10thRegionballislife

True, the second half was awful to watch. I am willing to bet there was over 30 fouls called in the second half.

I’m curious about how Bracken will matchup with Mason. That should be a good game imo

I would probably put Fredrick Douglas in the conversation as well

My 28 point line wasn’t too bad

Favored by 28, sorry

Week 11 Review and Rankings Super Bowl Sunday is now past us and we only have one week remaining in the regular season. It has been a fun season, I have enjoyed tracking the 10th region all year. This past week the 10th had a total of 29 wins and 25 losses. The 10th heads into the final week of the regular season with an overall record of 187 – 208. The records of the teams continue to prove just how much of a top-heavy region the 10th has been all season. Lets get into our week 10 rankings… Rankings (record, change in ranking) 1. George Rogers Clark (25-1, -) 2. Mason County (19-5, -) 3. Bracken County (20-6, -) 4. Harrison County (18-7, -) 5. Campbell County (15-10, -) 6. Augusta (14-11, -) 7. Montgomery County (10-14, -) 8. Calvary Christian (17-8, +1) 9. Scott High (6-19, -1) 10. Bishop Brossart (9-16, -) 11. Robertson County (11-13) 12. Paris (5-17, -) 13. Bourbon County (4-20, -) 14. Nicholas County (8-17,+1) 15. Pendleton County (3-23, -1) 16. St. Patrick (2-22, -) Not much has changed and I will do a much more detailed review next week of every team with it being the last week of the regular season. GRC continues to show they are the number one team by far. Honestly, I think Mason is slipping a little bit. I thought they were the clear number 2 heading into January, but with their play lately I think any of the 3-5 ranked teams could knock Mason off come tournament time. Since their 2A state tournament loss on January 15th they have only played 5 games in basically a month. They haven’t looked great in any of those games either. Bracken County continues to trend upwards with 4 wins this week and they ended up being the second team to reach 20 wins in the region. Harrison County won 3 of 4 this past week losing to a tough Muhlenberg County squad. Campbell County is getting hot at the right time, kind of how I expected. The Camels are riding a 7-game win streak into the final week of the season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that ends up being an 11-game streak come regional tourney time. I bumped up Calvary this week due to them playing well with Augusta, also It looks like this Calvary team could get into the 20-win column this week. Also, Nicholas County took home a big win this past week against Pendleton and with that Win I must start showing them a bit more respect. The blue jackets now have a decent chance of hitting the 10-win milestone this season. Let’s try a game out… I will do my best to make the “line” or “spread” and you all submit your picks below. I will do this for post season play as well. This is not promoting gamble, but I think this will be a fun game to play. I will keep track of the peoples record below if you submit your picks in time. I will say submit your picks for the entire week all at once for it to count. Since this is coming out on Monday if you miss Monday’s games that’s fine. Monday February 14th GRC vs Bracken County, GRC (-28) For clarification GRC is favored by 25 this game, if you submit a pick as "GRC" you think they will win by more than 28. If you pick "bracken", you think they will lose by less than 28 Roberson vs Nicholas, Robertson (-8) Tuesday February 15th Mason vs Scott County, Mason (-9) Harrison vs. Fleming, Harrison (-8) Wednesday February 16th GRC vs Tates Creek, GRC (-30) Campbell vs Beechwood, Campbell (-9) Thursday February 17th Mason vs Grant County, Mason (-15) Bracken vs Ashland, Ashland (-25) Montgomery vs Greenup, Montgomery (-5) Calvary vs Robertson, Calvary (-12) Friday February 18th Bishop Brossart vs Newport Central Catholic, NCC (-4) Scott vs Cooper, Cooper (-9) My picks ( submit your picks similar fashion as mine please) Monday GRC Nicholas Tuesday Scott Co Harrison Wednesday GRC Campbell Thursday Mason Ashland Greenup Robertson Friday Newport Central Catholic Scott

I am not sure I have heard that last season the 38th district flipped a coin. But I’m not exactly sure how that process works for three different teams

