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Fourth Region Rankings 1) Bowling Green (7-1) - 12/13 66-59 W #5 Greenwood, 12/17 60-50 W Doss (at Fairdale), 12/18 69-67 W Ballard (at Fairdale), 12/19 66-83 L Berkmar (GA) (at Fairdale) Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 12/20 vs. Covington Catholic (at Fairdale) After thoroughly dominating the competition through their first four games, the past 8 days have represented a slight coming back to the pack for BG. They are still the surefire #1 team, but received a serious test from Greenwood, and picked up tight wins over Doss and Ballard before finally running out of steam in their third game in three days against a very good Berkmar team. The Purples have still not lost to a Kentucky team in the past year, other than falling to Dunbar in the Sweet 16. 2) Franklin-Simpson (7-2) - 12/15 58-41 W #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/16 94-64 W at Fairdale, 12/18 71-79 L Covington Catholic (at Fairdale), 12/19 67-78 L Fern Creek (at Fairdale) Previous Rank: 2 This Week: No Games Scheduled The Wildcats also fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in the past week. After a solid win over ACS and an obliteration of Fairdale, CovCath and Fern Creek knocked them out of the King of the Bluegrass. Still, those are two of the top 10 teams in the state, and they didn't get embarrassed. The Fern Creek game was a 1 point game late. Lovan continues his torrid pace, averaging over 25 PPG. 3) Warren Central (6-0) - 12/12 82-65 W at #10 Glasgow, 12/13 89-50 W at #9 Logan County Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 12/20 vs. Valley (at Henry Clay), 12/21 TBA, 12/22 TBA Although they may owe some of it to a lighter schedule last week compared to their opening games - as well as no games since Tuesday - the Dragons emerge as the last unbeaten standing in the 4th Region. Their 6-0 start is their best since the 2001/02 season, which was the first season of their unprecedented six straight 4th Region titles. Their win over Logan County featured a mind-boggling 26-0 run, spanning almost 7 minutes of the 3rd and 4th quarters. They'll take on a tough Valley team at Henry Clay tonight. 4) Russellville (4-1) - 12/12 69-65 W Hopkinsville, 12/16 49-44 W at #6 Barren County Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 12/20 vs. High Point Christian Academy (NC) (at Henry Clay), 12/21 TBA, 12/22 TBA The Panthers had a bit of an uneven week, but had a super strong win over Hopkinsville, which was basically a prove-it moment for them. Couple with a close loss to UHA, it's another sign that the Panthers are a dangerous team. Bradshaw continues to lead them, with 20 PPG and 12 RPG to give them a double-double every night. The close result over a flagging Barren County team is a bit of a red flag, especially given that Bradshaw had 24 points, and no other Russellville player had more than 6. They can't beat top teams like that. 5) Greenwood (7-2) - 12/13 59-66 L at #1 Bowling Green, 12/16 49-32 W #12 South Warren, 12/17 66-38 W at Hart County Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 12/21 at Owensboro, 12/22 vs. Ohio County (at Owensboro), 12/23 at Apollo The Gators may not have gotten the win, but the close result against the Purples was a definite shot across the bow. It was their closest result at Bowling Green in seven seasons, and a strong indicator of their potential to play spoiler. Crump was electric in the game, dropping a 30 spot to keep the Gators going. Their 7-2 start remains their best start since 2009/10, which was that very year they last hung with the Purples so well on the road. 6) Clinton County (6-3) - 12/13 77-57 W at #14 Cumberland County, 12/16 71-52 W #13 Russell County, 12/19 78-49 W Alvin C. York Institute (TN) Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 12/20 vs. Monterey (TN), 12/20 vs. Nelson County, 12/21 vs. #15 South Warren The Bulldogs rise back up near their preseason ranking of 5 almost by default. It certainly wasn't for the quality of their competition, with blowout district wins over Cumberland County and Russell County. Clinton County has looked awful in matchups against top teams like Franklin-Simpson and Greenwood, but have a higher ceiling than many/most of the teams beneath them. 7) Warren East (5-2) - 12/13 60-54 W at #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/17 72-65 W Graves County (at Murray), 12/19 77-42 W #13 Russell County Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 12/20 vs. #12 Todd County Central, 12/21 TBA The Raiders sandwiched a couple of wins over also-rans around the meat of the week - a win over highly regarded Graves County in what was essentially a road game. The Raiders were previously 11th due to an opening loss to Logan County and then a very light schedule, but received a chance to prove themselves when the Purples had to move out of the game against Graves. Trequon Patterson has given the Raiders an instant lift in his first two games. The Dragon transfer dropped 28 in his first game against Allen County-Scottsville, before exploding for 41 in the victory over Graves County. 8) Monroe County (4-4) - 12/13 77-46 W at #13 Russell County, 12/16 54-44 W at #10 Glasgow, 12/19 79-74 W Caverna (at Warren East) Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 12/20 vs. Collins (at Warren East), 12/21 TBA The Falcons rebounded from a rough week to pick up a needed district win over Glasgow and solid win over Caverna - which had recently knocked off Barren County, a 2OT winner over Monroe the previous week. The Falcons could just as easily be 7-1 right now, if not for three overtime losses. 9) Barren County (4-4) - 12/13 49-55 L at Caverna, 12/15 50-52 L Edmonson County, 12/16 44-49 L #4 Russellville, 12/19 51-61 L Meade County (at Webster County) Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 12/20 vs. Calloway County (at Webster County), 12/21 at Webster County The Trojans went the other way compared to teams above them, suffering four straight losses after opening unbeaten in their first four contests. Most were forgivable - especially losses to Russellville and Meade County - but Edmonson County was not. It was the first win of the year for the Wildcats, a team that had lost to Allen County-Scottsville earlier in the season. The Trojan offense has been mostly stagnant, as they continue to struggle to replace the scoring of a season ago. 10) Glasgow (2-6) - 12/12 65-82 L #3 Warren Central, 12/16 44-54 L #8 Monroe County, 12/17 72-62 W Shawnee, 12/19 63-69 L Boyle County Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 12/20 at Bethlehem The Scotties held tough after facing an early large deficit against Warren Central, playing most of the rest of the game even after the first quarter. But they couldn't get a home win in a crucial district contest, which will once again have them playing from behind in the standings. 11) Logan County (4-6) - 12/13 50-89 L #3 Warren Central, 12/16 76-67 W #16 Todd County Central, 12/17 56-26 W at #12 South Warren, 12/19 45-55 L at Kenwood (TN) Previous Rank: 9 This Week: No Games Scheduled After pestering Warren Central for 2.5 quarters, the roof fell on the Cougars, who were buried in the midst of a 26-0 run by the Dragons. But they maintained the rest of the week, grabbing a district win over surging Todd County Central, and obliterating a bad South Warren team. 12) Todd County Central (3-5) - 12/13 71-58 W at #12 South Warren, 12/16 67-76 L at #9 Logan County, 12/19 72-62 W #14 Cumberland County (at Warren East) Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 12/20 at #7 Warren East, 12/21 TBA The Rebels continue to show improvement, competing well with Logan County in between wins away from home against South Warren and Cumberland County. It's hard to believe that 365 days ago they were winless. 13) Russell County (1-7) - 12/12 55-41 W #17 Metcalfe County, 12/13 46-77 L #8 Monroe County, 12/16 52-71 L at #7 Clinton County, 12/19 42-77 L at #11 Warren East Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 12/20 vs. #14 Cumberland County (at Warren East), 12/21 TBA The Lakers continue to spiral after the departure of their scorers from a season ago. A 14 point victory over Metcalfe County is a real reason for concern, and they appear to have no realistic shot at beating a decent region team this year. We also get a quicker than expected read on whether they are in real danger of missing the region tournament this year when they face Cumberland County in the Warren East holiday tournament. A loss there may be an indicator that Cumberland County could get them come tourney time. 14) Cumberland County (3-5) - 12/13 57-77 L #7 Clinton County, 12/16 72-87 L at Marion County, 12/19 62-72 L #16 Todd County Central (at Warren East) Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 12/20 vs. #13 Russell County (at Warren East), 12/21 TBA The Panthers had a disappointing follow-up to their 3-2 start, especially a somewhat-surprising loss to Todd County Central. But the Panthers will get a consolation prize when they face district rival Russell County. It could be a huge confidence booster. 15) South Warren (2-7) - 12/13 58-71 L #16 Todd County Central, 12/16 32-49 L at #5 Greenwood, 12/17 26-56 L #9 Logan County, 12/19 56-52 W Nelson County (at Clinton County) Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 12/20 vs. Monterey (TN) (at Clinton County), 12/21 at #6 Clinton County The Spartans remain off to their worst start since 2011/12, though they did snap their losing streak at six with a win over Nelson County. South Warren has yet to top 60 points in a game. 16) Allen County-Scottsville (1-5) - 12/13 54-60 L #11 Warren East, 12/15 41-58 L at #2 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 12/20 vs. #17 Metcalfe County, 12/22 vs. Louisville Collegiate The Patriots should gain their second win of the Lex Lindsey era with a game against winless Metcalfe County tonight, but so far their highlights have been mostly confined to playing close results, such as the one against Warren East. 17) Metcalfe County (0-8) - 12/12 41-55 L at #13 Russell County, 12/13 56-76 L at Hart County, 12/16 41-72 L Edmonson County Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 12/20 at #16 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/21 vs. Louisville Collegiate A winless season is starting to look like a real possibility. Right now a late January home game against Thomas Nelson is their great hope.

A quick snapshot of the matchups in the 4th Region tournament: Game 1: February 28th - Bowling Green (14th District Champions) vs. Clinton County (16th District Runners-Up) -Series at Region: Bowling Green leads 3-0 -Last Region Meeting: Bowling Green 58 Clinton County 47 - 2015 4th Region Quarterfinals Bowling Green is fresh off its fifth straight 14th District title, likely confident as ever entering an event that they have been dominant at in the last decade. The Purples have made the region final in every region tournament they've reached since falling in the first round in 2004. And it's not for a lack of appearances, as this is the 11th region tournament appearance they've had since then. They have won 15 consecutive games in the region tournament. In addition to being 3-0 against Clinton County in the region tournament, they're 11-1 against the Bulldogs overall in the last 50 years, with the lone loss coming in 2006, their last losing season. They're 19-8 all-time against the 16th District in the region tournament, winning their last seven against their members. Their last loss was to Monroe County in 2004. The Purples are just 5-3 since the start of February, but all three losses were to teams that were considered among the best in their respective regions. The 21-10 record may not be as pretty as recent times, but they have played a challenging schedule. They overcame a 15 point deficit in the third quarter against Warren Central, taking the lead for the first (and only needed) time with 6 seconds left in their 67-65 victory in the finals. They enter with the mantle of favorite as a result. Clinton County was stunned in the 16th District finals by Russell County, denying the Bulldogs back to back district titles. Clinton County had won 15 in a row in district play before the loss. They have had historically bad luck in their draws this decade. They have drawn the region favorite and/or a team that advanced to the finals 5 of the last 7 years. One of those two years they didn't, they drew Barren County, the year that Barren County got to host the region tournament. The Bulldogs did get a first round win last year, taking advantage of Greenwood's plight when two of their top players were suspended. While they have not advanced out of the first round much recently, they have usually given competitive efforts, and do have great experience playing at Diddle. They have tournament experience as well, competing in the All A Classic state tournament. Their momentum is poor coming in, entering just 3-5 in their last eight games. Head coach Todd Messer is the longest tenured in the region, guiding the Bulldogs since the start of the 2006/07 season. Game 2: February 28th - Todd County Central (13th District Champions) vs. Monroe County (15th District Runners-Up) -Series at Region: Todd County Central leads 1-0 -Last Region Meeting: Todd County Central 84 Monroe County 70 - 2002 4th Region Quarterfinals Todd County Central has waited a long time for this game, reaching the region tournament for the first time since 2003. Since that region tournament was at Barren County High School, this is actually their first trip to Diddle Arena since the 2002 4th Region finals, where they fell to Warren Central. Even their lone meeting in the region tourney against Monroe County was not at Diddle - the 2002 quarterfinals were played at the district champion schools, so that game was at Monroe County. Their long wandering is over. The Rebels carry a 7-12 all-time record in the 4th Region tournament, and a 5-7 record in the first round. They have posted their first winning record in 14 years, gaining an unexpected district title after Logan County was upset in the first round. They've won 6 of their last 7 against Kentucky competition. They did not play Monroe County this year, but met them in December of 2016, falling 67-60. Nolan Barrow leads them with 17.4 PPG while big man John Calvery adds 13.3 PPG. Monroe County, like Clinton County, did not expect to find themselves in a district runner-up spot. They fell at Glasgow in the finals 60-54, just over three weeks from defeating the Scotties by 13 on the same floor. That denied them back to back titles, which they have not achieved since winning the 16th District three straight times from 2002-2004. They are just 5-5 in their last 10 games this season, and will be looking to advance to the region semifinals for the fourth time in their last five appearances (they have never made the finals). They carry a 4-20 all-time record in region tournament play, and are 2-7 against 13th District opponents, including last year's loss to Russellville. Steve Kirkpatrick has been head coach since the start of the 09/10 season, making him the second longest tenured in the region. The Falcons have one of the better scoring teams in the region, shooting 34.2% from three and featuring Billy Michael Dyer (18.4 PPG) and Chandler Clements (17.7 PPG). Game 3: March 1st - Russell County (16th District Champions) vs. Franklin-Simpson (13th District Runners-Up) -Series at Region: Franklin-Simpson leads 2-0 -Last Region Meeting: Franklin-Simpson 56 Russell County 33 - 2017 4th Region Quarterfinals There haven't been a pair of 20+ loss teams in the region tournament since 1992, when there were FOUR. This is the first meeting of 20-loss teams in the tournament since that same year, when two quarterfinal games featured those matchups. That was owed to spectacularly bad years by the 15th & 16th districts, and those districts drew each other in the first round. Russell County is into their 13th consecutive 4th Region tournament. They have never missed one in their time in the 4th Region. While they were expected to continue that streak this year, they had to survive an overtime session against Cumberland County to do so, and then very surprisingly dominated Clinton County in a 76-66 finals victory. The Lakers have now won three of the last four district titles in the 16th. Fortune continued to favor them in the form of probably the only region participant they could hope to beat, avoiding Warren Central and Monroe County - the latter beat them by 27 earlier this year and the former is, well, Warren Central. The Lakers are on a three game winning streak, which followed six losses in a row. They've won in spurts, but have yet to have a four game win streak this season, and haven't even done better than three wins in four games. The Lakers can score - both Scales and Richardson average over 15 PPG and the team averages over 66 PPG. It's been defense that ails them - they're allowing nearly 70 PPG, worst in the region tournament. Franklin-Simpson is even less likely to be here. The Wildcats have won two games since the start of the new year. One of those just happened to be a 65-61 upset of #1 Logan County in the district semifinals. The 65 points they scored there are the fifth highest output of the year for them, and two of those five had overtime involved. The team shot 50% from the field - they average under 40% on the year. But hey, they got the job done and got a dream first round draw. Like Russell County, this is likely the only opponent they could have drawn and hoped for a win. Franklin did advance to the region semifinals a year ago with a senior-laden team, the first time they had done so since 2009. Those are the only two times they've won a region quarterfinal since 2003. The Wildcats are there often, but don't advance often of late. It is not a positive for them to face a team in the Lakers that can score so well. They'll have to hope their defense can lock it down a bit, and that Russell County's inability to defend can lead to a higher score than normal. Game 4: March 1st - Glasgow (15th District Champions) vs. Warren Central (14th District Runners-Up) -Series at Region: Warren Central leads 4-1 -Last Region Meeting: Warren Central 72 Glasgow 66 OT - 2012 4th Region Semifinals While Glasgow has endured a bit of a torturous existence in the 4th Region tournament for the last two decades, surprisingly little of it has come at the hands of Warren Central. The Scotties are 5-11 in region tournament play since the mid-1990s, with only four meetings with Warren Central. It must be noted that one of those - their last meeting - came in a year when Glasgow was widely looked upon as the region tournament favorite, denying the Scotties a chance to end what is now a 40 year drought without a region title. This is just Glasgow's second region tournament appearance since then, the last ending with a 71-26 blowout by Bowling Green in 2016. Glasgow enters with the second highest win total in the region, a resurgent 22-8 record. With a team that has only two seniors, this run was perhaps expected next year. Four players average between 10 and 15 PPG, giving the Scotties multiple scoring options and making it difficult to lock down any single player. Glasgow has won 4 in a row since a stretch that saw them go 2-5. Their triple overtime victory over Barren County in the district tournament may be the best game in the region this year. Glasgow is 11-17 all-time against the 14th District in the region tournament, and has lost four in a row to district members, going back to 2002. (They've also lost 10 of 12 against District 14.) In their lone region tournament win over Warren Central, they advanced to the region finals, their only appearance in the championship since 1985. Though this isn't the semifinals, you can be confident that a win over Warren Central here will see Glasgow reach the finals. Warren Central is probably a mix of emotions to be in this spot. Upset because of their loss to Bowling Green which featured a school-record 48 points from guard Jordan Cousin. Upset to not have a trophy in tow. Upset to be the winningest team in the region going against the second-winningest. But.... they (along with Glasgow) have a cherry semifinal matchup if they were to advance, giving them an extremely clear path to the region finals. Given that basically every team that was expected to win district failed to do so, there are worse years to have finished as a runner-up. Warren Central is 54-12 all-time in the region tournament, and are 22-3 in the opening round, winning their last 7 and 16 of their last 17 opening matchups. They did fall in their last matchup with a 15th District opponent at region, losing to Barren County 58-53 two years ago. Their 26-5 record is top in the region, as is their 14-2 record against region opponents. They have lost 2 of 3 after the loss to Bowling Green, which followed a seven game win streak and a stretch where they won 17 of 18. Their 68.35 PPG average is just barely behind Bowling Green for tops in the region, and their 55.19 PPG allowed is #2 behind Allen County-Scottsville. Region POY Skyelar Potter averages 23.5 PPG while Jordan Cousin gives them another bona fide scorer with 15.2 PPG. They knocked off Glasgow 72-49 at Central back on December 11th. They are likely to be the most favored team to make the region finals by virtue of their potential semifinal matchup, but unless Bowling Green is gone before then, they are not the overall favorite.

A bit late to the party on the decade retrospectives with this, but better late than never! The 2010s were pretty good to the 4th Region, especially the back half. The region produced five state semifinalists, two state runners-up, and the state champions in 2016/17 when Bowling Green brought home the hardware. There was plenty of talent to come through the region, especially in that same 2016/17 year. Some members of the first team were no-brainers, but there were some tough choices to be made. A note - consideration for this team was judged solely on the time the player spent in the region. I note that in particular because Zion Harmon is not on this list. There is no doubt that he is one of the most talented players to play in this region in the past quarter decade, if not THE most talented. But his 8th grade year was the sole year spent playing in the region, and is the only year considered for this, which is not enough. I also was not a slave to the traditional position format, but loading up a team with too many forwards or guards was a bit of a tiebreaker in one case. With that said, the list: First Team Chane Behanan, F, Bowling Green - Player of the Decade Behanan is an obvious choice for this list and player of the decade. An imposing, physical player, Behanan could also shoot from range. Behanan was named a McDonald's All-American in his senior season, as well as being named to the Parade Magazine All-American second team. He was rated as a top 30 player nationally his senior year, and was twice selected as first team all-state by the Courier-Journal, Herald-Leader, and AP, as well as an all-region first team selection in each year. The only thing he didn't get was a region crown, but I will make the argument that BG may not have even been truly competitive with Warren Central in those years if not for Behanan, and he led them to the 2010 district title. Behanan went on to play two years for Louisville, where he won a national title (despite what the NCAA would have you believe). George Fant, F, Warren Central The other half of the legendary matchup in 2009-10 and 2010-11, Fant emerged as the third leading scorer in the history of Warren Central, and led the team to two region titles and a state quarterfinal finish his junior season. I've always made the argument that while Behanan gained more accolades than Fant, that it was beneficial to have Behanan in the region for George - it pushed him to greater heights. Fant was nationally rated as a top 150 player by Rivals.com his senior season, as well as being named to the first team all-state by the Courier-Journal, Herald-Leader, and AP that year. He was a second team selection his junior year. Fant was all-region first team in his last two seasons, and was a Kentucky All-Star in 2011. Fant was such a natural athlete that he managed to transform his body to ultimately play pro football as an offensive tackle despite not playing a down from 8th grade until his fifth year of college, and that's where he is today. That followed a highly successful career at WKU on the hardwood. Terry Taylor, F, Bowling Green The second Purple on the first team got something Behanan didn't - a region title. In fact, he got four of them, and capped those with a state title in his final game of his high school career. Taylor was named the Sweet 16 MVP for the 2017 tournament, and was a Sweet 16 All-Tournament Team selection his final three seasons. He was named to the Courier-Journal and Herald-Leader's first team all-state his senior year and second team all-state his junior season. Taylor was an all-region first team selection his junior and senior seasons, and was named to the third team his sophomore year. Taylor was a scoring and rebounding monster, finishing his career with 1,704 points and 1,130 rebounds. A true nightmare to match up with, his length was tough to defend inside, but he could also shoot the three. Those four region champion teams were very talented, but they don't all happen without Taylor's ability - maybe none of them. Taylor has risen to become the star of the OVC conference at Austin Peay (aside from some Morant guy), and appears to be well on his way to POY honors in the conference. Tavin Lovan, G, Franklin-Simpson Lovan was one of the most prolific scorers in the history of the region, and ultimately finished as the career leading scorer at Franklin-Simpson - a program that has been around for 75 years and has competed at very high levels for most of them. He did that despite missing the majority of his sophomore year, when he still led his team in scoring with 26 PPG and 260 points in just ten games. He averaged 26.3 PPG as both his junior and senior seasons. Lovan was named 4th Region POY his senior season, and was named to the all-region first team in each of his last three years, in addition to being a second team selection his freshman year. He was the only player in the decade to be named to the all-region teams in all four years of high school. He was named to the Courier-Journal and Herald-Leader's all-state first teams his senior year, the second team for the Courier his junior year, and the second team for the Herald-Leader that same year. His senior year, the Wildcats lost only seven times - three were to eventual state champion Bowling Green, and two others were in the prestigious King of the Bluegrass tournament. Lovan is currently at UAB, where he seems to relish making WKU pay for seemingly ignoring him in their recruiting efforts. Jackson Harlan, G, Clinton County Harlan finished his prep career with 2,128 points, good enough for second all-time at Clinton County. He averaged 23.9 PPG his senior season, and earned his way onto both the Courier-Journal and Herald-Leader's all-state 1st teams for the 2018-19 season while taking home player of the year honors for the 4th Region. Harlan was also named to the Herald-Leader's all-state third team for his junior season. Jackson was twice named to the all-region first team (in his junior and senior seasons), and was named to the third team in his sophomore year. He was also selected to the Kentucky All-Star team for 2019. The Bulldogs advanced to the region semifinals in two of his final three seasons, playing at Diddle Arena, where he is currently playing for WKU. Second Team DeAndre "Pedro" Bradshaw, F, Russellville Bradshaw was a phenomenal ball-handler for a player of his length, and was a star for Russellville. He finished his career as the school's all-time leading scorer (1,938 points) and rebounder (1,169 rebounds). He was named to the all-state 1st team for both the Courier-Journal and Herald-Leader his senior season, and was a Kentucky All-Star in 2017. He was also named to the all-region first team twice, and the second team once. He had the misfortune of being a star in a class filled with stars in the region, though he did lead the Panthers to a region final in his senior year, their first in 16 years. Skyelar Potter, F, Warren Central The region POY his senior season, Potter led the Dragons to their first region title in five years and the most wins in the history of the program. Skyelar averaged 23 PPG as a senior, and finished as the program's fifth leading career scorer. Potter was twice named to the all-region first team, and was a member of the Sweet 16 All-Tournament team in 2017-18. He was also a second team all-state selection by the Courier-Journal, and a third team all-state selection by the Herald-Leader, in addition to being named to the Kentucky All-Star team in 2018. Tyler Robertson, G, Russell County Robertson scored over 2,000 points in his prep career, and led his Laker squad to the region finals in 2013, their only appearance in the finals as a member of the 4th Region. Tyler was twice an all-region first team selection, and was named the region's player of the year in his senior year. He was selected to the Courier-Journal and Herald-Leader's all-state second teams for the 2012-13 season. Keifer Dalton, G, Clinton County Dalton is the all-time leading scorer at Clinton County, with 2,158 points in his prep career. He also finished as the school's career leader in assists and steals. Keifer was named the region's player of the year in his junior season - a rare honor for a junior - and was twice an all-region first team selection, and once a second team selection. Dillon Geralds, G, Monroe County Geralds was twice named as an all-region first team selection, in 2013-14 and 2014-15. In his senior season, he was named the player of the year for the region while averaging 17 PPG - that was actually down from 19.5 PPG as a junior. His Falcon squad advanced to the region semifinals in each of his junior and senior seasons, providing just the third and fourth region tournament victories for the program.

