DragonFire

Second quadrant: 16 v 2 5 v 1 Great draw for Lyon County to advance to the semifinals. That semifinal....

Draw is under way. First quadrant: 15 v 14 8 v 11 That 8 v 11 game will be an incredible opener, and the winner of that is straightaway a favorite for the semis.

We spent a long, long time where each team didn’t get at least one possession. I’ve no doubt KC would have kicked the FG to tie the game and it would have spun on, but I don’t see why we would treat the end of overtime any differently than we would the end of the 4th Quarter. If the game is tied, things march on. If one team is leading, it’s over. I get that I apparently have a minority opinion, but I found that wrinkle to be totally unnecessary.

He may not come off as arrogant, but I think his likability took a real hit this year with a lot of people. People do not frequently like rooting for the team that stays on top all the time. And a large portion of the population really felt it this year with the impression Mahomes and Kelce were being shoved down their throats (especially with the Swift stuff). I do not feel people in general will be rooting for the Chiefs for a while. It’s just time for a change. It’s like it was with Golden State in the NBA. You just get tired of it.

I like that each team gets a possession but the fact that the Chiefs didn’t need to score before the end of OT is absurd. Obviously they did it anyway, and you’re probably not getting two drives of that length often, but I thought that was an insane wrinkle to the rule.

As I've been saying, it's nothing against the Chiefs, but I'm just tired of them. And legitimately, it was a lot harder to take both Mahomes and Kelce this season. That's just the way it goes when you're on top too long. IMO, they should be getting the Patriots treatment now. EVERYONE hated the Patriots and Tom Brady after they got their success.

