Runcible Owl

2️⃣5️⃣ Review of the final week of the regular season for Massey's Top 25. ❓ Who's hot and who's not heading into District tournaments this week? Only four teams suffered a loss to one ranked lower on Massey's scale: #8 Manual to #9 North Oldham. The other three were road games - Bryan Station to Madison Southern, Eastern to Moore, and Henderson County to Castle (IN). (Season's Strength of Schedule, Week's W-L) 1. Great Crossing (SOS 2, 1-0) W #35 Walton-Verona 72-49. 2. Lex Cath (SOS 21, 2-0) W Lincoln Co 76-42, W #32 Warren Cent 73-56. 3. Cov Cath (SOS 7, 1-0) W at Madison Cent 78-46. 4. St. Xavier (SOS 8, 2-0) W at Seneca 89-59, W #9 N Oldham 67-52. 5. Lyon Co (SOS 17, 2-0) W Dawson Springs 106-71, W Calloway Co 87-59. 6. Newport (SOS 10, 1-0) W Beechwood 67-62. 7. Trinity (SOS 1, 1-1) W Collins 62-52, L at (IN #8 ~ KY #2) Cathedral 40-50. 8. Manual (SOS 18, 2-1) L #9 N Oldham 53-65, W WEB Du Bois 85-67, W at N Bullitt 88-48. 9. N Oldham (SOS 12, 1-1) W #8 Manual 65-53, L at #4 St. Xavier 52-67. 10. Bowling Green (SOS 14, 1-0) W at Muhlenberg Co 90-73. 11. GR Clark (SOS 67, 1-0) W Bracken Co 86-35. 12. Male (SOS 3, 2-0) W #14 DeSales 78-71, W at #43 Jeffersontown 66-64. 13. Evangel Christ (SOS 29, 1-0) W at Wayne Co 69-46. 14. Harlan Co (SOS 26, 2-0) W Knox Cent 109-89, W at Whitley Co 85-73. 15. DeSales (SOS 4, 1-1) L #12 Male 71-78, W #33 N Hardin 82-72. 16. Woodford Co (SOS 33, 1-0) W LCA 75-58. 17. Cooper (SOS 11, 2-0) W Dixie 57-49, W Scott 72-34. 18. Oldham Co (SOS 15, W Butler 60-55. 19. Bryan Stn (SOS 41, 1-1) W Grant Co 80-56, L at #31 Madison South 76-83. 20. H Clay (SOS 39, 2-0) W PL Dunbar 49-39, W Lafayette 69-38. 21. Campbell Co (SOS 48, 1-0) W St. Henry 69-63. 22. F Douglass (SOS 9, 0-1) L at #33 N Hardin 55-70. 23. Ashland (SOS 22, Did not play). 24. Eastern (SOS 36, 1-1) L at Moore 68-74, W at Doss 73-47. 25. Henderson Co (SOS 56, 1-1) W at Trigg Co 77-48, L at (IN #74 ~ KY #38) Castle 50-53. 🎉 Congratulations, and thank you to all the teams from No. 1 to No. 284. 🍀 Best of luck in the District tournaments, and safe travels! ("~" after a Massey Indiana Rating is the Kentucky equivalent; e.g. Indianapolis Cathedral would be considered the #2 team in Kentucky.)

2️⃣5️⃣ Review for this week's Top 25 ~ (Season's Strength of Schedule, Week's W-L)

♣️ 🐯 | Final at Harned via The Scoreboard. Don't let the margin fool you; Breck has a very good team. Don't be surprised to see them in the Regional final at the Sportscenter. District semis on Monday ~ 9th - Lady Aces (KY #7 25-4, R3 #1 11-1) at Apollo. 11th - Lady Tigers (KY #42 19-9, R3 #3 10-3) vs. Hancock Co. at Meade Co. (# Massey Ratings)

DH BC | Final at Florence per The Scoreboard. Nice road win for the Colonels, though the Rebels seem to be stumbling a bit of late. District tournament semifinals Wednesday ~ 34th: Dixie (17-12, R9 9-7, D34 3-1) vs. St. Henry at Villa Madonna. 33rd: Boone Co. (18-9, R9 8-2, D33 2-1) vs. Ryle at Conner. A few weeks ago I would've picked Boone over Ryle. I think it's a toss-up now.

4th Region and 5th Region boys also had dual winners, as did the girls in the 6th and 7th. Congratulations to all!