Week 10 Review and Rankings Somewhat of a slow week here for the 10th Region teams this week. The weather took out a large slate of the Friday & Saturday games. Overall, the Region ended with a record of 15-13 for the week. The wins were concentrated heavily within the top 6 teams as the 10th continues to show it is a very top-heavy region. The rankings this week show somewhat of a large shake up, at least for it being this late in the season. Let’s take a look at the rankings… Rankings (Record, Change in Ranking) 1. George Rogers Clark (22-1, -) The Cardinals continue their dominant run, and it looks like they have a good chance of going undefeated against in-state teams for the regular season. 2. Mason County (18-5, -) Mason County went 1 and 1 on the week with an out-of-state win and then a loss to a solid Trinity basketball team. They only have 3 games left on the schedule; they have a good chance of passing the 20-win mark before the regular season is over. 3. Bracken County (16-6, -) Bracken County beat Bishop Brossart by double digits this week. They have somewhat of a weak schedule this upcoming week, and then follow that with what will certainly be there toughest two games of the season as they face Ashland and GRC both in one week. 4. Harrison County (15-6, -) Harrison won two games this week and will look to continue winning the rest of the way as they should be the favorite in the remaining 5 games they have on their schedule. 5. Campbell County (12-10, -) The Camels won their 4th straight game in a blowout against Calvary this week. The Camels don’t have an easy stretch of games to round out the season, but just like Harrison County they should be the favorite in their remaining games. If the Camels can get 4 out of their next 5 games, they would be riding a hot streak to end the season. Plenty of change from our 6-10 ranked teams. As we continue throughout the season, I still have plenty of difficulty ranking these teams. Augusta seems to be the 6th best team at least for now, and I believe they have probably proven to have the most upside of these teams. Montgomery finds themselves up 3 spots and that may be a little bit of a jump, but I’m not sure who else deserves it. Scott High picked up their 4th win of the season but also got beat by 15 by Augusta. It seems like they continue to struggle scoring the ball. Calvary got absolutely blown out by the Camels this week as they lost by 47. I know Calvary has a great record, but I struggle to find a quality win for this team. They have only faced two of the top 5 teams in the region and both have been blowouts. Calvary has one big game remaining against Bishop Brossart that could lead to a three-way tie for the 2-4 seeds in the 37th District. Bishop Brossart falls some spots this week after a single loss to Bracken County. Bishop Brossart has certainly faced some tough competition this season, but they’ve lost 5 in a row and due to that they have slid down the rankings this week. They still have an opportunity to pick up a quality win as they play Mason County away. 6. Augusta (11-10, +1) 7. Montgomery County (7-13, +3) 8. Scott High (4-17, +1) 9. Calvary Christian (16-7, -3) 10. Bishop Brossart (7-14, -2) 11. Robertson County (10-10, -) 12. Paris (5-14, +3) 13. Bourbon County (4-16, -1) 14. Pendleton County (3-19, -1) 15. Nicholas County (6-16, -1) 16. St. Patrick (2-19, -1)

I am under the impression that they draw. I think that is why Mason and Bracken don't play each other during the regular season

Week 9 Review and Rankings We are approaching the end folks and the rankings aren’t changing much at this point in the year. The Top 6 teams in the rankings have a combined record of 10-1 this week with the lone loss coming to the Bracken County Polar Bears, who had a great showing in the All-A classic State tournament. We still have plenty of games to be played but at this point I feel as if it is becoming a bit easier to see which teams in the middle of the could make their way into the Regional Tournament! Let’s get into the rankings… Rankings (Record, Change in Ranking) 1. George Rogers Clark (19-1, -) More blowout wins for Clark County this week, have to think they are getting a little bored with district opponents. Will they be able to pick up the intensity in their next tough matchup? 2. Mason County (17-4, -) Royals beat the Montgomery County Indians by 11 in what kind of has been a slow past two weeks for this Mason County team. They’ve only played two games in the last two weeks, they will look to ramp up the intensity with three comes next, one at home against Rival Fleming County. 3. Bracken County (15-6, -) Bracken competing with all they had in the All-A State Tournament. They won a tough game against Walton-Verona and dropped one to Harlan, both games went into overtime. Bracken has been a pleasant surprise this season. I am hoping they don’t draw Mason in the first round of districts this year. Both teams deserve to get into the regional tournament, or at least have an easier game to play for a regional bid. 4. Harrison County (13-6, -) Harrison County continues to prove they are the top team in the 38th District and are going to be a tough out come tournament time. They win two regional games this week and will look to win three next week. 5. Campbell County (11-10, -) Two wins this week, one big win against Augusta and one close game against Scott. They are back on track and it’s coming just at the right time… or seems to be. They’ll have to keep it rolling for a couple of weeks, but their schedule is lightening up a bit and they just need to beat Calvary Christian next week to solidify themselves as the number one seed come district time. 6. Calvary Christian (15-6, +1) Calvary keeps winning. They haven’t had a tough schedule but the teams below them haven’t won much at all. I understand if you have them lower but so far they’ve been winning many of the games on their schedule. Big game against Campbell next week. 7. Augusta (9-10, -1) Augusta continues to trend downward. I am just not a big fan of the 33-point loss they took this week to Campbell. This team has Top 5 Potential when they are playing at their best, but at their worst they maybe closer to the 10 best team in the region. 8. Bishop Brossart (7-13, -) Brossart is trending down as well. They struggle to score, as they are averaging just over 50 points a game this season. I think their defense is solid but they really struggle to score. If you take away David Govan and the Mustangs don’t have another true inside presence on the offensive end of the ball. 9. Scott (3-16, +1) Scott is playing much better, but they still only have three wins on the year. They rest of their schedule isn’t easier either. 5 or 6 wins in their last 9 games would be a good ending to an otherwise tough season for the eagles. 10. Montgomery County (6-13, -1) Barely beating Paris worries me a bit, this is a young team I think they have an argument to be as high as number 7 in the rankings. They played close with Montgomery, they have plenty of young players with size and length. If they can slow down the pace of play, they can compete with almost any team in the region. But they can lose to almost anyone as well… This is where I think there is some solid separation in teams from 7-10 and 11-13. Robertson could beat some of the teams above them, but they haven’t won any big games this year. I think I am comfortable drawing a line and saying there is a clear gap between the 10th best and 11th best team in the region. I wasn’t confident in this early in the year but now I feel like it is justified. 11. Robertson County (9-9, -) 12. Bourbon County (4-14, -) 13. Pendleton County (3-18, -) 14. Nicholas County (6-15, -) 15. Paris (4-12, -) 16. St. Patrick (2-17, -)