1) Bowling Green (22-5) - 2/6 73-59 W at Owensboro, 2/9 46-41 W #2 Warren Central, 2/10 89-90 2OT L at Lyon County Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 2/12 vs. #6 Barren County, 2/15 vs. Evangel Christian 2) Warren Central (10-9) - 2/6 74-70 W Butler County, 2/9 41-46 L at #1 Bowling Green, 2/10 74-54 W at Paducah Tilghman Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 2/13 vs. Adair County, 2/15 vs. North Hardin, 2/16 vs. #16 Russellville 3) Warren East (15-7) - 2/6 69-60 W at #15 Logan County Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 2/12 at #5 South Warren, 2/13 vs. #9 Franklin-Simpson, 2/15 vs. #12 Monroe County, 2/16 at #14 Todd County Central 4) Clinton County (16-9) - 2/8 79-62 W at Somerset Christian Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 2/11 at #10 Cumberland County, 2/14 vs. #7 Russell County, 2/16 at #6 Barren County 5) South Warren (11-9) - 2/6 79-57 W at #16 Russellville, 2/9 66-59 W #9 Greenwood Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 2/12 vs. #3 Warren East, 2/16 at #11 Metcalfe County 6) Barren County (16-9) - 2/5 43-58 L at #17 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/6 54-44 W at #5 Franklin-Simpson, 2/9 69-46 W #13 Monroe County, 2/10 47-61 L at Adair County Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 2/12 at #1 Bowling Green, 2/13 at #11 Metcalfe County, 2/16 vs. #4 Clinton County 7) Russell County (11-11) - 2/6 63-48 W #10 Cumberland County, 2/9 68-76 L at Caverna Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 2/13 at Danville, 2/14 at #4 Clinton County, 2/16 vs. Adair County 8. Greenwood (12-14) - 2/6 69-64 W Daviess County, 2/9 59-66 L at #6 South Warren, 2/10 58-54 W #5 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 2/13 at #12 Monroe County, 2/16 vs. Grayson County 9) Franklin-Simpson (13-10) - 2/6 44-54 L #7 Barren County, 2/9 52-41 W at #15 Logan County, 2/10 54-58 L at #9 Greenwood Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 2/13 at #3 Warren East, 2/16 vs. #13 Glasgow 10) Cumberland County (14-10) - 2/6 48-63 L at #8 Russell County, 2/8 58-57 W #13 Monroe County Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 2/11 vs. #4 Clinton County, 2/15 vs. Somerset Christian 11) Metcalfe County (9-15) - 2/6 61-54 W Edmonson County, 2/7 68-77 L Adair County, 2/9 43-77 L at Somerset Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 2/13 vs. #6 Barren County, 2/15 vs. Hart County, 2/16 vs. #5 South Warren 12) Monroe County (13-12) - 2/6 61-56 W #11 Glasgow, 2/8 57-58 L at #10 Cumberland County, 2/9 46-69 L at #7 Barren County Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 2/13 vs. #8 Greenwood, 2/15 at #3 Warren East 13) Glasgow (7-13) - 2/6 56-61 L at #13 Monroe County, 2/9 61-36 W #17 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 2/13 vs. Taylor County, 2/16 at Franklin-Simpson 14) Todd County Central (10-13) - 2/9 45-63 L at #16 Russellville, 2/10 82-21 W Crittenden County Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 2/12 at Ballard Memorial, 2/16 vs. #3 Warren East 15) Logan County (11-13) - 2/6 60-69 L #3 Warren East, 2/9 41-52 L #5 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 2/13 vs. Dawson Springs, 2/15 at #17 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/17 vs. Daviess County 16) Russellville (4-21) - 2/6 57-79 L #6 South Warren, 2/9 63-45 W #14 Todd County Central Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 2/12 vs. Christian County, 2/13 vs. #17 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/16 at #2 Warren Central 17) Allen County-Scottsville (3-21) - 2/5 58-43 W #7 Barren County, 2/9 36-61 L at #11 Glasgow Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 2/13 at #16 Russellville, 2/15 vs. #15 Logan County 18) Foundation Christian Academy (12-10) - 2/6 52-69 L at Heritage Christian, 2/8 55-26 W at Currey Ingram Academy (TN), 2/10 66-79 L at Christian Fellowship Previous Rank: 18 This Week: 2/13 at Cloverport, 2/16 vs. Cannelton (IN) Notes -As with last time, we covered the marquee matchup between Bowling Green and Warren Central here: A TL/DR of that - the game was not very good. Competitive, but not good. Both matchups reek of two programs that expect to see each other in one month at Diddle Arena, so they are showing nothing of value, just lining up and going. It shows. -As bad as that game was, Bowling Green's game at Lyon County the following night was a complete 180 on that one. The Purples took on a fully healthy Lyon County team, and matched them blow for blow. Travis Perry was hot early, pumping in 29 points in the first half to stake Lyon County to a 40-27 lead, but the tempo was very much to the liking of Bowling Green, and eventually, the shots that hadn't been falling for 24 hours began to fall, and the Purples closed what was ultimately a 15 point third quarter deficit, and eventually led by as many as 4-5 points in the 4th Quarter. It was 69 all towards the end of regulation. Bowling Green held for one shot, and they got two out of it - Banks shot a floater in the lane that bounced off the backboard and missed the rim, but he followed the shot at put up a three footer in a hurry. It hit off the back iron and came back out to Lyon County, who missed a heave at the buzzer. In double overtime, the Purples had the ball and a 1 point lead at 79-78, Banks went to the foul line, missed the first, hit the second. Perry went to the rim, fought through contact, and tied the game with just more than 8 seconds left. The Purples sprinted up the floor, but turned it over, and no one got a shot off for the win. The Purples trailed 88-86 with a minute left, and Deuce Bailey put them up with a three from the wing. Perry missed a shot in the lane with 30 seconds left, but Shoulders got the rebound, and put it in to give Lyon County a 90-89 lead. The Purples would yet again have a shot to win it. Wardlow took a contested shot with his foot on the three point line, and drew nothing but backboard, and the game was over in double overtime. Even though the result wasn't what they wanted, Bowling Green proved they can go toe to toe with the best in the state - really confirmation of what they already knew they were capable of. It was the most points they'd scored in just over two years, and the most they've scored in a loss in almost exactly 34 years (a 96-90 loss to Todd County Central in 1990). In fact, they'd won 111 in a row when they'd scored 84 or more, dating to an 89-84 loss to Beech (TN) on New Years' Eve in 1990. In other words, this was a rare result, and a really special game to watch. -Warren Central had a classic of their own on Tuesday, when they hosted Butler County. The Dragons had not played the Bears since 12/1/1989, long enough ago that current head coach William Unseld and assistant coach Cedric Gumm were both playing for the Dragons in that game. The game was worth the wait. Butler County was on fire early, shooting 16/35 in the first half, and going 7/16 from three as they ran out to as many as a 17 point lead, and led by 11 at the half. Ty Price in particular was hot in the half, scoring 24 by the break. Central had only one made shot from deep in the first half, so while they often matched them score for score, it was the proverbial "trading two points for three" and that's not going to lead to a win. Central slowly began to whittle back in the third, and made their move down 66-58 in the 4th. Bratton got it started with a three point play after scoring off a lob from an inbounds play. After forcing a tough Price shot that didn't fall, Cadin Hammer knocked down a three following an offensive rebound to make it 66-64. Briar Griffin extended it to 68-64 with a scoop shot layup. Central ran their offense patiently for 40 seconds, eventually finding Jarek Kirk for a corner three to make it 68-67. Ty Price hit a pair of free throws to make it 70-67, and the fireworks really began. After an Unseld miss on a wide open three, Central drew a foul on the rebound. With 15 seconds left, Central inbounded to Unseld, who head faked to the left on the wing, drifted right to the corner, and knocked down a game-tying contested three. Butler County elected to try to score without calling a timeout, and Kirk back-tipped Price as he sprinted up the floor. Drevin Bratton gathered the loose ball, dribbled twice, stepped two (three?) times and slammed home the game-winning dunk. Butler County threw the ball away trying a deep pass, Unseld was fouled, hit both free throws, and the final was 74-70. -Barren County is having a stretch that I can only describe as deeply, deeply weird. 