CCH 🏹 | Final at Richmond via the Colonel Athletic Network and the update thread. bluegrasspreps.com/Covington-Catholic-at-Madison-Central-updates CC: 15 20 23 20 • 78 MC: 12 11 13 10 • 46 Opening round District games next week ~ 44th: Madison Central vs. Richmond Model at EKU. 35th: Covington Catholic at Holmes in Evans Fieldhouse.

Final ~ Covington Catholic 78 Madison Central 46

CCH 70 MC 43; 3:14 Q4. Wholesale substitutions by Cov Cath.

Cov Cath wins the 3rd quarter 23-13. CCH 58 MC 36

Colonels on a 15-4 run. Full timeout MC. Cov Cath leads 50-27, mid Q3.

Halftime Covington Catholic 35 Madison Central 23 Colonels shooting well. Ruthsatz having a very good all-around game. CCH: McGillis 10, Harney 8, Hussey 7, Bradshaw 6, Ruthsatz 4 (6 rbs, 4 ast). MC: Asher 7, Morrison 7, Goatley 4, Steele 3, Richardson 2. Two players out of action for the Indians. ✓ Correction: Miller's fingers are in a splint, not hand in a cast as noted in the OP.

30 second timeout CCH. Colonels lead 25-17; 5:19 Q2.

Hussey layup followed by a miss at the buzzer by Morrison. Cov Cath leads 15-12 after Q1.

🔵 vs. 🏹 | Traditional end of season game is Senior Night for the Indians. The JV game ran late, a three point overtime win for Central. Caden Miller's hand is in a cast and sitting out tonight. Please join in and post updates here. Audio livestream at the link below ~ 🔗 colonel-athletic-network.mixlr.com Starters ~ CCH: McGillis, Harney, Bradshaw, Ruthsatz, and Hussey. MC: Goatley, Asher, Ray, Morrison, and Steele. Hussey is the only Senior in both lineups.

🐎 M | Final at Mayfield via The Scoreboard. The Lady Mustangs (KY #12), last year's Sweet 16 runner-up, improve to 23-5. They'll close out the regular season tonight, hosting Calloway County. The Lady Cardinals, this season's 1st Region All 'A' champs, fall to 14-11. Mayfield opens 3rd District play at host Ballard Memorial on Tuesday.

🐆 HC | Final at Baxter from The Scoreboard. The Lady Jaguars (KY #9, 23-5) finish with a Region's best 11-2 record. They'll close out the regular season tonight at Henry Clay (KY #40). The Lady Black Bears (16-13, R13 10-11) open 52nd District play Monday, hosting Harlan.

3️⃣ The 3rd Region's Power 5, missing from the previous post. Round 1 pairing in the Lower Bracket is vs. the 6th Region. R3: 54. Daviess Co, 65. Butler Co, 67. O'boro Cath, 75. Owensboro, 88. Ohio Co vs. 6️⃣ R6: 13. Evangel Christ, 15. DeSales, 34. Fairdale, 43. Jeffersontown, 50. Fern Creek 🦉