Week 8 Review & Rankings Another week of basketball is in the books. It was a fairly slow week as the only top 5 matchup we saw was between Bracken and Harrison counties. Despite this, many teams in the 10th were able to find success as only 2 teams were without a win this week. Let’s dive into our week 8 Rankings! Rankings (record, change in ranking) 1. George Rogers Clark (17-1, -) The Cardinals remain one of the few teams who haven’t been beat by a Kentucky team this year. They continue to roll through opponents, with an average win differential of over 27 points per game. 2. Mason County (16-4, -) A fairly slow week for the Royals as they didn’t play great against Pendleton, but they were able to win by 18. Only 1 game this week for Mason, they will look to take down Montgomery and Rockcastle County next week. 3. Bracken County (14-5, -) Another big win this week for the Polar Bears as they won another close game, this time against Harrison County. Bracken County now has a 10-0 record against regional opponents. They will play in the All-A State Tournament this Thursday against Walton-Verona, and they will do their best to continue this hot streak they’ve been on as of late. 4. Harrison County (11-6, -) One close loss and one big win for this Harrison County team. They will look to solidify themselves as the 1 seed in the 38th district in the next couple of weeks as they have 3 district games on the way. 5. Campbell County (9-10, -) One and One on the week, with a loss to Holy Cross and a win against Holmes. If the Camels are going to prove they can make a deep run they need to do it now. They continue to lose tight game after tight game. Obviously this is a highly talented team with a great coaching staff. Will they be able to make the leap from a good to great team before its too late? 6. Augusta (8-10, -) 7. Calvary Christian (13-6, -) 8. Bishop Brossart (7-12, -) 9. Montgomery County (5-11, -) 10. Scott High (2-15, +1) 11. Robertson County (9-7,-1) 12. Bourbon County (4-12, -) 13. Pendleton County (3-16, +2) 14. Nicholas County (6-13, -) 15. Paris (4-11, -2) 16. St. Patrick (2-15,-) Top Games & Predictions January 25th Tuesday Campbell vs Augusta, Campbell by 16 Mason County vs Montgomery County, Mason by 22 January 26th Wednesday Augusta vs Robertson, Augusta by 12 January 27th Thursday Bracken County vs Walton Verona, Bracken by 4 Campbell vs Scott, Campbell by 15 January 28th Friday Robertson vs Nicholas, Robertson by 10 January 29th Saturday Mason vs Rockcastle, Mason by 5

No he was probably their 5th best player. He is very athletic, not the best offensively. There is just a big drop off from the 5th best player and the 6th. As you can see he was average almost 9ppg and the player behind him is averaging like 1.5ppg

CCH is a great team, but central is one man down from what they started with, check the khsaa stats. The west player that hasn’t played last 5 games bc he quit. Central was only playing 5 total players early on.

Jayden West (I think his last game was Dunbar)

Cov Cath by 20, Madison central has fallen off, they were only playing 5 players and one of their top 5 players quit a couple of weeks ago. I think they only have 4 solid guys.