19 days ago, the Trojans were 13-4. They'd already wrapped up the top seed in their district despite two games remaining to play, and had the look of a dark horse for the region at large. They promptly lost two head scratchers in a row, falling to Glasgow by 15 (!) and in double overtime to Monroe County. They popped back up and beat Greenwood in double overtime, but at the start of this week, incredibly lost to Allen County-Scottsville, also by 15 (!!!). To put that in perspective, it gave the Patriots just their third win on the year. It was their first win in the district, as well as the region. They'd lost six in a row to Barren County, and had fallen by 28 to them in December. They'd lost 15 district games in a row, and their last win over a district opponent, in 2022, was against a Monroe County team that is no longer in their district. It was unexpected. By this point, Barren County had not won a game away from their home gym since January 6th, and had a game at Franklin-Simpson the very next day. So, of course, Barren County won that game by 10. Why? Because life seldom makes sense. When combined with their 23 point win over Monroe County on Friday, perhaps it is the beginning of the Trojans finding their footing. They'd better do it soon, because with the district pairings finalized, they'll visit Allen County-Scottsville in the same gym they just lost to them by 15 points, with a berth in the region tournament on the line. That comes in a mere two weeks. -Russell County is another team that has had an odd stretch of games, but they too, may be emerging from it. While the 16th District has been by and large chaotic, and their inexplicable loss to Metcalfe County - AT HOME - added to that, they held serve in a home contest with Cumberland County on Tuesday, taking the 63-48 decision and putting themselves in position to grab the district's #1 seed. They are now assured of no worse than a tie for the top spot, and there's a chance they can get the #1 seed without even lifting a finger (more on that when we recap the district standings below). The Lakers got the job done against Cumberland County by knocking down 7/15 from the three point line and shooting nearly 55% for the game. Six different Lakers knocked down threes, and Braydon Cerrato led Russell County overall with 22 points. Defensively, they shut Cumberland County down, holding them to 2/15 shooting from outside, and just 31.6% from the floor overall. -The game ultimately meant nothing, but much like Allen County's win over Barren County, my eyebrows shot straight up when I saw the score of the Todd County Central/Russellville game. Playing in the final district contest for each, all Todd County could achieve was to extend a seven game win streak over the Panthers - their longest in the Riherds era - and to perhaps tie Logan County for 2nd in the district, leading to a tiebreaker to decide who'd wear white when they play in the district tournament. Well neither of those became a factor at all. After an even first quarter, the Panthers outscored the Rebels 53-35 over the final three quarters, taking a 63-45 decision that is easily their best win of the year. Russellville has won just four games on the year, and the win snapped a nine game losing streak overall, and they'd also lost nine straight district games. -Which brings us to the district snapshot. Only the 16th District has any doubt as to the pairings for the district tournaments in two weeks, and none of the results from the other districts required any crazy tiebreakers. --In the 13th, Franklin-Simpson completed an undefeated district slate at 6-0. They'll play district host Russellville (1-5) in the first round of district. Logan County (3-3) is the #2, and they'll play Todd County Central (2-4) - they split their regular season meetings. --In the 14th, Bowling Green also finished district play unbeaten at 6-0. They'll play #4 seed Greenwood (0-6), who have lost 15 district games in a row, having not won one since defeating now 15th District member Warren East on 2/11/22. Greenwood hasn't defeated Bowling Green in the postseason since the 2008 4th Region finals, an oft-repeated stat of mine since no one else in the region outside of Warren Central has beaten them in the postseason since then either. Warren Central (4-2) settled into the #2 seed, and they'll play host school South Warren (2-4) in the semifinals. South Warren will be seeking their first 4th Region tournament berth, and are 0-3 all-time against Warren Central in the semifinal round. They met in the semifinals the last time the tournament was at South Warren, in 2020. --The 15th is the site of our first tie, where Barren County and Warren East both finished at 4-2. But no fancy tiebreakers were necessary - Barren County clinched the top spot thanks to sweeping Warren East in district play. Barren County will play host Allen County-Scottsville (1-5) in the semifinals - as mentioned above, this will be contested in the same spot that AC/S just pulled their massive upset over the Trojans this past week, making it probably THE 1/4 game to watch. Glasgow (3-3) will meet Warren East, who swept them in three contests this year (albeit one in the 2A sectional so not counting in the district standings). Warren East has not lost to Glasgow since joining the district for the 22/23 season, and will put the theory to the test of "it's hard to beat a team four times". Just last year, Glasgow nearly prolonged East's 26 year nightmare of not making the region tournament, pushing them to the limit in a 53-51 semifinal at East. --Which brings us to the 16th District. Let's start with what is certain. Monroe County (1-7) is done with district play and locked into the #5 seed. They'll meet #4 Metcalfe County (2-6), who has also concluded district play. Russell County's win over Cumberland County advanced them to 6-1 in district play, with only a road trip to Clinton County remaining. That result meant that Cumberland County (5-2) can advance no higher than the #2 seed. The Panthers were swept by Russell County, so if they were to defeat Clinton County (4-2) to move to 6-2, even if Clinton County upset Russell County, both Cumberland County and Russell County would be 6-2, giving the top seed to Russell County. That doesn't mean the Clinton County/Cumberland County game is irrelevant. If homestanding Cumberland County were to win that contest, Russell County would clinch the #1 seed right then and there, as Clinton County could do no better than a 5-3 record, and Russell County has that tiebreaker over Cumberland County. If Clinton County wins that game, they'll host Russell County with a shot at the #1 seed on the line. With a win there, Clinton County would equal Russell County's 6-2 record, and the top seed would come down to a coin flip for the top seed. That scenario would see Cumberland County locked into the #3 seed. If Clinton County were to beat Cumberland County and lose to Russell County, then a coin flip will decide whether Cumberland County or Clinton County is the #2 seed, though it would not matter, they'd be playing each other. A wrinkle in all of this as well is that the district tournament will be at Russell County. In my opinion, it would behoove Cumberland County to beat Clinton County on Tuesday, and avoid even the chance of a scenario that they'd have to play Russell County in the 2/3 game, as the Lakers swept Cumberland County, and won at home in convincing fashion. We'll know one way or the other by end of the day on Wednesday - possibly as soon as the end of today!

