[kittycat]

Russell and Ashland Sat will be interesting with Darnell and Mitchell back. Well see how much Ashland can apply the pressure D to get the TO'S. West continues to do well but hasnt played anyone to date, so its hard to tell. BC's win vs Male was very impressive even coming from a Kitten fan

[nekysportsfan]

With wins over Russell, Ashland, and Male, Boyd has clearly established themselves as the top team and Wheeler has established herself as the top player. I would still rank Russell 2nd and overlook the loss to East since Darnell and Mitchell weren't playing. West has looked very good so far. Like you said, though, we have to wait until they play some of the top teams before being completely sold on them. Ashland has been solid so far and you are correct that their game Saturday against Russell will tell us if they need to move up the rankings.

After the top 4 teams, I don't see anyone with much potential for winning this region. Maybe Rowan, East, or Menifee might be able to pull off an upset, but no one else is going to. Lewis and Greenup have been disappointing. Raceland lost their best player. Fleming has such a tough early schedule that they are winless.

At this point, I would rank the region like this:

TIER 1 - Boyd

TIER 2 - Russell, West, Ashland

TIER 3 - Rowan, East, Menifee

TIER 4 - Lewis, Raceland, Greenup, Fleming

TIER 5 - Fairview, Morgan, Elliott, Bath, Rose Hill

[Dookie]

I totally agree...The most impressive thing so far from Boyd is they are winning some gut check games and still haven't shot extremely well yet and their depth has been impressive. Russell and Ashland should be a good one Saturday.... Ashland beat them last year without Robinson on Russell's home floor and almost upset them in the Regionals- but I am really impressed with them so far this year. Seem a little deeper and more physical than in the past and have a lot of girls contributing. Getting Mitchell healthy will be a huge boost for them. Mitchell is such a defensive force for them she can really get teams out of sorts. I noticed Ashland got some depth with Fulton coming back from a broken finger...I didn't realize she was out of the lineup till after the Boyd game-I really like her defensive toughness and it will definitely be a boost for the Kittens who I felt weren't very deep in the Boyd game...plus she can give them a boost offensively. I still like this West Carter team. They play with a ton of enthusiasm and intensity and really seem to be hitting their stride. This team can go as deep as anyone in the region with quality players off the bench- don't know they are quite mature enough to handle a Boyd or maybe even Russell or Ashland but they can be scary good. Nice break down and some big games coming up- teams jockeying for district seeds and these early battles very important to the run for the Regionals. Good Luck Ladies!

[david5164]

I agree Boyd County is probably at #1 in the 16th after close wins over Russell in OT, Ashland, and Male in OT. I will say Russell had a couple of injuries to start the season that hurt them against East Carter and Mitchell was out vs. Boyd County. I still believe the top 3 when Regionals roll around for the 16th region will be one of these three teams heading to the State Tournament this year. I also believe that Boyd County has 3-4 players that are good players but Wheeler is there go to player averaging near 30 ppg. I believe that Russell with Darnell, Mitchell, Michael, Sanders, and the 2 outstanding Freshmen in Ross and Hill. I believe Russell when there 6-7 players are healthy could be the best overall team this year if they can stay healthy the remaining of the season. It will be a toss-up come Regional time between Boyd County, Russell, and Ashland.

[Dookie]

Lady Lions really starting to click on all cylinders. Last nights win over a pretty good Spring Valley team was pretty impressive. Valley has a pretty good shot making some noise in the 3A(Big School) division in W.Va. I think this team will only get better as the season rolls on. Big game Saturday as Russell goes to Ashland. Anxious to see how that unfolds. My Lady Lions will be at East Carter then off to Lexington the following week for a tourney. Good luck ladies and keep rolling!

[nekysportsfan]

Some pretty big games last night in the region have shed some light on where the top teams stand at this point. Boyd destroyed East, or as East coach Easterling said in the paper, Wheeler destroyed East. She must be averaging 30 a game at this point. What a player.

In the battle of contenders, Ashland impressed by shutting Russell down with a stellar defensive performance. I admit I was wrong about this at the start of the year. Ashland has to be the clear number 2 as they flat out dominated the Lady Devils.

I jump them over West at this point because West suffered their first loss at Pikeville. Pikeville is a good team in the 15th, but this was the first game West has played against really good competition.

So as it stands right now...
1. Boyd
2. Ashland
3. West
4. Russell

[kittycat]

Ashland was very dominant last night..they played a lock down style of D. Russell had no answer for it all night. They were fun to watch last night as a life long Kitten fan.

[Dookie]

Had the pleasure of watching Ms Wheeler score her 2000th point last night. Congrats and with 1 3/4 seasons to go it's likely she could get to 3500....kid can flat out play. Surprised that WC went down but anything can happen in this game. Also surprised Kittens held Russell in check....not surprised Kittens won though. Held serve on home court. West will regroup and Russell will also. East Carter also better than I thought they'd be....this group has fun...plays hard...and doesn't back down. Nice coaching job by one of the best coaches in the region. Some fun tourney games next couple of weeks with teams stepping out to play some good competition outside of region....have fun and good luck ladies!

[kittycat]

Wheeler is crazy good offensively. Best in the region offensively without question.
Good kid too! I hope I can get off to come watch the tournament this week. Seems like great basketball down there.

[Dookie]

With roughly a 3rd of the games played....how does everyone see the region now. After watching games in Lexington...I still feel Boyd is the team To beat. Led by POY favorite Wheeler they have proven they can play with some of the top teams in the state. After seeing them play Male twice and Scott Co as well as knocking off the Kittens they have a leg up on all other region teams. The Kittens and their pg Robinson are a solid 2nd at this point followed by West Carter and then Russell. West Carter is kind of a mystery as their schedule has been fairly easy early in the season. It's about to get a lot tougher from here on out but these young guns can really play the game and are fun to watch. 8th grade phenom Stone is the real deal along with a bevy of really good guards and post player Berry. It's about to heat up and the pretenders and contenders will separate in the next 2 to 3 weeks. Lots of action ahead- good luck ladies!