1) Bowling Green (20-5) - 2/4 72-64 W at #5 South Warren, 2/7 51-66 L John Hardin Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 2/11 at Owensboro, 2/14 vs. #14 Warren East 2) Warren Central (19-6) - 2/3 56-35 W at Christian County, 2/5 79-38 W Hopkinsville, 2/7 82-35 W #14 Warren East, 2/8 67-64 W Lafayette Jefferson (IN) Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 2/14 vs. #5 Greenwood 3) Logan County (21-3) - 2/4 79-56 W at McLean County, 2/8 81-45 W at #16 Todd County Central Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 2/11 vs. #5 Greenwood, 2/15 vs. #10 Allen County-Scottsville 4) Barren County (17-8) - 2/4 74-69 W #4 Greenwood, 2/7 48-67 L Central Hardin Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 2/11 vs. #11 Russell County, 2/14 at #15 Cumberland County 5) Greenwood (15-11) - 2/4 69-74 L #6 Barren County, 2/7 65-60 W #5 South Warren, 2/8 61-68 L Bardstown (at Warren Central) Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 2/11 at #3 Logan County, 2/14 at #2 Warren Central 6) South Warren (13-12) - 2/4 64-72 L #1 Bowling Green, 2/7 60-65 L at #4 Greenwood Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 2/11 at #14 Warren East, 2/13 vs. #8 Franklin-Simpson 7) Clinton County (18-6) - 2/8 66-44 W Breathitt County Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 2/11 at McCreary Central, 2/14 at #12 Monroe County 8) Franklin-Simpson (11-12) - 2/4 55-56 L at #10 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/7 78-49 W #17 Russellville Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 2/10 at Butler County, 2/13 at #6 South Warren 9) Glasgow (10-12) - 2/4 63-61 W #12 Monroe County Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 2/10 vs. #10 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/11 at #13 Metcalfe County, 2/14 at Caverna 10) Allen County-Scottsville (11-12) - 2/4 56-55 W #7 Franklin-Simpson, 2/7 66-56 W at #12 Monroe County Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 2/10 at #9 Glasgow, 2/13 vs. Metcalfe County 11) Russell County (11-13) - 2/4 67-46 W #13 Metcalfe County, 2/7 60-64 L Breathitt County Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 2/11 at #4 Barren County, 2/14 vs. Adair County, 2/15 vs. Jackson County 12) Monroe County (9-14) - 2/4 61-63 L at #9 Glasgow, 2/7 56-66 L #10 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 2/11 vs. #15 Cumberland County, 2/14 vs. #7 Clinton County 13) Metcalfe County (13-11) - 2/4 46-67 L at #11 Russell County Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 2/11 vs. #9 Glasgow, 2/13 at #10 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/15 vs. #17 Russellville 14) Warren East (4-17) - 2/4 71-70 W at #17 Russellville, 2/7 35-82 L at #2 Warren Central Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 2/11 vs. #6 South Warren, 2/14 at #1 Bowling Green 15) Cumberland County (6-16) - No games Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 2/11 at #12 Monroe County, 2/14 vs. #4 Barren County 16) Todd County Central (5-18) - 2/4 47-41 W at Montgomery Central (TN), 2/8 45-81 L #3 Logan County Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 2/14 at #17 Russellville 17) Russellville (6-15) - 2/4 70-71 L #14 Warren East, 2/7 49-78 L at #7 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 2/11 vs. Edmonson County, 2/14 vs. #16 Todd County Central, 2/15 at #13 Metcalfe County Notes -It was a bit more difficult for me to leave the status quo at the top two this week. Bowling Green and Warren Central now sport almost identical records (20-5 to 19-6). Both have similar losses to quality teams, with Bowling Green having three of their five losses to BGP top-20 teams and Warren Central having four of their six in the same category (one is BG themselves). Central has the worst loss (Glasgow), but now has the best win, that coming on Saturday against Lafayette Jefferson (IN), a team that is rated 11th in all of Indiana by MaxPreps and the Sagarin ratings. If both teams hold serve this week, then likely I will move Warren Central ahead next week. But let's see what Greenwood does with the Dragons. The two teams meet at Warren Central, where the Dragons have beaten them two straight years after losing three straight to them in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. Those are the only three Gator wins at Warren Central in the past 20 years. -Speaking of that, a crowded scenario at the top of District 14 has played out. South Warren did their best to muddy the waters this week, rallying from 27 down against Bowling Green to draw within four with the ball before falling by eight, and then holding a four point lead at Greenwood late before allowing the Gators to score the final nine of the game to fall by five. We are left with Warren Central alone at the top with a 6-1 district record, and both Bowling Green and Greenwood at 5-2 apiece (in official standings). Bowling Green will meet Warren East at the end of the week, which, that's a win, let's just be honest. That means that if Greenwood were to win at Warren Central, all three teams would be 6-2 in the district, and we'd go to a three-way tiebreak, where any of the three teams could end up matched with one of the others in the 2/3 game. You'd hear the cheers of the region if Bowling Green and Warren Central were matched in the district semifinals. -Logan County keeps humming along, and they have extended their winning streak to 17 games, second only to Ashland's unbeaten record for longest streak in Kentucky. It's the longest win streak for Logan County in the Riherds scoreboard era (since 1998), and my guess is that it's their longest since they won the state title in 1984 - if it wasn't then, it's their longest ever. They completed their district slate at a perfect 6-0, and their 7 point win over Franklin-Simpson in December was their only district game that was even close. There is no team in the region as much a lock for the region tournament. In all likelihood, their matchup with #5 Greenwood on Tuesday and a road trip to Ohio County on February 18th are the only barriers to them taking this win streak into the postseason. -Barren County's week ended with a thud on Friday when they dropped a 19 point decision at Central Hardin, but prior to that, they had run off 10 wins in 11 games, with the lone loss coming at Logan County by a single point. They have quietly rounded into shape the last month, beginning with close calls with a healthier Glasgow and Bowling Green right before that 11 game stretch. The Trojans were 7-6 on January 8th, and now with a run through the 16th District coming up, look like they will enter the postseason with 20 wins at least. Aden Nyekan has pushed his average up to 16.8 PPG, and dropped 27 in a road win over Greenwood on Tuesday, going 13/22 from the field. The sophomore is one of the best of the best in the region. -Glasgow remains an intriguing team. They're still without Jaden Franklin, but Tucker Kirkpatrick has been back on the floor, helping the Scotties end their four game skid in staying alive for the top seed in the 15th District with a 63-61 win over Monroe County. They have seen their record dip under .500 thanks to a 2-5 stretch, but if they were to get fully healthy, they could be very dangerous. Nick Sorrell had 19 points in the win over Monroe County, right at his 19.1 PPG average for the season. -Allen County-Scottsville locked themselves into the 3 seed in the 15th District with a ten point win over Monroe County, pushing the Falcons to an 0-6 slate in-district for the season, and locking them into the 4 spot. AC/S can pull Glasgow into the 2/3 game with them by winning on the road on Monday. If the Scotties win, then there will be a coin flip for the 1 seed.

Fourth Region Rankings 1) Bowling Green (5-0) - 12/8 61-35 W at Elizabethtown, 12/11 66-45 W Henderson County, 12/12 69-62 OT W at Hopkinsville Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 12/15 at #10 Greenwood, 12/18 vs. Fern Creek (at Fairdale) The Purples kept up their unbeaten streak with the obvious most impressive game being a road win at Hopkinsville in overtime. The Purples were still without DeAngelo Wilson, but managed to get a rare win over Hopkinsville in Tigers Gym. 2) Barren County (4-0) - 12/8 63-47 W at #13 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/11 52-44 W #9 Monroe County Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 12/15 vs. Caverna, 12/17 at Edmonson County, 12/18 at #4 Russellville The Trojans continue to match pace with the Purples, although they had to tough out a closer than expected game with Monroe County. They have a top matchup on Friday with rising Russellville. 3) Franklin-Simpson (5-0) - 12/8 52-51 W #6 South Warren, 12/11 84-46 W #12 Logan County Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 12/18 at #13 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/20 vs. Nelson County (at Hancock County) Tavin Lovan has been slacking off, averaging only 21.8 PPG. Carlesso Doaks has been a big help, adding in 10.8. They gained a big win over South Warren last Tuesday when Lovan trumped Gumm and Stacker. 4) Russellville (2-0) - 12/8 76-60 W at #8 Warren East, 12/11 71-44 W at #15 Todd County Central Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 12/15 vs. #13 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/18 vs. #2 Barren County The Panthers made a resounding statement with their thumping of unbeaten Warren East, and will look to make an even bigger one when they host Barren County on Friday. District 13 is back! 5) Warren Central (3-2) - 12/8 71-69 OT W Owensboro, 12/11 53-81 L Christian County (at Hopkinsville) Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 12/14 vs. #12 Logan County, 12/19 vs. Christ Presbyterian Academy (TN) (at Bardstown), 12/20 vs. John Hardin (at Bardstown) The Dragons suffered a brutal loss to Christian County after a tight overtime win against Owensboro. The schedule will stay tough in Bardstown. 6) Warren East (5-1) - 12/8 60-76 L #7 Russellville, 12/11 80-65 W at #6 South Warren, 12/12 68-56 W #13 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 12/15 at Grayson County Warren East suffered a big loss to Russellville, but gained a rare road win over South Warren to move to 1-0 in the district. The Raiders will make that trade very time. 7) South Warren (2-3) - 12/8 51-52 L at #5 Franklin-Simpson, 12/11 65-80 L #8 Warren East Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 12/18 vs. #10 Greenwood The Spartans may be having a little deja vu to last year, when they'd show they could play with anyone, but not win the games they needed. South has a lot of potential, but they need to start acting on it. 8) Russell County (2-1) - 12/8 60-66 L at #10 Greenwood, 12/11 67-48 W #14 Glasgow Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 12/14 at #16 Metcalfe County, 12/15 at #11 Monroe County, 12/18 vs. #9 Clinton County The loss to Greenwood at home was rather stunning. They'll try to erase that memory with a pair of district games this week. 9) Clinton County (3-3) - 12/8 49-47 W at #9 Monroe County, 12/11 53-30 W at #16 Metcalfe County, 12/12 58-56 W #10 Greenwood Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 12/15 vs. #17 Cumberland County 12/18 at #8 Russell County Clinton County eases into our top ten on the back of some close wins over Monroe County and Greenwood, the two teams below them. They have a HUGE game against Russell County this week. 10) Greenwood (3-3) - 12/8 66-60 W #3 Russell County, 12/11 67-66 W Edmonson County, 12/12 56-58 L at #11 Clinton County Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 12/15 vs. #1 Bowling Green, 12/18 at #7 South Warren The Gators ran out of steam at the end of the week against Clinton County, but still got a great road win over Russell County. It's district week for Greenwood with a pair of games against Bowling Green and South Warren. The former is an almost certain loss, but the latter could be a tossup. It's the one to watch. 11) Monroe County (1-4) - 12/8 47-49 L #11 Clinton County, 12/11 44-52 L at #2 Barren County Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 12/15 vs. #8 Russell County, 12/18 vs. #14 Glasgow Monroe County dropped a pair of games in-region, and are staring at another difficult contest against Russell County before some relief against Glasgow. 12) Logan County (1-3) - 12/11 46-84 L at #5 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 12/14 at #5 Warren Central, 12/17 vs. Ohio County The Cougars are taking it on the chin and dropped a big district game against Franklin-Simpson last Friday. 13) Allen County-Scottsville (1-4) - 12/8 47-63 L #2 Barren County, 12/11 49-40 W #17 Cumberland County, 12/12 56-68 L at #8 Warren East Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 12/15 at #4 Russellville, 12/18 vs. #3 Franklin-Simpson The Patriots have been running against a rough schedule in Coach Isable's first year, but did get his first win over Cumberland County last Friday. It won't get any easier this week against Russellville and Franklin-Simpson. 14) Glasgow (1-4) - 12/8 65-86 L at Somerset, 12/11 48-67 L at #3 Russell County, 12/12 54-68 L Edmonson County Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 12/18 at #11 Monroe County The Scotties get one of their more winnable games on Friday when they travel to Monroe County for a district matchup. 15) Todd County Central (0-5) - 12/8 27-40 L Butler County, 12/11 44-71 L #7 Russellville, 12/12 27-68 L Webster County (at Madisonville) Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 12/14 at Caldwell County, 12/18 vs. Rossview (TN), 12/19 at Calloway County Tough week of blowouts for the Rebels and probably a couple more on the way. 16) Metcalfe County (1-4) - 12/8 50-48 W at #17 Cumberland County, 12/11 30-53 L #11 Clinton County, 12/12 55-63 L at Green County Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 12/14 vs. #8 Russell County, 12/15 at Hart County The Hornets got the win in the battle of our two lowest ranked teams, just like last year. This time Metcalfe scored on a last second layup for the win. 17) Cumberland County (0-5) - 12/8 48-50 L #16 Metcalfe County, 12/11 40-49 L at #13 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 12/15 at #9 Clinton County, 12/17 at Clay County (TN), 12/18 vs. Marion County The Panthers hard luck continues, and the losing streak is now 38.

Fourth Region Rankings 1) Bowling Green (7-2) - 12/21 61-65 L Ballard (at Fairdale), 12/23 78-50 W at Fairdale Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 12/28 vs. West Creek (TN), 12/29-12/30 Meijer Classic, 1/2 vs. #10 South Warren The Purples have suffered a couple of losses in the wake of the injury to G Thomas Booker (4-6 weeks), but are still the best team in the 4th Region. They'll host the Meijer Classic before feasting on a slumping South Warren team. 2) Barren County (9-1) - 12/21 49-56 L at Murray, 12/22 68-51 W Ballard Memorial (at Murray), 12/22 66-54 W Calloway County (at Murray) Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 12/28 vs. St. X (at Bowling Green), 12/29-12/30 Meijer Classic, 1/2 vs. #15 Glasgow Barren County's unbeaten run ended at Murray, but are off to their best start since also opening 9-1 in 2011/2012. If they win enough, they may get an early shot at Bowling Green before their scheduled game on January 5th. 3) Franklin-Simpson (9-1) - 12/21 62-61 W #8 Russell County (at Hancock County), 12/22 57-43 W at Hancock County, 12/27 80-85 L Clay County (at Corbin) Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 12/28 vs. Barbourville (at Corbin), 12/29 Cumberland Falls Invitational The Wildcats suffered their first loss to highly regarded Clay County to end a 9-0 start, but have still matched their win total from all of last season. Carlesso Doaks (11.7 PPG) and Trey Radcliffe (10.6 PPG) have complimented the unstoppable Tavin Lovan (27.2 PPG) very nicely. 4) Warren Central (6-3) - 12/22 51-40 W at Bardstown Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 12/28-12/30 Lafayette (GA) Christmas Classic, 1/2 vs. Bardstown (at Central Hardin) The Dragons are quietly putting together a decent start outside of a punishing loss against Christian County earlier in the year. Seniors Bowman and Murray have averaged nearly 16 and 14 PPG respectively. 5) Russellville (5-2) - 12/21 56-70 L at Paducah Tilghman, 12/22 110-104 2OT W University Heights (at Paducah Tilghman), 12/22 72-53 W Mayfield (at Paducah Tilghman) Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 12/29 vs. St. Mary, 12/30 First Southern National Bank Christmas Classic, 1/2 at #13 Logan County The Panthers missed their shot to move up when they fell to Barren County at home on the 18th, but turned in an exciting 110-104 win over University Heights in double overtime last week. They host the First Southern National Bank Christmas Classic this week. 6) Warren East (8-2) - 12/21 106-76 W Hopkins County Central (at Greenwood), 12/22 80-47 W #15 Todd County Central (at Greenwood), 12/23 66-67 L Perry County Central (at Greenwood) Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 12/28 vs. Paducah Tilghman (at Bowling Green), 12/29-12/30 Meijer Classic The Raiders have been on a tear, just narrowly missing out on winning their Holiday Hoops Classic with a 67-66 loss to Perry County Central. They matched their 8-1 start through 9 games from two years ago, but will look to avoid the second half collapse that marred that season. Kaleb Britt and MacKenzie Strange have averaged 23 PPG and 19 PPG respectively, helping the Raiders to a 74.2 PPG average. They recently scored over 100 points for the first time since 1978. 7) Russell County (7-2) - 12/21 61-62 L #3 Franklin-Simpson (at Hancock County, 12/22 62-51 W Western (at Hancock County) Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 12/28 vs. Jackson City (at Powell County), 12/29 vs. Harlan County (at Powell County), 12/30 vs. Tates Creek (at Powell County) The Lakers' road loss to Greenwood has improved in stature, and they lost on a last second three by Tavin Lovan to miss out on a signature win over Franklin-Simpson. They will get another chance when they host Bowling Green in mid January. 8) Greenwood (6-5) - 12/21 54-53 OT W #13 Allen County-Scottsville (at Adair County), 12/22 57-47 W Hart County (at Adair County), 12/22 50-66 L at Adair County Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 12/28 vs. North Bullitt (at LaRue County), 12/29-12/30 LaRue County Holiday Classic The Gators are incredibly tough to figure out. They've had some ups (wins over Russell County, Edmonson County, and South Warren), and some real downs (eeking out an OT win over Allen County-Scottsville, losing to Clinton County). They're in a stalking horse position in their district and region right now, but picked up a huge district win over South Warren on December 18th to improve their positioning. 9) Clinton County (7-5) - 12/21 67-65 W Grant County, 12/22 56-63 L #16 Metcalfe County, 12/22 45-52 L Christian Academy-Louisville, 12/23 62-44 W Anderson County Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 12/28 vs. Estill County (at Powell County), 12/29 vs. Jackson City (at Powell County), 12/30 vs. Lee County (at Powell County) The Bulldogs have gone 7-2 since opening 0-3, but have the most head scratching result of the year so far, falling to Metcalfe County 63-56, at home, on the 22nd during their Christmas tournament. Clinton County had beaten the Hornets by 23 just ten days prior. The Bulldogs may not be able to take for granted that they will advance into region tourney play as they've been able to for several years. 10) South Warren (3-8) - 12/21 61-71 L at Owensboro, 12/21 26-46 L Owensboro Catholic (at Owensboro), 12/22 63-61 W Henderson County (at Owensboro Sports Center), 12/26 39-54 L Central Hardin (at Campbellsville), 12/27 46-54 L at Campbellsville) Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 12/28 vs. #11 Monroe County (at Campbellsville), 1/2 at #1 Bowling Green The Spartans may be the most disappointing team in the region right now. Big things were expected from a team that brought in a great coach in Tony Hopper and returned a great core in Dayton Gumm and Brandon Stacker, two of the best players in the region. Since starting 2-0, they have fallen in eight of their last nine games. The low point came in a 46-26 loss to Owensboro Catholic, the lowest point total ever posted by South Warren. 11) Monroe County (3-9) - 12/21 76-86 L Caverna (at Greenwood), 12/21 51-73 L Perry County Central (at Greenwood), 12/23 69-57 W #15 Todd County Central (at Greenwood), 12/26 74-84 L Green County (at Campbellsville), 12/27 61-63 OT L Grayson County (at Campbellsville) Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 12/28 vs. #10 South Warren, 1/2 at Central Hardin Life remains tough for the Falcons after the success of the last couple of years. Their only three wins are over teams in the basement of the region, and they're more than halfway to as many losses this year (nine) as the last two combined (15). They play a neutral site game with South Warren for a chance to move into the top 10, and still figure to have a good chance to advance to region tournament play when all is said and done. 12) Allen County-Scottsville (3-7) - 12/21 53-54 OT L #10 Greenwood (at Adair County), 12/22 68-67 OT W at Adair County, 12/22 68-52 W Hart County (at Adair CountY) Previous Rank: 13 This Week: None The Patriots have run afoul of six of the region's top 8 teams, losing all of them, so perhaps they might be a bit better than this spot. Their 68-67 OT win over Adair County, a team that has knocked off one of the top teams in the state in Taylor County, bodes well for their chances to play spoiler for some teams. 13) Logan County (3-5) - 12/21 44-39 W Houston County (TN), 12/22 58-55 W Northwest (TN) Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 12/29 vs. Prestonsburg (at Russellville), 12/30 First Southern National Bank Christmas Classic The Cougars traveled out of state to get back in the win column, and will hope to ride that momentum this week inside the county borders at the First Southern National Bank Christmas Classic at Russellville. Then they have the always huge rivalry game with Russellville on January 2nd. 14) Metcalfe County (2-9) - 12/21 65-81 L Grant County (at Clinton County), 12/22 63-56 W at #9 Clinton County, 12/22 27-66 L Anderson County (at Clinton County), 12/23 44-69 L Christian Academy-Louisville (at Clinton County) Previous Rank: 16 This Week: None Metcalfe County moves up by virtue of their first win over a district opponent not named Cumberland County since 2011/2012. Their 63-56 win over Clinton County came out of nowhere, and unfortunately for them does not count in the district standings. But it gives them a glimmer of hope. 15) Glasgow (1-6) - 12/21 26-62 L at Boyle County Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 12/28 vs. Crittenden County (at LaRue County), 12/29-12/30 LaRue County Holiday Classic The Scotties have dropped six straight since their opening win over Marion County, all by double digits. 16) Todd County Central (0-11) - 12/22 47-80 L #6 Warren East (at Greenwood), 12/22 69-70 L Hopkins County Central (at Greenwood), 12/23 57-69 L #11 Monroe County (at Greenwood) Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 1/2 at Kenwood (TN) The Rebels went to overtime with Hopkins County Central, but couldn't gain their first win of the year, falling 70-69 at Greenwood High School. Their losing streak is now 25 straight, and they have not won in a calendar year, since knocking off Owensboro Catholic during last year's Meijer Christmas Classic at Bowling Green High. If their schedule is correct and they don't play until Saturday, they'll have gone the entire year of 2015 without a win. 17) Cumberland County (0-10) - 12/21 48-70 L Louisville Holy Cross (at Butler County), 12/22 60-65 L at Butler County Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 1/2 vs. McCreary Central It's now 43 straight losses for Cumberland County, who narrowly missed on a shot at Butler County, falling 65-60 on the road. Their best chances at breaking that come in the next few weeks, when they travel to Metcalfe County on January 5th, and play Todd County Central on January 18th.