🐈 🦁 🦅 🦅 Two big cats on the prowl. Two Eagles take wing. 7️⃣ 👑 7th Region still the Best of the Bluegrass. 🖥️ WOPR predictions prove out. 🏆 Sweet 16® "Power Pairings" updated. ✓ Breakdown for teams noted in the latest Massey Ratings (for games through February 17). Link to the current Ratings at the link below ~ 🔗 masseyratings.com/KY_Boys Newport has risen to their highest rating of the season to No. 6. Massey has been s-l-o-w-l-y nudging the Wildcats up the ranks, despite having won 18 straight games to Saturday's deadline. The defending 9th Region champs started the season at No. 24. Lyon County is back this week at No. 5, placing ahead of two teams who took surprising losses, to Massey anyway - Trinity to Jeffersontown, and North Oldham to Danville Christian. The Lyons began the '23/'24 campaign ranked # 27. Eastern started the season at No. 15, then dropped well back for two months. The Eagles returned to the Top 25 as WOPR predicted. Danville Christian is the new No. 1 in the 12th Region. The Eagles capped off their week with a road win over then No. 6 North Oldham. ✓ "Power + Regional Rankings" A winning combination of St. Xavier, Trinity, Manual, Male, and Eastern help the 7th Region retain a narrow lead over the 11th. Two new teams make the "Power 5" for this week in their respective Regions - Fern Creek in the 6th, and Eastern's return to the elite of the 7th. 1. 1st Region 55, 2. 11th Region 64, 3. 9th Region 102, 4. 8th Region 108. 5. 6th Region 155, 6. 5th Region 197, 7. 13th Region 238, 8. 2nd Region 255. 9. 10th Region 299 (LW 10), 10. 16th Region 303 (LW 9), 11. 12th Region 307 (LW 12), 12. 1st Region 310 (LW 10) 13. 4th Region 338, 14. 3rd Region 349, 15. 15th Region 434, 16. 14th Region 551. ✓ Sweet 16® "Power Pairings" A look at potential Round 1 matchups at the State Tournament by each Region's Top 5. • Upper Bracket ~ 1️⃣5️⃣ vs. 1️⃣4️⃣ R15: 39. Pikeville, 84. Martin Co, 92. Pike Cent, 107. Magoffin Co, 112. Lawrence Co R14: 68. Hazard, 99. Perry Cent, 117. Breathitt Co, 118. Knott Cent, 149. Estill Co 8️⃣ vs. 1️⃣1️⃣ R8: 9. N Oldham, 16. Woodford Co, 18. Oldham Co, 30. Spencer Co, 35- Walton-Verona R11: 1. Great Crossing, 2. Lex Cath, 19. Bryan Stn, 20. H Clay, 22. F Douglass 1️⃣6️⃣ vs. 2️⃣ R16: 23. Ashland, 27. Boyd Co, 76. Fleming Co, 82. Rowan Co, 95. Morgan Co R2: 5. Lyon Co, 25. Henderson Co, 44. University Hts, 78. Christian Co, 103. Hopkinsville 5️⃣ vs. 1️⃣ R5: 33. N Hardin, 37. Elizabethtown, 40. Cent Hardin, 42. Adair Co, 45. LaRue Co R1: 36. McCracken Co, 46. Marshall Co, 61. Murray, 70. Calloway Co, 97. Graves Co • Lower Bracket ~ 1️⃣3️⃣ vs. 4️⃣ R13: 14. Harlan Co, 41. S Laurel, 47. Corbin, 55. N Laurel, 81. Clay Co R4: 10. Bowling Green, 32. Warren Cent, 94. Warren E, 98. Barren Co, 104. S Warren 9️⃣ vs. 1️⃣0️⃣ R9 3. Cov Cath, 6. Newport, 17. Cooper, 28. Lloyd, 48. Boone Co R10: 11. GR Clark, 21. Campbell Co, 56. Mason Co, 101. Scott, 110. Harrison Co 1️⃣2️⃣ vs. 7️⃣ R12: 38. Danville Christ, 51. Pulaski Co, 63. Wayne Co, 66. Lincoln Co, 89. Boyle Co R7: 4. St. Xavier, 7. Trinity, 8. Manual, 12. Male, 24. Eastern 6️⃣ vs. 3️⃣ R6: 13. Evangel Christ, 15. DeSales, 34. Fairdale, 43. Jeffersontown, 50. Fern Creek 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Trefnwyd gan WOPR.

🏴‍☠️ WH | Final at Lapsey Cardwell Gym via The Scoreboard. Ryle puts an exclamation point on their first winning season since 2013/2014, also the last time they put up a Benji. Raiders' regular season is complete. Wolverines close out in Frankfort Friday vs. Shawnee.

Wouldn't be surprised to see the Trojans win the 5th this year. Very nice win.

Was the Mustangs leading scorer (17) in Friday's win over Marshall County.

First time back was this game Saturday, scoring 23 points. Tallied 23 again in last night's 106-71 win over Dawson Springs.

N 🐅| Final at Stan Arnzen Gym per Evan Dennison. The Wildcats have won 19 straight. Good showing for the Tigers. Up next ~ Beechwood (14-14, R9 7-7), Friday vs. Highlands. Newport (KY #8, 27-3, R9 13-1), next Wednesday hosting Dayton/Bellevue in a 36th District semifinal.