One interesting tidbit to add that I didn't think of, that might be relevant: -Only once has Bowling Green swept the season series with Warren Central and then subsequently lost to them in the postseason. That was in the 1995/96 season, when they were upset in the district semifinals against the Dragons. Season sweeps by the Purples (really either team) have not been plentiful in the history of the rivalry, particularly past the first 12 years that Central existed, but when they have swept, just the one time that they've fallen. (The inverse is true as well - 2013/14 is the only time Central swept the season series and then lost to Bowling Green in the postseason - they fell in both the district finals and region finals that year).

Two games between these two, two highly competitive games where Bowling Green ultimately was able to put it away late, winning both by 5. This is your reminder that competitive is inequal to good. This game was terrible. Neither team could throw it in the ocean, with most scoring coming at the rim. Each team made two threes - Bowling Green made theirs back to back to close out what had been a 17-11 Warren Central lead, the only time the Dragons had really any separation. I don't know the timing of Central's threes, only that both of them were ugly bank shots that went. Kade Unseld struggled again against the Purples, who make him work for everything, and he just has not been able to get shots to drop. I had him as roughly 3/15 from the field. He had some good looks that rimmed out, but he just has not looked good in these games - no one has, with the exception of Mason Ritter, who really needs to be getting more touches. Unlike the first meeting, Bowling Green got a bit more balance this time, with three in double figures, led by MJ Wardlow's 13 (who had 11 in the second half), Ritter had 12, and Deuce Bailey had 10. Banks only had 7 this time, after carrying them in the first game. The Purples also uncharacteristically struggled from the foul line, going just 12/20. They missed more free throws than Central shot - the Dragons were 5/6 from the line. Central was led by Bratton who had 15 points, Starks had 11, the only Dragons in double digits. Kade just had the six points. In the first quarter of their first matchup, the teams raced out to a 20-17 score. In the seven since, cumulatively it has been BG 78 and WC 71. That's roughly an 11-10 score for each quarter. These are two teams that rarely score this low - Bowling Green has only had 46 points or fewer 11 times in the last nine years. They lost every one of those games. This is their first win with that few on the scoreboard since.... beating Warren Central in the 2015 region finals. The interpretation is going to be the same as I had the first time the two teams played - each is going to think that the future is theirs, because each is going to be thinking "Surely we won't continue to shoot this poorly." If either team gets hot in any "potential" future games this year between the two, they're liable to completely run away with it. Bowling Green got a much better whistle this time than the last, and with the exception of about a two minute span where they sat Ritter (where Central went on a 6-0 run and they pressed him back into service), fouls didn't really play the same role they did the first time. Oh sure, there were calls I could tell they didn't like, but that's going to happen. Everything was much more balanced this time. I think Central is capable of beating Bowling Green - it's really clear after two games where they pushed them. But I think it's equally clear that if Central is meeting the level of play Bowling Green is at, that Bowling Green is going to win as they are the better team. Their best beats Central's best, and if they're both at their worst, they're going to beat that as well. I continue to feel we're due for two more games between these two - man I hope they're more palatable to watch.

It was that. Three was in the air, about 10 seconds left. As it was in the air, Sayre player pretty much two hand shoved a Frederick Douglass player under the basket as they were jockeying for the rebound. Foul called, three banked in, two free throws pending. Hit them both. It was basically the only good/right thing Frederick Douglass did after going up 8 points, because until then, it was a 15-2 run spanning the last minute of regulation into overtime. Sayre was down 8 with a minute left. Hit two free throws. Forced a walk with pressure after the inbound. Hit a three. Called timeout. On inbound, drew an offensive foul because the player extended his arm shoving the defender trying to get space. Inbound comes in, immediate three to tie. 21 seconds passed and the entire lead was gone. Both teams turned it over without either getting up a game winning shot (FD committed a charge, while Sayre simply failed to get the shot up before the buzzer). Overtime was pretty much all Sayre until that five point play, then Parker hit that floater as time ran out to win it. You can see the whole game here: Everything starts to go south for Frederick Douglass at the 1:55:15 mark. Go to 2:18:00 to see the five point play start. Game winner at 2:19:45.

*Great Crossing remains the unanimous #1 in the state, rated by each poll at the top and by every voter in the media poll. *35 teams were rated in at least one poll, down three from a week ago. *Walton-Verona was the only new team to be rated, coming in at #24 in Nations Elite. Butler, Corbin, Lawrence County, and South Laurel all dropped out. *We were down to seven unicorns this week (teams rated by only a single outlet). The amount dropped some as the media poll jumped back up to 26 teams being ranked this week, compared to 20 last week. Walton-Verona was one, joined by Ashland (Media 19), Danville Christian (KYHSZ 21), Lloyd Memorial (KSR 22), Butler County (KYHSZ 23), Oldham County (Media 23), and Elizabethtown (Nations Elite 25). Ashland was a unicorn for a second week in a row, but oddly not by the same outlet. They were #21 in Nations Elite a week ago, but dropped from those ranks while added to the media. Lloyd Memorial, Butler County, and Elizabethtown were also each unicorns last week, rated by the same outlets again. They believe in them! *17 teams were rated by every outlet, up one from last week: Great Crossing Lexington Catholic Newport Lyon County Covington Catholic Bowling Green Trinity Evangel Christian St. X North Oldham George Rogers Clark Harlan County Bryan Station Frederick Douglass Manual Henderson County Woodford County *Nations Elite reversed some of the strange choices of a week ago, pushing Manual and George Rogers Clark into their poll. The two teams I noted a week ago that were in while those two were out were South Laurel and Corbin - they're both gonzo this week. Nations Elite is still way, way behind on where George Rogers Clark is ranked compared to every other outlet - 21st while no one else has them lower than 11th - but at least they're in this time. *Henderson County has the honor for wides variance in their ranks this week, which an incredible 17 spots in between their highest to low rank. Their high of 7th comes from - who else - Nations Elite, while Kentucky High School Sports Zone has them 24th, and Martin Media just ahead of that at 23rd. It seems a road win over Lyon County can only take a team so far. Of course, they also just nearly lost to Webster County in overtime. *I touched on it a bit for the media poll section, but I find it odd that Frederick Douglass was rated ahead of Bryan Station in half of the polls. And two of the others had them very close to Bryan Station (which is fine). Head to head isn't everything, and the margin of loss against Manual wasn't great. But Manual IS a top 20 team everywhere AND Bryan Station has beaten Frederick Douglass. TWICE. The second time was a mere two weeks ago. Just seems odd to have so many rating Frederick Douglass ahead. Two of them did it by five spots. *Big Things Kentucky only ranks 20 teams, so not having DeSales in is not completely egregious, but it was still a little surprising given they were 16th a week ago. DeSales played only one game in between ranks - they won. Odd to drop them all the way out. They were the only ranking to have them below 16th, in fact. *Cooper was another notable omission for Big Things Kentucky, joined by Martin Media in leaving them out. Cooper is rated no lower than 19th in any of the other four rankings. Cooper is closing in on a month since their last loss, a stretch that includes a road win over Covington Catholic. *Nations Elite rated Fairdale 12th. Three of the six rankings had them out entirely. *Martin Media rated Henry Clay 15th (never give up Martin Media...). Three of the six rankings had them out entirely. *Big Things Kentucky had North Oldham ranked 4th, while no other outlet ranks them higher than 11th. *Only three teams in the consensus top 5 this week, as Lyon County drops out of that group. Great Crossing, Lexington Catholic, and Newport were not only top 5, but top 3 in every single ranking. The consensus top 10 had those three plus Lyon County, Covington Catholic, Bowling Green, and St. X this week, giving us seven consensus in the top 10, up two from a week ago. Trinity narrowly missed, ranked 11th by Martin Media. A lot of agreement at the top this week.