Final Rankings and Postseason Preview 1. Bowling Green (27-2) High Rank - 1, Low Rank - 1, Average Rank - 1 It’s been 23 straight weeks at the top of the region rankings for Bowling Green, which is unsurprising given their 43 game region winning streak. The Purples have done nothing the entire year to besmirch their reputation as the frontrunner in the region, and as one of the most dominant teams in the state. The season has tracked remarkably similar to last year’s run. The Purples dropped a couple of games in the King of the Bluegrass, and didn’t lose again until the postseason. In all, Bowling Green has won 38 of their last 39 games played in January, February, or March. You could push that to 55 of their last 58, with all three losses coming to the teams that went on to win the state title. The point being, this is Bowling Green’s time of year. There is not a single weakness on this team, which has great length down low, athleticism everywhere, and oh yeah, makes 43% of their threes. They are almost indefensible for anyone. The Purples placed four players on the all-region teams, including Terry Taylor on the first team behind his 17.6 PPG and 11.9 RPG. They should roll to the 14th District title, and will cut down the 4th Region nets for the fourth consecutive year. 2. Franklin-Simpson (23-6) High Rank - 2, Low Rank - 2, Average Rank - 2 Like the Purples, Franklin-Simpson did not budge from their ranking at any point during the season. They entered the year seen as the top contender to the top, and have mostly proven it, even though they twice failed to slay the Purple beasts. No loss was more devastating in that respect than the 62-59 loss they suffered at home against Bowling Green on January 23rd, despite leading by 13 points with just over 4 minutes left. They say it’s hard to beat a good team three times, and the Wildcats will be banking on that, as they are all but certain to see Bowling Green again. Overcoming that mental block may be difficult, but it’s really the only knock on their season. Of their six losses, only their 52-36 loss to Owensboro Catholic came to a team not in BluegrassPreps’ top 10. Franklin has posted strong wins over the likes of University Heights and Doss, while putting up strong efforts against CovCath and Fern Creek, while rolling to an unbeaten District 13 slate and only falling to Bowling Green in the region. 4th Region POY Tavin Lovan has posted 25.3 PPG, carrying the team on his back. He’s gotten balanced help from the likes of Trey Radcliffe (8.4 PPG) and Carlesso Doaks (7.3), but like always, they’ll go where Tavin takes them. It’ll depend on the draw for them, but wherever they meet Bowling Green, that’s where they’ll fall. We’ll say it’s in the region finals. 3. Russellville (19-10) High Rank - 3, Low Rank - 5, Average Rank - 3 There’s a pretty sizable gap between our top two teams and #3. Russellville has been consistent this year, but aside from a stunning 69-65 win over Hopkinsville in December, they’ve mostly beaten the teams they should and lost to the ones they should. They’ve taken losses to Bowling Green (19 points) and Franklin-Simpson (22 and 21 points), showing just how far they have to go and not a lot of time to get there. Pedro Bradshaw is a standout for the Panthers again, posting 22.1 PPG and a state-leading 13.6 RPG en route to an all-region first team selection. Jacob Naylor has provided a solid compliment at 11.9 PPG, but most nights it all falls on Bradshaw to carry the load. The Panthers can be subject to some extremely low lows, such as their mere 36 points at Franklin-Simpson, on a night where Bradshaw scored 15 and no other player on Russellville scored more than 6. Russellville has not been past the first round of the region since 2013, and hasn’t advanced to the finals since 2001. With Phil Todd recently announcing his retirement following the year, this will be his last chance to duplicate what he did in that year, and get a title for a team outside the 14th. Alas, like Franklin, their road will end where they meet Bowling Green. If the draw is right, they can make the finals. They’ll at least extend their region tournament appearance streak to a record 14 in a row. 4. Warren Central (17-13) High Rank - 3, Low Rank - 7, Average Rank - 4 The Dragons have had a volatile season. Central opened the year 6-0 with marquee wins over Henderson County and Bullitt East. But after losing Ziyan Milliken to a calf injury over the holidays, the team was never the same. As the season wore on, they lost bench man Tayshaun Bibb to injury as well, leaving the Dragons with a much shorter bench than usual – which was already short entering the year. The trouble has shown up mostly on the offensive end, as the Dragons have averaged a mere 53.78 PPG in their last 18 games, only topping 60 points five times. Not that the Dragons are without pluses. For starters, they have managed to play a very tough schedule closely, with tight losses and/or fourth quarter leads over the likes of Franklin-Simpson, Russellville, and Owensboro Catholic, and ended the season with a win over John Hardin – their best win since early December. They carry the momentum of that plus winning 3 of 4 into the postseason, where they’ll meet Greenwood at Dragon Gym. Central beat shorthanded Greenwood just 9 days ago, and the Gators will remain without their top two scorers. For the Dragons to make noise they will have to get big games out of Skyelar Potter (20.2 PPG, 11.8 RPG, all-region first team) and Josh Moss (10.4 PPG), and then have contributions from at least one other player. They are #4 mostly due to a region that is very down this year, but given the right draw and circumstances, a finals run is not out of the question. Our prediction is a district runner-up finish to Bowling Green, and then a region semifinal exit as long as they avoid the 13th District winner in the quarters. 5. Barren County (16-14) High Rank - 5, Low Rank - 9, Average Rank - 7 The Trojans are another example of a team that probably wouldn’t be this high if this were last year, but Barren has been playing good ball down the stretch, to the tune of 10 wins in their last 13 games. That was a wild swing up in a season that had multiple swings for Barren County. After starting 4-0, they lost 11 of their next 13 before that final 13 game stretch. So there is some degree of which Trojan team shows up. The good news is, they’ll open with Glasgow, a team they walloped by an average of 18 PPG, and they are easily playing the best ball of any team in the 15th District – a district the Trojans finished a perfect 6-0 against. Unlike last year’s veteran heavy squad, the Trojans have only two seniors, most notably Branson London, the team’s third leading scorer at 8.9 PPG. But it’s all-region third team selection Jared Coomer that leads the way with 16.1 PPG. Coomer is a lanky forward that does just about everything for the Trojans, from posting up, to three point shots, to leading them in rebounds. Freshman Will Bandy (8.9 PPG) is another player to watch. By nature of their district, Barren County is almost a lock for the region tournament, but with so much youth – albeit talented youth – they’re a team targeting a future run. An ideal draw for the Trojans would be the 16th District rep, be it the champion or runner-up, but will likely be eliminated with any other draw. We expect a quarterfinal exit. 6. Clinton County (20-9) High Rank - 5, Low Rank - 7, Average Rank - 6 Clinton County has been a steady eddy all year long, never rising about 5th and never falling below 7th in the rankings. They have a lot of wins, but many of them in unimpressive nature over unimpressive teams. They were blown off the map by Franklin-Simpson (20 points) and Greenwood (22 points), and their best win was likely a December victory over Barren County, who they fell to just three days ago in a rematch. Overtime wins over Monroe County and Allen County-Scottsville, as well as a subsequent overtime loss to Monroe County pain similarly bleak outlooks for their ability to compete with the top of the region. However, the Bulldogs did show up to play in one meeting with the current upper echelon of the region, a 78-72 OT loss to Russellville in the All “A” tournament. All of that makes it a bit difficult to peg Clinton County. They’re one of just three twenty win teams, and have Jackson Harlan, an all-region third team selection. But given that six wins came against the atrocious 16th District, and another three wins came against other teams in the 11-17 range of our ranks, it’s hard to trust them. They’re 2-5 against the rest of the region’s top ten. The Bulldogs have been to five consecutive region tournaments, but have yet to win a game at any of them, and are just 2-13 in their last 13 appearances. They’re going to walk all over the 16th District teams in their way, but they will only be favored at region if they draw the 15th District runner-up. The odds say they go out in the region quarters, and there is no doubt they leave by the end of the semifinals. 7. Greenwood (18-12) High Rank - 3, Low Rank - 11, Average Rank - 5 The Gators carry more intrigue than perhaps any team below Franklin-Simpson. Their narrative was one of triumph just two short weeks ago, before everything flipped upside down. Greenwood started the year in 11th due to doubts about the pieces around Crump. Immediately the Gators showed they were a force to be reckoned with, jumping out to a 7-2 start with single digit battles against both Franklin-Simpson and Bowling Green. It all culminated in an overtime loss to Bowling Green that the Gators had virtually lock and stock, but let slip away due to missed free throws. But then came a suspension of Dawson Crump (17.6 PPG, all-region 1st team) and Chris Agro (10.5 PPG), the two leading scorers on the team. That suspension will run through the district tournament. It leaves only Alex Fee (9.6 PPG, all-region 3rd team) standing among a big three that had Greenwood considered as the second biggest threat to the Purple reign. Those suspensions have made them a heavy underdog to Warren Central, who beat them by 12 at Greenwood in the second game without Crump and Agro. But the intrigue comes from the possibilities if Greenwood could find their way past Central. If that happens, then likely by the opening of the region tournament Greenwood would be whole again, with some added experience to their reserves in tow. They’d perhaps be even better positioned for a run than they would have been. A player like 8th grader Isiah Mason has had a chance to see minutes, including dropping 16 points on Monroe County. Perhaps the added depth could key a big run. Our prediction is that Greenwood will exit stage left with a loss to Warren Central, but don’t count Greenwood out, especially given how first year HC Bob Pels has coached them up. IF they get by Central, they can make the region finals, and maybe even a true Cinderella run out of the region. 8. Monroe County (15-12) High Rank - 5, Low Rank - 9, Average Rank - 9 The Falcons opened the year with a bang, notching a close overtime loss against Franklin-Simpson, which catapulted them to their high rank of 5. However, they immediately fell back down to 8th, which is where they stayed much of the year. Monroe County has often had all the looks of a team that was the best in the 15th District, but they could not solve Barren County, who beat them by a combined four points in two meetings, including a quadruple overtime win at Monroe County in early December. And while they proved they could play with a lot of the middle tier in the region, they also played down to some opponents, such as an early February loss at the buzzer to Allen County-Scottsville, their opponent in the 15th District tournament. The Falcons are yet another team with a single dominant player, in this case Billy Michael Dyer, whose 23.3 PPG is among the best in the region, and pushed him to an all-region second team selection. There is some danger in facing Monroe County, in that they shoot the lights out from the perimeter, shooting 40.7% as a team. Dyer is a volume 42.8% shooter from the arc, while Tucker Kirkpatrick has shot 47% on 83 attempts. If they can get hot, who knows what might happen. But if they go cold, they could just as easily lose to the Patriots in the first round. We think they finish as district runners-up, and exit in the quarterfinals of the region tournament, where they’ll be the second most sought-after draw. 9. Warren East (12-15) High Rank - 6, Low Rank - 11, Average Rank - 8 We’ve covered in depth the January-March woes of the Raiders, none worse than this season’s 2-12 finish, with their only wins coming over Glasgow and Cumberland County. They enter on the heels of five straight losses, and fell all the way into the 4/5 game of the 14th District tournament. That put them against South Warren, who they just lost to on February 7th, and on the same side as #1 Bowling Green, who have defeated them an astounding 45 straight times. No Raider player was alive the last time East made the region tournament in 1997, and most likely none of them were alive the last time East defeated Bowling Green (in 1998). If either of those streaks are to end, they will need a mammoth effort from Trequon Patterson (21.6 PPG, all-region second team) and Patrick Satterfield (12.5 PPG). The pair combined for 53 points the first time they faced Bowling Green, which they still lost by 22 points. Clearly, they will need a third contributor as well. Our prediction is that they don’t get it, and fall to the Purples in the semifinals by at least 20 points. 10. Todd County Central (9-16) High Rank - 10, Low Rank - 16, Average Rank - 11 The Rebels have continued their rebuilding project, and while their win total is the same as last year, they have shown far more competitive fight, as well as taking home their first district win since 2014. The Rebels are led by junior Nolan Barrow (14.4 PPG) and sophomore John Calvery (10.3 PPG), and the team will be well positioned to perhaps put together a run next season when Franklin and Russellville take a step back. The Rebels showed well in a late January loss to Franklin, but unfortunately drew Russellville, who has beaten them by an average of 24.67 PPG in three meetings. A district semi finish is where they’ll end, but they’ve come up a ways since two years ago when they had just three wins. 11. Allen County-Scottsville (10-18) High Rank - 11, Low Rank - 16, Average Rank - 13 The Patriots moved to their third head coach in three years, with veteran Lex Lindsey rallying the troops to a 10-18 record and a surprising 3-3 finish in the 15th, good enough to earn Lindsey co-COY honors in the region. There were several strong results in the back half of the year for the Patriots, such as close losses to Greenwood and Clinton County, as well as a big district win over Monroe County, their opponent in the district semis. We predict they don’t manage to take down the Falcons twice, but the Pats will return two of their three leading scorers for next season, perhaps making them ready to make a push against Barren County. 12. Logan County (7-19) High Rank - 9, Low Rank - 15, Average Rank - 10 Hopes were pushed high after an opening win against Warren East, but aside from an early December win over Hopkins County Central, there weren’t many high points for the Cougars. They did seem to pick up some better play in the last few weeks of the year, with close overtime losses to Barren County and Russellville, as well as narrowly falling by two points to a surprisingly good Edmonson County team, but Logan County won’t have any hope on the road against a Franklin-Simpson team that beat them by an average of 23 PPG. 13. South Warren (6-22) High Rank - 12, Low Rank - 16, Average Rank - 15 The Spartans squandered a lot of potential in the last few years, and entered this year devoid of even that. Things went from bad to worse immediately when they lost leading returner Dylan Beckham to injury in December, but have been bolstered by his February return (9.5 PPG on the year), and have paired him with leading scorer Jaxson Smith’s 9.6 PPG. Still, this was a team that scored below 40 points nine times and below 30 points three times. They won’t repeat their upset of Warren East, exiting in the 4/5 game of the 14th District tournament. 14. Russell County (6-23) High Rank - 11, Low Rank - 14, Average Rank - 12 This was a year the likes of which the Lakers had not seen since entering the region back in 2006. It is by far their worst record since joining the region, and you have to go all the way back to 1999 to find a worse one, when they went 3-22 as members of the 12th Region. The Lakers have never missed a fourth region tournament, and will need to win on the road at Cumberland County to keep the streak alive, where they just lost 13 days ago. Russell County did beat the Panthers twice this year, and our prediction is that they get it done again, and then exit immediately in the region tournament. But consider this the shakiest of all the region participant predictions. 15. Cumberland County (7-19) High Rank - 12, Low Rank - 16, Average Rank - 16 No matter what happens, this is a successful year for the Panthers, who just last year snapped a 44 game losing streak and then lost the next 16 games after that. Their seven wins are the most for the team in four seasons, and they beat Russell County for the first time since 2009, their last time they made the region tournament. They’ll have to do it again if they want to end that streak as well. They have homecourt to attempt it. 16. Glasgow (4-23) High Rank - 10, Low Rank - 16, Average Rank - 14 Glasgow showed some life in December with a close loss to Greenwood and starting 2-5, but lost their next 15 games before mercifully getting home games against Metcalfe County and Caverna. It was a terrible year for the Scotties any way you slice it, and they’ll exit against rival Barren County in the first round of the district tournament. The Trojans defeated them by 10 and 26 points this season. 17. Metcalfe County (0-29) High Rank - 17, Low Rank - 17, Average Rank - 17 We probably didn’t appreciate enough that when the Hornets fell to Betsy Layne 84-83 in double overtime on December 29th that their only real chance had just passed them by. Metcalfe County’s losing streak has reached 30 games, and that loss was the only one by less than 12. Just two seniors depart Metcalfe County after this year. Top Players in the 4th Region 1. Tavin Lovan, G, Sr. (Franklin-Simpson) – Lovan remains at the top yet again, taking home POY honors for the 4th Region. He averaged just 25.3 PPG this season, down from last year. It was still 11th highest for the state. 2. Terry Taylor, F, Sr. (Bowling Green) – The engine that drives the Purples. His 17.6 PPG led the team, and he can play anywhere on the floor. Have fun guarding him from three where he shoots 49.1%. 3. DeAndre (Pedro) Bradshaw, F, Sr. (Russellville) – The Belmont-signee led the state in rebounds per game, and averaged 22.6 PPG. Like Taylor, he can and will shoot the three, and has great handles. 4. Dawson Crump, G, Sr. (Greenwood) – His suspension at the end of the year is a real shame, possibly depriving us of seeing one of the best ballhandlers and shooters in the region in the postseason. He dropped 38 on Bowling Green in his potential last game. 5. Zion Harmon, G, 8th (Bowling Green) – Skepticism abounded about the phenom, but he more than backed it up with 16.4 PPG. A 40% three point shooter, he is among the state’s leaders in FT% (87.5%). 6. Skyelar Potter, F, Jr. (Warren Central) – Potter couldn’t quite maintain his pace from beginning of the year, but still averaged 20.2 PPG to lead the Dragons. He’s a POY candidate for 2017-18. 7. DeAngelo Wilson, G, Sr. (Bowling Green) – Wilson could easily be higher on this list, as he hit his stride in a big way midseason. Wilson slashes into the paint with blinding speed, and gets to the rim despite his height. 8. Billy Michael Dyer, G, Jr. (Monroe County) – Dyer is a big scorer for the Falcons, and shoots 42.8% from the perimeter, despite having attempted 145 shots from the arc. 9. Kyran Jones, F, Sr. (Bowling Green) – This is off of where we usually have had Jones, but with Harmon’s ascension, he hasn’t been asked to do nearly as much this year. His 11.3 PPG are still third on the Purples. 10. Jared Coomer, F, Jr. (Barren County) – Coomer was the only returning starter from last year’s region runners-up, and backed it up with a 16.1 PPG average.

1) Bowling Green (10-2) - 12/27 78-51 W Murray, 12/28 78-63 W Owensboro, 12/29 62-57 W Graves County Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 1/4 at #10 Greenwood, 1/5 vs. Muhlenberg County Ever since the Purples dropped the house on Glasgow in the second game of the year I've been tempted to move them to the top slot, but a strong run through the holidays has made it clear they needed to ascend. Bowling Green won their Christmas tournament for the fourth straight year against one of the better slates they've faced in it. Murray doesn't have a strong record, but has made a habit of playing good teams closely. Owensboro was fresh off a win over a rising Madisonville team. And Graves County entered their game unbeaten against Kentucky teams. BG did to each what they've done in most games this year - punched them directly in the face early and quickly. The Purples are ending games before they even truly begin, and their game against Graves is the only one where they let it get close again. The Eagles managed to close an 18 point deficit all the way down to two late in the fourth quarter, but Bowling Green held on. They have three games in between now and their trip to Warren Central on the 11th - they're a virtual lock to win them all. 2) Warren Central (6-3) - 12/28 51-58 L John Hardin (at Taylor County), 12/29 47-71 L Doss Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 1/4 vs. #12 Warren East, 1/5 vs. #8 Barren County The Dragons have some soul searching to do if they expect to be able to compete with Bowling Green in two weeks. They've now dropped three of four, and after opening the year with five straight 80+ efforts, they have had three under 52 points since. And that's been fueled by an ugly remnant of a couple of poor Dragon seasons this decade - putrid perimeter shooting. They are 27/98 (27.6%) in their last four games from three. They did battle back against John Hardin after a very poor first half, and the Bulldogs are playing as well as anyone in the state. The Dragons have spent most of the season away from home, and get a pair of home games this week which should settle them back into a confident groove. They need it. 3) Logan County (11-2) - 12/27 67-50 W at Nelson County, 12/28 70-48 W Boyle County (at Nelson County), 12/29 74-62 W Meade County (at Nelson County) Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 1/4 at #16 Russellville, 1/5 vs. #10 Greenwood The Cougars are over halfway to their first 20 win season in seven years and they've done that before reaching New Year's Day. They ran through the Nelson County Classic, capping it with a 74-62 win over Meade County. The Cougars have been bucking the trend of teams that light everything up from the outside, taking only 33% of their shots from the perimeter. As it stands right now, Logan County is favored in every game for the rest of the regular season. This could be a special 2019. 4) Allen County-Scottsville (12-2) - 12/27 61-50 W Sayre, 12/28 68-50 W Daviess County, 12/29 72-71 W Owensboro Catholic Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 1/4 at #6 Monroe County Speaking of a special team, the Patriots keep rolling. They caught a bad beat the previous week in an OT loss to Paintsville, but this time they wrapped up a title in their home Christmas tournament, with a particularly impressive win over third region power Owensboro Catholic. A trio of Patriots are leading the way for AC/S, with Brett Rippy the team leader right now with 16.8 PPG closely followed by super soph Mason Shirley's 16.0 PPG. It has been Shirley that has been the x-factor that no one saw coming entering the season. He averaged less than 1 PPG last year as a freshman. Owen Stamper is also noteworthy with 10.6 PPG entering 2019. AC/S already has their high total for wins since 2015 when they won 14. They need just five more wins to notch their high win total since 2009. They start their march to that with a crucial road game against district foe Monroe County on Friday. 5) Clinton County (9-5) - 12/27 36-61 L Montgomery Bell Academy (TN) (at Pigeon Forge (TN)), 12/28 46-54 L North Murray (GA) (at Pigeon Forge (TN)), 12/29 58-53 W Knoxville Central (TN) (at Pigeon Forge (TN)) Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 1/3 vs. Pickett County (TN), 1/4 at #15 Metcalfe County As with last week, there's not much to say about the Bulldogs at the moment. They've sort of done what they needed to do, and unfortunately we don't know much about the teams they played this last week, going 1-2 in the King of the Smokies tournament. They are 3-0 in 16th District play, and will completely wrap up the games that count for the district standings in the next 12 days. They start that with a Metcalfe County team they obliterated by 43 on December 7th. 6) Monroe County (7-7) - 12/27 67-70 L Bullitt East (at Bowling Green), 12/28 70-69 W #11 South Warren (at Bowling Green), 12/29 67-69 L Madisonville-North Hopkins (at Bowling Green) Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 1/4 vs. #4 Allen County-Scottsville Monroe County concluded a ghastly 1-5 Christmas season in the Meijer Holiday Classic. Their lone win in the last six games came against 4-10 South Warren, and it was by a single point. Many of their losses are not to bad teams - Owensboro Catholic, Hopkinsville, Owensboro, Madisonville - but a win somewhere in there other than South would have been nice. Still, they're 2-0 in the 15th District, so it's hard to envision moving them behind the teams they've beaten. They square off with Allen County-Scottsville for the first time this season on January 4th, and it's at home. The Patriots have been white-hot, and the winner of this one will become the big favorite to take the #1 seed for the postseason. 7) Glasgow (7-4) - 12/28 64-58 W at #8 Barren County Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 1/4 vs. #11 South Warren, 1/5 at #13 Todd County Central The Scotties had a relatively quiet week, just taking on their crosstown rival in their house. It was the fourth game in a row at Barren County for Glasgow, and they have still traveled outside their county borders a single time this year. They picked up a crucial win over the Trojans in large part due to Nik Sorrell. The junior poured in 32 points in the win, helping the Scotties to overcome an early 8 point deficit. They trailed as late as the 2:15 mark, winning a back and forth affair. They settle in for some very winnable games this week ahead of their 2A Championship sectional game against Warren East on the 7th. 8) Barren County (5-6) - 12/28 58-63 L #6 Glasgow Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 1/4 at Adair County, 1/5 at #2 Warren Central On the other side of that rival matchup were the Trojans. As mentioned last week this was a highly critical game as it was the second of three home district games they'll have and they'd already lost the first one. Now, Barren County is 0-3 in the district with only one home game left to play on the slate. It is looking extremely likely they'll have to play out of the #4 spot in the postseason. Will Bandy entered the contest averaging 16.6 PPG, but exceeded that with 25 in the losing effort. 9) Franklin-Simpson (6-7) - 12/27 64-68 OT L Owensboro Catholic (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/28 54-51 W Henderson County (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/29 56-44 W Sayre (at Allen County-Scottsville) Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 1/4 vs. #13 Todd County Central Franklin narrowly missed out on a marquee win, leading Owensboro Catholic much of the way before falling in overtime. They rebounded to take home the consolation title in the South Central Bank-Halton Classic. They're just one game shy of their win total from all of last year, and will look to pick up their first district win over the season when they host Todd County Central. The Rebels defeated Franklin in both their meetings last season. 10) Greenwood (6-6) - 12/27 64-46 W Henderson County (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/28 52-62 L Owensboro Catholic (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/29 58-59 OT L Daviess County (at Allen County-Scottsville) Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 1/4 vs. #1 Bowling Green, 1/5 at #3 Logan County Ben Carroll has been keeping the Gators afloat, posting 27, 21, and 23 points in their three games in the South Central Bank-Halton Classic. But despite his effort, the Gators could not follow up the momentum of their Caveland Classic title, finishing fourth in the tournament. Jack Roberts remains out for a couple more weeks with his fractured hand, so Carroll will be expected to keep it up. They face two likely losses this week, having lost their last 15 against Bowling Green and also facing a stout Logan County squad. 11) South Warren (4-10) - 12/27 59-71 L Graves County (at Bowling Green), 12/28 69-70 L #5 Monroe County (at Bowling Green), 12/29 62-67 L Murray (at Bowling Green) Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 1/4 at #7 Glasgow The math has now turned heavily against South Warren following up last season's winning record effort as the Spartans have dropped seven of eight. They have 14 games remaining, and four of those games are against Bowling Green and Warren Central - two teams they've literally never beaten. Rough times ahead. On the positive side, Jace Carver (12.1 PPG) has been a young standout to complement Tyler Martin (15.8 PPG). 12) Warren East (8-6) - 12/27 65-60 W Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences (TN) (at Ohio County), 12/28 49-61 L #17 Russellville (at Ohio County), 12/29 69-73 L at Ohio County Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 1/4 at #2 Warren Central The Raiders had momentum coming off a title in their holiday tournament, but it slipped away in Ohio County. After a win out of a team out of Chattanooga, East took a bad, bad loss to Russellville, posting a season low 49 points. East shot just 35.7% from the field in that one, including just 6/24 from three. Even the free throw line failed them, going just 3-8. They'll look to snap a 13 game skid against Warren Central on Friday. 13) Todd County Central (5-10) - 12/27 55-77 L Daviess County (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/28 60-56 W Sayre (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/29 45-73 L Henderson County (at Allen County-Scottsville) Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 1/4 at #9 Franklin-Simpson, 1/5 vs. #7 Glasgow The Rebels have dropped 7 of 9 and 4 of 5 entering the new year. Their lone win in Allen County was against 2-10 Sayre. Not much positive momentum going for the Rebels heading into a district contest with Franklin-Simpson. 14) Russell County (2-9) - 12/27 51-75 L Cincinnati Aiken (OH), 12/28 47-65 L Newport Central Catholic Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 1/4 at #17 Cumberland County, 1/5 vs. Whitley County (at South Laurel) I didn't include it because I don't know who they played let alone the score, but per the Russell County Twitter they actually are 3-9 having won their final game in the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic. Without knowing that result, they still have only one game on the year where they scored over 55 points, and are 0-9 when scoring less than that. 15) Metcalfe County (5-9) - 12/27 66-54 W Whitefield Academy (at Danville), 12/28 38-77 L Webster County (at Danville), 12/28 50-70 L at Danville Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 1/4 vs. #5 Clinton County, 1/5 vs. Dawson Springs The Hornets now have more wins than their last two years combined, and already their highest win total since they won five in 2012. One more win, and it'll be the most since Metcalfe legend Tim McMurtrey's last season in 2011 (16 wins). A winning record still seems like a stretch, but Coach Brockman has had a successful season. 16) Russellville (5-8) - 12/27 49-63 L at Ohio County, 12/28 61-49 W #12 Warren East (at Ohio County), 12/29 58-52 W Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences (TN) Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 1/4 vs. #3 Logan County I was somewhat hesitant to move the Panthers back ahead of a Cumberland County team they lost to, but Russellville has now won 4 of 5, which included a nice win over Warren East. Jacob Naylor is the one doing most of the heavy lifting. He has already posted 330 points and is averaging 27.5 per game. Elijah Kemp has chipped in 14.5 points. They get their first crack at Logan County this season in the clash of the cats on Friday. 17) Cumberland County (2-9) - 12/27 47-81 L Somerset, 12/28 47-81 L Wayne County, 12/29 vs. TBA Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 1/4 vs. #14 Russell County Speaking of Cumberland County, they have now lost four in a row. It would be by no means mathematically impossible for them to climb out of the cellar with a loss, but if they do lose at home to Russell County, they become extremely at risk of seeing Clinton County come district time.