Week 7 Review & Rankings Another week of basketball is in the books, and it seems this season has flown by! We are past the midway point and only have one more month until the postseason begins. I have to start with the breaking news this week: the 10th Region Tournament will be played at Holmes this season. I will say this is a shocker to most but if the 37th District wants to have it there and the rulebook allows it, then I say let’s roll the ball out and see who wins it. This will certainly give the 37th District a big home court advantage as some teams in the 10th will have to travel over 100 miles to get there. But the same is true for the 37th when they come down to GRC or Montgomery to play. The 37th is probably the best overall district in the region from top to bottom, but when it comes to picking the winner of the region, the 37th is probably on the bottom of the list as they don’t have a team ranked in the top 4 currently. Will having the tournament up north give them an advantage this year? Maybe this gives the 37th a slight edge in regions and can allow for a team in the 5-8 range of the rankings to come out on top? Maybe not, we will have to wait and see! Rankings (Record, Change in ranking) 1. George Rogers Clark (15-1, -) 2. Mason County (15-4, -) 3. Bracken County (13-5, -) 4. Harrison County (10-5, -) 5. Campbell County (8-9, -) 6. Augusta (8-9, -) 7. Calvary Christian (10-5, +1) 8. Bishop Brossart (7-10, -1) 9. Montgomery County (4-9, -) 10. Robertson County (8-6, +1) 11. Scott High (1-14, -1) 12. Bourbon County (2-10, -) 13. Paris (4-8, -) 14. Nicholas County (5-11, -) 15. Pendleton County (2-15, -) 16. St. Patrick (2-14, -) GRC leads the way, they destroyed two of their district opponents, winning the games by a combined 96 points. Mason County started the week off with a big win against Campbell County and they represented the 10th Region well in the 2A state tournament with a win against Calloway County and then a 2-point loss to a Lexington Catholic team who many consider to be a top 10 ten in the state. Bracken County! Bracken took home the 10th Region All-A Championship and you have to think they are going to have a good chance to repeat next season. They played plenty of tough competition as they beat Bishop Brossart and Calvary Christian easily on their way to punch their ticket to the All-A state tournament. Harrison County won three games this week and one big one as they solidify themselves into the fourth spot in the region. They face Bracken County next week and the winner will earn the #3 spot as the Thorobreds will try to leap over the Polar Bears in the rankings. Campbell County continues to trend downward as they took a couple tough losses this week. The theme of the Camel’s season stays the same as they keep it close against tough competition but never seem to be able to win in the end. Augusta had a rough week as they lost to Fleming. The Panthers are trying to keep their record around .500 as they drop to 8-9 on the year. They’ve struggled recently and it won’t get any easier as they have Harrison & Campbell County coming up this week. Calvary is still a team that has plenty of question marks for the region. Their great record is a little deceiving as they haven’t played the toughest schedule this season, but they continue to win many of the games they have and that’s all they can do. I am still not sure if they deserve to be in the top 10 at all or if they are on the edge of a top 5 or 6 team in the region. We will see about how much this team has improved as they face Ludlow this week, who they lost to earlier in the season. Bishop Brossart is a team that has shown they play great defense, but at times they struggle to score the ball. I think Brossart is one of the teams that could upset someone come tournament time but it sure will be hard for them to make a deep run if they can’t find consistent scoring night to night. Montgomery county has had a rough go around as they have faced some tough competition all season long, but they still don’t really have a quality win either. Montgomery is a young team that has plenty of pieces, but I don’t think this is the year for them. If they make it to the region, they have a chance to win a game with a good draw, but it will be tough. With two 8th graders getting plenty of playing time along with a plethora of underclassmen, I look for them to be dangerous in a couple of years, just not this one. Robertson hops over Scott High in the rankings this week as they beat Lewis & Pendleton counties. Justin Becker continues to play well and is pushing this team to close to a .500 record. Robertson has a chance to make some strides this week as they face some tough competition in Augusta and Harrison County. Scott High continues to trend downward and quite frankly it’s disappointing. We know this team has plenty of talent and a tough schedule was put in place in hopes of helping get this team ready to make a run, but with the 1-14 start you have to think it’s tough for the kids to stay engaged. Regardless, if you’re looking to pick a longshot to make it to the regional semis, I think this would be the team.