First the Media poll: 1. Great Crossing (16 FPV) 2. Lexington Catholic 3. Newport [Up 2] 4. Trinity [Down 1] 5. Lyon County [Down 1] 6. Covington Catholic 7. St. Xavier 8. Bowling Green [Up 1] 9. George Rogers Clark [Up 2] 10. Evangel Christian [Up 1] T-11. Harlan County [Down 3] T-11. Manual [Down 1] 13. North Oldham 14. Frederick Douglass [Up 3] 15. Bryan Station [Down 1] Others receiving votes: DeSales 26, Woodford County 23, Henderson County 7, Ashland Blazer 6, Cooper 6, Bell County 3, Boyd County 3, Henry Clay 2, Oldham County 2, Hazard 1, North Hardin 1. *Frederick Douglass joines the top 15 while Woodford County moves out. Frederick Douglass being 15th over a Bryan Station team that has beaten them twice was... a choice. I get they beat Harlan County, but they JUST lost to Bryan Station.

Correct, Unseld did not play vs. Elizabethtown, nor did Howard. And Armani Byrd wasn't able to go in the second half after scoring eight in the first. So they were shorthanded all around, but Unseld is obviously the big factor. I'm pretty confident that Bowling Green will win tomorrow, and I feel this one will be by double digits. I have a feeling they'll want to prove something after the first matchup, and they're always tough at home. I'm less certain of the South/Greenwood matchup. I think it'll be South, but that one should be competitive.

First fun game in weeks and I was unable to watch. Glad to see them firing on all cylinders even if it was Vandy. Still, most points they've scored against Vandy since 1996 (also at Vandy) - that's pretty, pretty, pretty.... good.

A hill I'll die on. No way would I have let Central attempt a three. I probably hold Unseld before the ball is even inbounded and make them call that foul. Especially given how Butler County was shooting free throws. That dunk gave Warren Central their first lead of the game. The only one they needed.

Not to be harsh, but not much difference in the current format. They haven't been there since 2009, which is their only appearance since 2002. They haven't been all that close most years, 2018 and 2014 being notable exceptions in that time.

I believe getting him more game time to get right is probably what they need if they are going to be able to make the push they want to make. I assume he will continue to not play in back to backs until the postseason (or beyond - maybe they gamble sitting him in a region semifinal, but I doubt it, and surely they wouldn't sit him in a region final). That would mean he's not likely to play against Paducah Tilghman on Saturday (the day after playing Bowling Green), and would sit out either February 15th against North Hardin or February 16th against Russellville. Perhaps most likely would be sitting out North Hardin, since that's just two days after their game against Adair County. So that would be five of the seven games that he should play, and I believe they'll try their level best to make sure he plays in all of them. The Lexington Catholic game is their only game between the 16th and the 27th (which I presume will be the date of the district semifinals), so he should have quite a bit of time to rest in that span anyway. I think they need to get him in a rhythm as much as possible. He played more in the South Warren game than he had in any game to this point, so while back to backs are out, perhaps the injury restrictions are lightening. I don't know that I see him getting all the way up to the 28-30 minutes they probably need him to play, but if he can get the equivalent of three full quarters, that's going to make all the difference. It is unfortunate that they lost a couple of games since their schedule was already so light. Glasgow dropped off due to the snow in mid-January, as did the showcase in Taylor County where they'd have met Montgomery County. I'm not sure why Evangel Christian dropped off, but they were supposed to be the Tuesday in between Russellville and Lexington Catholic. That would have gotten them more games for everyone to get more in the flow - I don't consider playing only 23 games out of 30 possible to be a plus.

Then again....... I don't know what has happened to Barren County, but losing to an Allen County team that came in having not won a single region game and only two games on the year - one of which was over the Bluegrass Blazers home school team - BY FIFTEEN..... it's the latest sign that something has gone way wrong for the Trojans. They are still likely to play AC/S in the district tournament, but suddenly they are looking at playing either Glasgow or Allen County-Scottsville at AC/S later this month in the 1/4 game, and they lost to each by identical 58-43 scores in the last two weeks. Barren County has not won away from their home gym since beating Whites Creek (TN) one month ago, and are now 7-7 in road + neutral contests. They better figure things out quick. Meanwhile, this does set up the potential for Allen County-Scottsville to force a two-way tiebreaker with Glasgow for the #3 seed. They play Friday at Glasgow. Glasgow won the first matchup 42-33 at Allen County-Scottsville. If the Patriots should pull off that upset, then it will go to a pill bottle draw with AC/S the one to choose. It's not exactly "fate in their hands", but it kinda is.