So that was a crazy week. Let's take a deep breath..... 1) Bowling Green (15-3) - 1/15 72-55 W at Christian County, 1/18 61-44 W #12 Warren East, 1/19 45-49 L at #3 Warren Central Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 1/22 vs. #8 Franklin-Simpson, 1/25 vs. #3 Warren Central, 1/26 at #2 Allen County-Scottsville Yes, the Purples lost their first region game of the year, falling for the first time in-region since the region finals last season. With that, they lost a nine game winning streak. Still, they have proven to be the class of the region thus far. Their losses are to BGP ranked teams like John Hardin (in overtime) and McCracken County, and now rival Warren Central. All of them have been away from home, and they came by a combined 11 points. They're quite good. They shot 52% from the floor and 57% from three in their win over Christian County, but did struggle a bit more from the floor later in the week. Almost everything about their shooting against Warren Central was uncharacteristic. They were 1/9 from three and 2/10 from the foul line. Look to see them bounce back in a big way this week at home, but they do have two big games to close the week with the rematch against Central (with huge district implications) and a showdown with #2 Allen County-Scottsville. 2) Allen County-Scottsville (16-3) - 1/18 73-52 W #7 Barren County Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 1/22 at #9 Greenwood, 1/26 vs. #1 Bowling Green The Patriots are now alone in first for the best record in the region. They bounced back from a disappointing loss in the 2A sectional last Saturday with a big win in-district over Barren County. It's the first season sweep over Barren County for ACS in 8 seasons. It puts the Patriots on the precipice, needing only one win in their final two games to clinch the top seed. There's no reason to believe that they aren't going to get it at this point. They get a big "prove-it" game this week when they host Bowling Green on Saturday. The Purples will be coming off a rivalry game with Warren Central and travel to Scottsville, an ideal situation for ACS. The Patriots have lost their last 11 matchups with Bowling Green, and haven't won in the series since 2006. 3) Warren Central (10-6) - 1/15 74-76 OT L at #11 South Warren, 1/18 79-51 W #9 Greenwood, 1/19 49-45 W #1 Bowling Green Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 1/22 vs. #10 South Warren, 1/25 at #1 Bowling Green I can't quite describe the strangeness of seeing a weekly line that features a loss to South Warren in the same week as a win over Bowling Green. If that's happened before from any team, I can't imagine when. One can't underscore how hideous the loss to South was. Central had never lost to South in their 18 all-time meetings, and it had been five years since there had even been a single digit meeting. The Dragons were buried in a second quarter avalanche where they fell behind by 14 at the half. They clawed back and tied it at the buzzer to send it to OT, but finally ran out of answers. They followed that with their best game of the year against Greenwood, shooting 61%, and then their biggest win over the year, taking down top rated Bowling Green. The loss to South changed the math in District 14, meaning the Dragons really need the follow-up win with Bowling Green to have a realistic shot at the #1 seed. And should they fall to South again, then there's all kinds of messy scenarios that come into play. The win over Bowling Green saved them from dropping several spots in these ranks. 4) Clinton County (16-5) - 1/14 68-44 W at #14 Metcalfe County, 1/17 69-59 W #10 Monroe County (at Todd County Central), 1/18 81-61 W #17 Cumberland County (at Todd County Central) Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 1/24 vs. Shelby Valley (at Eastern Kentucky University) There was little doubt that Clinton County would take home the 4th Region All "A" title, and they did so by an average of 18 PPG. They are now on an impressive eight game winning streak, including five wins over their fellow District 16 teams. Chase Stines dropped 20 points in their victory over Metcalfe County, providing a rare game in which the leading scorer wasn't Jackson Harlan or Seth Stockton. They have an extremely difficult matchup on tap with Shelby Valley in the All "A" state tournament. 5) Logan County (15-3) - 1/15 81-54 W at #13 Russell County, 1/18 52-57 L at #8 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 1/22 at #7 Barren County, 1/25 vs. #16 Russellville, 1/26 at #6 Glasgow Logan County grabbed a season high seventh straight win on the road at Russell County, but lost the bigger game when they fell to Franklin-Simpson on the road, a 20 point turnaround from their 61-46 victory over the Wildcats in December. That result threw the top spot in the 13th District up for grabs, as each team sits at 3-1 in district play. The 52 points were a season low (*wink* - they scored just 49 in a season opening loss that was ultimately won by forfeit), and came in a game where they at one point led by 15 points. It ultimately may not matter as Logan County should be a significant favorite over the likes of Russellville or Todd Central in the postseason, but it's a reminder that the Wildcats had their number a season ago too. The Cougars will have even more emphasis put on that Friday matchup with Russellville now. 6) Glasgow (12-7) - 1/18 68-61 W Morgan County (at Owensboro Sportscenter), 1/19 40-67 L John Hardin (at Owensboro Sportscenter) Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 1/22 at LaRue County, 1/25 vs. #7 Barren County, 1/26 vs. #5 Logan County The Scotties won the 2A Section 1 tournament last week, and followed that up by reaching the state semifinals in the tournament, before bowing out in blowout fashion at the hands of undefeated John Hardin. Still, it was a strong momentum building experience, and the Scotties have now won 8 of their last 11 games. Nick Sorrell is now over 20 PPG on the season to lead Glasgow. This week they have a brutal slate, with BGP ranked LaRue County on the road and a must-win district contest against Barren County. A win there guarantees them no lower than the #3 seed in the postseason and keeps their hopes alive for the overall top spot. Glasgow won at Barren County 63-58 on December 28th. 7) Barren County (10-8) - 1/15 61-58 W at Ohio County, 1/18 52-73 L at #2 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/19 63-59 2OT W #8 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 1/22 vs. #5 Logan County, 1/25 at #6 Glasgow, 1/26 vs. #17 Todd County Central Barren County sandwiched a pair of close wins around a blowout loss at Allen County-Scottsville, which moves them to the brink in district play. The Trojans are just 1-4 in the 15th District, and already need help to escape the #4 spot and a likely game with district favorite Allen County-Scottsville. If Barren County falls to Glasgow on Friday, they're locked into that bottom spot. They have won 4 of their last 5, and the double overtime win in a thriller against Franklin-Simpson was a nice win over a rising team in region play. 8) Franklin-Simpson (10-8) - 1/15 63-54 W #9 Greenwood, 1/18 57-52 W #4 Logan County, 1/19 59-63 2OT L at #7 Barren County Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 1/22 at #1 Bowling Green, 1/25 at #17 Todd County Central Franklin-Simpson saw a six game winning streak come to an end in their road loss to Barren County, but it scarcely hurts them thanks to that big win over Logan County. The Wildcats have now surpassed last season's win total of seven games, and as I've said before - if not for the play of Allen County, Franklin would be THE story in the region. And that's with Franklin actually having beaten Allen County. They overcame a 15 point first half deficit against Logan County to move to 3-1 in district play. They'll look to keep the pressure on in the chase for the district's top spot when they take on Todd County Central on Friday. Franklin won the first matchup with the barn-burning 47-37 score on January 4th. They're likely to be the unfortunate recipient of a beating by an angry Bowling Green team on Tuesday. Bowling Green has won the last 10 matchups between the two teams. 9) Greenwood (8-10) - 1/15 54-63 L at #8 Franklin-Simpson, 1/18 51-79 L at #3 Warren Central Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 1/22 vs. #2 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/25 at #12 Warren East Greenwood's grip on this spot is tenuous as they are officially in a slump. The Gators have fallen in six of their last eight games, scoring 60 points or less in all but one of those games. Junior forward Ben Carroll has done his best to carry the team. He dropped in 19, 18, and 26 in the last three for the Gators, scoring over half of Greenwood's points in their loss at Warren Central. Jack Roberts appears to be still getting up to speed, and still has time to make a significant impact in the stretch run. Right now they are a half game out of the #3 spot in the district. They have district games the next three Fridays, and road games at Warren East on the 25th and South Warren on February 1st are of incredible importance. 10) South Warren (8-11) - 1/15 76-74 OT W #3 Warren Central, 1/18 82-56 W #13 Russell County Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 1/22 at #3 Warren Central, 1/25 at Ohio County I'll be honest - I gave up South Warren for dead entering the new year. But they are now 4-1 in their last five, with the crown jewel being their first ever victory over Warren Central. They never trailed after the first quarter of that one, shooting 54% from the floor and 18/25 from the foul line. Tyler Martin led South with 21 points in that one, but it was Jace Carver's 16 points that may have been most crucial, since they were less expected. Carver was 3/5 from the three point line in the game, hitting half of South's output from deep. The Spartans jumped out to a 14 point halftime lead and held on from there. The Spartans had a neat moment in their game against Russell County, dressing and starting team manager JoJo Stacker. Stacker was given an open look at a three ball to open the game and buried it, nothing but net. It was a very cool moment that was picked up by national media. Tuesday they visit Warren Central for an encore game. A loss there would push their thinking almost exclusively to the #3 seed, but a win.... that would be a paradigm shifting moment. They'd become big favorites for the #2 seed. 11) Monroe County (8-11) - 1/17 59-69 L #5 Clinton County (at Todd County Central) Previous Rank: 10 This Week: No games The Falcons have still be unable to arrest their fall, getting a tough draw with Clinton County in the All "A" tournament. They have now lost 9 of their last 11 games to fall three games below .500. They may try to pick up a game in the schedule gap that they built in just in case they went to the state All "A" tournament, but perhaps they will take the time to practice and gain their bearings. They still sit at 2-2 in district play, and are technically still alive for the district's top seed. 12) Warren East (9-11) - 1/18 44-61 L at #1 Bowling Green Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 1/25 vs. #9 Greenwood The Raiders have been ravaged by illness and injury, and it has shown itself in a 1-7 stretch to push them below .500 on the season. The latest loss was in the house of horrors that is Bowling Green. The Raiders have lost 49 in a row to the Purples, and they've lost 25 straight at BG. Their last win there was the last time they won a 14th District semifinal game, all the way back in 1997. Still, though the margin wouldn't show it, they played very well against the Purples. The game was tight for three quarters, and the Raiders actually led by 3 at one point in the third quarter. The lack of depth took a toll as the fresh legs from BG took over in the final quarter. No player scored in double digits in the game, and they'll lament a 3/20 showing from deep that eliminated an upset bid. The Raiders almost have to win out to escape the 4/5 game, and they'll start that climb with a must-win at home against Greenwood on Friday. 13) Russell County (5-14) - 1/15 54-81 L #4 Logan County, 1/18 56-82 L at #11 South Warren Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 1/21 vs. #17 Cumberland County, 1/22 vs. Pulaski County, 1/25 at Casey County The Lakers took it on the chin this week, losing by 27 and 26 points in their two matchups. Their season goal is still intact though, looking to reach the region tournament for the 14th straight season. They can assure themselves a spot in the 2/3 game of the 16th District tournament - avoiding Clinton County - with a win in one of their final two district games. The first of those is tomorrow night against Cumberland County. The Lakers have beaten them twice this year (only one counted towards district standings), winning on the road in their last matchup 76-72 on January 4th. 14) Metcalfe County (6-13) - 1/14 44-68 L #5 Clinton County, 1/19 65-84 L at Red Boiling Springs (TN) Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 1/22 vs. Edmonson County, 1/25 at #17 Cumberland County, 1/26 at Green County The Hornets couldn't duplicate their strong effort against Clinton County from 10 days prior in a 24 point battering in the All "A" tournament. They have now quietly endured a 1-6 stretch, albeit against good competition. Their game against Cumberland County on Friday carries massive importance. Metcalfe County can clinch a spot in the 2/3 game with a win in that one. 15) Cumberland County (4-15) - 1/14 84-76 W at #15 Russellville, 71-67 W at #16 Todd County Central, 1/18 61-81 L #5 Clinton County (at Todd County Central) Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 1/21 at #13 Russell County, 1/25 vs. #14 Metcalfe County, 1/26 vs. McCreary Central The Panthers finally broke through to end a nine game losing streak, doing so on the road in contests against Russellville and Todd County Central. Reaching the final of the All "A" was an achievement in itself for them, and primes them for their most crucial week of the year. If they can sweep the week, they give themselves a shot at escaping the 4 seed in the postseason tournament where they'd face Clinton County. A win over Metcalfe County likely gives them a chance too, but would require Metcalfe County to lose to Russell County on January 29th AND that they win the coin flip for the #3 spot. 16) Russellville (7-11) - 1/14 76-84 L #17 Cumberland County Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 1/25 at #5 Logan County Russellville fell to Cumberland County for the second time this season, allowing Cumberland County to post a season-high 84 points. Three Panthers scored in double digits in the contest, led by Jacob Naylor (as usual) who had 19 points. They'll seek their first district win of the season when they take on Logan County. 17) Todd County Central (5-15) - 1/17 67-71 L #17 Cumberland County Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 1/21 vs. Clarksville Academy (TN), 1/25 vs. #8 Franklin-Simpson, 1/26 at #7 Barren County Todd Central now carries the longest losing streak in the region, falling for the sixth consecutive time and squandering home floor advantage in the All "A". They have not defeated a region opponent since knocking off Russellville on December 7th. This week they take on a Clarksville Academy team that they picked up a forfeit win over to open the year.

Series History: Owensboro Leads 38-31-2 Series at Bowling Green: Series Tied 18-18-1 The Purples and Red Devils renew one of the oldest rivalries in the state, with 71 meetings dating back to 1932. This will be the seventh consecutive year the teams will play, something that is increasingly hard to find for the Purples out of district. The Purples have won 5 consecutive against Owensboro, last losing in the 2008 playoffs. That was their last loss to Owensboro at home as well. The teams both enter unbeaten, the Purples at 2-0 while Owensboro is 3-0. This is the first game for the Devils outside of their City-County schedule, where they swept their fellow Daviess County teams to take that title. The Purples of course are on a 32 game winning streak and added another marquee win with their third consecutive win over St. Xavier. That game was perhaps not even as close as the 39-25 final would make it seem. Last year the Purples slammed Owensboro 31-3 at El Donaldson Stadium.

Series History: Bowling Green leads 11-2 Series at Bowling Green: Bowling Green leads 6-1 Playoff Meetings: 11/4/2011: at Bowling Green 57 Apollo 6 11/2/2012: at Bowling Green 62 Apollo 6 We've seen this game play out before. It's not a question of who wins (despite what the poll says), but rather, by how much?

A quick snapshot of the matchups in the 4th Region tournament: Game 1: March 3rd – Bowling Green (14th District Champions) vs. Allen County-Scottsville (15th District Runners-Up) -Series at Region: Bowling Green leads 1-0 -Last Region Meeting: Bowling Green 61 Allen County-Scottsville 54 – 1984 4th Region Quarterfinals Bowling Green is into the region tournament yet again, securing their seventh consecutive region tournament appearance – all of them via a district championship. This time they knocked off top seed Warren Central by a 57-51 result, tying their district record for most consecutive district titles, previously set from 1939-1945. They weren’t particularly sharp offensively during that contest, shooting only 43.4% from the field, but defensively, they forced the Dragons into just a 36.2% night. It was the fewest total points Bowling Green allowed to a team not named Warren East in over a month. That earned them the right to take on a familiar opponent, albeit one they don’t see at region often. It’s actually hard to believe that this is just the second meeting at region between the Purples and Allen County-Scottsville, with the last coming back in 1984. Bowling Green has won 13 straight against the Patriots overall, last losing during the 06/07 season. They carry a 37-11 all-time mark against AC/S. Bowling Green won 79-65 when the two teams met at the start of February, getting an extremely balanced attack, with five players in double digits and seven players scoring between 8 and 15 points. They also went 10/18 from three, leaning on that more than normal. The Purples have the second-best record in the region at 24-7. They are favored in this game, but they also probably got as difficult a draw as was available to them, matching with arguably the most dangerous district runner-up they could, and drawing Logan County on their side. The Patriots could not ride recent momentum to a 15th District title, but they have definitely been on an uptick since that meeting with Bowling Green on February 1st. The team has gone 6-3 since, with their only losses coming to Logan County, Warren Central, and Barren County – all teams at the upper echelon of the region. Much of it has been on the back of Mason Shirley. The junior willed the Patriots to two victories over Glasgow, dropping 35 on the road in a mid-February matchup to pull them into a district tournament matchup, and then scoring 25 of Allen County’s 51-point total in a 51-48 district semifinal matchup to give them a berth in the region tournament. They were rewarded with what is arguably the worst draw of any team in the tournament, pulling the top-rated district champion out of the gate, and if they pull that upset, the #2 rated district champion likely waiting in the semifinals. It’s not a positive sign for a program seeking its first region tournament win since 2005, falling in seven straight contests. Incredibly, they haven’t drawn a 14th District team since 2006 – their 1995 win over Warren Central in the region quarterfinals is their only victory over a 14th District team in ten all-time meetings with a rep from that district. Game 2: March 3rd – Logan County (13th District Champions) vs. Cumberland County (16th District Runners-Up) -Series at Region: First Meeting Despite playing in the region together for 38 years, this will be the first region tournament meeting between these two programs. The closest you’d get to a previous meeting was a 1982 64-57 victory by Auburn in the region quarterfinals. Logan County comes into the game as the holders of the second longest current winning streak in the state, and the second longest winning streak in the history of the Cougar program. Logan County has won 23 in a row since falling to Eastern by a 71-61 score on December 21st. They remain the only region team to not drop a game against the rest of the 4th Region, and they outlasted Franklin-Simpson for their second consecutive district title – a feat that they have accomplished only once before, in their first two years as a school. In their 71-21 win over Russellville, they posted the largest margin of victory in a 13th District tournament game in 25 years, and held Russellville to the lowest score in a district tournament game for that district since the 1940s. The Cougars are going to be a very tough out, and will be overwhelming favorites in the opening round. The only thing potentially working against them is a scenario where they may have to beat two 14th District teams on consecutive nights in the semifinals and finals. But it’s entirely possible that Logan County is a co-favorite with both Bowling Green and Warren Central. Meanwhile, Cumberland County has the worst record in the field by a lot, with their 7 wins coming in at just half the 14 that Franklin-Simpson has. The Panthers lost plenty this year, but did go 4-4 overall in 16th District play, winning the ones they needed to. That included overcoming a nine point deficit against Russell County, forcing overtime at the home of the Lakers and sprinting away in the extra session, securing a 67-61 OT victory and reaching their first region tournament since 2009. The Panthers hosted Logan County just two weeks ago, falling 66-50. The combined win totals of the three non-16th District teams Cumberland County beat this year are not even as many as Logan County has on their own – to call them an underdog would be understating it. It would be completely shocking for the Panthers to pull an upset. Game 3: March 4th – Barren County (15th District Champions) vs. Warren Central (14th District Runners-Up) -Series at Region: Warren Central leads 6-1 -Last Region Meeting: Barren County 58 Warren Central 53 - 2016 4th Region Semifinals For the third straight year, the 15th District champion draws Warren Central. The previous two led to defeat for the 15th District rep, while Central went on to win the region title. Barren County does have a win from the last time these two met at Diddle, knocking off the Dragons en route to a region runner-up finish. That’s the only time Warren Central has lost before the final in the last nine region tournaments they’ve made. No players from that team may remain, but Barren County is not likely to be as bright eyed as some might be playing the Dragons. The two teams did not meet this year, as their regular season game was a casualty of Central’s 2A Classic run. Barren County comes in with 16 wins in their last 18 games, and winners of six in a row. They really turned a corner at the start of January, putting a road scare into Bowling Green just prior to the run. The Trojans are a highly capable team, averaging 65 PPG while allowing only 53 PPG. They carry a 16-4 region record, losing only to Glasgow, Bowling Green, Logan County, and South Warren. Their strength is in the interior, where Aden Nyekan and Will Bandy combine to average 30 PPG. The Trojans aren’t going to be favored in this one, but if they can get past it, they become a real threat to take the whole region, as they would not be expected to have as difficult a semifinal as a potential region final opponent would have. Warren Central has had to scratch and claw in each of the two previous seasons in the first round before getting to breathe in the semifinals. If they advance past this one, there’s a good chance that will repeat. While not as difficult a projected first opponent as Logan County, Barren County is a very dangerous draw for the Dragons, starting out with the region’s #4 team entering the postseason. Central saw a 12 game winning streak end in the loss to Bowling Green in the district finals, and it is now their sixth district runner-up finish in the last seven years. Their 51 points in that contest were their least since the 85-47 beating they took at the hands of John Hardin in December. They will need to bounce back immediately on that end, and they will need to do better than the 3/24 three point shooting performance they had against Bowling Green to do it. While Barren County is a difficult draw, it is nevertheless true that Central got about as good a draw as they could hope for with Logan County on the other side with Bowling Green. Central remains the region favorite, and if they get past this difficult opener, they should be extremely favored to reach the finals. Game 4: March 4th – Clinton County (16th District Champions) vs. Franklin-Simpson (13th District Runners-Up) -Series at Region: Franklin-Simpson leads 1-0 -Last Region Meeting: Franklin-Simpson 80 Clinton County 51 - 2002 4th Region Quarterfinals Another matchup without a deep history at the region tournament, this is just the second meeting between these two teams in a region tournament. The two teams do have a history this season, meeting at Clinton County on December 6th. That matchup was a rather strange one, as Clinton County was all over Franklin, leading 38-12 with just over 2 minutes left in the third quarter. Franklin-Simpson unleashed their press and stunned Clinton County with a 34-7 run to win the game 46-45. Clinton County is known for their defensive strength, allowing just under 50 PPG, which leads the region. That’s what made that outburst all the more unexpected. They’ve had some hiccups here and there since, but in typical Bulldog fashion, they reached 20 wins, won the 16th District, and reached the region tournament for the ninth straight year, the current longest streak in the region. They are 14-2 in the 2020 calendar year, falling only to Metcalfe County in the All A Classic, and dropping an overtime heartbreaker to Barren County. They have to be considered the favorite here due to recent play and the total body of work, even with that home loss way back when. The Bulldogs will look to work it down low to Chase Stines, their leading scorer with 15.6 PPG. Clinton County has not won a region tournament game against a 13th District representative since 1982, knocking off Olmstead. They have made the region semifinals in two of the last three region tournaments, but they have never advanced to the region semifinals in consecutive region tournaments. Meanwhile, Franklin-Simpson fits more of the enigma type. The Wildcats played very few games out of region this year. They hovered just above or below .500 for much of the year, and won more than two games in a row only one time, that coming at the start of January. In the district tournament they did as expected with Todd County Central, winning by 20, but gave an unexpectedly strong effort against Logan County, pushing them into the fourth quarter before faltering late. The Wildcats don’t shoot well from the perimeter, but they’re also not afraid to throw up those attempts – the classic live by the three, die by the three approach. That can make them dangerous, as does a full court pressure attack that rates as one of the best at creating turnovers in the region. If they can get hot from three early, and create turnovers with pressure, there’s a pretty good chance of them springing the upset. They are 17-4 all-time against teams from the 16th District, though they did lose their last meeting with a 16th District team, falling to Russell County 53-38 two years ago.

Fourth Region Top 10 1) Monroe County (25-3) - 2/13 46-44 W #4 Clinton County Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 2/17 at Greenwood, 2/19 at Warren East 2) Bowling Green (23-5) - 2/9 77-69 W at #7 Logan County, 2/10 66-69 L Owensboro, 2/13 70-55 W at Warren East Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 2/17 vs. #8 Russellville 3) Warren Central (20-7) - 2/10 92-43 W #8 Russellville, 2/13 66-41 W at Greenwood, 2/14 86-61 W Elizabethtown Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 2/17 at Allen County-Scottsville, 2/20 at John Hardin 4) Clinton County (17-10) - 2/9 55-66 L at Corbin, 2/13 44-46 L at #1 Monroe County Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 2/16 at #10 South Warren, 2/19 vs. #6 Barren County 5) Russell County (14-9) - 2/10 62-59 W #5 Barren County, 2/13 72-54 W at Adair County Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 2/17 at Madison Southern, 2/20 vs. Allen County-Scottsville 6) Barren County (20-7) - 2/10 59-62 L at #6 Russell County, 2/13 76-49 W Cumberland County Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 2/17 vs. Metcalfe County, 2/19 at #4 Clinton County 7) Logan County (17-8) - 2/9 69-77 L #2 Bowling Green, 2/10 55-35 W at Rossview (TN), 2/12 60-66 L Hopkinsville Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 2/19 vs. Greenwood 8) Russellville (12-11) - 2/10 43-92 L at #3 Warren Central, 2/13 63-53 W at Todd County Central Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 2/17 at #2 Bowling Green, 2/20 at Butler County 9) Franklin-Simpson (9-17) - 2/12 54-44 W #9 South Warren, 2/13 63-58 W at #10 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: NR This Week: 2/17 vs. Warren East, 2/19 at Glasgow 10) South Warren (14-14) - 2/9 72-62 W at Todd County Central, 2/10 85-81 W Warren East, 2/12 44-54 L at Franklin-Simpson, 2/14 98-63 W at Ohio County Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 2/16 vs. #4 Clinton County, 2/19 at Daviess County Last Week's Game of the Week - Entering Tuesday's matchup, Barren County and Russell County had met six times over the previous 4 seasons, splitting the matchups 3-3. Last year in the region tournament, Barren County ended Willie Feldhaus's run as HC at Russell County 68-59 in the region tourney, avenging an earlier loss in the regular season. Both those matchups last year were at Barren County, and the Lakers took advantage of getting to host this time around. After a tight game early, Russell County stretched into a 33-20 lead at halftime, and increased it to 15 points entering the fourth quarter. Then, the Trojans finally came to life, drawing within a single point and having multiple chances to tie or take the lead. But Russell County could not be denied, puulling out the 62-59 victory. Jones had 19 points for Barren County. The victory led to a flip flop in our ranks for the two teams. 14th District Draw - The dust finally settled on the 14th District this week. On the court, South Warren seized control of the #3 seed with an 85-81 win over Warren East, relegating Greenwood and Warren East to the 4/5 game. Off the court, the coin flip for #1 took place on February 15th and when the dust settled, it was Warren Central with the 1 seed, Bowling Green with the 2 seed. That sets up a great semifinal between Bowling Green and South Warren, played at South Warren. The Spartans will try to break two streaks at once - never having beaten Bowling Green and never making the region tournament. Lovan Elevates Franklin-Simpson - To say Franklin-Simpson missed Lovan during his absence with a broken wrist would be a wild understatement. Without Lovan, the Wildcats went 2-14. With him, they've gone 7-3, including winning 4 of 5 since his return. Since coming back, he's been averaging 24 points per game. Last week, the Wildcats knocked off South Warren and Allen County-Scottsville in back to back games, elevating them into the top 10 and placing themselves as a legitimate threat to make the region tournament. Fourth Time The Charm? - Clinton County has been close, sooooooo close. Three times the Bulldogs have played old 16th District rival Monroe County three times this year. They lost all three.... by a combined five points. Monroe County has yet to lose to a region opponent, and it would be an upset if they did not maintain that until at least the region tournament. Clinton County is a lock to make the region tournament and perhaps it is there that they'll finally get over the hump. Snow - It's coming folks, and it will probably take out most if not all the games next week. It'll be interesting to see how the teams respond to potentially long layoffs leading into the district tournaments. Upcoming Games of the Week 2/19 - #6 Barren County at #4 Clinton County - It's slim pickings this week and again, it seems likely that a lot of games will get canceled in the snowpocalypse. This is one of the few games matching two top 10 region teams and is a matchup of two teams likely to make the region tournament. Last season these two had a true classic, with Clinton County going on the road for an 82-80 double ovetime win.