Week 6 Review & Rankings Well, it was a rough week for most teams in the region. Overall, the Region had a record of 11-16 this week and 7 of those wins were from the top 3 teams in the region. The region is proving to be more and more top heavy as the season progresses and it is still tough to figure out where teams in the middle of the rankings deserve to be. Other than one big change the rest of the region pretty much stayed the same this week, Lets dive into our week 6 rankings All A Classic & Weekly Commentary below: Ranking (record, change in ranking) 1. George Rogers Clark (13-1, -) 2. Mason County (13-3, -) 3. Bracken County (11-5, +2) 4. Harrison County (7-5, -) 5. Campbell County (6-7, -2) 6. Augusta (8-8, -) 7. Bishop Brossart (7-9, -) 8. Calvary Christian (9-4, -) 9. Montgomery County (4-8, -) 10. Scott High (1-11, -) 11. Robertson County (6-6, -) 12. Bourbon County (2-9, -) 13. Paris (3-8, -) 14. Nicholas (5-9, -) 15. Pendleton County (5-9, -) 16. St. Patrick (2-11, -) Weekly Commentary Starting off with the number one team George Rogers Clark… what can I say. They continue to impress. Two blow out wins this week, one against Dunbar, who are considered an 11th Region contender by many. The Cardinals haven’t shown a true weakness this year and they have proven they can beat teams in a variety of ways. I just think it will be tough for any team other than maybe Mason County to beat the Cardinals this season, and even then, the Royals would have to be on their A game to take down this team. The number two ranked Mason County royals had 3 nice wins this week, including two against regional opponents in the Kentucky 2A Section 5 tournament. The Royals will take on the section 8 winner, Lawrence County, January 16th in Owensboro if all goes as planned. Mason County continues to show why they are the second the best team in the region. They have plenty of outside shooting from most of their contributing players. It looks like Terrell Henry has really stepped up his outside shooting from a year ago as he is shooting just over 43% from 3 for the year. The Royals have played well the whole season and the next couple of weeks the have opportunities to pick up some big wins as they face Campbell County, Highlands, and Dixie Heights. We will be able to see how they stack up against some of the top teams from Northern Kentucky. Bracken County! The Polar Bears stepped up big and have earned every bit of their ranking this season. Two big wins this week. First, they knocked off last weeks #3 team in Campbell County, and then they won another nail bitter against #6 Augusta. Both games were close, and I think really show that the 3-6 ranked teams in this region are indeed very close together. In the end though Bracken has fought and clawed their way into the top 3. They’ve done it on the backs of the Reed brothers, two underclassmen, who have the opportunity to put up some historic numbers together. They carry the load as they are the only players who average double figures for the Polar Bears. This team is not very tall or very deep, but they’ve proven that doesn’t matter as they have gone 7-0 in region play this season. Bracken continues their All A run as they will play Bishop Brossart this week and if they can pull a win off, they will probably get Calvary Christian in the finals. And then on Friday they play Ashland, which will certainly be the toughest opponent the Polar Bears have faced this season. Harrison County took one loss this week against the #2 ranked Mason County Royals. They were able to hang in the game against Mason County but were unable to pull off the upset as they lost by 11 points. They will play three regional games next week and if they play well they could win all three. A big matchup against #5 Campbell County will show us who of these teams deserves the fourth spot in the region. Campbell County only had one game this week and dropped it to a hot Bracken County team. In my mind, I still believe this will be one of the final four teams standing in the regional tournament at the end of the year, but they have really played a step below their expectations so far. They’ve had a tough schedule and have been very competitive against a tough schedule, but they haven’t figured out how to win against those types of teams. They’ve had a chance in almost every game but just continue to get beat in close games. They have a couple of big-time opportunities this week against #2 Mason County and #4 Harrison County. Maybe the Camels can turn their luck around this week, but we will have to wait and see. A tough week for most of the other teams in the 10th. Augusta, Bishop Brossart, and Calvary Christian (6th-8th ranked teams) all picked up one win each this week. Other than that, the lone remaining win was Nicholas County as they beat #16 St. Patrick . It’s still tough to tell which of the remaining teams will be able to separate themselves from the pack. I think Augusta is probably the most dangerous team but I could see many of these teams beating them if they don’t bring their A game. We’re approaching the halfway mark on the year and there really has only been one team that has dramatically disrupted the rankings (BRACKEN). There have been some let downs but most of the teams are still close to where they began. I am hoping that as we dive deeper into the season that we get to see more upsets and nail bitters the rest of the way and hopefully the rankings will get shaken up some more. All “A” Classic Bracken County squeaked by with a 2-point win against Augusta and they will be the favorite the rest of the way. They won’t have a cake walk by any means though as they will have to beat #7 Bishop Brossart and then probably #8 Calvary Christian. Calvary won a close game against Robertson County and will move on to play St. Patrick. Paris had to pull out of the tournament due to COVID, making the road even easier for Calvary, as they should be able to advance to the All A Championship game. I am still sticking with Bracken to win it all, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this Bishop Brossart team can pull off the upset. Top Games & Predictions Overall Prediction Record (26-9) Monday Jan 10th Bracken Co. vs Bishop Brossart, Bracken by 12 Calvary Christian vs St. Patrick, Calvary by 26 Tuesday Jan 11th Mason County vs Campbell County, Mason by 6. Camels keep it tight but are unable to make the leap. Harrison Co. vs Scott High, Harrison by 14, Scott high has the talent to beat this Harrison team but it’s going to be tough for this team to turn things around after the rough start. Friday Jan 14th Bracken Co. vs Ashland, Ashland by 15, will be tough for bracken to win this one. Harrison Co. vs Campbell Co, Campbell by 4. Neither would surprise me. GRC vs Montgomery Co., GRC by 20 Robertson Co. vs Pendleton Co., Robertson by 12, this is a game where Pendleton has a decent chance to win, but they will have to play well. Saturday Jan 15th Mason County vs Highlands, Highlands by 2. Don’t know much about the 9th but I know they have plenty of solids teams, curious to see how this one pans out Augusta vs Fleming Co., Fleming by 8