1) Bowling Green (20-4) - 1/30 69-57 W Ohio County, 2/2 84-63 W at #9 Greenwood Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 2/6 at Owensboro, 2/9 vs. #2 Warren Central, 2/10 at Lyon County 2) Warren Central (8-8) - 1/29 56-57 L at Christian County, 2/2 84-53 W #6 South Warren, 2/3 46-49 L Elizabethtown Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 2/6 vs. Butler County, 2/9 at #1 Bowling Green, 2/10 at Paducah Tilghman 3) Warren East (14-7) - 1/30 72-57 W at #16 Russellville, 2/2 77-54 W #17 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/3 67-70 L at Caverna Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 2/6 at #15 Logan County 4) Clinton County (15-9) - 1/30 75-63 W at #12 Monroe County, 2/1 73-63 W at #11 Glasgow, 2/3 93-84 W Hopkins County Central, 2/3 58-50 W Southwestern Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 2/8 at Somerset Christian 5) Franklin-Simpson (12-8) - 1/29 65-56 W #13 Logan County, 1/30 64-72 L at Butler County, 2/2 68-55 W #16 Russellville Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 2/6 vs. #7 Barren County, 2/9 at #15 Logan County, 2/10 at #9 Greenwood 6) South Warren (9-9) - 1/30 62-50 W #13 Logan County, 2/2 53-84 L at #2 Warren Central Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 2/6 at #16 Russellville, 2/9 vs. #9 Greenwood 7) Barren County (14-7) - 1/30 57-54 2OT W #9 Greenwood, 2/3 68-88 L Butler County (at Owensboro Sports Center) Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 2/5 at #17 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/6 at #5 Franklin-Simpson, 2/9 vs. #13 Monroe County, 2/10 at Adair County 8. Russell County (10-10) - 1/30 78-79 L #14 Metcalfe County, 2/2 54-48 W #12 Monroe County Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 2/6 vs. #10 Cumberland County, 2/9 at Caverna 9) Greenwood (10-13) - 1/30 54-57 2OT L at #7 Barren County, 2/2 63-84 L #1 Bowling Green Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 2/6 vs. Daviess County, 2/9 at #6 South Warren, 2/10 vs. #5 Franklin-Simpson 10) Cumberland County (13-9) - 1/30 51-47 W at #17 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/2 80-57 W at #14 Metcalfe County, 2/3 66-52 W Jackson County (TN) Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 2/6 at #8 Russell County, 2/8 vs. #13 Monroe County 11) Glasgow (6-12) - 1/30 48-73 L at Caverna, 2/1 63-73 L #5 Clinton County Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 2/6 at #13 Monroe County, 2/9 vs. #17 Allen County-Scottsville 12) Metcalfe County (8-13) - 1/30 79-78 W at #3 Russell County, 2/2 57-80 L #10 Cumberland County, 2/3 47-62 L at Campbellsville Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 2/6 vs. Edmonson County, 2/7 vs. Adair County, 2/9 at Somerset 13) Monroe County (12-10) - 1/30 63-75 L #5 Clinton County, 2/2 48-54 L at #3 Russell County Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 2/5 at Red Boiling Springs (TN), 2/6 vs. #11 Glasgow, 2/8 at #10 Cumberland County, 2/9 at #7 Barren County 14) Todd County Central (9-12) - 1/30 53-56 L East Robertson (TN), 2/2 62-56 OT W #13 Logan County, 2/3 47-60 L McCracken County (at Graves County) Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 2/9 at #16 Russellville, 2/10 vs. Crittenden County 15) Logan County (11-11) - 1/29 56-65 L at #8 Franklin-Simpson, 1/30 50-62 L at #6 South Warren, 2/2 56-62 OT L at #15 Todd County Central, 2/3 60-51 OT W #17 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 2/6 vs. #3 Warren East, 2/9 vs. #5 Franklin-Simpson 16) Russellville (3-20) - 1/30 57-72 L #4 Warren East, 2/2 55-68 L at #8 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 2/6 vs. #6 South Warren, 2/9 vs. #14 Todd County Central 17) Allen County-Scottsville (2-20) - 1/30 47-51 L #10 Cumberland County, 2/2 54-77 L at #4 Warren East, 2/3 51-60 OT L at #13 Logan County Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 2/5 vs. #7 Barren County, 2/9 at #11 Glasgow 18) Foundation Christian Academy (11-8) - 1/29 66-34 W at Metro Nashville (TN), 1/30 58-42 W Hendersonville Christian Academy (TN), 2/1 66-40 W Dayspring Academy (TN) Previous Rank: 18 This Week: 2/6 at Heritage Christian, 2/8 at Currey Ingram Academy (TN), 2/10 at Christian Fellowship Notes -Bowling Green continues to strengthen their stranglehold on the top spot. They've now won 13 in a row, with their last loss coming in the King of the Bluegrass tournament in December. This is their longest win streak since winning 15 in a row in the 2019/20 season. They have a very strong chance to match that streak, as they start the week with a visit to Owensboro before hosting Warren Central in their final district game of the year. Bowling Green has won 34 of their last 37 at home, and have lost only once to a region opponent at home since 2018. Where the streak becomes imperiled most likely is on Saturday, when they visit Lyon County for a marquee matchup. If the Purples can grab that win, they'll likely move into the top 5 of statewide rankings and will be favored not to lose again prior to the Sweet 16. Bowling Green also clinched their 11th consecutive season with 20+ wins with their victory over Greenwood this past week. -Warren Central had an uneven week, one that continues to highlight what a difference Kade Unseld makes to their lineup. Unsled sat out two of the three games, a 1 point loss to Christian County and 3 point loss to Elizabethtown. Neither game was necessarily bad - though the loss to Christian County won't be one to write home about. They sandwiched around a 31 point win over South Warren where the Dragons scored 32 in the third quarter alone. Contrast that with an average of 51 points in the other two games. On the year, Central is 6-2 in games Unseld has played, with the two losses coming to Lyon County and Bowling Green - two understandable