John McGraw's Feb 1st KY/TN HS Top 40

TN/KY HS Top 40 WEEK #8 – Feb 1st. 2015
Week 8	Prev Week	High School	Record	The Skinny
1	1	Blackman (TN)	21-2	Since the last poll have won huge games vs Riverdale, Smyrna, at Oakland and beat Toledo Rogers (OH) at the Raatz Fence Classic in Lousiville
2	2	Elizabethtown (KY)	24-2	Beat Riverdale (TN) at the Raatz Fence Classic then won the LIT beating Sacred Heart, Ashland Blazer and Butler to claim the title.
3	3	Dyer Co (TN)	24-0	Won on the road at Muford and blew out a few other teams. Have taken care of business thus far, but strength of schedule against national level competition is the only question mark.
4	4	Ridgeway (TN)	19-0	Won 4 games since the last poll, the closest being a 70-53 win over Southwind. Their 20 point win over Olive Branch (MS) looks more and more impressive.
5	8	Mt. Juliet (TN)	23-2	On a 13 game win streak that started Dec. 27th. Have only lost once since an opening game loss to Oakland.
6	7	Oakland (TN)	20-4	Lost on the road at Blackman 60-66, and have beaten 3 other teams by 35+ since the last poll. Have a re-match at home vs Smyrna this week. Look for them to avenge their loss.
7	14	Butler (KY)	18-4	Beat Franklin Co twice since the last poll and then took down a Henderson Co team who has been slowed by injuries. Lost to Elizabethtown 60-49 in the Championship game of the LIT.
8	5	Henderson Co. (KY)	20-2	Had their 15 game win streak come to a halt as their top player ’17 Alisha Owens went down with a season ending injury and then shooter Maci Brown hurt her wrist vs. Butler in the LIT semis.
9	9	Riverdale (TN)	19-6	Hard to put a team with 6 losses in the top ten, but 5 of those losses come to Miami Sr (FL), Blackman (twice), Oakland, and Elizabethtown. Since the last poll they have wins over a ranked Smyrna team and a good Stewarts Creek team.
10	12	Elizabethton (TN)	23-0	23 and O and just rolling everyone they play. Would be nice to see them play some of the upper echelon TN and KY teams so we have a better idea of where they truly stand. They are far and away the best team in TN AA and the likelihood they are challenged even for the state title is unlikely.
11	25	Holy Cross Covington (KY)	18-3	Won 8 games in a row, knocking off Holmes on the road then coming from behind to beat Murray in the All A Championship game. Also took down Highlands their Region 9 rival at home by 1.
12	10	Murray (KY)	22-2	Had a 15 game win streak halted by Holy Cross Covington on a last second shot in the All A Championship. Have 2 huge games coming up with Marshall County and Paducah Tilghman
13	18	Memphis Overton (TN)	20-2	Been handling their business lately beating a good White Station team, then handling Whitehaven and Central.
14	27	Ashland Blazer (KY)	18-5	Probably the most volatile team in the rankings, they seem to be their best versus good competition. Won 6 in row, including Boyd Co and Mercy then lost in the LIT semi’s vs. Elizabethtown
15	15	Paducah Tilghman (KY)	20-2	Won 8 in row and have a re-match with Graves Co coming up soon. Swept their season series vs Marshall Co.
16	17	Middleton (TN)	24-0	Continue to roll everyone they play. Should be an interesting Tennessee State “A” tournament, one of the most talented in years.
17	13	Holmes (KY)	21-1	Lost their first game of the season to Holy Cross Covington by 4 but beat Highlands and Newport Central Catholic
18	22	Allen County-Scottsville (KY)	18-3	12 game win streak dating back to Dec. 29th. Have a 9 point win over Bowling Green recently.
19	23	CPA (TN)	21-0	Had a slight scare vs Giles Co, winning by just 4 on the road. Otherwise record remains untarnished and probably will until they face Elizabethton in the state tournament.
20	30	Henry Clay (KY)	18-3	Nine game win streak includes wins over Male and Lafayette. Have a good chance to close out the season without another blemish.
21	31	Bearden (TN)	24-3	Nine game win streak includes wins over William Blount, Heritage and Farragut. Next game is a big one versus Maryville.
22	6	Male (KY)	16-2	Finally got to the “meat” of their schedule and struggled with big time competition, losing to Henry Clay and getting blown out by a depleted Henderson Co in the LIT. Did manage to beat regional rival Dupont Manual.