🌟 ⚔️ | Final at Bardstown per Bethlehem Athletics social media. Leah Macy scored 14 points in the opening quarter for the Banshees. Christ. Acad-Lou.: 8 11 10 8 • 37 Bethlehem: 25 20 15 11 • 72 Up next ~ Bethlehem (KY #24, R5 #1, 20-8), Thursday vs. Owensboro (KY #44). CAL (KY #39, R7 #5, 13-14), going for their fifth straight 28th District title next Wednesday vs. Ballard/Eastern. (# Massey Ratings)

🐕 ♈ 🌟 | Lady Redhounds, Lady Crimsons, and Banshees on the rise. 9th Region rules. Sweet 16® Bracket "Power 5 Matchups" is back ~ 🧐 Three teams who've seen season some ups and downs so far are pulling themselves together, per Professor Massey, just in time for postseason play. Corbin, almost off the list seven weeks ago, is now at No. 15. Manual nearly dropped off the map a month ago is up to No. 18. Bethlehem started the season 20th before Leah Macy's injury, dropped well back, has played well since her return and are now "in" at No. 24. 9️⃣ 👑 | The 9th Region rules the Bluegrass yet again in the "Power + Regional Rankings." 🐈‍⬛ Intraregional standings remain remarkably static except in Louisville. Pleasure Ridge Park's Lady Panthers joins the "Power 5" in the 6th Region. Manual is back at No. 2 in the 7th Region, swapping places with No. 3 Central. 👇 Link to this week's Ratings for games through Saturday, February 17. 🔗 masseyratings.com/KY_Girls 🤜🤛 "Power + Regional Rankings" The 9th, despite the lowest Ratings of the year for Ryle (#10) and Notre Dame (#16) remain the best Region in the state per WOPR. 1. 9th Region (68), 2. 7th Region (107), 3. 13th Region (138), 4. 3rd Region (163) 5. 12th Region (173), 6. [+1] 11th Region (194), 7. [-1] 8th Region (197), 8. 16th Region (205) 9. [+2] 5th Region (216), 10. [-1] 4th Region (218), 11. [-1] 10th Region (229), 12. 6th Region (242) 13. 15th Region (289), 14. 1st Region (341), 15. 14th Region (359), 16. 2nd Region (419). 🏆 Sweet 16® Bracket "Power 5 Matchups" • Upper Bracket ~ 1️⃣4️⃣ vs. 4️⃣ 14th Region: 62. Owsley Co, 67. Perry Cent, 68. Knott Cent, 74. Letcher Cent, 88. Leslie Co 4th Region: 11. Franklin-Simpson, 30. Bowling Green, 41. Barren Co, 57. Warren E, 79. Metcalfe Co 1️⃣6️⃣ vs. 1️⃣ 16th Region: 6. Ashland, 13. Russell, 17. Boyd Co, 82. Rowan Co, 87. Bath Co 1st Region: 12. McCracken Co, 55. Marshall Co, 61. Graves Co, 66. Calloway Co, 147. Mayfield 8️⃣ vs. 6️⃣ 8th Region: 8. Anderson Co, 26. S Kenton, 52. Spencer Co, 54. Grant Co, 57. S Oldham 6th Region: 20. Butler, 43. Bullitt E, 46. Mercy, 56. Whitefield Acad, 107. PRP 1️⃣1️⃣ vs. 1️⃣3️⃣ 11th Region: 14. Franklin Co, 19. F Douglass, 40. H Clay, 50. Madison Cent, 71. Madison South 13th Region: 9. N Laurel, 15. Corbin, 32. S Laurel, 33. Knox Cent, 49. Jackson Co • Lower Bracket ~ 7️⃣ vs. 1️⃣0️⃣ 7th Region: 1. SHA, 18. Manual, 21. Central, 28 Assumption 39. CAL 10th Region: 2. GR Clark, 27. Montgomery Co, 59. Campbell Co, 64. Brossart, 77. Scott 1️⃣5️⃣ vs. 5️⃣ 15th Region: 4. Pikeville, 36. Johnson Cent, 73. Lawrence Co, 80. Martin Co, 96. Paintsville 5th Region: 24. Bethlehem, 37. Bardstown, 47. Taylor Co, 48. N Hardin, 60. Elizabethtown 1️⃣2️⃣ vs. 9️⃣ 12th Region: 22. Pulaski Co, 29. SWestern, 31. Danville Christ, 38. Rockcastle Co, 53. W Jessamine 9th Region: 3. Cooper, 5. Cov Holy Cross, 10. Ryle, 16. NDA, 34. Highlands 2️⃣ vs. 3️⃣ 2nd Region: 23. Henderson Co, 75. M-NH, 94. Christian Co, 111. Lyon Co, 116. Union Co 3rd Region: 7. O'boro Cath, 25. Meade Co, 42. Breckenridge Co, 44. Owensboro, 45. Daviess Co 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Trefnwyd gan WOPR.