losses. They have averaged 73 PPG in those eight games, and an average margin of victory of 14 PPG. They're now 2-6 when he hasn't played, averaging only 53 PPG, and an average margin of loss of -4.6 PPG. It's not surprising that he has a large impact but it is rather staggering in the size of it. -Russell County plummets down the ranks as the expiration date on their early season success has hit. The Lakers stayed afloat for so long thanks to early wins over Greenwood, Warren Central, and Clinton County, and had not lost to a region opponent despite some close calls. That ended in a home loss to Metcalfe County and suddenly you see that they've lost five of their last seven games as well. Those marquee wins are nearly two months in the rearview now, and their only wins since the start of the 2024 calendar year are against fellow 16th District opponents - two of them over Monroe County who is in last place in the district. The time has come for them to move back. -Clinton County did something you don't often see outside of Christmas tournaments - they won two games in a single day. The Bulldogs took on both Hopkins County Central and Southwestern on Saturday, both wins, but in very different ways. Their game against Hopkins County Central was a high scoring affair, won by a 93-84 score. That's a season high for the Bulldogs, who much more frequently win by defense and lower scores. They followed that up with a grinding 58-50 win over Southwestern, capping a four win week. Clinton County's 93 points against Hopkins County Central were the most they have scored since beating Cumberland County 95-34 on January 22nd, 2015 - nine years ago. -Franklin-Simpson opened the week with a 65-56 win over Logan County to take control of the 13th District race, but got some slightly unexpected help from Todd County Central, whose 62-56 overtime win over the Cougars handed the #1 seed to Franklin-Simpson and locked in the district matchups. Franklin-Simpson has clinched the 1, they'll play Russellville who is locked into the 4, and Logan County and Todd County Central will be in the 2/3 game, though the exact seeds are still pending. -In the 14th, the expected results have continued to hold, and now we have the last district matchups to close this week. Bowling Green will host Warren Central, while South Warren will host Greenwood. The results of these games likely won't matter. If Warren Central beats Bowling Green, then the top seed will be determined by the RPI tiebreaker, where Bowling Green has (I believe) an insurmountable lead. South Warren's lead of Greenwood is not as large, but realistically, they likewise would be expected to win the tiebreaker even if they lost to Greenwood. We'll know for sure in a week. -The 15th has Barren County locked in at the #1 and Warren East at #2. Allen County-Scottsville can force a two-way tiebreaker with Glasgow for #3 if they win out against Barren County and Glasgow this week. It would go to a "pill bottle" draw, with the Patriots drawing as the district host. Realistically, Barren County is going to put this scenario to bed tomorrow, as I'd be stunned if the Patriots won either game. -The 16th has gained clarity at the bottom - Metcalfe County and Monroe County will be #4 and #5 seeds - the order is pending. If Monroe County can upset Cumberland County, it'll go to a two way tiebreak, otherwise Metcalfe County will be the 4 and Monroe the 5, but one way or the other, they'll play in the "play-in" game. Russell County's loss to Metcalfe County was surprising, but they still control their own destiny. But their margin for error has been lost. They play both their rivals for that #1 seed, hosting Cumberland County on Tuesday and visiting Clinton County eight days later. They still sit in first at 5-1. Cumberland County has the visit to Russell County, then two days later hosts Monroe County, before hosting Clinton County on Super Bowl Sunday (now THERE'S an interesting scheduling choice....). At 4-1, they too control their destiny. Clinton County has the Super Bowl Sunday matchup at Cumberland County and hosts Russell County on Valentine's Day. As they are 4-2, they can assure themselves of being no worse than #2 if they win out, since that would mean either Russell County or Cumberland County could do no better than three losses in district play, but they'd need Russell County to lose out and Cumberland County to lose to Monroe County in order to take the top seed outright. It's highly likely that if Clinton County wins out that it will require a coin flip to determine the top seed given those requirements. It is not possible for there to be a three-way tie due to the way the games are scheduled. -It's been mentioned before, but the region is incredibly down. Bowling Green is as clear a favorite as you're likely to get given their play to this point. Warren Central is a dark horse, but very much tied to the health of Kade Unseld in their ability to compete with Bowling Green. Frankly, I haven't seen anything else that shows that anyone else has a prayer against the Purples. I could cite the stats I've posted previously about how few times they've lost to a region team other than Warren Central in the last 15 years, but it should suffice to note that in the seven games against 4th Region teams they've played other than Warren Central, they have not won a single one by less than 21. That includes a 29 point thrashing of #5 Franklin-Simpson, wins over #6 South Warren by 44 and 26, and wins over #9 Greenwood by 48 and 21. We'll see how they match up with Barren County in eight days to know whether they have the potential to push them, but don't bank on it. The 4th Region is ranked #13 out of 16 regions in the Massey Ratings, and that's with both Bowling Green and Warren Central pulling it up.