Getting down to the nitty gritty.... 1) Bowling Green (21-5) - 2/4 73-52 W at #9 Barren County, 2/5 65-73 L Owensboro, 2/8 84-50 W at #12 Warren East Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 2/12 vs. #16 Russellville, 2/15 at Hopkinsville The record is still stellar, but as described previously, the Purples have undergone some growing pains of late. The Purples are down to two seniors on the team with the dismissals of Davion Dice in January and now Trevor Dennis earlier this week. Dennis had averaged in double digits for the Purples, but has been a non-factor since mid-January. The cracks have shown in several narrow wins and in the blowout loss to John Hardin. This week saw another sign, as the Purples suffered their first home loss in falling to an Owensboro team they beat by 15 at home in December. It's hardly panic time, but the Purples have dropped two of four overall, and have a tough road game at Hopkinsville on Friday. Of great importance, however, was their 50th consecutive win over Warren East in a devastating blowout on Friday, which secured the district's #1 seed before it would have been secured anyway with Warren Central's loss to Greenwood. Isaiah Mason poured in 22 points - all in the first half - keyed by six threes. The newly-minted first team all-region player is averaging just shy of 15 points per game on the year. 2) Warren Central (16-8) - 2/5 82-43 W at #16 Russellville, 2/8 55-59 L at #7 Greenwood, 2/9 67-56 W at Wayne County Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 2/12 vs. #7 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/15 vs. LaRue County Though I do not release mid-week rankings, for three days the Dragons were #1. Had they defeated Greenwood, they would be #1 in these rankings. The Dragons have still won 8 of 10 games, and picked up their second strong road win in the last two weeks with an 11 point victory over 21 win Wayne County today. Earlier in the week they torched Russellville for their seventh 80+ effort of the season. But it is the loss to Greenwood that will stand out. The Gators are their postseason opponent, which was clinched with that loss (and would have been as well once BG finished Warren East). The Dragons were just 4/17 from three and only secured five free throw attempts in the loss, never finding an offensive rhythm. A 17-10 first quarter lead gave way to only six second quarter points and a 23-all tie, and Greenwood took the lead for good immediately after the start of the second half. It added up to their first loss to Greenwood in The Swamp since 2012, and suddenly they are just 5-4 in the last nine meetings with a Greenwood squad they beat 39 of the previous 41 times they played. The Dragons completed their road slate in District 14 at 1-3, and fell to three different district opponents for the first time since 2007/08. With Bowling Green's roster upheaval, the Dragons may actually be a better favorite for the region crown at this point, but they are also extremely vulnerable. They take on a slumping AC/S team that they'll be looking for revenge against, before finishing with the toughest game they've had all year when they host dominant LaRue County. 3) Clinton County (20-6) - 2/4 55-48 W McCreary Central, 2/8 82-72 W #11 Monroe County Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 2/11 at #8 South Warren, 2/14 at #10 Barren County The Bulldogs often win unimpressively, but slowly, inexorably, they win. Clinton County secured their 20th win this week with a pair of home wins, their last two home games of the season. Jackson Harlan did all the heavy lifting in a 55-48 win over McCreary Central, dropping in 29 points on 11/20 shooting. Seth Stockton was uncharacteristically off in the game, chipping in only six. The 82 points Clinton County dropped on Monroe represent a season high outside of district play. Another win for the Bulldogs - Jackson Harlan received accolades as the 4th Region Player of the Year as voted on by the coaches in the region, earning the honors with his 24.2 PPG average. Clinton County has won 12 of 13, with their lone loss coming against Shelby Valley in the All A. They look to finish out strong with a tough road game against an up and coming South Warren squad before a nearly certain win against Barren County to close out the regular season. Why aren't they higher? Because at the end of the day, if they were going up against one of those two teams, I still don't think I could find belief that Clinton County was going to win. 4) Glasgow (18-9) - 2/4 70-49 W at #2 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/5 66-58 W #13 Metcalfe County, 2/8 64-52 W Caverna Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 2/12 at #15 Cumberland County, 2/15 at #9 Franklin-Simpson The Scotties had a pretty good week. Just 9 days ago they appeared a longshot to have a shot at the top seed in the district tournament. Monroe County opened the door, Glasgow broke it down in a blowout win over AC/S on Monday, then won the draw on Wednesday. That earns them the right to play Barren County on the 18th. The Trojans played them close in two contests this season, but for the Scotties, it is still a plus to not play a Monroe County team that did beat them in December in a district tournament hosted by Monroe County. Nik Sorrell was named to the All-4th Region first team - he averages nearly 20 points per game. Glasgow picked up a trio of wins this week to make it six wins in seven games, and they look to be very likely to enter the postseason riding a five game win streak based on their matchups this week. Everything seems to be coming together at the right time for Glasgow. This is their highest ranking since the disastrous blowout against Bowling Green in December. 5) Greenwood (14-11) - 2/5 44-43 OT W #6 Logan County, 2/8 59-55 W #3 Warren Central Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 2/12 at #11 Monroe County, 2/15 at Edmonson County Speaking of good weeks and highest ranks since December - Greenwood is up to their highest since the second week of the season. They own the region's longest winning streak at six games in a row, getting strong efforts from their top two guys Ben Carroll and Jack Roberts. Roberts had 12 and 20 in their two wins this week, while Carroll had 15 and 18. That's over 63% of their scoring in those two games, but it's not surprising from two guys who are usually at their best as the end of the season approaches. Greenwood tailed by 11 in the fourth quarter against Logan County on Tuesday, on a night when the threes just wouldn't fall. But Jack Roberts found one just in time, sending the game to an extra session after a furious rally, and Benn Carroll gave them the win on a putback with just over 5 seconds remaining. Then the Gators jumped out to a twelve point lead in the third quarter over Warren Central, and though the lead dwindled to as few as three, they never trailed in the entire second half of the district tournament preview. The Gators dropped only a single game at home in-district play (a 57-56 loss to Bowling Green), and will look to have a repeat of their 2017 district semifinal victory over Warren Central when the two teams meet again in just over a week. If they can do as expected and win both their games this week, they'll enter the postseason on an 8 game winning streak, which would be their longest since 2008. 6) Logan County (20-6) - 2/5 43-44 OT L at #7 Greenwood, 2/8 54-51 W at Muhlenberg County, 2/9 79-52 W at #2 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 2/12 vs. Ohio County, 2/15 vs. #15 Cumberland County Logan County was on the other side of that narrow overtime loss to Greenwood, and is still trying to regain their footing in this latest stretch. They are just 5-4 since starting 15-2. None of their recent losses have been by more than 8 points, dating back to just before Christmas when they fell by 16 to Webster County. They recovered from the loss to Greenwood with wins over Muhlenberg County and Allen County-Scottsville, giving them their first 20 win season since 2012. They have a good chance this week to pick up a pair of wins, which would give them their most in a quarter century. There is every reason to believe this season may rank among the best the school has ever had. 7) Allen County-Scottsville (20-7) - 2/4 49-70 L #5 Glasgow, 2/5 55-53 OT W at Edmonson County, 2/7 57-56 W at #13 Metcalfe County, 2/9 52-79 L #6 Logan County Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 2/12 at #2 Warren Central, 2/14 vs. #17 Todd County Central When the Patriots suffered a narrow loss at home to Bowling Green on January 26th, everything seemed to be sky-high in potential. Very little has gone right since. The Patriots may be 3-3 in that span, but the crucially lost two district games to fall into a tie with Glasgow for the district top spot - with their loss to Glasgow coming in blowout fashion in Scottsville no less. As detailed above, the draw didn't go their way, and they find themselves now with the task of playing Monroe County in a true road game in nine days for a berth in the region tournament. They followed that Glasgow loss with the narrowest escapes against Edmonson County (by 2 in overtime) and Metcalfe County (by 1). Metcalfe actually had a challenged shot that would have given them the win. Those teams are a combined 20-32 - not positive signs. Logan County extended the misery with a 27 point shellacking in Scottsville this evening. This is a squad that is clearly reeling, and they are not likely to find any quarter when they visit a Warren Central team they beat at home in early January. Just not an ideal stretch for the Patriots, which is a shame, because it overshadows a campaign that has seen them reach 20 wins for the first time in a decade. There's still time, they just need to rediscovery their strong January form. 8) South Warren (12-14) - 2/5 71-59 W #12 Warren East, 2/7 54-41 W at #8 Franklin-Simpson, 2/9 101-87 W Hart County Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 2/11 vs. #3 Clinton County, 2/15 vs. Butler County The Spartans may have found themselves condemned to the 4/5 play-in game in the 14th District tournament, but they picked up a trio of wins this week for their third three game winning streak this season. They have now won 7 of 10, which included wins over Warren Central and Franklin-Simpson, as well as very close losses to Greenwood and Bowling Green. Tonight they dropped 101 on Hart County, a school record and the first trip over the century mark for the team. Tyler Martin, recently minted second team all-region, dropped 33 in the game, and became the school's career leading scorer with it. Earlier in the week they earned a 12 point win over Warren East, the team that they will face off against in the district tournament in just over a week. They'll try to battle back to .500 with a pair of games this week, including a daunting one on Monday against Clinton County. 9) Franklin-Simpson (13-11) - 2/5 39-35 W Butler County, 2/7 41-54 L #10 South Warren Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 2/12 at #12 Warren East, 2/14 vs. #4 Glasgow The Wildcats have been going through a bit of a rough patch of their own, winning only three of their last seven games. They slide behind South Warren as a result, who knocked them off by 13 in Franklin on Thursday. This week saw an unwelcome return to the scoring issues that have plagued Franklin at times, as they managed only 80 combined points in the two results. Despite having a winning record, the Wildcats have actually allowed 17 points more than they've scored on the season. Andreyous Miller did his best to raise the scoreline, combining for 29 points in the two games, on 10/18 shooting. The impressive sophomore has moved his scoring average up to 10.7 PPG on the season. Demarco Chatman was named to the third team all-region this week as well. Franklin should be favored over Warren East before closing with a tough home contest against Glasgow. 10) Barren County (14-13) - 2/4 52-73 L #1 Bowling Green, 2/5 58-47 OT W at #14 Russell County, 2/8 77-70 W #15 Cumberland County Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 2/12 at #13 Metcalfe County, 2/14 vs. #3 Clinton County The Trojans were steamrolled at home against top-ranked and highly motivated Bowling Green, but recovered the week with a pair of wins to move back over .500 on the year. Barren County has been very up and down all season long. They have yet to win more than three in a row, nor will they be favored to that this next week given their matchup against Clinton County. They have played very competitively in losses to Logan County and Glasgow, but have also struggled to put away teams like Russell County and Cumberland County. It is very tough to know how things will play out when the postseason hits. They'll meet Glasgow in nine days. 11) Monroe County (10-13) - 2/5 81-70 W at #15 Cumberland County, 2/8 72-82 L at #4 Clinton County Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 2/12 vs. #5 Greenwood, 2/14 vs. #12 Warren East Chandler Clements was named first team all-region this week, and keyed an 81-70 win over Cumberland County with 23 points on 9 of 18 shooting. They could not extend their win streak to three, falling in a road game at Clinton County 82-72. Still, the past week represents a step forward for the Falcons, and they will warm up their home floor with games against a pair of District 14 opponents before they host the 15th District tournament next week, when they'll meet an Allen County-Scottsville team they just beat. 12) Warren East (10-15) - 2/5 59-71 L at #10 South Warren, 2/8 50-84 L #1 Bowling Green Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 2/11 vs. Caverna, 2/12 vs. #9 Franklin-Simpson, 2/14 at #11 Monroe County Things did not improve for the Raiders, who have not been able to overcome a bevy of ailments since the start of the new year. They are now 2-11 in their last 13 games, and each of their last seven losses have something in common - they have failed to top 60 points in each. Scoring has just been hard to come by, and that has not put them in a position to be able to grab wins. Their two losses this week dropped them to 0-8 in District 14 play this season, but they do get to host the district tournament, so perhaps they can still parlay that into something. They have a chance to grab some momentum and move up the ranks with three winnable games, including two against teams within three spots of them. 13) Metcalfe County (9-18) - 2/4 97-90 OT W at #15 Cumberland County, 2/5 58-66 L at #5 Glasgow, 2/7 56-57 L #2 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 2/12 vs. #10 Barren County, 2/14 vs. Caverna, 2/15 at Washington County The Hornets no longer required the win over Cumberland County to stay in the 2/3 game and away from Clinton County in the district tournament, but it was a nice touch nonetheless. The 97 points represented an eight year high for the program, as both Peyton Dial (29) and Boston Devore (21) topped twenty points in the game, with Trevor Fields just missing with 19. They proved to be competitive with Glasgow and had a shot for the win carom off the iron against Allen County-Scottsville. The signs are all positive as they enter the last week of the regular season. 14) Russell County (6-22) - 2/4 45-61 L at Mercer County, 2/5 47-58 OT L #9 Barren County, 2/8 45-54 L at Adair County Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 2/12 vs. Danville, 2/15 vs. Rockcastle County The Lakers have now dropped eight in a row, and they appear almost certain to fall to Danville before a winnable game against Rockcastle County. The Lakers failed to top 47 points in any of their three games this week, which included an extra four minutes in the game against Barren County. In fact, 61 points is their high in the entire losing streak. They'll be the #3 seed when they meet Metcalfe County next week, hoping to keep alive their region tournament streak. 15) Cumberland County (6-20) - 2/4 90-97 OT L #13 Metcalfe County, 2/5 70-81 L #11 Monroe County, 2/8 70-77 L at #9 Barren County Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 2/12 vs. #4 Glasgow, 2/15 at #6 Logan County The scoring has been way, way up for the Panthers, who are averaging almost 80 points over their last four games. The wins have not necessarily come - they are 1-3 in that stretch - but they have certainly proven to be competitive in those games. They'll have an uphill battle in games against Glasgow and Logan County this week, ahead of their district tournament matchup against Clinton County, which defeated them three times this season. 16) Russellville (8-15) - 2/5 43-82 L #3 Warren Central, 2/8 71-58 W at #17 Todd County Central Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 2/12 at #1 Bowling Green, 2/15 vs. Whitesville Trinity The Panthers snapped a six game losing streak and won their first district game of the year with a 71-58 victory on the road at Todd County Central. The win pulled them into a tie with the Rebels for the 3rd seed in district play, and it means we have no idea who is going to be in what spot as the top two spots and bottom two spots in the district are now tied. Jacob Naylor was named to the second team all-region. The senior is averaging just a hair under 25 PPG. This week they will almost certainly suffer a 16th consecutive loss to Bowling Green before meeting a surprising Whitesville Trinity team. 17) Todd County Central (5-21) - 2/4 58-80 L Rossview (TN), 2/8 58-71 L #16 Russellville Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 2/12 at Muhlenberg County, 2/14 at #7 Allen County-Scottsville The Rebels were not able to ride homecourt to a victory, and their losing streak has now reached 12 in a row. It's been a difficult season for Todd County, which was not able to replicate last season's success despite the presence of Jon Calvery. Calvery was named to the second team all-region this week.

Coming into the season Bowling Green was pegged as the district and region favorite with Warren Central running just behind. South Warren was considered the dark horse with Warren East and Greenwood bringing up the rear. And now three months later…. that's pretty much where we’re at. For the fifth time in the last six years we have a tie at the top, with both Warren Central and Bowling Green finishing at 7-1 in the district. It was suggested at the district meeting that a different method for breaking the tie be used in the future, but this year we had the standard. Each coach flipped coins, and whoever came up with a heads while the other had tails got to draw an envelope. Bowling Green’s D.G. Sherrill won the toss but drew the 2 seed, handing Warren Central the 1 spot. The rest of the district shook out easily with South Warren, Greenwood, and Warren East falling in that order with no ties. Warren Central and Bowling Green are the favorites, but each has been pushed at times by their potential opponents. And with the snow wiping out the final week of the season, who is to say we couldn’t have something crazy? To the matchups….. 14th District Tournament at South Warren High School February 23rd #4 Greenwood vs. #5 Warren East – Greenwood entered February in control of their own destiny to escape the 4/5 game, but could not come up with the necessary win over South Warren, and then fell by 20+ against both Bowling Green and Warren Central. Warren East had their chances as well, starting their district slate with a win over South Warren, but repeatedly coming up short afterwards, losing seven straight district games – including a 1 point OT loss to Greenwood and a 4 point loss to South Warren to cement their fate. And so each team finds themselves in the unenviable position of needing to win twice just to reach the region tournament. As to the matchup, the season’s matchups were tight contests, each won by the Gators, by 7 and the aforementioned 1 point game in OT. The two games were just two weeks apart, and came in a stretch for the Raiders where they only played one game in between. It was also part of a two week span that saw the Gators playing their best ball of the year, winning six of seven games. Outside of that span, Greenwood has gone 3-17. Based on the season results, the Gators should be favored, but honestly, the Raiders are the better team. And the third time will be the charm. Prediction: Warren East by 8 February 25th Predicted Matchup #5 Warren East vs. #1 Warren Central – If you’re just looking at the scoreboard, the Dragons dominated the Raiders in their two matchups this season, winning by 20 and 21 points. In the case of the first matchup, that was pretty much the story. The Dragons led by 13 at the half, and after a 14-0 run in the third quarter put the game away fast. But the second game at Warren East, the Raiders were right there in the fourth quarter. After trailing by 11 at halftime, Warren East opened the third with a 15-4 run to tie the game, and trailed by just 3 entering the final frame. But one possession undid it all when Jared Savage was fouled going for a dunk and East’s Antwan Gilbert received a technical. Savage hit four free throws then Rajee Anderson hit a three to complete a 7 point play, and that was that. The point being that Warren East showed in that game that they could stand toe to toe with the Dragons, even if the final score didn’t show it. Eli Brown did not play in the first game, and has shown in his sophomore and senior years to be an inside presence that the Dragons struggle with, especially defensively. The Raiders are a streaky three point shooting team, and you can never count out three point teams. The perimeter game is where the Dragons are vulnerable as they have typically run a 1-3-1 zone in the last two months, daring teams to beat them from behind the arc. Warren East shot 6/14 from three against Central the last time out, and if they can match or better that clip, they have a chance. Should Greenwood advance out of the 4/5 game they have shown a bit of fight themselves against Warren Central, mostly in their initial matchup. For years the Gators have known that their best chance of pulling the upset is to slow the tempo and ugly up the game. They hit the blueprint perfectly in the first half of their first game against Central, hitting 5 of 12 threes, including 4 of 7 in the first quarter. That enabled them to get up on the Dragons and force them into their style. It led to a 22-12 first half lead and 24-18 halftime score. But in the second half, it all melted away, and they were unable to duplicate that success in the second game beyond a slow paced first quarter. Against Greenwood the Dragons have turned more to their full court press compared to calling it off against other teams, and the Gators have not handled it well. Should these two meet, expect that to continue, and if the perimeter game is more like the second matchup (4 of 19), don’t expect Greenwood to compete. Prediction: Warren Central by 10 over Warren East or Warren Central by 19 over Greenwood February 26th #2 Bowling Green vs. #3 South Warren – In choosing between the potential draws, this was the one that South Warren was probably wanting. They lost by an average of 25 points against Warren Central, but against Bowling Green, they lost by a combined 11 points. Plus, the Spartans get to host the district tournament for the first time ever, giving them a chance to finally get a district semifinal win from the comforts of their own homecourt. Neither Warren Central or Bowling Green really wanted to be put into that situation, but it is the Purples that face it. Not that they have overwhelming fear – they’ve never lost to the Spartans in 11 all-time meetings. And though the margins were close, the Purples by and large outplayed South Warren for around 6.5 quarters of the 8 they’ve played. The first game they jumped out to a 14 point halftime lead and mostly maintained from there, never letting it get closer than seven. In the second game Bowling Green was all over South Warren early with a 15 point lead in the second quarter and 10 point lead at halftime. But in the third quarter it all went wrong as South Warren exploded for a 23-9 advantage and led by as much as seven in the fourth quarter. But at the midway point, Bowling Green did what Bowling Green does, getting to the line, turning the Spartans over, and they held on for the win. Setting up this game, neither team is liable to change their formula all that much. Bowling Green is going to utilize fierce man to man D and full court pressure to try to force the issue with the Spartans. The Purples have a great inside out game with Tucker Sine knocking down threes from the perimeter while talented sophomores Terry Taylor and Kyran Jones can get to the rim. Meanwhile South Warren is likely to lean on their perimeter game from Dayton Gumm and Michael Hicks in particular. The Spartans shoot just under 38% from three as a team and have four players that have hit more than 22 threes on the year, led by Gumm with 54 makes on 55.1% shooting. Brandon Stacker’s height will lead to some inside looks and Gumm and Marquise Walker can slash inside, but they’re going to need to continue to shoot well from three to have a shot at this. They combined for 17/35 (49%) in the first two games, and they’ll need all of that to finally break through the glass ceiling. And you know what? This is the year… no, can’t do it. Prediction: Bowling Green by 7 February 28th Predicted Matchup #1 Warren Central vs. #2 Bowling Green – You might think it lazy or just simply lacking daring to predict this matchup year after year, but you have to play the odds. These two have met in the last seven district tournaments, and five of those matchups came in the district finals. No other district team has beaten them in the district tournament since Greenwood knocked off Bowling Green in the 2007 district semifinals. You have to figure the day will come where one will falter but how can you in good conscience pick that? Especially when the two are in the clear cut top 3 of the region (along with Monroe County)? No, this is the matchup you expect until someone else proves otherwise. Going by the scoreboard, Bowling Green’s win over Warren Central was more impressive than the other way around, but the games were pretty similar. In the first matchup at Warren Central, the Dragons could never fully shake the Purples loose, but Bowling Green never led for a single second, even though it went to overtime. Bowling Green struggled with the length of Central in that game, and it was only a furious rally from six points down in the final minute capped with a buzzer beater putback that sent the game to OT. Jared Savage and Kobe Caldwell turned in magnificent performances for Warren Central, combining for 46 points, while the Purples struggled outside of Terry Taylor’s 5/7 shooting for 14 points and Tucker Sine’s five three pointers. In the second game, there were lead changes, but Bowling Green stayed on top for the most part, erasing a small halftime deficit in a flash, making their first five shots of the second half, four of which were threes. Warren Central managed to stay in shouting distance, with several possessions down 1 or 2, but much like Bowling Green in the first game, they couldn’t get over the hump to take the lead. Consequently, the chance passed when the Purples made their final four shots of the game, including back breaking threes by Deangelo Wilson and Terry Taylor to put the game out of reach. In all, the Purples shot 9/15 from three in the game, including 6/7 in the second half, and shot 60% from the floor. In setting up a potential district final matchup, let’s get this out of the way – if Bowling Green shoots as well as they did in that second matchup, there’s not a team in the region that will beat them. They have shot on average 31% from three for the season and have only made more than five three pointers in nine games. The Purples have typically relied on their strong inside game, ability to get easy baskets off of pressure turnovers, and get to the free throw line at will. As a team they average 53% shooting from inside the arc, so if they are feeling it from the perimeter, it is over. For the Dragons, that’s a dangerous proposition because as mentioned earlier, much of their defense has been predicated on daring teams to beat them from three. In the first game, the Purples could not (5/14), but they did in a big way the second time. It will be interesting to see if the Dragons stray from their 1-3-1 to try to take the open threes away, but if they do, it opens up the lanes for slashers like Perry Ayers and Malik Carothers. For Warren Central offensively, they’d like to get the ball worked inside as much as possible. Bowling Green has typically shown them a man to man defense, one of the few opponents that do not zone the Dragons. In the first two games Central has had trouble getting Chris Amos established on the inside where he makes almost 60% of his shots. Contributions from him would be a huge boost to draw attention from the big guns, Jared Savage and Kobe Caldwell. Caldwell is the type to drive to the rim or do a pick and pop off a screen while Savage can do just about anything on the floor. In the second game Savage did a lot of posting which led to inside shots and frequent trips to the free throw line. The inside game has to get established because this is one of the weakest three point shooting teams ever for Warren Central, posting just a 30% average from the perimeter. In their matchups with Bowling Green they went just 5-26 from three. But inside the Dragons are fairly consistent, and were in their two matchups this year with Bowling Green, shooting between 40-45% from the floor in each game and hovering around 50% from inside the arc in the two matchups. It’s Bowling Green that wildly fluctuated, and ultimately, that’s going to be the key to the game. If Bowling Green is knocking down open looks, they win. If not, fortune favors the Dragons. Sounds simplistic, but really, that’s the key. And this being a neutral floor, the bet here is that the shooting regresses from the torrid pace the Purples had at home, leading to…. Prediction: Warren Central by 3

Fourth Region Rankings 1) Warren Central (21-3) - 1/30 87-56 W Taylor County, 2/2 68-42 W #7 Warren East, 2/3 72-71 W at Elizabethtown Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 2/6 vs. #12 Russellville, 2/9 vs. #8 Greenwood, 2/10 vs. Mercer County The Dragons rebounded from their loss to Bowling Green with two blowout wins and a solid road win in a tough spot to close the week. Their 87 points against Taylor County matched a season high, and they pushed away from Warren East with a dominant third quarter after leading only 28-20 at the half and going 0/7 from three. Their focus on going inside against East in that second half should be something they look to as what to do typically. They finished the week at Elizabethtown in an early morning game (11 CST) that had all the looks of a trap game, but were carried by Jordan Cousin's career high 32 points, surviving a missed front end of a 1 and 1 and a Panther shot for the win. They'll look to wrap up no worse than a tie for #1 in the district on Friday, before a big matchup with one of the top teams in the state and a potential Sweet 16 preview when they meet Mercer County. 2) Bowling Green (17-8) - 1/30 64-49 W at #11 South Warren, 2/2 75-83 L University Heights, 2/3 95-71 W Adair County Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 2/6 at Owensboro, 2/9 vs. #7 Warren East The Purples were a little lackluster at times in knocking off South Warren, but closed the week with five strong quarters. Just five because UHA was pounding them by 25 before a furious fourth quarter comeback fell just short. Bowling Green managed to cut it all the way to six points before running out of steam. That's been a bit of a recurring theme for BG, as they seem to play very well when throwing caution to the wind and playing with abandon. Saturday's win over Adair County was a symbolic one. Not only were the 95 points their season high, they came against Zion Harmon, who won a state title with them the year before. The Purples were clearly focused and up for that one, scorching Adair with 58% shooting from the field. After a tough road game against Owensboro, they, like Warren Central, will try to wrap up no worse than a tie for #1 when hosting Warren East on Friday. 3) Clinton County (16-9) - 1/30 55-56 L Campbellsville, 2/2 80-65 W Madison Southern, 2/3 52-60 L Somerset Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 2/5 at McCreary Central, 2/9 vs. #4 Monroe County The Bulldogs have risen this high a bit by default. Not to knock them as they are winners of 7 of 10, with two losses coming against good competition, but they would not be here if not for the Falcons stumbling. Clinton County did post one of their highest point totals of the year in an 80-65 win against Madison Southern, and followed that with a strong effort against a Somerset team fresh off a win over Pulaski County, one of the best teams in the state. Jackson Harlan is up to a ridiculous 687 points on the year. Perhaps his most impressive stat is his 84.7% free throw shooting. There aren't too many young men shooting that well from the charity stripe. 4) Monroe County (16-7) - 1/30 61-48 W at #6 Glasgow, 2/2 60-63 L #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/3 71-50 W North Hardin (at Clinton County) Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 2/6 vs. #16 Cumberland County, 2/9 at #3 Clinton County Even in an unpredictable year, there may not be a more "what the?" game than Monroe County losing to Allen County-Scottsville. AT HOME. This is a team that the Falcons burned by 17 on the road just a few weeks ago. There was nothing on the line for either team and perhaps Monroe could have been playing coy given that they are guaranteed to play the Patriots in the first round of district, but it was an incredibly odd result. Monroe County is now 2-2 in their last four, and will close the season with three straight road games, including traveling to Clinton County on Friday. 5) Barren County (16-9) - 1/29 79-69 W at #12 Russellville, 1/30 61-48 W at #8 Greenwood, 2/2 81-48 W Hart County Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 2/6 vs. #13 Russell County, 2/9 at #16 Cumberland County I was tempted to push Barren County above Monroe County this week, but I still can't quite forget that 25 point beating the Trojans received against Monroe back on January 11th. That is at current time their last loss, as they have ripped off 8 wins in a row to get back into their preseason form. Their road win against Greenwood is one of their more impressive results, given that the Gators tend to be very potent at home. The Trojans are almost certainly going to win their next three before ending the season at Clinton County. This very well could be a team that enters the postseason with 20 wins and on a 12 game win streak. Jared Coomer dropped 21 points and didn't miss a shot inside the arc against Hart County on Friday. 6) Glasgow (17-7) - 1/30 48-61 L #3 Monroe County, 2/3 65-67 L at #9 Logan County Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 2/6 at #17 Metcalfe County, 2/9 at Caverna Glasgow couldn't repeat their success from early in the year in falling at home to Monroe County, and suddenly the Scotties have lost four of five after starting 16-3. Perhaps the fatigue of an overachieving team is starting to set in. Fortunately, their schedule is extremely soft for the next two weeks, which should give them ample opportunity to build momentum ahead of a district semifinal matchup with Barren County. They can't afford losses like the one they took at Logan County. 7) Warren East (13-10) - 1/30 83-73 W #16 Cumberland County, 2/2 42-68 L at #1 Warren Central Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 2/6 vs. #11 South Warren, 2/9 at #2 Bowling Green, 2/10 at #10 Todd County Central It's a bit unfair to note Warren East's troubles after January 1st given that is when they get into the heart of district play against the toughest district in the region. Still, this is another season where the Raiders have stubbed their toe after a strong December. They're just 4-5 since January 1st, and face a must-win at home on Tuesday against South Warren. Lose there, and the potential becomes high that they will finish in a tie for third with Greenwood and South Warren. And at that point, it's anyone's guess who ends up in the 4/5 game. If they beat South Warren, they'll have yet another shot at their tormentors Bowling Green with the potential to drag the Purples into a district semifinal rematch. 8) Greenwood (13-12) - 1/30 48-61 L at #5 Barren County, 2/2 69-60 W #11 South Warren, 2/3 57-54 W #14 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 2/6 at #14 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/9 at #1 Warren Central The Gators have been another difficult team to figure out. Within the season and within games they are very streaky. After a mid-January slump with five losses in six games, they've flipped it with five wins in six games. You'll find a similar pattern within their games. Against South Warren they were out to a 20-0 lead before having to hold on late as South got within single digits with plenty of time. Greenwood got 26 points from Ben Carroll in the win, adding to the resurgent Jack Roberts' 23 points. The Gators are extremely dangerous at home, which is where the district tourney is, but you don't know which team will show up. They will have a last chance at getting out of the 4/5 game on their own when they visit Warren Central on Friday. The Gators have won three in a row at Central. 9) Logan County (12-13) - 1/29 59-80 L at Hopkinsville, 2/2 56-63 L Clarksville Northeast (TN), 2/3 67-65 W #6 Glasgow Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 2/9 at McLean County The Cougars were unfortunate in their timing in playing a Hopkinsville team that is now full-strength. That game might have gone down very differently in December. They closed the week with a nice win against Glasgow, and will be taking it easy with only two games between now and the postseason. That's where Logan County's focus should be - they'll be the top seed and looking to return to region. 10) Todd County Central (13-10) - 1/30 52-81 L Hopkinsville, 2/2 68-50 W at Crittenden County Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 2/5 at Clarksville Rossview (TN), 2/6 at Trigg County, 2/9 at #12 Russellville, 2/10 vs. #7 Warren East Speaking of looking to return to region, Todd County Central will be in that same boat, looking to return for the first time in 15 years. They, like Logan County, were unfortunate to play Hopkinsville now, allowing 39 points to Johnson and Cager. The Rebels will have a full week including their return matchup with Russellville. It'll be interesting to see how that game plays out. The two met way back on December 8th where the Rebels throttled the Panthers 82-46. After two months of waiting for a rematch, the two will now play twice in two weeks, as they'll also meet in the 13th district tourney. 11) South Warren (12-12) - 1/30 49-64 L #2 Bowling Green, 2/2 60-69 L at #8 Greenwood Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 2/6 at #7 Warren East, 2/8 vs. #15 Franklin-Simpson The Spartans have won just three of their last 10 games, and will be fighting to stay at or above .500 this week in addition to hoping for a chance to escape the 4/5 game in the district tournament. They don't control their destiny at all as they need to beat Warren East to match the two wins the Raiders and Greenwood already have, and then need each to lose their games on Friday. And still it would come down to a three way tiebreaker. Tyler Martin added a pair of double digit efforts during the week, while the Spartans got a similar effort unexpectedly from freshman Jace Carver. 12) Russellville (7-14) - 1/29 69-79 L #5 Barren County, 2/2 71-68 W #14 Franklin-Simpson, 2/3 56-58 L at Marshall County Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 2/6 at #1 Warren Central, 2/9 vs. #10 Todd County Central The Panthers have only won two games since the start of the new year, but they were crucially both over Franklin-Simpson, setting the 13th District tournament in stone and clinching a matchup with Todd County Central in the semifinals. Their matchup on Friday is the only one not against a 14th District member in their last four games. It's a tough closing stretch for the Panthers. 13) Russell County (9-16) - 1/30 81-50 W at #17 Metcalfe County, 2/2 55-86 L at Southwestern, 2/3 66-71 L Marion County Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 2/6 at #5 Barren County, 2/9 vs. Adair County, 2/10 at Williamsburg The Lakers keep puttering along, winning over the teams they should and losing to the teams you'd think they would. Not too high, not to low. Tate Richardson and Brayton Scales average over 30 PPG combined out of the 66 PPG the entire team averages. 14) Allen County-Scottsville (8-15) - 1/30 42-46 L Hart County, 2/2 63-60 W at #3 Monroe County Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 2/6 vs. #8 Greenwood, 2/8 vs. #17 Metcalfe County, 2/9 at #15 Franklin-Simpson I suppose ACS should have some anxiety that perhaps they wasted their shot so to speak in a stunning road upset of Monroe County, the team they'll face in the district tournament. Still, even if they go on to lose that rematch, their win over the Falcons is undoubtedly their season highlight so far. 15) Franklin-Simpson (5-18) - 1/30 57-74 L Christian County, 2/2 68-71 L at #12 Russellville, 2/3 54-57 L at #8 Greenwood Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 2/8 at #11 South Warren, 2/9 vs. #14 Allen County-Scottsville That's 9 straight losses for the Wildcats, who have still not earned a victory in 2018. On the plus side, they have scored 54 points or more in four straight games, after failing to top 50 in five straight. That has to count as progress. 16) Cumberland County (4-20) - 1/30 73-83 L at #7 Warren East, 2/1 58-70 L Caverna, 2/2 53-64 L Washington County Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 2/6 at #4 Monroe County, 2/9 vs. #5 Barren County Cumberland County is the mirror image of Franklin with 9 straight losses, though they barely scraped a win in 2018 with a victory on January 2nd. Judging from their schedule, they are not likely to win a game before their postseason matchup with Russell County. 17) Metcalfe County (4-18) - 1/30 50-81 L at #13 Russell County, 2/2 63-82 L Caverna, 2/3 57-60 L Campbellsville Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 2/5 at Marion County, 2/6 vs. #6 Glasgow, 2/8 at #14 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/10 at Dawson Springs The Hornets have been competitive, falling by just three to a Campbellsville team that was fresh off a victory over Clinton County.