Week 5 Review & Rankings Goodbye 2021 and hello 2022! The Holiday tournaments are over, and we are now approaching District play and the 10th Region ALL A Classic. Last week I said I was getting a better feel of all the teams, and I thought I was… until this week. Some results this week were very surprising, and I am sure we will have even more shocking results as we dive into district play soon. Let’s get into the rankings for Week 5. All A Classic below Team Rankings (Record, change in ranking) 1. George Rogers Clark (11-1, -) 2. Mason County (10-3, -) 3. Campbell County (6-6, -) 4. Harrison County (7-4, +1) 5. Bracken County (9-5, -1) 6. Augusta (7-7, -) 7. Bishop Brossart (6-8, +1) 8. Calvary Christian (8-4, +3) 9. Montgomery County (4-7, -) 10. Scott (1-11, -3) 11. Robertson County (6-4, -) 12. Bourbon County (2-7, -) 13. Paris (3-7, -1) 14. Nicholas County (4-8, +2) 15. Pendleton County (2-10, -1) 16. St. Patrick (2-9, -) Weekly Commentary We will start with the top and work our way down. Let me introduce you to George Rogers Clark, GRC, WINcity, whatever you call them, barring any injuries they are the # 1 team in the region the rest of the year. They knocked off 3 top twenty teams this weekend, including the undisputed preseason # 1 ranked team in Ballard. Personally, I believe they should be number 1 in the state after the big win this weekend. You might not think they are the favorite to win the whole thing, but they are a top 3 team in the state. Mason County, still the clear number 2, went 2 and 1 this weekend with a tough loss to a solid Collins team. Nate Mitchell appears to be back in the full swing of things, after starting the year off injured, and their third leading scoring in KG Walton has been a pleasant surprise. Only if we could get a fun #1 and #2 matchup between the Mason County Royals and the George Rogers Clark Cardinals… I am guessing we will get to see this matchup in the postseason and if the Mason County Royals step up, they will be competitive against this dominate Clark County team. The Campbell County Camels have turned the corner. It was a tough start to the season, but they survived. Now almost midway through the year the Camels will face a few of the top regional opponents in the next couple of weeks. First, they get #5 Bracken County, followed with #2 Mason County, then a matchup against ninth region foe Lloyd Memorial will be followed by a game against #4 Harrison County. In two weeks, we should know about where the Camels stand compared to other 10th Region Teams. They’re led by the two headed monster of Des Davie & Aydan Hamilton, which are complimented well by plenty of solid guard play from others on the team. Getting the bump to the #4 Spot is Harrison County. Turns out they played 3 games this week over in the Henry County Invitational, and they won all three. They bring plenty of size and strength to the table as they are led by the do-it-all guard Kaydon Custard. Harrison county plays more in the half court and really grinds out possessions on both ends of the floor. They’re banking on rebounding, dribble drive, and bully ball to win games. And so far, its working pretty good for the Thorobreds. The Bracken County Polar Bears had another big week this week but still find themselves slipping one spot in the rankings. This team will have big test on Tuesday night as they host #3 Campbell County. This is the game that puts Bracken in the top 3. Let’s be honest… most of us had them a little bit underrated coming into the season but we knew they could come out and beat some good teams when their guards played well. So far this season they have picked up a big win against rival Augusta, but outside of that game I just don’t see another great win… but this week they get a chance! A chance to prove they are a top 3 team in this region. Will they? Augusta lost all three games this week and still remains in the 6 spot. It does appear they were dealing with some injuries this week as they were without the big man Riley Mastin for the weekend and were without Chase Archibald for one game who has been a key role player for the Panthers. Along with the injuries, Augusta played some stiff competition this weekend and to be frank, none of the teams below them have proved they deserve the 6th spot in the Region. Augusta will face regional opponent Pendleton on Tuesday and then turn their focus to the All-A tournament as they will have to play the favorite Bracken County in game 1. You have to think if Riley Mastin continues to be out that this will be a tough matchup for the Panthers, but if they can beat Bracken, they can win it all. Augusta has some big things to prove this week as they are the 6th team in the rankings, but they seem to be slowly fading further and further into the crowd of teams from the 7-12 range in the region. As you can see, we had plenty of shake up for the teams in the middle of the pack, and that will continue throughout the season. The most disappointing team this past week is clearly Scott High as they took a brutal one-point loss to Calvary Christian. A 36-37 score line tells me the Eagles are struggling to score the ball. They have had a brutal schedule and I do believe Scott High is much better than their ranking or their record, but we have been giving them too much credit by keeping them around the 6-7 range in the rankings. Their going to have to prove it the rest of the year if they want to jump up into the teams that could contend for the region because so far, they haven’t proven a thing. Other than Scott High having a disappointing week I will say that the best surprise of the week was probably the three big wins Nicholas County put up. Many have written them off after a rough start, but I do think it is now possible for them to crack the top 12 if they can keep it up. 10th Region ALL A Classic The All A is almost here, and boy am I excited for it! The All A is a fantastic opportunity for smaller schools to show off their talent on the state level and this Saturday the 8 All A Teams in the region will all compete for the chance to punch their ticket to Alumni Coliseum (or wherever the tournament is this year). We kick it off with a Friday Night game that should be a heck of a matchup as #11 Robertson County will take on #9 Calvary Christian. It’s the All-A, and I am not going to pick against the best player in the Tournament in Justin Becker, I may be way off. Neither of these teams have really faced tough competition for most of the year, and I think the early inexperience we saw from the supporting cast of the Black Devils against the likes of Augusta may not be great, but I think it will be good enough against a Calvary Christian team who we really haven’t seen tested much either. The early morning game on Saturday features #16 St. Patrick vs #13 Paris, this game was just recently played, and I think we see a similar result as Paris should win by double digits. The next game looked like an easy pick just one week ago as they #14 Nicholas County Blue Jackets face #7 Bishop Brossart Mustangs. Bishop Brossart has struggled to score at times this year, but I am still going to pick them to beat Nicholas who will be riding a four-game win streak into the tournament if they can beat St. Patrick on Monday. The final game on Saturday should be the most intriguing as well. #6 Augusta Panthers will take on #5 Bracken County Polar Bears. A Rivalry game against who many think are the top two teams in the All-A. If Riley Mastin is out, I find it tough to pick the Panthers in this one. #5 Bracken County advances and takes on #7 Bishop Brossart. For the semifinal games I am going to pick #5 Bracken County and #12 Robertson County to advance. And if that is the matchup then I am going to roll with Bracken to win it all this year. There really are plenty of teams that could win it this year, but I think whoever comes out of the bottom of the bracket will win it all whether it is Bracken, Augusta, or Bishop Brossart. Top Games & Predictions So far this season if my math is correct, I am 20-7 on my picks this season when it comes to picking the winner. I will start keeping track of my record from now on. My picks for this week are below, thank you all for reading and have a great week. Tuesday Jan 4th #3 Campbell County vs #5 Bracken County, Campbell by 12 #12 Bourbon County vs Scott County, Scott County by 12 #15 Pendleton County vs #6 Augusta, Augusta by 16 Thursday Jan 6th #2 Mason County vs #12 Bourbon County, Mason by 18 #5 Bracken County vs #10 Scott High, Bracken by 8 #10 Montgomery County vs #13 Paris, Montgomery by 16 Friday Jan 7th #9 Calvary Christian vs #11 Robertson County, Robertson by 5 Saturday Jan 8th #1 GRC vs Dunbar, GRC by 15 #5 Bracken County vs #6 Augusta, Bracken by 3 #7 Bishop Brossart vs #14 Nicholas County, Bishop Brossart by 12 #16 St. Patrick vs #13 Paris, Paris by 20