23	34	Brentwood Academy (TN)	22-1	On a 19 game win streak and have only won once by less than double digits, a 9 point win over GPS from Chattanooga.
24	NR	Sacred Heart	15-6	A young team that started the year with 4 losses in their first 2 weeks. Gave Elizabethtown their closest game at the LIT losing in the semis halting an 8 game win streak. Have a brutal stretch to end the season including Mercy, Holy Cross Covington, Franklin Co, and Butler among others
25	16	Dickson Co (TN)	23-2	Crushed Brentwood on the road earlier in the year but then went down in the re-match 49-42. Otherwise they are 12 and 1 in their last 13. Should win their last 2 games easily.
26	11	Dupont Manual (KY)	17-6	Seemed to have things back on track then lost 2 out of the last 3 to Henderson Co and Male. Have a rematch with Male coming up soon.
27	20	MHEA (TN)	25-5	Had a slip up versus St. Benedict’s of Auburndale after crushing a good Munford team.
28	19	South Warren (KY)	18-4	They’ve gone 11-1 in their last 12 games, losing to Warren Central at home then avenging that loss on the road.
29	21	Bell Co. (KY)	18-2	Haven’t lost since the last poll but barely beat Volunteer HS (TN) in OT, and they haven’t been one of the better teams in northeast TN this season.
30	24	Mercer Co. (KY)	19-3	Like Bell Co. they haven’t lost since last poll but they barely won on the road at East Jessamine squeaking out a 2 point win in the last seconds.
31	35	White Co (TN)	23-2	Have a big win recently over Cumberland Co, but they aren’t just killing teams.
32	32	East Carter (KY)	19-4	Since last poll beat a good South Charleston (WV) team. Have 2 tough region games coming up vs. Boyd Co and Ashland Blazer
33	29	Smyrna (TN)	17-6	Have only gone 3-2 in their last 5 but the 2 losses have come to Riverdale and Blackman. Have a big rematch with Oakland whom they beat by 20 earlier in the year.
34	36	West Carroll (TN)	25-0	A big matchup with Gibson Co in the play-offs looms but West Carroll a surprise pick in the pre-season poll has exceeded even our expectations.
35	37	Houston Co. (TN)	26-1	They just keep winning but really who are the teams they are playing…not exactly the cream of the crop.
36	38	Simon Kenton (KY)	20-1	Haven’t lost in a long time, but like many of the teams near the bottom of the top 40 with great records, the level of their competition hasn’t been too strong. They face Franklin Co next and we can get a real sense of where they stand.
37	28	Mercy (KY)	15-7	Mercy remains in the poll with the weakest record of any team because of their brutal schedule. They lost to nationally ranked Incarnate Word (MO) and then Ashland Blazer by 2 in the LIT. Have the weaker part of their schedule coming up and should finish with a better record than they have currently.
38	39	Knoxville Webb (TN)	22-4	After slipping up a few times in early January they have come back strong winning 9 in a row. Should win TN Div 2-A state title
39	40	Hamilton Heights (TN)	17-6	Getting towards the end of their schedule. Haven’t lost since the last poll, but will see some quality competition at the NACA National Tournament
tie 40	NR	Southwestern (KY)	18-2	Have won 10 in a row but have tough games with Mercer Co and Bell Co coming up soon.
tie 40	NR	Jefferson Co. (TN)	20-6	Swept their season series with Morristown West. Hard to argue a team A is better when team B beats them twice….hence Jefferson Co, welcome to the poll.
Dropped out: #26 Morristown West (TN), #33 Highlands (KY), #40 Dyersburg
	Others Receiving Consideration (in alphabetical order)
		Bradley Central	18-4
		Brentwood (TN)	21-3
		Briarcrest Christian (TN)	16-6
		Bowling Green (KY)	18-6
		Cumberland Co. (TN)	21-4
		Danville (KY)	17-5
		Dyersburg (TN)	21-3
		Franklin Co (KY)	16-4
		Graves Co (KY)	18-3
		Gibson Co. (TN)	26-3
		Highlands (KY)	18-3
		Houston (TN)	15-5
		Jackson South Side (TN)	20-4
		Maryville (TN)	20-3
		Morristown West (TN)	23-4
		So. Greene (TN)	22-4