Can I just say how completely crazy and inconsistent this region has been so far? I feel 100% confident in the top two. 100% confident in the next three - in some order. Beyond that? They're all beating each other. Fourth Region Rankings 1) Warren Central (11-2) - 12/27 67-53 W Holmes (at Ohio County), 12/28 60-56 OT W Marshall County (at Ohio County), 12/29 84-67 W at Ohio County Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 1/5 at #8 Warren East, 1/6 at #3 Barren County The Dragons are at their best mark through 13 games in 15 years, and rebounded from a poor showing in Oldham County to win the holiday tourney at Ohio County. That included a solid overtime win over Marshall County where the Dragons had to come back from 14 points down in the 3rd Quarter, surviving an 11/18 three point shooting effort by the Marshals. The Dragons finally get into the meat of the region starting this week, opening their district play at Warren East before traveling to take on #3 Barren County. Barren County won two years ago when they hosted the Dragons. 2) Bowling Green (8-5) - 12/27 78-29 W Hopkins County Central, 12/28 72-54 W Muhlenberg County, 12/29 90-77 W West Creek (TN) Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 1/2 vs. #3 Barren County, 1/5 vs. #12 Greenwood, 1/7 vs. Adair County (at McCracken County) The Purples kept pace in winning their holiday tourney in dominating fashion. The Purples have topped 62 points in all but two games on the year, and are scoring in bunches. Jarius Key averaged nearly 25 PPG in the tourney. Their four game win streak is their highest of the year, and they'll have a chance to host #3 Barren County in an intriguing game before closing the week with another district game against Greenwood and taking on former player Zion Harmon in McCracken County. That Barren County game is notable as it is the biggest test yet of BG's 50 game region win streak, and the Trojans were the last region team outside district 14 to knock them off (2013). 3) Barren County (7-5) - 12/29 77-69 W at #3 Glasgow Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 1/2 at #2 Bowling Green, 1/5 vs. Adair County, 1/6 vs. #1 Warren Central Barren County officially earned themselves a mulligan on their early season loss to Monroe County thanks to Monroe defeating Glasgow, and now the Trojans picking up over Glasgow. Through a month, nothing is settled at the top of District 15, and the top seed will be crucial this year. As for the week to come, it would be tougher to find a more difficult slate of games. The Trojans will have little doubt as to where they stand after visiting Bowling Green and hosting Warren Central, while also hosting that Zion Harmon guy that everyone talks about. 4) Monroe County (9-5) - 12/27 63-43 W Madison Southern (at Bowling Green), 12/28 70-72 L West Creek (TN) (at Bowling Green), 12/29 54-52 W Muhlenberg County (at Bowling Green) Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 1/2 vs. #11 Logan County, 1/5 at #14 Allen County-Scottsville You're going to hear about it for three straight entries, but the most important game for Monroe County wasn't any they played, but rather Barren County's win over Glasgow, which put Monroe back in charge of their destiny in the district. In their own games, Monroe County had a solid trip in the Meijer Classic at Bowling Green, finishing third, but missed out on a measuring stick game with Bowling Green thanks to an unexpected last second loss to West Creek. The Falcons should roll this week. 5) Glasgow (9-3) - 12/29 69-77 L #5 Barren County Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 1/2 at #14 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/5 at #6 South Warren, 1/6 vs. Thomas Nelson Aaaaand again, Glasgow's loss was significant in how it reset the district. The Scotties could have given themselves a huge leg up had they knocked off the rival Trojans, but will have to settle for being even. They were doomed by a 14-0 Trojan run in the second quarter, and were never closer than six after, shooting 38% from the field. Glasgow is still in good shape, and should grab a district win at the Patriots before hosting a surging Spartan team. 6) South Warren (9-5) - 12/27 62-75 L West Creek (TN) (at Bowling Green), 12/28 76-67 W Madison Southern (at Bowling Green), 12/29 75-70 W Hopkins County Central (at Bowling Green) Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 1/5 vs. #5 Glasgow South Warren finished the Meijer Classic in fifth place, but most significantly enter the new year with their best first month record since their inaugural season in 2010/11. To say this was unexpected would be putting it mildly. South has won 7 of their last 8 games and have gotten standout play from Tyler Martin (21.5 PPG), Daniel Moore (10.9 PPG), and Colin Moore (10.2 PPG). This week will be another chance to prove themselves when they host Glasgow. 7) Clinton County (9-6) - 12/27 54-55 L Central Hardin (at Carroll County), 12/28 80-64 W (at Carroll County), 12/29 67-55 W at Carroll County Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 1/4 at Pickett County (TN), 1/5 vs. #17 Metcalfe County Last week we reset Clinton County back to 9th, and they rise back up due to the incomprehensible results below. The Bulldogs were done in by a missed free throw with less than 15 seconds left and up one, leading to a Central Hardin layup with under 3 seconds left to take the loss. They rebounded with a pair of wins but have still yet to win more than two in a row this year. They'll try to rectify that at Pickett County before they continue their dominance of the 16th District on Friday. 8) Warren East (9-5) - 12/28 67-48 W Lecanto (FL) (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/29 76-53 W #10 Todd County Central (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/30 62-63 L #13 Russellville (at Allen County-Scottsville) Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 1/2 at #13 Todd County Central, 1/5 vs. #1 Warren Central East has played exceedingly well in December in recent years, but are still prone to strange results. Something about Russellville is hard for them to solve this year, with two of their five losses coming to the Panthers. That's despite East blowing the doors off Todd Central.... who blew the doors off of Russellville. That's just a sign of this year. East will meet Todd County again this week before they look to take a big step when they host top ranked Warren Central. 9) Franklin-Simpson (5-9) - 12/27 48-63 L Jeffersontown (at Edmonson County), 12/28 60-80 L Adair County (at Edmonson County), 12/29 58-43 W at Edmonson County Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 1/5 at #13 Todd County Central The Wildcats remain difficult to figure out. They have played strong defense, holding 1/3 of their opponents under 50 points, and by virtue of their win over Logan County (who they've twice beaten but only one counting towards district), they remain in good shape in their district. But the wins just haven't come against superior competition. Their next two games will be in-district play against Todd Central and Russellville. 10) Russellville (5-7) - 12/28 85-57 W #12 Greenwood (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/29 65-66 OT L at #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/30 63-62 W #6 Warren East (at Allen County-Scottsville) Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 1/2 at Ohio County, 1/5 at #11 Logan County Russellville sandwiched great efforts against the 14th District against an inexplicable loss to Allen County. Against East, the Panthers fell behind 8-2, closed the quarter on a 15-3 run, fell behind by 13 again in the second half, before surviving two misses at the rim for the win. It was Russellville's second win over East this season. Naylor had 19 in the win for the Panthers. 11) Logan County (5-6) - No Games Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 1/2 at #4 Monroe County, 1/5 vs. #10 Russellville, 1/6 at #12 Greenwood The Cougars had the week off to take in the chaos around them. The game of the week for them is the first clash of the Cats on Friday. 12) Greenwood (7-6) - 12/28 57-85 L #13 Russellville (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/29 70-51 W Lecanto (FL) (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/30 81-72 W #10 Todd County Central (at Allen County-Scottsville) Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 1/5 at #2 Bowling Green, 1/6 vs. #11 Logan County Greenwood closed the week strong after a blowout loss at the hands of Russellville, winning of Lecanto and snagging a win over Todd Central. That gives Greenwood a winning record heading into the new year, along with the rest of District 14. 13) Todd County Central (7-6) - 12/28 59-50 W at #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 12/29 53-76 L #6 Warren East (at Allen County-Scottsville), 12/30 72-81 L #12 Greenwood (at Allen County-Scottsville) Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 1/2 vs. #8 Warren East, 1/5 vs. #9 Franklin-Simpson, 1/6 at Calloway County The Rebels continue to decline after their strong start to the year. Leading scorer Nolan Barrow was held to just nine points in their loss to Greenwood, while Tashaun Foster led the team with 24. 14) Allen County-Scottsville (5-8) - 12/28 50-59 OT L #10 Todd County Central, 12/29 66-65 OT W #13 Russellville, 12/30 50-43 W Lecanto (FL) Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 1/2 vs. #5 Glasgow, 1/5 vs. #4 Monroe County, 1/6 vs. Edmonson County The Patriots have had quite a few close results this year, but easily had their best result in knocking off Russellville in overtime. 15) Russell County (4-11) - 12/28 50-61 L Bell County (at Greenup County), 12/29 60-65 L McLean County (at Greenup County), 12/30 72-54 W Prestonsburg (at Greenup County) Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 1/5 vs. #16 Cumberland County The Lakers snapped a five game losing streak with their win over Prestonsburg. 16) Cumberland County (3-11) - 12/28 59-63 L Livingston Central (at LaRue County), 12/29 33-92 L at LaRue County, 12/30 37-57 L Grayson County (at LaRue County) Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 1/2 at #17 Metcalfe County, 1/5 at #15 Russell County After starting 3-1, the Panthers have now lost ten straight. 17) Metcalfe County (3-9) - 12/27 63-69 L at Whitefield Academy, 12/28 64-40 W Beth Haven (at Whitefield Academy), 12/28 61-84 L Berea (at Whitefield Academy) Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 1/2 vs. #16 Cumberland County, 1/5 at #7 Clinton County Metcalfe County's two game win streak ended, but they added they are still 3-2 in their last five.

Fourth Region Rankings 1) Bowling Green (23-2) - 2/9 86-58 W at Owensboro, 2/12 79-37 W #7 Warren East, 2/13 68-52 W at #7 Warren East Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 2/16 at #2 Russellville, 2/18 vs. Hopkinsville The beat goes on in a major way for the Purples, who are now up to 17 straight wins, their longest win streak in 17 years. They opened the week by crushing defending state champion Owensboro, then continued their dominance of Warren East on back to back nights, pushing that streak to 43 straight wins. That streak is now old enough to graduate high school. 2) Russellville (16-5) - 2/12 85-52 W #13 Todd County Central Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 2/16 vs. #1 Bowling Green, 2/19 at Butler County Russellville had a quiet week thanks to the weather, but capped off a 5-1 district slate to tie Franklin-Simpson for the top seed in the district. It does matter to them which they get, as they beat Todd Central by an average of 30 PPG while beating Logan by just 9.5 PPG, but they'll almost certainly move on to region in either scenario. They get another crack at Bowling Green this week, who they put a scare into in mid-January. 3) Franklin-Simpson (20-4) - 2/9 68-51 W at #10 Logan County, 2/11 67-73 L at #8 South Warren, 2/12 59-54 W #15 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 2/16 vs. #8 Warren East, 2/18 at #12 Glasgow Franklin-Simpson held the record of most stunning upset of the year for about a day when they dropped a decision to South Warren. The Spartans played the Wildcats tough both times this year, but the loss was just the second Franklin has taken in this calendar year. Lovan was injured for part of the contest, but that wasn't until late, when most of the 13 point halftime lead Franklin had was gone. Lovan should be fine moving forward, but their 59-54 win against Allen County-Scottsville without him shows just how huge a hole his absence leaves. 4) Barren County (22-5) - 2/11 58-66 OT L #6 Russell County, 2/12 65-36 W at #17 Cumberland County Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 2/16 vs. #16 Metcalfe County, 2/18 at #9 Clinton County The Trojans saw a 9 game winning streak end when they dropped an overtime decision at home to Russell County, but have still been playing good ball for the last month. Barren County averages winning by over 12 PPG, and the loss was the only one in their last five they didn't win by more than 16. They remain a virtual lock for the region tournament. 5) Russell County (15-8) - 2/11 66-58 OT W at #3 Barren County, 2/12 56-57 L Adair County Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 2/16 at Madison Southern, 2/19 vs. #15 Allen County-Scottsville Russell County has had a bit of an up and down year, and has remained mostly out of the eye of the region for the last month, right up until they knocked off Barren County on the road. The Lakers are still just 4-5 in their last nine, but if they can beat the Trojans on the road, they are a team capable of doing damage in the postseason. No team in the region is more of a lock for the region tournament than the Lakers. 6) Warren Central (15-10) - 2/10 77-62 W at Owensboro Catholic, 2/12 67-68 L #14 Greenwood, 2/13 63-44 W at Elizabethtown Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 2/15 at #13 Greenwood, 2/16 vs. #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/19 at John Hardin The huge momentum that Central had following a big win over Owensboro Catholic on Wednesday met the unlikeliest of ends on Friday in what is easily the most stunning upset of the year. The Dragons led by as much as 15 and led by 11 with 2:30 left in the game, but failed to score another point as Greenwood knocked them off 68-67. It was the first loss at home against Greenwood for the Dragons in 16 years. There have been a lot of firsts in a while for Central this year - none of them have been good. With snow looming and just 15 wins, Warren Central's streak of seven straight 20 win seasons is in serious jeopardy. 7) South Warren (12-13) - 2/9 60-59 W at #7 Warren East, 2/11 73-67 W #2 Franklin-Simpson, 2/13 64-43 W Ohio County Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 2/15 vs. #9 Clinton County, 2/18 vs. Daviess County Bookended around four straight losses to the likes of Bowling Green, Russellville, and Warren Central are two South Warren four game winning streaks. This week included two unlikely wins. The first was their road win over Warren East, wherein the Spartans overcame a double digit fourth quarter deficit, capped by two Dayton Gumm free throws with less than two seconds left. The second was the aforementioned megaton upset of Franklin-Simpson, who had three straight wins over the Spartans. They're still stuck in the 4/5 game that will drive them through Bowling Green, but the season may otherwise end on an uptick. 8) Warren East (13-13) - 2/9 59-60 L #8 South Warren, 2/12 37-79 L at #1 Bowling Green, 2/13 52-68 L #1 Bowling Green Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 2/16 at #3 Franklin-Simpson, 2/18 vs. #11 Monroe County The Raiders had a terrible week, but at least the latter two losses came against a team they literally can't figure out. The loss to South Warren was disappointing, though ultimately irrelevant in the standings. Still, Warren East has faded badly since an 8-1 start, losing 12 of their last 17 games. They've now lost five in a row, and have a very challenging game against Franklin-Simpson coming up. The Raiders are 3-10 in the month of February the last two seasons. 9) Clinton County (14-10) - No Games Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 2/15 at #7 South Warren, 2/18 vs. #4 Barren County The Bulldogs got a weather week off. They've played just nine games in the new year, and are 4-5 in those games. They'll have a challenging tune-up week prior to playing Cumberland County in the district tournament. 10) Logan County (9-12) - 2/9 51-68 L #2 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 2/16 vs. Rossview (TN), 2/18 vs. #13 Greenwood Logan County dropped their fourth game in the last five in their loss to Franklin-Simpson. Leading scorer Whittinghill was held to just nine points in that one, seven points below his season average. They await a coin flip to determine their district tournament opponent. They fared far better in their two games against Russellville. 11) Monroe County (8-15) - 2/11 74-49 W at #12 Glasgow Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 2/15 vs. #17 Cumberland County, 2/16 at #13 Greenwood, 2/18 at #8 Warren East The Falcons already knew they'd be playing Glasgow in the postseason, but their confidence in a return trip to region must be high after their second blowout win of the Scotties. In two matchups, Monroe County has won by 38 and 25 points. 12) Glasgow (9-16) - 2/10 71-57 W at #16 Metcalfe County, 2/11 49-74 L #11 Monroe County, 2/12 69-71 L at Caverna Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 2/16 vs. #17 Cumberland County, 2/18 vs. #3 Franklin-Simpson Glasgow continues their cool streak after a strong January, falling for the fifth time in six games. Their effort against a solid Caverna team showed that they are capable, if inconsistent. 13) Greenwood (10-15) - 2/9 65-52 W #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/12 68-67 W at #5 Warren Central Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 2/15 vs. #6 Warren Central, 2/16 vs. #11 Monroe County, 2/18 at #10 Logan County, 2/19 at Edmonson County It was mentioned above, but what a monkey off the back for Greenwood to take down Central on the road. The Gators hit 11/24 from the perimeter in the upset win, and will get the chance to back it up again as part of a busy week - if only the weather would cooperate. 14) Todd County Central (8-18) - 2/12 52-85 L at #4 Russellville, 2/13 70-46 W Hopkins County Central Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 2/16 at Trigg County, 2/17 vs. Fort Campbell Whatever happens from here out, at 8 wins, the season is still a success for Todd County Central. 15) Allen County-Scottsville (6-20) - 2/9 52-65 L at #14 Greenwood, 2/11 57-52 OT W #16 Metcalfe County, 2/12 54-59 L at #2 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 2/16 at #6 Warren Central, 2/19 at #5 Russell County The Patriots continue to struggle, just barely eking out a win over Metcalfe County. If they get to play both games this week, they'll have their work cut out for them on the road against region powers Warren Central and Russell County. 16) Metcalfe County (2-20) - 2/10 57-71 L #12 Glasgow, 2/11 52-57 OT L at #15 Allen County-Scottsville, 2/12 41-56 L Green County Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 2/16 at #4 Barren County, 2/18 at Caverna, 2/19 vs. Washington County Another week full of losses for the Hornets. 17) Cumberland County (1-22) - 2/12 36-65 L #3 Barren County Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 2/15 at #11 Monroe County, 2/16 at #12 Glasgow, 2/19 vs. Green County The Panthers did win one thing this week - the coin toss with Metcalfe County. That puts Cumberland County in as the 3 seed in the postseason. They're still extremely unlikely to beat Clinton County, but it was a sight better than their chances against Russell County.

Fourth Region Top 10 1) Russell County (12-2) - 1/4 74-49 W at Cumberland County Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 1/11 at #5 Clinton County 2) Warren East (13-2) - 1/4 55-46 W at Warren Central Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 1/8 at #6 Barren County, 1/11 at Greenwood 3) Warren Central (9-5) - 1/3 72-41 W Clinton County, 1/4 46-55 L Warren East Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 1/8 vs. Glasgow, 1/11 vs. #7 Bowling Green 4) Russellville (8-7) - 1/4 94-85 OT W Logan County Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 1/8 at Greenwood, 1/11 vs. Franklin-Simpson 5) Clinton County (10-5) - 1/3 41-72 L at Warren Central, 1/4 67-25 W at Metcalfe County Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 1/8 at Cumberland County, 1/11 vs. #1 Russell County 6) Barren County (11-4) - 1/1 87-80 W at Bowling Green, 1/4 49-51 L Franklin-Simpson, 1/5 55-80 L Butler (at PRP) Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 1/8 vs. #2 Warren East, 1/11 vs. #9 Monroe County 7) Bowling Green (6-8) - 1/1 80-87 L Barren County, 1/4 45-36 W at Greenwood Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 1/7 at #9 Monroe County, 1/8 at #10 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/11 at #3 Warren Central 8) South Warren (9-6) - 1/4 66-45 W at Todd County Central, 1/5 54-43 W Glasgow Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 1/8 vs. Edmonson County, 1/12 vs. Metcalfe County 9) Monroe County (8-6) - 1/4 62-48 W Allen County-Scottsville, 1/5 60-39 W at Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: NR This Week: 1/7 vs. #7 Bowling Green, 1/11 at #6 Barren County 10) Allen County-Scottsville (8-7) - 1/1 73-69 W at Glasgow, 1/4 48-62 L at Monroe County Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 1/8 vs. #7 Bowling Green, 1/11 vs. Glasgow Last Week's Game Of The Week - This should perhaps be called "Most Significant Result Of The Week" though the game itself was great as well. No result last week made as many waves as Warren East's 55-46 win at Warren Central. Coming into the game Warren Central had not lost to the Raiders in 5 years and had won every region game to that point by an average of 31 points. But Warren East helped turn the region on its ear by going into Dragon gym and outworking the Dragons en route to a result that positions them well in the postseason seeding race. It also sent the message that the long dormant program (with 9 region titles to their name but no region tourney appearances since their last region title in 1997) may be finally ready to come back to the forefront. A Region Turned On Its Ear - In our preseason preview this year was predicted to be a lot of the same ole same ole. The teams you knew were good in the past would be at the top again. And while that's not exactly totally out the window, the region has been completely flipped with results of late. If you say you've got it all figured out, you sir (or madam) are a filthy liar. No one in the region is undefeated, so there's no team you can point to as untouchable. Bowling Green, the preseason #1, is 6-8 with a home loss to Barren County. Barren County for their part has a 32 point loss to Warren Central on their books, as well as a mind boggling loss to unranked Franklin-Simpson. Warren Central appeared to be cruising to a spot at the top of the region after knocking off another top region team by over 30 when Warren East laid them low in the aforementioned GOTW. Even East is not a safe choice with a double digit loss to Russellville. All of it sends the message that no one is safe and nothing is predictable. Russell County is #1 this week for the second straight week but look at that - they play Clinton County on the road Friday, with the Bulldogs being the only team to knock them off this year. Which was before Clinton County's 31 point loss to Warren Central. See how weird it is? Upcoming Games of the Week 1/8 - #2 Warren East at #6 Barren County - The Raiders will be looking for an encore to keep their momentum rolling as they travel to take on a Barren County team that will be looking to stop the negative momentum that has suddenly kicked up following their big win over Bowling Green. 1/11 - #1 Russell County at #5 Clinton County - As mentioned above, Clinton County is the only region team to knock off Russell County this year, and one of only two losses the Lakers have taken to any team. The Bulldogs can basically lock up the #1 seed for the 16th District with a win here. That in itself is a virtual guarantee to advance to the region tournament. 1/11 - #7 Bowling Green at #3 Warren Central - Suddenly this game doesn't have quite the luster it has before, but it's always a big meeting when these two take the floor. With the loss to East, the game has new importance for the Dragons. A loss here would put them at 0-2 in the district with both losses coming at home, where they didn't lose a single district game during the regular season last year. A loss for the Purples would reinforce the negative momentum they have suffered much of the year and place more importance on their game against Warren East the following Friday.