Final from Lex cath.

This is true, if I had to pick the favorite now I’d go with MC, Lex Cath is good but I’d like to see them win against some top 20 opponents in the state. Their final from yesterday looks much closer than it actually was.

They haven’t played yet, from what I’ve seen I’d put MC and Lex Cath as the top two. Dunbar could beat both teams but so far this season they haven’t really proved they should be favored against either one.

10th Region Week 4 Basketball Review & Rankings Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! We are now about 1/3 of the way through the season and it is flying by! There were plenty of great tournaments this Weekend and Many of the 10th Region Teams Competed in them. Overall, this week the 10th Region went 13-16, and competed in tournaments that included the King of the Bluegrass, Pikeville Invitational, Swauger Holiday Classic, Scott Winter Classic, and the Smoky Mountain Classic. This weekend includes plenty more holiday tournaments including the Mason County Invitational, White Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic, Nicholas County Holiday Classic, Gateway Holiday Classic, Henry County Invitational, Monticello Bank Classic, and the Howard Carpenter Classic. There should be plenty of teams tested this weekend as I do my best to evaluate every team around the region. Also I have included an overview for the All A classic that is only a couple weeks away. Rankings (Record, Change in Ranking) Commentary Below 1. George Rogers Clark (8-1, -) 2. Mason County (8-2, -) 3. Campbell County (4-6, -) 4. Bracken County (7-4, +1) 5. Harrison County (4-4, -1) 6. Augusta (7-4, +1) 7. Scott (1-9, -1) 8. Bishop Brossart (4-7, -) 9. Montgomery County (3-5, -) 10. Robertson County (6-4, +1) 11. Calvary Christian (7-4, -1) 12. Bourbon County (1-5, -) 13. Paris (2-7, -) 14. Pendleton (1-9, -) 15. Nicholas (1-8, -) 16. St. Patrick (2-8, -) Weekly Commentary I do feel like I am now getting a better feel of how teams stack up with each but there are still a few teams I have questions about. Clark County has been as good as advertised as they have proven to be a Top 5 State Contender. Mason County is a good team as they spread the floor with plenty of long-range shooters while also having an inside presence in Terrell Henry. Although Mason has shown they are the second-best team in the region they have also shown they are very beatable if you catch them on an off night. Campbell County has battled It out with some of the best in the 9th Region and they have been roughed up quite a bit, but they have shown they can compete with that second tier of teams in the 9th. Bracken County has been a pleasant surprise to many this season as they have jumped up all the way to the number 4. I believed they could crack the top 5 or 6 but so far this season you really could make a case that they deserve a top 3 ranking in the region. I would describe their strength of schedule so far as Mediocre but don’t worry folks they are about to have plenty of tests in the upcoming weeks as they take on the likes of South Laurel & Shawnee who have played well so far this season. After that they get 4 Solid Regional Opponents in a row with Montgomery, Campbell, Scott, and then Augusta in the ALL A, it really will be a fun couple of weeks for bracken and they will really be challenged. Harrison County gets bounced down a spot as they didn’t play this past week and they only have 1 game from December 20th to January 10th, I am assuming they will be working hard at practice during the next couple of weeks. I am curious to see how different they look when they get back into the full swing of things in mid-January. Augusta is one of the teams in the region that can beat some very good teams as they proved that with a two-point win against Tates Creek this week. I do believe they can be beat by a lot of teams around the region as well though. Scott High continues to lose against tough teams as they went 0 and 3 this week and move to 1-9 on the year. I might have them a little high because their resume is not impressive to say the least, but we should have a better gauge as they face a couple 10th region teams in the upcoming weeks. From Bishop Brossart to Bourbon County, I think we could rank these teams in any way you see fit. Robertson has looked better recently, and I am sure they will continue to improve as other than Justin Becker the rest of their team is very inexperienced. St. Patrick got their second win of the season as they won back-to-back games for the first time in a long time. They face Paris and Nicholas this week and if they get one of those games they could move out of that 16th spot hole that they have been in for a while. All “A” Classic Coming Soon The 10th Region All “A” tournament begins on January 7th and it should be a good one. This year the tournament will be held at Bracken County. The Winner of the Bracken County/Augusta game should be the favorite to win it all but look for Bishop Brossart, and the Winner of the Robertson/Calvary game to make it a very competitive tournament. I think the Winner of the Bracken & Augusta game probably has a 50% chance to win the whole tournament. It should be fun as some of the top players around the region will be in action with Justin Becker, Blake Reed, Riley Mastin, Kason Hinson, David Govan, and plenty of others will be in action. I am not sure who my pick will be, right now I think Bishop Brossart is a dark horse and could take it home with a couple upsets in the tournament. Who do you all think will win the ALL A in the 10th? Top Games/Predictions this Upcoming Week Monday December 27th GRC vs Woodford/Henry Clay Robertson Co vs Harlan, Harlan by 12. Robertson finally faces some solid competition; we will see if they will be up to the task. Bourbon Co vs Tates Creek, Tates Creek by 18. Will be tough for bourbon to win this game with all the pressure creek puts on ball handlers Tuesday December 28th Mason County vs Perry County Central, Perry County by 8. Could go either way Perry County Central has one loss and is currently one of the top teams in the state based on RPI Rankings Bracken Co vs South Laurel, South Laurel by 10 Harrison vs Iroquois, Harrison by 4 Augusta vs Bryan Station, Augusta by 8 Scott vs Calvary Christian, Scott by 10. A big 10th Region matchup should help us better gauge where Scott and Calvary should be ranked around the region. Paris vs St. Patrick, Paris by 18 Wednesday December 29th Bracken Co. vs Shawnee, Bracken by 12 Bourbon Co. vs Bullitt Central, Bullitt Central by 8 Thursday December 30th Montgomery vs Bracken Co, Bracken by 4. I am very curious to see how this game goes as I believe Montgomery is more than capable of knocking of the 4th Ranked Polar Bears, but we will have to play the game to find out.

