Regular Season: Day Five

A note or two from last night's limited schedule...

--The 4th region is looking good early, as the Russellville Panthers defeated Fort Campbell 94-79 in an exciting contest. Greenwood also smacked Butler County by 46 last night, and all this success early on has been done without the help of the region's five-time defending champion, the Warren Central Dragons.

--McCreary Central edged Pulaski County 70-68 in overtime to run their record to 2-0. Expect a lot of similar games this season in the 12th, which is arguably the most wide open region in the state.

--Graves County and Marshall County were early winners in the Marshall County Hoop Fest, which continues today.

And now for tonight's top action, the first Friday of the young season...

--All western Kentucky baskeball fans will have their eyes on Hopkinsville, as the Christian County Colonels welcome the Warren Central Dragons. As stated earlier, the 4th region has been very impressive out of the gates, and a big win for Central would only affirm that initial thought.

--Coming off a big win at Male, DeSales gets back to work at home against PRP. With the win, DeSales would likely shoot up into the top 10 state rankings (at least they would in mine, which will debut on Sunday). PRP could jump into the role of regional favorite with a win, due to Doss's loss to Manual early this week.

--Meanwhile, Male stares an 0-2 start square in the face, as the Bulldogs must travel to Jeffersontown to battle the defending state champion Chargers. J-town defeated South Oldham in impressive fashion to begin the season, and a win over visiting Male would establish the Chargers as the regional favorites once more, slightly ahead of...

--Ballard, which will be featured in the best game so far this season, as the Bruins head to Georgetown to face the highly-regarded Scott County Cardinals. Scott County started their season with a nice win over Lafayette. Ballard, however, will provide a much stiffer test for Matt Walls, Bud Mackey and company.

--Heading back west, Shelby County will look to affirm their high status as the Rockets host defending 11th region champion Madison Central. The Indians, fresh off a spanking of rival Madison Southern, have flown under the radar preseason in the 11th region, and hopefully a win in Shelbyville will garner a few more headlines.

--There are some good tournament matchups tonight as well. In Tates Creek's Commodore Classic, the host Commodores play Lexington Christian after 15th region favorite Paintsville tackles Bryan Station. Out west, the Marshall County Hoop Fest will feature a nice Marshall County-Trigg County matchup, along with Paducah Tilghman playing Shelbyville, TN. Other tournaments will be held at Glasgow, Shelby Valley and Somerset.