Fourth Region Top 10 1) Warren Central (0-0) - No Games Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 12/10 vs. Owensboro, 12/13 vs. Hopkinsville (at Christian County), 12/14 vs. University Heights (at Hopkinsville) 2) Russell County (1-0) - 12/3 54-50 W at Lincoln County Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 12/11 TBA, 12/13 at #9 Glasgow 3) Bowling Green (0-1) - 12/7 57-62 L Trinity Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 12/10 at Elizabethtown, 12/13 vs. University Heights (at Christian County) 4) Clinton County (3-0) - 12/2 64-50 W Rockcastle County, 12/5 62-56 W Somerset, 12/7 81-63 W Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 12/10 at #8 Monroe County, 12/13 at Metcalfe County 5) South Warren (1-0) - 12/3 63-52 W Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 12/9 at Logan County, 12/10 at #10 Franklin-Simpson, 12/13 vs. Warren East, 12/14 vs. North Hardin (at Shelby County) 6) Barren County (2-0) - 12/3 76-61 W Green County, 12/7 74-48 W at Russellville Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 12/10 at Allen County-Scottsville, 12/13 vs. Monroe County, 12/14 at Edmonson County 7) Greenwood (1-0) - 12/5 47-39 W Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 8 This Week: No Games 8) Monroe County (1-1) - 12/3 56-48 W Franklin-Simpson, 12/7 56-66 L Southwestern (at Campbellsville) Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 12/10 vs. #4 Clinton County, 12/13 at Barren County 9) Glasgow (0-0) - No Games Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 12/10 vs. Todd County Central, 12/12 vs. Edmonson County, 12/13 at #2 Russell County 10) Franklin-Simpson (0-3) - 12/3 48-56 L Monroe County, 12/5 39-47 L at Greenwood, 12/7 63-81 L at Clinton County Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 12/10 vs. #5 South Warren, 12/13 vs. Logan County Last Week's Game of the Week - Three region teams played on the opening night of the season, but two of those were against each other. Warren East hosted Logan County on December 2nd and immediately spoiled their fans with a close game with a great finish. Neither team ever gained a double digit lead, and the game was knotted at 66 coming out of a timeout and Logan County in possession. East's Mason Lee blocked a Cougar attempt at a game-winner, and Jaylin Barnett grabbed the loose ball, driving the length of the court for a game winning layup at the buzzer for the 68-66 Warren East win. Honorable Mention - Overshadowed by their football brethren, the Bowling Green basketball team put a real scare into highly ranked Trinity. The Purples jumped out to a 37-28 lead at the half despite missing several players, but a quick start to the second half for the Shamrocks erased the lead. Still, a respectable 62-57 loss to a top team bears mentioning. Cancellations - Unfortunately the narrative of the week for many teams was one of canceled games. Three teams failed to get a single game in (Warren Central, Glasgow, Todd County Central), and seven others played just a single game. Clinton County and Franklin-Simpson were the only teams that had seemingly no difficulty playing games, each getting three in. While the Clinton County Bulldogs might have been happy with that in starting 3-0, the Franklin-Simpson Wildcats maybe would just as soon stayed home, starting 0-3. Early Rankings Movement - All the movement in the top 10 came at the expense of Franklin-Simpson, as the two teams initially rated just behind them - Greenwood and Monroe County - gained victories over the Wildcats to knock them down the ladder. Upcoming Games of the Week 12/10 - #4 Clinton County at #8 Monroe County - Each team gets a tune-up before their district opener. Clinton County has made a habit of strong starts (won at least first five each of last two years) and will look to extend that streak again while Monroe County will look for revenge for last year's 54-39 loss in the All A regional. 12/13 - Warren Central vs. Hopkinsville (at Christian County) - These two teams are the heads of their respective regions and are both considered to be among the 10 best teams in the state. Hopkinsville won the last meeting between these two, 41-37 in 2011.

All-Time Series - Tied 2-2 This is the third straight year these two teams will meet. The Purples have won the last two years by an average of 16 points per game. Both of Lexington Catholic's wins came at the only neutral site games in the series. Who wins this game? Thoughts?

Fourth Region Rankings 1) Warren Central (15-2) - 1/9 57-47 W Hopkinsville, 1/11 66-56 W at #3 Bowling Green Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 1/16 vs. #7 South Warren, 1/19 at #11 Greenwood The Dragons faced a pair of 4th quarter challenges, and while it wasn't pretty in either case, they gutted out two wins to push their win streak to seven. The two games were eerily similar in their breakdown. Central held identical 48-32 leads in the third quarter before each opponent turned on the pressure, forcing miscues and climbing back into the game. The only difference is that Bowling Green made it all the way back before Central scored the final 10 to pull out the win. That was despite having four players with four or more fouls out of a seven man rotation, with two fouling out. The win was their first over Bowling Green in three years - eight straight losses. Skyelar Potter had 27 in the win. 2) Bowling Green (11-7) - 1/9 66-46 W #6 South Warren, 1/12 56-66 L #1 Warren Central Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 1/16 vs. Christian County, 1/19 at #5 Warren East The Purples were dropped to three after the loss to Barren, but I should have known better. Bowling Green is the only team in the region that can truly go toe to toe with Warren Central, and they proved that on Friday, roaring back from a 16 point deficit before running out of gas. It ended a 31 game district winning streak, but proved that the Purples are still very much a threat in the district and region. Jarius Key had 17 for Bowling Green, but it was Trevor Dennis's 16 points thanks to 4/5 shooting from three that helped lift the Purples into contention in the game. They'll face a tough game against Christian County on Tuesday (weather permitting) before putting their 20 year win streak against Warren East on the line. 3) Monroe County (12-5) - 1/11 63-38 W #2 Barren County Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 1/15 vs. #17 Metcalfe County (at Clinton County) Monroe County seized control of the 15th District by absolutely BATTERING a reeling Barren County team. The Falcons have been getting it done all year with their defense, holding seven of their last eight opponents to 52 points or less. The 1-2 combo of Clements and Dyer led the way again as Clements led all scorers with 23 and Dyer chipped in with 18. The two had enough points to win by themselves. All that stands between them and the top seed in the district is a trip to Glasgow in three weeks. They are the favorites in the region All A. 4) Glasgow (13-3) - 1/8 69-38 W Green County Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 1/15 vs. #14 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/18 vs. Adair County, 1/20 at #11 Greenwood The Scotties had a quiet week thanks to the snow, notching only a blowout victory over Green County. Their game on Monday against Allen County was delayed from Friday, and may be delayed further. They've won four straight, not losing yet in this calendar year. If they get to play it, their matchup with Adair will be a big test of that. 5) Warren East (10-6) - 1/9 58-52 W #2 Barren County Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 1/19 vs. #2 Bowling Green This frankly feels high for East, as they have suffered some truly head scratching losses this year against Logan County and Russellville (TWICE), but they battled well with top rated Warren Central the week before, and looked strong in a home win over Barren County. The Raiders are an intriguing team, with athleticism, multiple scorers, and a knock-down shooter in Tashawn Neal, who is shooting 47.4% from three (47.4%). What they need more than anything, is a win over Bowling Green. It's been 20 years and 46 straight losses to the Purples. If East is serious about making the region tourney, they are going to have to find a way past the Purples. 6) Barren County (8-9) - 1/9 52-58 L at #8 Warren East, 1/11 38-63 L at #4 Monroe County Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 1/16 at Ohio County, 1/19 vs. #14 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/20 at #13 Franklin-Simpson It's almost as if the Trojans had their season made when they knocked off Bowling Green because they have looked fairly awful ever since. Losing by 30 to Warren Central was one thing. Losing by 25 to district rival Monroe County - who they took to overtime the first time they met - is quite another entirely. Coomer was just 3/10 against the Falcons, good for just 10 points. That's not going to get it done for a Trojan team that desperately needs him to lead the way. They'll try to recover this week with three winnable games. 7) South Warren (9-7) - 1/9 46-66 L at #3 Bowling Green Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 1/16 at #1 Warren Central, 1/19 at #15 Russell County, 1/20 vs. Kenwood (TN) 18 games, 18 losses in the series against Bowling Green. The Spartans have proven reliable enough to be able to compete against the middle of the region, but they appear no closer this year to making the leap into competing with the top. The latest lesson in that will likely come on Tuesday at Warren Central. South Warren hit as many shots from three as they did from inside the arc against Bowling Green, with six apiece. 8) Clinton County (12-7) - 1/9 79-47 W at #16 Cumberland County, 1/11 61-59 W #15 Russell County Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 1/18 vs. TBA The Bulldogs continued their 16th District dominance, albeit in less dominating fashion in the latter half of the week. Jackson Harlan remains one of the top scorers in the satte, averaging 27.6 PPG. They can perhaps climb up the ranks with a good showing in the All A tournament, which they are hosting. 9) Logan County (9-10) - 1/9 50-48 W #14 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/11 64-62 W at #12 Todd County Central Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 1/16 vs. Muhlenberg County, 1/19 vs. #13 Franklin-Simpson The Cougars gutted out a close win over Allen County-Scottsville before picking up a crucial road win at Todd Central. Combined with Franklin's loss to Russellville, it put Logan County back in the driver's seat in the district. Though Logan County has lost twice to the Wildcats, only one of those counts towards their district record. That means if the third time is the charm for Logan, they'll only have to beat Russellville the following week to take the #1 seed. 10) Russellville (6-9) - 1/11 64-49 W at #13 Franklin-Simpson Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 1/18 vs. TBA (at Clinton County) Speaking of Russellville, they outscored Franklin by 16 points in the fourth quarter to flip a one point deficit into a 15 point victory. The Panthers, like much of the region, have been maddeningly inconsistent. They hold two wins over Warren East and a close loss to Glasgow, but also the blowout loss to Glasgow and a loss to Allen County-Scottsville. Still, their win over Franklin flips the narrative. They went from serious danger of the #4 seed to being possibly the only other team that could unseat Logan County for #1. 11) Greenwood (8-8) - 1/9 61-70 L Adair County Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 1/16 vs. #13 Franklin-Simpson, 1/19 vs. #1 Warren Central, 1/20 vs. #4 Glasgow The Gators were spared from having to experience the torment of Zion Harmon after he left Bowling Green last year for Adair County, but it still wasn't enough for the Gators to grab a win over the Indians. Ben Carroll was 9/18 from the field to lead Greenwood with 24 points. Jack Roberts and Luke Littrell had 17 and 15 respectively, continuing to be the cornerstones of the team. They have a winnable game against Franklin before a pair of tough home games to close the week. 12) Todd County Central (9-7) - 1/11 62-64 L #9 Logan County Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 1/15 vs. #16 Cumberland County The Rebels saw their two game win streak halted in a tough district loss to Logan County, dropping them to 2-2 in district play. Both losses were to Logan County, meaning the Rebels would need a lot of help to climb back into the top seed. Still, if they can maintain their dominance over Franklin-Simpson and Russellville (winning by 19 and 36 points over the pair this year), a region berth is in the offing. 13) Franklin-Simpson (5-11) - 1/11 49-64 L #10 Russellville Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 1/16 at #11 Greenwood, 1/19 at #9 Logan County, 1/20 vs. #6 Barren County It's four losses in their last five games now for Franklin, who have bookended a 4-3 stretch with a combined 1-8 run. Scoring continues to be a struggle - three of the four losses in this run they failed to hit 50 points. 14) Allen County-Scottsville (6-11) - 1/9 48-50 L at #9 Logan County Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 1/15 at #4 Glasgow, 1/16 at Butler County, 1/19 at #6 Barren County The Patriots are also having scoring issues. While they have the top scoring defense in the region - allowing just under 52 PPG - they also have the worst scoring offense in the region. AC/S is putting up an average of 49 per game. Brett Rippy is doing his part, averaging 16.4 PPG. So far the top three in the district have iced them out of a win, but the Patriots get two more shots this week. 15) Russell County (6-12) - 1/9 64-59 W McCreary Central, 1/11 59-61 L at #7 Clinton County Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 1/16 at Southwestern, 1/19 vs. #7 South Warren The Lakers quietly put up three straight wins in a row to double their season total before dropping a close decision against Clinton County. Tate Richardson had 24 in the upset effort with Brayton Scales adding 16. The good news is that the Lakers really won't have to focus much on Clinton County in terms of postseason aspirations. 16) Cumberland County (4-13) - 1/9 47-79 L #7 Clinton County Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 1/15 at #12 Todd County Central Cumberland County fared significantly worse against Clinton County, getting smashed by 32 points. They're now 1-12 in their last 13, and a promising 3-1 start is a distant memory. 17) Metcalfe County (3-12) - 1/11 55-95 L Adair County Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 1/15 vs. #3 Monroe County (at Clinton County), 1/20 vs. Red Boiling Springs (TN) Unlike Greenwood, Metcalfe County took a direct hit from Zion Harmon, who posted 38 on them.

Inside South-Central Kentucky Football During each week of the year, Inside South-Central Kentucky Football will look at some of the teams from the greater Bowling Green area, and will include the following teams: Allen County-Scottsville, Barren County, Bowling Green, Franklin-Simpson, Glasgow, Greenwood, South Warren, Warren Central, and Warren East. The area will provide a healthy mix of teams with high expectations following successful years last year and teams looking to rebound from down seasons. And in one lonely case, a team that continues to struggle to gain a handle on winning. The belle of the ball is obviously Bowling Green. The Purples return 15 starters, all of them one-way players in the two platoon system. They have the longest current win streak in the state at 30, with an eye on taking down the state record of 50 wins next season. They are the dominant favorite in 5A, and may well cause the top spot in the South-Central Kentucky rankings I will release each week to be a mere formality. The loss of five coaches from an always great staff is the only possible concern. Warren Central does not have nearly the amount of returning starters that Bowling Green has, but what they do return should keep them in the mix at the top of 5A. They will have to deal with an all-new offensive line and having to move their best wide receiver into a quarterback, but still return several weapons that will give them the leg up on almost every team they play. The Dragons will more closely resemble their 2009 team which featured more quarterback runs to take advantage of senior QB Chris Porter-Bunton’s athleticism. After those two we find two teams that will immediately tell us which one is better, as they will line up against each other in the opening game. Warren East will be fairly hard to recognize from the team that was a game away from the state title game in 2012. They replace 22 seniors, their head coach, and their previous QB to a transfer. Veteran coach Steve Long will take the reins of the Raiders, and he’ll have arguably the premier player in the area as his ace on the field, junior Vanderbilt commit RB/LB Eli Brown. They’ll visit South Warren to open the 2013 campaign. Last year the Spartans gave Warren East all they could handle in a close 14-10 decision in that season’s opener, and this year’s edition will be the first chance for our rankings to get shaken up. The Spartans have been building to this year since the inception of the program, and like Warren East, they have an ace on the field in every game. That’s large and in charge senior DL Adrian Middleton, a monster on the field and Kentucky commit. The Spartans are a sleeper to make some significant noise on a statewide scale in 3A. Glasgow is two years removed from a state runner-up finish, and they return the type of team that will threaten to go back. With 31 upperclassmen, 17 seniors, and 15 returning starters, the Scotties are locked and loaded as the favorites in their district and region. At this point, Scottie fans are forgiven for peeking westward at what may be their greater challenge in the larger scheme of things, 2A favorite Caldwell County, a potential state semifinal opponent. Following those five, we have a potentially unknown quantity at this point. Greenwood has a new coach, one of the departed Bowling Green staff Chris Seabolt. Seabolt will have the services of senior QB Josh Dyer, a 2300 yard passer a year ago. But with some new wrinkles in the offense and a new defensive scheme, we may not have a read on the Gators until they get a few games under their belt. They do enter the season off of a 2012 campaign that featured their most regular season wins ever. Two teams that are looking to regain the glory of just a few years ago are Franklin-Simpson and Allen County-Scottsville. Franklin-Simpson played for the 4A state championship in 2011, but struggled in 2012 following the loss of most of their weapons from the 2011 edition and their head coach. New HC Doug Preston’s Wildcats limped to a 3-8 record that saw them win only two games against Kentucky competition. That year’s pain was this year’s gain as they return 17 starters in their attempt to climb back into competition. Allen County-Scottsville has experienced similar hardship, rolling to the 2010 4A state finals where they dropped a close 21-14 decision to Boyle County, but turning in only 4 and 3 wins in the last two years en route to a pair of first round losses. The Patriots will look to 13 seniors and 10 returning starters to take them back to the promised land. Which brings us to Barren County. The Trojans began the 2012 season with a 28-0 shutout win against Metcalfe County, but would drop their next 9 games by an average of nearly 30 points per game, only coming within a TD a single time – a 21-20 loss to Logan County that ended their playoff hopes. That ended a run of five straight playoff appearances for the Trojans. They will have a shot at returning to the playoffs, but they will be hard pressed to add their first playoff win since 1992, or their first winning record since 2000. South-Central Kentucky Rankings 1) Bowling Green 2) Warren Central 3) Warren East 4) South Warren 5) Glasgow 6) Greenwood 7) Franklin-Simpson 8) Allen County-Scottsville 9) Barren County

1) Bowling Green (12-2) - 1/4 57-56 W at #10 Greenwood, 1/5 61-45 W Muhlenberg County Previous Rank: 1 This Week: 1/8 at #11 South Warren, 1/11 at #2 Warren Central Bowling Green very nearly lost their top spot right away after claiming it, but narrowly escaped at Greenwood with a 57-56 victory, their 16th consecutive win over the Gators. It was a night and day difference from the first meeting when Bowling Green scored the first 17 of the game. In this one, it was a back and forth affair, and the Gators took a ten point lead early in the fourth quarter. But while Bowling Green is undeniably a better team when playing from ahead, they are proficient at the comeback too thanks to their pressure defense. They whittled the lead down and took it for good after Isaiah Mason came open for a three pointer with just under a half minute to go. They followed that with a solid 16 point win over Muhlenberg County, who they boast a 10-0 record against. This week is THE week, as they visit Warren Central on Friday. They have won 12 of 15 against the Dragons, and haven't lost at Central since 2015. 2) Warren Central (8-3) - 1/4 77-45 W #12 Warren East, 1/5 71-46 W #8 Barren County Previous Rank: 2 This Week: 1/7 at #4 Allen County-Scottsville, 1/8 at Hopkinsville, 1/11 vs. #1 Bowling Green The Dragons bounced back from an awful Christmas break with two blowouts on back to back nights. Both were extremely balanced efforts. Against Warren East, Antonio Barbee led the way with 14 points while Boyd and Brents chipped in 11 apiece. Central trailed just once, at 2-0, and steadily pulled away before gaining a running clock in the third quarter. Against Barren County, the sledding was a bit more difficult. The Trojans scored the first six points and led 11-10 after one. Central took the lead for good at 20-17, but led just 45-39 entering the fourth quarter. It was there that their full court press began to pay dividends, and they jumped out with a 12-1 run to blow the game open. The Dragons hit 11 three pointers in the contest. This week they take on the white-hot Allen County-Scottsville team, visit a seven footer at Hopkinsville, and host their biggest rival in what may well be the first of four matchups this year. Plus, if Central were to knock off ACS on Monday, they'll have the 2A Classic sectional semifinals on Saturday. Big week. 3) Logan County (13-2) - 1/4 87-60 W at #16 Russellville, 1/5 55-47 W #10 Greenwood Previous Rank: 3 This Week: 1/11 vs. #15 Todd County Central The Cougars continue to roll, raising their record to 13-2. That would already be good enough for their 5th most wins since 1998 for an entire season. There is a great chance that by two weeks from now they'll have already beaten last season's win total. They hit a season-high 87 points against bitter rival Russellville in their 87-60 road victory on Friday. A 23-5 second quarter set the table, pushing them to a 44-20 halftime lead, and they cruised from there. That win gave them a three game win streak over the Panthers. They followed that up with a second straight win over Greenwood, winning at home 55-47. It is the first time Logan County has won back to back games against Greenwood in 20 years. 4) Allen County-Scottsville (13-2) - 1/4 81-69 W at #6 Monroe County Previous Rank: 4 This Week: 1/7 vs. #2 Warren Central, 1/11 at #7 Glasgow The Patriots are also 13-2, sharing the honor of top record in the region with the Cougars. That mark represents their best 15 game start since the 1995-96 season when they started 20-0 en route to the 4th Region title. Their win over Monroe County stakes them a 2-0 record in the 15th District, with both wins coming on the road. Brett Rippy was perfect in the win - he was 7/7 from the field, 4/4 from three, and 10/10 from the line on his way to team-high 28 points. Their 81 points were their highest of the year. The Patriots are easily the best story in the region, having won just nine games last season. This week they get their first giant test when they host #2 Warren Central in a 2A Classic sectional quarterfinal. The Patriots have lost nine in a row to Warren Central, last knocking them off in 2008. You have to go all the way back to 1999 to find the last time they won a matchup with the Dragons at home. They'll complete their road slate in-district on Friday when they visit Glasgow. A win there, and you'd have to think they're near locks for the top seed. 5) Clinton County (11-5) - 1/3 72-39 W Pickett County (TN), 1/4 70-61 W at #15 Metcalfe County Previous Rank: 5 This Week: 1/8 vs. #17 Cumberland County, 1/11 at #13 Russell County The Bulldogs keep doing the "out of sight, out of mind" routine, quietly rounding up wins. Harlan and Stockton keep doing what they do, combining to average 42.9 PPG as the best 1-2 scoring combo in the region. They finished their out of state run with a win over Pickett County (TN) - the last of six games against Tennessee teams - before fending off a game Metcalfe County effort the next night in a 70-61 victory. That win moves them to 4-0 in district play, and they can clinch a perfect slate as they complete 16th District play this week. 6) Monroe County (7-8) - 1/4 69-81 L #4 Allen County-Scottsville Previous Rank: 6 This Week: 1/7 at Taylor County, 1/8 at #14 Metcalfe County, 1/11 at #8 Barren County What to do with Monroe.... I left them in place this week mostly due to the strength of the teams they lost to during the break. But the Falcons have now slid to a 7-8 record, and have lost six of seven. They simply could not slow down the Patriots on Friday night, dropping their first district contest of the year while allowing a season-high 81 points. The loss wasn't Chandler Clements' fault. The senior forward had more than half his team's points with 39 on the night. They face a resurgent Taylor County and a plucky Metcalfe County team before wrapping up the week with a return game with Barren County. The Falcons won a home game against the Trojans 56-53 in early December. 7) Glasgow (8-5) - 1/4 55-63 L #11 South Warren, 1/5 82-56 W at #13 Todd County Central Previous Rank: 7 This Week: 1/7 vs. #12 Warren East, 1/11 vs. #4 Allen County-Scottsville Speaking of what to do with... what was that loss to South Warren? Improbably, the Scotties have only beaten South Warren in Glasgow a single time, and their 55 points in the loss represents their second lowest output of the year. That it came within a stretch of five games where they scored 80 or more three times just makes it even more head-scratching. They simply did not answer the bell to start the game, falling behind 16-3 before the end of the first quarter, and never closing to less than four after that point. Sorrell led Glasgow with 19 in the game. They righted the ship with a blowout win over Todd County Central the next night, but Glasgow will have to be much better to defeat Warren East in the 2A Classic sectional semifinals on Monday. 8) Barren County (6-7) - 1/4 78-76 2OT W at Adair County, 1/5 46-71 L at #2 Warren Central Previous Rank: 8 This Week: 1/8 vs. #12 Warren East, 1/11 vs. #6 Monroe County The Trojans started the week with what is undoubtedly their best win of the year so far, going to Adair County and taking one down in double overtime. Four players scored in double digits in the game, led by Will Bandy's 18 points. Barren County shot a blazing 56% from the field in the contest and were 8/19 (42.1%) from three. The next night, not so much. Content to play a slow pace, the Trojans only attempted 8 three pointers, hitting only 1, and were just 40% from the field. It's a sign that in-region, they still have a long way to go to close the gap. I will say, freshman Aden Nyekan is a joy to watch and looks like the future of the team. He poured in 16 against Warren Central, getting to the rim very well. 9) Franklin-Simpson (7-7) - 1/4 47-37 W #13 Todd County Central Previous Rank: 9 This Week: 1/11 at #16 Russellville The Wildcats picked up a big district win with a 47-37 decision over Todd County Central. They caught a big break when big man John Calvery had to leave for Todd with a broken tooth (!). The entire offense flows through Calvery for the Rebels, and the Wildcats had little difficulty holding them to just 37 points. While the wins have kept coming, the Wildcat offense has returned to slumbering just a bit, averaging just 52 PPG in these last three wins. They can surpass last season's win total with a win on the road on Friday. 10) Greenwood (6-8) - 1/4 56-57 L #1 Bowling Green, 1/5 47-55 L at #3 Logan County Previous Rank: 10 This Week: 1/8 vs. #15 Todd County Central, 1/11 vs. #12 Warren East The Gators unfortunately are not strangers to having a chance at a big win over Bowling Green slip through their fingers. Friday marked the third time in the last four years that they've dropped a single digit decision to the Purples, with the two others coming in overtime losses. Notably, two years ago the Gators had it won against a team that ultimately would win the state championship. This time, the Gators had a ten point lead but they went cold in the fourth quarter, and failed to mark Isaiah Mason on what would prove to be the game-winning three. Ben Carroll had a good look on a lob off an inbounds pass for the win, but the game ended like the last sixteen against BG - they lost. Greenwood has lost four in a row, but all have been pretty close. They still do not have Jack Roberts back, so it's a good sign they've been so competitive without him. 11) South Warren (5-10) - 1/4 63-55 W at #7 Glasgow Previous Rank: 11 This Week: 1/8 vs. #1 Bowling Green, 1/10 vs. #17 Cumberland County Boy, did South Warren need that win. They had lost four in a row, and with Bowling Green on the horizon, they needed some positive momentum. The Spartans punched Glasgow in the mouth with a 16-3 start, and were sterling from the line, hitting 20 of 28 on the game, with 15 makes in the fourth quarter. Every time it seemed Glasgow was climbing back in, South would push back again. The only reason they don't climb higher is because it's really their only decent win at this point, and they're still just 2-8 in their last ten games. They play Bowling Green and Warren Central four times in their next seven games - they're a combined 0-38 against the two teams. 12) Warren East (8-7) - 1/4 45-77 L at #2 Warren Central Previous Rank: 12 This Week: 1/7 at #7 Glasgow, 1/8 at #8 Barren County, 1/11 at Greenwood, 1/12 vs. Daviess County (at Russell County) The loss to Warren Central was the 14th in a row for the Raiders in the series, and they've fallen an astounding 45 times in their last 49 against the Dragons. Paired with their 48 straight losses to Bowling Green, and it just shows why it is so difficult for the Raiders to advance. They were able to match Central's pace early, trailing just 25-17 at the end of one. But they managed only five points in the second quarter and 28 total the rest of the way. That leaves the Raiders with a three game losing streak, but they'll be looking to turn it around with a busy week. First up is a 2A Championship sectional quarterfinal at Glasgow. A win there would cause their Saturday game with Daviess County to be replaced by a semifinal matchup. The game at Greenwood is extremely important. The Raiders are 0-2 in district play and already fell to South Warren at home. Any losses to the Gators likely puts them in position for a 4/5 seed in the postseason. 13) Russell County (4-10) - 1/4 76-72 W at #17 Cumberland County, 1/5 43-54 L Whitley County (at South Laurel) Previous Rank: 14 This Week: 1/8 at McCreary Central, 1/11 vs. #5 Clinton County, 1/12 vs. Casey County The scores haven't been pretty but Russell County has won some clutch games they had to have against 16th District competition, picking up their second (that counts) with a four point win over Cumberland County. Scott Hamm had 28 points in the contest on 9/15 shooting with ten free throws. Three other Lakers scored in double digits as fully 1/3 of their points came at the line. They'll look to take another crack at district favorite Clinton County, who they fell to 61-52 in their first meeting at Clinton County on December 14th. 14) Metcalfe County (6-10) - 1/4 61-70 L #5 Clinton County, 1/5 84-55 W Dawson Springs Previous Rank: 15 This Week: 1/8 vs. #6 Monroe County The Hornets are 4-4 in their last eight and put up a very competitive effort against Clinton County in a 70-61 loss that may be a postseason preview. Boston Devore had 27 points in the loss, hitting 4 of 8 from downtown to pace Metcalfe. The Hornets are in the midst of a four game homestand, and take on former district rival Monroe County on Tuesday. 15) Todd County Central (5-12) - 1/4 37-47 L at #9 Franklin-Simpson, 1/5 56-82 L #7 Glasgow Previous Rank: 13 This Week: 1/8 at #10 Greenwood, 1/11 at #3 Logan County The primary focus for the Rebels is likely on beating Russellville when they meet again in February after dropping a game to Franklin on Friday. That loss likely realistically prevents them from chasing the #1 seed. It's a bad beat as big man John Calvery had to leave with a broken tooth. Their 37 points was a season low - no surprise as Calvery averages 18.7 per game. They'll hope to have him back for their district tilt against Logan County. 16) Russellville (5-9) - 1/4 60-87 L #3 Logan County Previous Rank: 16 This Week: 1/7 vs. Jo Byrns (TN), 1/8 at Caverna, 1/11 vs. #9 Franklin-Simpson Jacob Naylor continued his excellent senior season with 29 points in Russellville's loss to Logan County on Friday. Naylor is averaging 27.2 per game, and was 11/21 from the field in the contest. The loss dropped the Panthers to 0-2 in district play, and they'll now face a must-win contest against Franklin-Simpson on Friday. Still, they've been rising a bit of late, with four wins in their last six. They should have a great shot to beat Caverna on Tuesday for momentum. 17) Cumberland County (2-11) - 1/4 72-76 L #14 Russell County Previous Rank: 17 This Week: 1/8 at #5 Clinton County, 1/10 at #11 South Warren, 1/12 at Clay County (TN) The Panthers have lost six in a row, including two straight to Russell County, who they met in the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic as well. They were extremely competitive in the latest loss, falling by just four points. Dawson Smith (21) and Joseph Johnson combined for 39 points, but Cumberland County could not overcome going just 6/21 from the perimeter, and were just 14/20 from the line. They're now 0-3 in district play, with a tough road district game at Clinton County coming up Tuesday.