I watched the game online, they didn’t start subbing until midway through the 4th. GRC just keyed in on there top two players and no one else could score for Ashland. They hung with them for a couple quarters though

10th Region Week 3 Review & Rankings Winter has arrived, along with some of the best high school basketball tournaments all around the bluegrass. An interesting 9th & 10th Region challenge over the weekend at Bracken County had a couple fun games. Although this year the Challenge was small, I like the idea of trying to do a big 9th & 10th Region Tournament/Challenge to kick off the year. The always interesting King of the Bluegrass kicked off this weekend as well, featuring GRC from the 10th. Next week should be even better with several other tournaments around the region and state. Let’s get into our week 3 Rankings. 1. George Rogers Clark (6-1,-) The Cardinals started the week off by absolutely obliterating a Harrison County team that was riding a bit of a hot streak coming into the week. They followed that up with A HUGE win this weekend against a top 5 team from Florida that Maxpreps has ranked in the top 25 in the nation. Sunday the Cardinals were handed their first loss of the season from Dorman ( #1 Ranked team in SC, Top 50 Nationally). A great showing this week from Jerone Morton and the Cardinals, they showed why many consider them leaps & bounds ahead of the next best team in the region. 2. Mason County (7-1,-) Mason County bounced back with two wins this weekend, with a big 27-point win against Holmes to start their week off right. They followed that up with an 11 point at Scott high, that featured a 44-point performance from 10th Region player of the year candidate Terrell Henry. 3. Campbell County (3-5,-) Campbell started the week poorly with two losses, to two solid 9th region teams. The week ended off with a 19-point win against Bishop Brossart. Aydan Hamilton and Des Davie continue to lead the camels as they continue to face top notch teams this week. After this week the schedule should lighten up a little bit for the Camels. They haven’t truly earned their ranking so far this season but no one else has really stepped up to show they should be ranked above this Campbell County team. 4. Harrison County (4-4, -) 5. Bracken County (5-3, +2) 6. Scott High (1-6, -) 7. Augusta (6-4, -2) 8. Bishop Brossart (3-5, -) 9. Montgomery County (2-5, +1) 10. Calvary Christian (6-2, -1) 11. Robertson County (5-2, +1) 12. Bourbon County (1-5, -1) 13. Paris (2-7, -) 14. Pendleton County (1-9, -) 15. Nicholas County (1-7, -) 16. St. Patrick (1-7, -) Weekly Commentary, Top Performers, & Top Upcoming games will be added Tonight, want to make sure I get the Rankings out before 2 today. Good luck to all the 10th Region teams competing in holiday tournaments this week!

Wow! Always hate when there’s so many fouls called. Good showing for Conner nonetheless. 9th region seems to have an array of high level teams this season.