I would guess if they pass on him again, they won’t have a chance to do it again after that point.

I said foul with 8 or less seconds. I’d say that is particularly the case if the other team has no timeouts. If you don’t foul by then you absolutely foul by 4 seconds. At the 4 second mark you’re all but guaranteed a win so long as you rebound a miss or manage to inbound successfully after two makes. For things to go wrong in those spots several things have to chain together. You’d have to: -Accidentally foul during a three point attempt, which I think is the real fear that makes so many not do it. -Have them make two free throws, and your team makes a mistake such as not inbounding properly, or miss one or both free throws. And in either case, the other team still has to make a shot or get back to the line. -Have them make the first and miss the second, getting rebound. And again, they STILL HAVE TO MAKE A SHOT. Compared to not fouling where yes, the odds of them making a three are relatively low, but it’s still a single shot that can send it to overtime versus several things having to go wrong in the other scenario. I can’t believe it’s even a discussion. That study was interesting - basically supported the view I thought it would.

*All of these comparisons will be to the polls released two weeks ago, since last week's were mostly a wash with fewer rankings and no new games. *We're up to six polls this week! In addition to Martin Media returning after a week off and Nations Elite after two, I found Big Things Kentucky has released rankings, and so they join the group. Big Things Kentucky only rates the top 20 teams, and the Media Poll only had 20 as well this week, so expect a few more "unicorns". *We have a consensus at the top! Great Crossing was unanimously #1 by every outlet, and was unanimous by the Media Poll voters (all 16). *38 teams were rated in at least one poll, up two from two weeks ago, the last time we had as many as four rankings. Six teams were rated this week but not the previous one - Cooper (Media 18, Nations Elite 18, KSR 18, KYHSZ 18), Oldham County (Nations Elite 22, KYHSZ 23), Ashland (Nations Elite 21), South Laurel (Nations Elite 23), Lawrence County (KYHSZ 24), and Elizabethtown (Nations Elite 25). You may notice the overlap there in by and large which outlets added new teams to the mix. Breathitt County, Daviess County, Fleming County, Madison Southern, and Murray all dropped out. Breathitt County had ridden into the ranks following their 14th Region All "A" win, but have dropped four of five since then. Daviess County lost to Owensboro two weeks ago, their only loss since December 9th, but didn't have the body of work to hold on. Fleming County was rewarded with a rank after nocking off DeSales, but drops following a loss to Montgomery County. Madison Southern had been ranked for a while, but have now dropped four of five, and two nights ago lost to 7-11 Jeffersontown. Murray is the oddest one - apparently their loss to Evangel Christian in the All A was enough to knock them out. *With the increase to six polls, and two of them having only 20 teams ranked, we had a jump to 12 unicorns (teams rated by a single outlet). Those were Corbin (Nations Elite 20), Hazard (Martin Media 20), Ashland (Nations Elite 21), North Hardin (Martin Media 21), Pikeville (KYHSZ 21), Adair County (Martin Media 23), Lloyd Memorial (KSR 23), South Laurel (Nations Elite 23), Bell County (Martin Media 24), Lawrence County (KYHSZ 24), Butler County (KYHSZ 25), and Elizabethtown (Nations Elite 25). Unsurprisingly, the 20 team polls had no unicorns. The Media Poll and Big Things Kentucky each had 16 of their 20 teams rated in every single other ranking. *Those 16 teams that were consensus rated: Great Crossing Lyon County Lexington Catholic Newport Trinity Covington Catholic St. X Harlan County Bowling Green North Oldham Evangel Christian Bryan Station Woodford County DeSales Male Frederick Douglass *With the exception of Frederick Douglass, who were rated 25th by Martin Media, all the other consensus rated teams were in the top 20 of all rankings. *With the return of Nations Elite came some very, very odd rankings. When we last saw Nations Elite three weeks ago, they had Manual ranked #3. Now, I understand the loss in the LIT to Butler wasn't the BEST loss, but it's also one of only two Manual has on the whole year. Apparently that was enough to drop them from #3 right on out of the rankings. And lest you think they were just forgotten, note that Manual shows up in the "Others receiving votes" portion of that graphic. None of the other outlets had them rated lower than 18th, and they were still rated as high as 10th. Less egregious in the size of the drop but standing out like a sore thumb in how the other outlets ranked them is George Rogers Clark. Three weeks ago, Nations Elite had them 19th. They haven't lost since. Yet somehow, they dropped from their rankings. Have they played a murderer's row of opponents? Certainly not. But they were ranked then by them, went 6-0 since with only one of those games closer than 10 points, so it is quite odd to drop them entirely. Like Manual, they too are listed in the "Other receiving votes", so they weren't forgotten. They are not ranked lower than 14th by any other outlet, and Martin Media has them highest at 8th. It doesn't explain both of them, but consider that Nations Elite ranked South Laurel 23rd - the only outlet to rank them and who were UNRANKED by even Nations Elite three weeks ago - and South Laurel has gone 2-2 since including a loss to North Laurel, who isn't setting the world on fire, and you have a weird, weird decision to have them in and both of those others out. They're also the only outlet to rank Corbin, who have dropped two in a row. Granted, one of those came the same day they released the rankings, but it seemed odd to have Corbin at #20 when no other outlet ranked them at all. Perhaps Nations Elite needs to knock off the rust. *As usual, Martin Media was responsible for the largest discrepancy in rankings, as they are every week, though this week I'll give them a bit of a pass. George Rogers Clark is rated 8th by Martin Media, which is a gap of at least 18 ranked spots between it and Nations Elite's unrated finish for GRC. Manual has a drop of at least 16 spots between their 10th ranking in the Media Poll and Nations Elite's non rated finish. But less understandable is Martin Media's darling Henry Clay, consistently rated much higher in that poll than any other. This week, Martin Media keeps them at 11th. That's 8 spots higher than any other ranking, and two of the five other polls have them unranked entirely. Ironically, neither of those not rated finishes come from the polls that have only 20 teams, so most agree they should be rated, but no one agrees they should be that high. Martin Media also has the highest rating of Bryan Station ranking them 6th, while no one else is higher than 10th. *The consensus top 5 has four teams this time, which is the most we've had despite adding another poll. Great Crossing, Lyon County, Lexington Catholic, and Newport are in everyone's top 5. Trinity narrowly misses the honor as well, ranked 6th by KYHSZ and 9th by Martin Media. Those five teams are the only consensus top 10 teams, as Covington Catholic (KSR 11), St. X (KYHSZ 11), and Bowling Green (Big Things KY 11) all narrowly missed out due to one rating. Bowling Green would have been consensus going by the five polls we had been using to this point. *Two weeks ago we looked at the Massey ratings to find some notable teams that were unranked - two of those (Oldham County and Ashland) find themselves in the rankings now. Campbell County was the third, but after getting trucked by CovCath, they may still be a ways away.

First the Media poll: 1. Great Crossing (16 FPV - Up 6 from last week) 2. Lexington Catholic [Up 1] 3. Trinity [Up 1] 4. Lyon County [Down 2] 5. Newport [Up 1] 6. Covington Catholic [Down 2] 7. St. Xavier 8. Harlan County 9. Bowling Green 10. Manual [Up 1] T-11. Evangel Christian [Down 1] T-11. George Rogers Clark [Up 1] 13. North Oldham [Up 1] 14. Bryan Station [Down 1] 15. Woodford County Others receiving votes: DeSales 15, Frederick Douglass 12, Cooper 6, Boyd County 1, Henry Clay 1, Male 1. *Great Crossing became a unanimous selection at #1 for the first time following Lyon County's losses. Lexington Catholic may have had a legitimate shot at #1 if they'd been able to hold on in their head to head with Great Crossing. *Same 15 teams in the top 15 as there were a week ago. Bryan Station probably held on due to their solid win over Frederick Douglass.