Final Rankings and Postseason Preview 1) Warren Central (22-6) High Rank - 1, Low Rank - 2, Average Rank - 1 The season experienced a bit of a lull at its midpoint, but ultimately two-time defending region champion Warren Central ended up where it began – at the top of our rankings and as the region favorites. The Dragons raced out of the gates with a 3-0 start, knocking off preseason 3rd Region favorites Owensboro and showing off the three-point attack that would come to define their offense. Then came the lull, beginning with their worst loss of the year, falling 49-48 at home to Glasgow on a buzzer beater. Central would ultimately stumble through an 8-6 stretch against tough opponents, bottoming out in two blowout losses to John Hardin and Bowling Green. But the latter loss remains their last to date. Central has reeled off 11 consecutive wins, their longest streak in six years, and were the outright regular season district champions for the first time since that same 2013/14 season. The Dragons put up a lot of points, averaging 68.79 PPG – their highest season total since the 2012/13 season. The crux of that approach is a steady stream of three-point attempts. The Dragons average 24 attempts per game, accounting for roughly 45% of all their shots. Both Tay Smith and Kobe Brents rank in the top 25 in the state for three point makes per game at 2.9 and 2.8 respectively. Six different Dragons have made 17 or more three pointers on the season. When it’s not a three going up, it is usually region player of the year Dre Boyd doing the scoring – his 161 makes inside the perimeter are the most on the team by 93. His 18.4 PPG average is among the highest in the region, and he almost single handedly brought the Dragons back in their win over Bowling Green in late January, scoring 20 in the third quarter alone. Geovonni Floyd also does his damage inside, and is in the top 10 in the state for field goal percentage among qualified players. The Dragons are talented, veteran, and deep – and playing their best ball of the year. They are definitely vulnerable when they are unable to make their three-point shots, going 7/40 in their losses to John Hardin and Bowling Green, and one of the key parts of their lull was a sudden lack of defense. In four of their six losses, Central allowed over 70 points. Still, the Dragons have the profile of a frontrunner. They open the district with the winner of South Warren and Warren East. The tournament is at South Warren, and the host is expected to be their opponent, which may prove a little tricky. But ultimately, our prediction is that Central wins the region for the third straight year, and ends Bowling Green’s six year stint as district champions. 2) Bowling Green (22-7) High Rank - 1, Low Rank - 3, Average Rank - 2 Unlike Central, which bookended a rough patch with strong play, the Purples were the exact opposite. Their 15 game winning streak from mid-December to late-January was their longest since their state title campaign in 2017, but the bookends combined for just a 7-7 record. That includes a rare losing streak entering the postseason. The Purples lost their final two games of the regular season for the first time in 16 years. The loss to Ballard was understandable, but the home loss to Hopkinsville was definitely a head scratcher. Despite that, Bowling Green is a solid #2 and near co-favorite for the region crown. Averaging nearly 65 PPG, the Purples feature a mold that you could practically find in any of the last 13 years. They play aggressive defense, frequently with full-court pressure, and use their transition game to fuel their offensive attack, looking to get to the rim. Bowling Green attempts a three on only 28.18% of their field goals, choosing instead to go inside, where they hit nearly 52% of their shots. First-team all-region selection Isaiah Mason (a top selection for the second straight year) leads the way, averaging 16.2 PPG. Still just a junior, Mason has a strong mid-range game, and with his length he is tough to match up with properly. His 9.3 rebounds per game leads the team and rates him in the top 40 for the state. Junior Cobi Huddleston is a stronger defensive presence than offensive, but in a region without a lot of big men in the post, he has been known to bully his way to the basket when given the chance. When Bowling Green does shoot outside, sophomore Turner Buttry (11.8 PPG) has proven deadly accurate. A third-team all-region selection, Buttry is shooting 52.6% from three. Third-leading scorer Conner Cooper (10.8 PPG) compliments well from outside as well, knocking down a 42.4% clip. Perpetually young in the last few years, the Purples still don’t have a strong veteran presence, with only reserve Dorian Morrison seeing significant time. With the loss of Jordan Dingle to preseason surgery, Bowling Green typically is only going about 8 deep, so if a team can get into their depth by drawing some fouls, it can cause more problems than years past. Bowling Green lost only a pair of region games, but one was to their district semifinal opponent, Greenwood. That was way back in December, on the road, and their 42 points in that game represented a season low. They proved much more resilient in two home matchups with the Gators (one in a Christmas tourney), scoring 58 and 71 in winning both games. The Purples were just 1/16 from three in their loss, falling behind early and never recovering. A strong start will be crucial for BG, but they are rarely lulled into that many attempts from the perimeter, and if they attack the rim, another trip to the region tournament should be in the offing. They have made six consecutive region finals, and as mentioned each year (until it doesn’t happen), they have not failed to make the finals of a region tournament they advanced to since 2004 – 12 straight appearances. The 2012/13 season when they lost to Warren Central in the district semifinals is the only season they didn’t make the region finals in the last 12 seasons. Our prediction is that they keep that streak alive, reaching the finals, but falling to Central for the third straight year. 3) Logan County (25-3) High Rank - 3, Low Rank - 7, Average Rank - 4 With apologies to Warren Cunningham, who won the KABC COY award for the region, John Tinsley’s job with this Cougar team demanded that recognition, and it was a shame he didn’t get it. Logan County started the year 4-3, but reeled off 21 wins in a row entering the postseason, good enough for the second longest streak in school history. The streak they’re chasing, a 24 game win streak that ran the final 22 games of their state title season in 1983-84 into the start of the next year, is in real jeopardy. The Cougars are overwhelming favorites in District 13, going 6-0 in district play and winning all but one of their matchups by double digits. Their 70.32 PPG leads the region, as does their 17.39 PPG average margin of victory. They went 15-0 in region play, the only unbeaten team in region play – no one else even had as few as one loss. The only game in which they did not score at least 65 points during their winning streak was a 50-49 win over Barren County on January 28th, where they were missing 1st Team all-region selection Anthony Woodard. The Cougars score, they play defense, they win. They are very balanced, with three players averaging between 13.2 and 14.0 PPG, and three others averaging between 8.6 and 9.5 PPG. Jay Hardison leads the team with 14.0 PPG and his 3.7 three pointers per game is #4 in the entire state. He leads the team in three-point percentage (44.8%) despite attempting 125 more than any other player on the team. And he wasn’t even one of the all-region selections. Aforementioned Anthony Woodard comes in at 13.6 PPG. The combo guard-forward is most definitely the most talented player on the team, and the most likely to see the ball in a crunch-time situation. Second-team selection Jose Nazario, a transfer from Puerto Rico, may prove to have been the missing link for the Cougars in their pursuit of a region title. The guard is third on the team with 13.2 PPG, and gave the team yet another strong scoring option, making just under 58% of all attempts. Nazario also leads the team with 8 rebounds per game. Scoring inside, scoring outside, and strong scoring depth – that’s very much a region contender. Their run to the region semifinals last year may prove critical to get them the experience in the tournament atmosphere they need. It also helps that they have easily the clearest path to the region tournament of any team in the region, facing a Russellville squad they beat by 35 and 28 this year. If there is any knock on the Cougars at all, it is that we haven’t seen what they can do against Warren Central or Bowling Green, as neither were on their schedule this year. Logan County fell against both last season, and have lost 14 in a row against the Dragons and 9 in a row against the Purples. Logan County did take down the other three District 14 teams – all at home – culminating with a 75-66 win over Greenwood on February 11th. Even without facing the favorites, it is clear to see that this team is for real, and probably the only team outside the 14th District that I’d feel comfortable in saying I can really see them cutting down the nets. It would help the Cougars greatly if they saw only one District 14 opponent (or hey, NONE), or if they had to face both, if they didn’t have to do it back to back. Given the right circumstances, the Cougars can make a run to the title or at least a runner-up appearance, but our prediction is that they will bow out in the region semifinals against one of the two teams above. 4) Barren County (21-8) High Rank - 4 Low Rank - 7, Average Rank - 5 Now, even though I’d have given the COY to John Tinsley, actual winner Warren Cunningham has done a splendid job with this Trojan team. A preseason dark horse, the Trojans started just 7-6, but closed with 14 wins in their final 16 games. One of those two losses was a one-point road loss at Logan County. They turned a five-point loss to Glasgow just prior to that run into a 17-point victory against the wounded Scotties at the end of the month, riding momentum to a 5-1 record in the 15th District and ultimately, the top seed in the district tournament. Barren County averages a healthy 65 PPG, and has not lost the entire season when they hit that mark. The team is led by first-team all-region selection Aden Nyekan. Last year we tabbed Nyekan as the future star for the team – the sophomore has arrived. Nyekan carries a 16.7 PPG average, leading the team with 7 rebounds per game as well. Nyekan has a strong inside presence, making almost 54% of his shots. Joining him in inside attack is senior Will Bandy, adding 13.5 PPG and 6.3 rebounds per game as well. Bandy is not afraid to step outside and shoot from the perimeter as well, leading the team by percentage with 44.9% accuracy from three. Jacob Shaw is the biggest volume shooter from three for the Trojans, leading the team with 48 makes and 39.3% accuracy. Like Bowling Green, their focus is much more on getting to the rim with more of a post focused attack. Barren County boasts one of the region’s top scoring defenses, holding opponents to just 53 PPG. The Trojans are looking to return to the region tournament for the first time since 2017, and will open with Monroe County. Barren County knocked off the Falcons in both meetings this season, winning by 10 at home in December before gutting out a 47-45 victory on the road on January 20th. That game was won on an Aden Nyekan buzzer beater layup. Barren County has really come on since that matchup, but it is a reminder that though they are the top seed, they are not an unimpeachable favorite. We expect them to win their, take the district, and bow out in the region semifinals on their return to the region tournament. 5) Greenwood (17-13) High Rank - 2, Low Rank - 8, Average Rank - 3 There are many years that Greenwood can be said to be up and down, but this season, they were almost inexplicable at times. The Gator starting lineup may well be the most talented in the entire region. Three of their starters were named to the all-region team. And yet….. they are just 17-13. They announced their presence with an 85-70 win over Glasgow in the second game of the season, and then promptly lost to a Russell County team that is frankly, not supposed to be in their league. They followed that with a loss to Allen County-Scottsville, and then reeled off four straight wins, including a road win over Clinton County and knocking off Bowling Green for the first time in seven years. And then they lost to Franklin-Simpson. All of that was in the first nine games – a microcosm of their entire year. Like many recent years, Greenwood seems destined to be the team you most believe could win the region tournament outside the favorites – if only they could get out of their own district tournament. Cade Stinnett, yet another super soph in the region – leads the team with 15.3 PPG. An athletic guard and second-team all-region selection, Stinnett leads the team in field goal percentage, making 50.3% of his attempts. He has been easily the most consistent scorer for the team. Some of that is due to the focus paid to Ben Carroll. The big man has been the team-leader, and is second on the team with 12.6 PPG. Also a second-team all-region selection, Carroll leads the team in rebounding, and they are at their best when the offense flows through him. That doesn’t always mean he is taking the shot, but Carroll is a talented distributor, a consistent outside threat (39.4%), as well as one of the best ball-handlers. That being said, the team might never be more dangerous than when Noah Stansbury is on fire. A third-team all-region selection, Stansbury is what you expect out of a coach’s son. He’s a good shooter (75/196 from three), a fantastic free throw shooter (85.3%), and plays with high basketball IQ. It’s not an accident that in their victory over Bowling Green that he came out on fire, burying the Purples with four threes and dropping in 24 points. He dropped 26 in their second meeting on 8/10 shooting from three, making fully half of the shots Greenwood made in a game they struggled. If he can get hot from three, anything can happen. Of course, the Gators allow 60 PPG as well – very uncharacteristic of the team over the year. It’s not likely at all they can beat Bowling Green allowing that many. They’ll open the postseason with the Purples, a team they’ve beaten just twice in the last 11 years, and both of those were at home. It’s our prediction that they are unable to get the job done in the postseason away from home, falling in the district semifinals. But if they can find their way past that game, there’s a great chance Greenwood could make their way to the region finals. Or lose in the first round of region. Seriously, it’s all possible with Greenwood. 6) Clinton County (21-7) High Rank - 6, Low Rank - 12, Average Rank - 8 The final team in these rankings with 20+ wins, Clinton County’s journey was much like that of Barren County. They had a bit of a rocky start, entering the new year with a 9-5 record, but closed strong with 12 wins in their final 14 games. The early part of the year can perhaps be chalked up to the lack of Jackson Harlan, the prolific scorer who graduated after taking POY honors last season. In his absence, the Bulldogs have been winning almost exclusively on the back of defense. Their 55 PPG average is well below that of their 20-win peers, but they lead the region in scoring defense, allowing only 49.42 PPG. They have won 15 of their 21 games scoring less than 60 points, a bit of an oddity in the modern game. It’s incredibly impressive, but it also makes them vulnerable. That allowed them to take losses such as a 46-45 result against Franklin-Simpson in December, and an almost unthinkable 52-50 loss to Metcalfe County in the region’s All “A” Classic in January. That loss was their only one to a district opponent, though it did not count in the official district standings. They wrapped up the top seed in the district before that game was even played. Chase Stines leads the team with 15.7 PPG, the only Bulldog averaging in double digits. He also leads the team with 5 rebounds per game. In a bit of an oddity, they will end up playing Metcalfe County in the 1/4 game, matching them against the only team that beat them in the district – a win that ultimately was Metcalfe County’s only win in the district. The Hornets have not looked great lately, making it rather unlikely that the upset will be pulled twice. Our prediction is that Clinton County wins their district, but exits in the region semifinals – unless they happen to face one of the above teams in the first round. Which, Clinton County has a habit of finding poor region draws. 7) Glasgow (14-13) High Rank - 3, Low Rank - 9, Average Rank - 7 Finally, the sad story of Glasgow. Their high hopes for the season took an almost immediate detour when Tucker Kirkpatrick suffered a knee injury in their season opener against Monroe County. It was a harbinger of things to come. Kirkpatrick was just the first of several Scotties to deal with ailments over the season, as starters Bowen Haney and Jaden Franklin have also missed time – Franklin missed nearly a month. Everyone is back now, though Kirkpatrick is clearly limited. This all led to a 1-3 start for Glasgow that snowballed until they were 10-13, falling at home to Allen County-Scottsville to fall to #2 in the district standings. They have rebounded with four straight wins and finally as healthy as they could hope to be, but their development and flow has been completely shot. They are the most likely of any team to come from completely off the radar to make a run due to their talent, but they may never get the chance, having to open at Allen County-Scottsville in the district tournament. The team did place two on the all-region squad, with Jaden Franklin making the second team while Nick Sorrell got his second straight nod on the first-team. Sorrell averaged 19.1 PPG this year, trying to single-handedly lift the team as everyone around him got hurt. It was Sorrell who hit the game winner in their road win over Warren Central, the shining moment of the season to this point. The Scotties have the talent to do something, but it’s hard to see it coming together now. Our prediction is a district runner-up finish to Barren County, and a region quarterfinal exit. 8) Franklin-Simpson (13-14) High Rank - 7, Low Rank - 11, Average Rank - 9 The Wildcats have felt like they were “this close” at times this season. Franklin has had some top-notch wins, knocking off Clinton County, Greenwood, Owensboro, and South Warren. They’ve not really had a terrible loss since falling to Monroe County in the season opener, but the games they’ve lost, they’ve often been completely obliterated. That includes a three game home stretch that saw them lose to Logan County, Barren County, and Bowling Green by 14, 27, and 27. Franklin features a full-court pressure attack that can get them back into games, as it did in a double digit comeback at Clinton County back in a 46-45 win in December. The Wildcats don’t shoot particularly well, making just 42.7% of all shots and just over 29% from the perimeter. DeMarco Chatman was a third-team all-region selection, averaging 12.4 PPG and leading the team in rebounds with 6.4 per game. Kyjuan Stutzman leads the team with 14.7 PPG, owing to his volume from three. Franklin has only had one real winning streak, winning four in a row to open January. They are 4-3 in their last seven games, but other than that win streak, have won two in a row only one other time. They should have little trouble with Todd County Central in their district opener, winning their first two matchups by 13 and 24, but they should finish as runner-up to Logan County and exit in the first round of region. 9) South Warren (15-14) High Rank - 5, Low Rank - 9, Average Rank - 6 I’ve frequently described South Warren as a dangerous team – and they are very much in the same way that Greenwood can be. But they are every bit as inconsistent as the Gators. The only thing consistent about the Spartan program is their .500 play. The team enters the postseason at 15-14, needing just a win over Warren East in the 4/5 district game to grab their second winning season in the last seven years. But this is a team that hasn’t entered the postseason with less than 14 losses since their opening season 9 years ago. They haven’t won more than 16 games in a season since then either. Six of the previous eight seasons for South Warren have seen them within two games of .500 in either direction, and the other two were way on the losing side. It’s hard to explain, because this program has real talent. Jace Carver averages 15 PPG, and shoots 39.2% from three. When he gets hot, as he did in a furious near-comeback over Bowling Green, they can be a real load to handle. Caleb Mitchell-Franklin (13.2 PPG) has really impressed me each time I’ve seen South Warren in person. The team has strong guard play, always has one of two guys with size, but never seems to put it all together. This year is no different, as the team has lost 8 of their last 12 coming into the postseason. Big plus for the squad – they host the district tournament. They open with Warren East, and will easily win that game, but then will face a surging Warren Central squad. South led at the end of the first quarter and at halftime of their home matchup with Central, ultimately falling by five. If they can get into a rhythm, they can absolutely pull the upset. But for a team that has never won a district semifinal, you really can’t predict that happening until you see it the first time – especially not against the region favorites. 10) Allen County-Scottsville (14-14) High Rank - 7, Low Rank - 11, Average Rank - 10 The Patriots suffered some big graduation losses from last year’s surprise success team, and while they’ve flashed at moments, has mostly been a middle of the pack team for the region. Third-team all-region selection Mason Shirley has been a consistently good player for the Patriots, leading them with 15.7 PPG. But the junior hasn’t quite taken the leap forward that was expected after a strong sophomore campaign, likely owing to increased attention. He is joined in double digit scoring by Jax Cooper (12.4 PPG) and Owen Stamper (10.4 PPG). But the team will go as Shirley goes. Against Glasgow, he scored a then-career high 35 points to steal a road victory in overtime, pulling the Scotties into a district tournament matchup with them. Three days later, he dropped 39 on Metcalfe County in a double overtime victory. He had just five in a 34-point loss to Warren Central five days later. Shirley will likely need to be superhuman again for the Patriots to beat Glasgow. I just don’t think it happens. 11) Russell County (13-16) High Rank - 9, Low Rank - 14, Average Rank - 11 Russell County saw an improved season after last year saw them miss the region tournament for the first time, but the Lakers remain far off the radar for contenders. Scott Hamm (14.4 PPG) and Briley Hadley (11.9 PPG) lead an offensive attack that averages 56 PPG. They’ll host a Cumberland County team that they split the regular season with, with each team winning their road matchup. This game will be at tournament host Russell County, which despite the unusual road team trend in their regular season series, bodes well for the Lakers. It seems unlikely they would lose twice at home to the Panthers, so the prediction is for Russell County to get back to region. But that’s all they’ll do. 12) Monroe County (10-17) High Rank - 10, Low Rank - 13, Average Rank - 13 The Falcons have their work cut out for them against Barren County, though they did play the Trojans to a 47-45 decision when they last met in January. The Falcons have closed out the regular season with just three wins in their final 12 games, and have fallen in three straight. Grayson Rich leads the team with 16.2 PPG, with Kale Hagan chipping in 11.1 PPG. The Falcons have frequently had trouble generating offense, with only one game in their last seven topping 70 points. Six of their ten wins this year came at home – our prediction is that they cannot pull the upset of Barren County away from the friendly confines. 13) Metcalfe County (15-14) High Rank - 9, Low Rank - 13, Average Rank - 12 The last month of the season derailed what was looking like a really great story for the Hornets. It’s still a good story, but one goal I was personally hoping for them – their first winning season in nine years – appears to be a longshot with Clinton County looming. The Hornets have fallen to this position with just two wins in their last nine games, turning 13-7 into 15-14. This will still be remembered as a year that Metcalfe County upset Clinton County and captured the 4th Region All “A” title, winning a game in the state tournament as well, even if the other goals don’t fall into place. Junior guard Boston Devore worked his way into a second-team all-region selection, posting 18.6 PPG to lead the squad. Peyton Dial (14.7 PPG) also averages in double figures. Metcalfe County features a three-point heavy attack, averaging almost 21 attempts per game, so if they get hot, they can be giant slayers. But it looks like they’ll bow out against Clinton County in the district semifinals. 14) Warren East (6-20) High Rank - 11, Low Rank - 17, Average Rank - 14 Warren East is seeking their first region tournament appearance in 23 years, but it’s all but an impossibility. The Raiders have stumbled to their worst record in almost a decade, going winless in district play and reaching 20 losses for the first time since 2010/11. Kaleb Matlock (10.5 PPG) and Isaiah Andrews (10.0 PPG) are the only players averaging in double figures for East. They fell by 22 and 26 to their first opponent South Warren, allowing 83 when they played South Warren on the road, which is where they’ll be in this one. With 19 straight district losses, there is no realistic way to believe they’ll win two straight now. 15) Cumberland County (6-20) High Rank - 15, Low Rank - 17, Average Rank – T-15 Dawson Smith leads a Cumberland County squad that averages 58.2 PPG, with Smith chipping in 16.9 per game. He averages a double-double, with his 10.1 rebounds per game coming in as tops in the region. The Panthers went 4-13 in region play, but 3-3 in their district. That included a surprising sweep of Metcalfe County, and a split with district tournament opponent Russell County. Their win was a 59-52 result at Russell County, who also hosts them in the district tourney. While that all sounds good, it seems unlikely the Panthers would be able to do that twice, and they enter at 2-8 since that win over Russell County on January 10th. Their road ends here. 16) Todd County Central (6-21) High Rank - 15, Low Rank - 17, Average Rank - 17 The Rebels just couldn’t get much going this year, winning their first two games but then losing 14 in a row afterwards. They did manage to knock off Russellville twice, getting two district wins, with the last an 80-78 win in double overtime. They fared worse against district tournament opponent Franklin-Simpson, dropping those games by 13 and 24. They’ll lose again here to close their season. 17) Russellville (6-20) High Rank - 14, Low Rank - 17, Average Rank – T-15 The Panthers won their first three games of the season, but have not won two in a row since, and enter the postseason on a nine game losing streak. Russellville went 0-6 in district play, and 0-10 in region play. Jaquis Todd has been a bright spot, averaging 16.3 PPG, but there is no scenario where Russellville upsets first round opponent Logan County, even at home. The Cougars started Russellville’s losing streak with an 82-54 result on January 31st. This will likely be more of the same. Top Players in the 4th Region 1. Dre Boyd, G, Sr. (Warren Central) – Voted the POY by both the 4th Region coaches and the KABC. Boyd is physical on both offense and defense, and is deadly when he gets inside. 2. Isaiah Mason, G, Jr. (Bowling Green) – Mason is as steady as they come, leading the Purples in scoring and rebounding. 3. Nick Sorrell, G, Sr. (Glasgow) – Finished as one of the best scorers in the region despite a revolving door in his supporting cast this season. Sorrell is a player whose desire to win is always apparent. 4. Ben Carroll, F, Sr. (Greenwood) – Carroll may not have the flashy scoring average, but he possesses all the intangibles while providing the ability to do anything you want on offense and defense. 5. Aden Nyekan, F, So. (Barren County) – This is your future POY in the region. Nyekan is just a joy to watch play basketball. 6. Turner Buttry, G, So. (Bowling Green) – A deadly marksman from three and an incredible distributor, Buttry may actually be the key to Bowling Green’s success. 7. Anthony Woodard, F, Jr. (Logan County) – Woodard is just so smooth on the court, and an incredible athlete. 8. Tay Smith, G, Sr. (Warren Central) – One of the top three-point shooters in the state, Smith has an incredibly quick trigger from the perimeter, and his length is great for defense and rebounding. 9. Jose Nazario, G, Sr. (Logan County) – Nazario’s addition to Logan County pushed them from good to great. 10. Cade Stinnett, G, So. (Greenwood) – Another talented sophomore, Stinnett will be Greenwood’s go-to guy the next two seasons.