3 Up, 3 Down – Week 5

<p>We have reached the midway point for many of the state's basketball teams. Most teams are at or near the 15 game mark and players are hitting their stride. We now have a big enough sample size to start to figure out which teams have a real shot to make Rupp Arena and which teams are just pretenders. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>3 Up:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li><strong>South Laurel - </strong>The Cardinals are riding a 13 game win streak since their opening night loss to Scott County in Georgetown. <strong>JJ Ramey and Matt Cromer</strong> are playing extremely well and <strong>Brett Norvell</strong> is averaging double figures as a third wheel scoring option. The Cards have 2 more likely wins before they run into unbeaten Clay County on the 10th.</li> <li><strong>Butler - </strong>The Bears are rolling and have established themselves as the team to beat in the 6th region. They're 12-3 with one loss in overtime, a close loss to Male and a loss to Henry Clay that they already avenged. <strong>Reese Tolley, Tre Minter and Jadon Lamb </strong>are all averaging double figures and the team has great scoring balance. As a team, Coach Goodin's squad is shooting 42% from the field and get plenty of good looks on offense.</li> <li><strong>Waggener - </strong>The Wildcats are quietly having their best start in several years are look like a real threat to win the 7th region. They're 12-1 overall and their lone blemish was an upset to St. Xavier. Waggener beat Ballard for the first time in school history. They're a veteran team with 6 players averaging between 7 and 14 points per game. Senior <strong>JJ Kalakon</strong> is having a big year as their leader. Keep an eye on Waggener in the 7th.</li> </ul> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>3 Down:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li><strong>Caverna -</strong> The Colonels have fallen 9 straight games since their opening night win over Fort Knox. They've lost 8 of 9 games by double figures. Their roster is extremely young but Mason Faulkner isn't walking through that door, They do have winnable games left on their schedule but Caverna will need their young talent to grow up if they want to get back to competing in the fifth region.</li> <li><strong>St. Patrick - </strong>The little school in the 10th region has managed to be very competitive in recent years. Not the case this season. The Saints are 0-15 on the year and have a real chance at going winless this season. They'll be underdogs in every game the rest of the season but they have a very young program who should be developing their young kids to get ready for the future.</li> <li><strong>Ashland Blazer -</strong> I'm pretty sure I predicted the Tomcats to win the 16th region. At this point they're 5-6 and losing games they should win. New coach Jason Mays has a resume' a mile long but is struggling in his first season at the helm. They still have time to turn their season around but right now it doesn't look like they can compete with Rowan, Elliott or Morgan County on the top of the 16th.</li> </ul>