region and that was to Fern Creek in the first week of the season. The Dragons have a huge home game on Thursday against PRP that will tell a lot for both teams. They finish the week on Saturday playing an out of state team in Taylor County. 4) Bullitt East (14-6)- BE Remains at #4 even with the Doss loss as they really did not have very competitive opponents in Meade County and Manual although they easily beat both teams. They are off until the weekend when they play back to back games Friday & Saturday against top tier teams from the 5th region in Bardstown & John Hardin. If the Chargers get past those two teams, the schedule lines up very favorable for running the table going into district play. 5) DeSales (12-6)- DeSales jumps back in the top 5 after taking out Butler last week in a 69-52 rout followed by a convincing win over Fairdale as well. DeSales, Doss, and Butler all play again in the District 22 tourney. Doss will have the 1st seed with their wins over both, so there will be a rematch between DeSales & Butler with a regional bid on the line next time they face off. Moore & Eastern await this week for the Colts. 6) PRP (10-8)- This may be a surprise pick to move PRP ahead of Butler and Moore, but they are playing much better after the LIT blowout loss to Bullitt East. Coach Mabrey and his excellent assistants are not going to sit by and do nothing. This team will improve and last week they played Valley close in a 7 point loss before blowing out Fairdale by 35. Given the margin of victory, PRP and Valley will most likely be advancing out of District 21 where Valley will be the top seed and PRP will rematch with Fairdale to advance onto the Regional Tourney. How far PRP is able to go in the regional will be determined later, but insight will be gained from their game at Doss this week. 7) Butler (11-7)- DeSales dropped Butler to the 7th spot with a convincing win and that has to be concerning for Coach KC Goodin. The good news is they play again and that will be of much more importance when district play is on the line to determine who advances to regionals. Butler plays Southern, Central, and Pulaski County this coming week in an opportunity to reshape their season. 8) Moore (12-7)- Moore suffered only their 2nd regional loss when they fell to Iroquois this week as they went 1-2 with a win over KCD to go along with the loss to Iroquois 65-73 and a 30+ point loss to Trinity. A big regional game is on Tuesday when they play DeSales sandwiched between (2) 7th region opponents in Manual & Male. The 23rd District is going to come down between Moore, Southern, and North Bullitt with Moore having the edge unless they stumble against North Bullitt when they play in early February. 9) Iroquois (11-10)- The 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th, spots this week are all really toss-ups. Iroquois is 0-3 in district and lost to Western on the road by 11 and North Oldham by 6. But in their home game they beat Moore by 6 in what may be their best 6th region victory. They do not play again versus a 6th region foe until early February. 10) Southern (8-10)- Southern won their only game last week beating North Bullitt. They are 2-1 in district play and will likely have a rematch with North Bullitt to determine who will go to the region once the district tournament starts. Butler and Male games this week will shed some insight if they can mount a challenge in post season play. 11) Fairdale (8-11)- Last week started out great with a large margin victory over 7th region Central, but ended horribly with a 35 point loss to PRP and a 19 point loss to DeSales. Atherton & JTown will be in front of the Bulldogs this week. 12) Western (7-10)- The Warriors lost to Valley last week 59-83, but did beat Iroquois by 11 in a must win for their season. They only have 2 region wins and are 1-2 in district play. Central and Bullitt Central are the opponents for this week. 13) Holy Cross (10-8)- Wins over Shawnee and Beth Haven in the All A Classic 6th region event keeps the Cougars in the 13th spot. They play in Frankfort this week as they represent the 6th region 14) Jeffersontown (7-11)- J-Town had a 39 point loss to Fern Creek, but turned around and played much better in their 56-66 loss to Doss. Still, they have now lost 5 games in a row since their January 3rd overtime win over Western. Bullitt Central and Fairdale will be on the schedule this week. 15) North Bullitt (6-13)- With all their team now in place, improvement is evident as they lost close 3 point games to both Southern and Bardstown. North & South Oldham are next. 16) Bullitt Central (7-11)- This week JTown and Western will provide opportunities to move up or confirm that the Cougars are ranked where they are supposed to be. 17) Beth Haven (10-7)- Lost 45-67 to Holy Cross in the All A classic and the same Holy Cross will be their next 6th region foe on January 31st. 18) Whitefield Academy (6-9)- Lost to KCD 63-90 last week. 19) Evangel Christian (3-14)- No more regional games until District post season.

I tend to agree with Clyde, I do not think home school has anything to do with gaining eligibility after going to an out of state prep school. The rule is one year and that is why Trace Young was able to come back sooner than Cooper because he stopped playing at Huntington Prep mid year last season. I have no idea if or how this young man is eligible, but if he is and Cooper is not it makes no sense on the surface. If this is in fact accurate, I hope Cooper adds punitive damages to his case against KHSAA as it appears to be applying the rule selectively. Let them all play regardless of the caliber of player. Perhaps there is a clear cut difference in these situations, but I do not think the "home school" issue is the smoking gun.

I feel the top 5 teams in the 8th have played enough 6th & 7th region teams to show they can win games and deserve credit for being a good region. The drop off after the top 5 is pretty big and that is where the number of wins against the rest of the 8th can be misleading. If I was a coach in the 8th I would schedule as many games outside the region against better competition regardless of whether I am padding my wins or not. It will pay off come post season. Oldham seems to have taken this route and I see them as the favorite in some part due to that preparation.

The injunction by nature is temporary until the case can be heard and a decision rendered. The judge who granted the injunction likely hears the case I would presume. That judge must have found some merit or the injunction attempt would not have been successful. The question I have is how long until the case gets heard? I don't feel it is a slam dunk for either side to prevail. I do agree with dawgs that the KHSAA will try their best to win the case, but I have no idea what a judge may rule. If the judge sided with KHSAA, would any victories turn to forfeits? This still could have some twists and turns, but like many I hope the young man gets to play. He has sat out long enough and it just seems the fair ending.