Sun-Democrat, February 14, 1974

 

Murray And

Brookport Widen Leads In Polls--Tilghman, Vienna Rank 2nd in Area Basketball Ratings

 

By Jerry Atkins, Sun-Democrat Sports Editor

 

When Murray and Brookport zoomed to the top of area high school basketball polls, apparently they liked what they found.  At any rate, the two schools have fought off all challengers and, for the first time, opened up comfortable leads over second-ranked clubs.

 

Coach Bob Toon’s Murray quint claimed the number one position in West Kentucky’s First Region poll of coaches five weeks ago.  Last week, the Tigers fell into a first-place tie with Paducah Tilghman, but this week, the Blue Tornado ranks a distant second, 19 points off the lead.

 

Meanwhile, Coach John Waggner’s Brookport Bulldogs have paved a similar path in the Sun-Democrat’s poll of Southern Illinois coaches from the Vienna and Anna Regionals.  Brookport has been atop the Illinois poll for three weeks now, but this week’s 10-point lead over runner-up Vienna is the widest advantage held by the Bulldogs since overtaking the Eagles.

 

Now with only this week and next left in the regular season, it appears the two top-ranked quints have good shots at finishing the season atop the respective polls..but, the road ahead is rugged for both.  Murray still has fourth-ranked Calloway County, third-ranked Mayfield and 13th-ranked Fulton County to play while Brookport will have to answer to 9th-ranked Egyptian, 13th-ranked Cobden and 5th-ranked Century.

 

Murray, sporting the First Region’s best won-loss record at 17-2, pulled 11 first-place votes from the 19 coaches who participated in this week’s balloting.  The Tigers have won eight straight, and 14 of their last 15.  Only a nine-point loss at Carlisle County and a 10-point decision at Mayfield blot the seasonal worksheet.

 

Tilghman, 14-7 after losing to Calloway County last saturday and winning over Brookport Tuesday, claimed three first-place nods and 152 total points, 19 behind Murray’s 171 and 10 over Mayfield’s 142.  The Bluemen’s 72-61 loss at Calloway is their only setback in seven outings.

 

Mayfield retained its third-place position in this week’s poll, pulling two first-place nods and inching closer to Tilghman.  The Cardinals, boasting a 19-3 mark, hold the Region's longest current winning streak with 11 straight.

 

Calloway, on the strength of 10 straight wins which include triumphs over Tilghman and Carlisle County in the same week, climbed a notch into fourth place.  The Lakers, now 14-6, haven’t lost since absorbing a 64-56 setback before St. Mary in the semifinals of the Paducah Tilghman Christmas Invitational. 

 

Gaining the fourth-place slot gives Calloway its highest ranking since drawing the number one position in a pre-season poll of coaches.

 

Carlisle County, the winningest team in either poll with its 21-6 worksheet, fell a notch in the standings for the third straight week.  The Comets have lost three of their last five outings, but to teams now currently ranked ahead of them--Tilghman, Calloway and Mayfield.

 

St. Mary (17-10) and Lone Oak (16-6) retained their sixth and seventh positions respectively, while improving Hickman County, the First Region’s defending champion, moved up a notch into eighth.  South Marshall also moved up a position as county-rival North Marshall made room by dropping from eighth to tenth.

 

Reidland almost gave the Second District four spots in the top ten, but the Greyhounds were nudged out by a single point.

 

THE POLLS--Here is this week’s area high school basketball polls, points awarded on a 10-9-8-etc. basis For each 1-2-3 etc. vote of participating coaches.  Team records and first-place votes are in parenthesis:

 

WEST KENTUCKY--FIRST REGION

​

Team                                        Record        First Place Votes        Total Votes

1. Murray High.............................(17-3)..............................(11)....................................171

2. Tilghman...................................(15-7)................................(3)................................... 152

3. Mayfield......................................(19-3).............................. (2)....................................142

4. Calloway Co.............................(14-4)...............................(2)....................................123

5. Carlisle Co..................................(21-6)..............................(1).................................... 123

6. St. Mary.........................................(17-10)........................................................................91

7. Lone Oak.....................................(14-6)......................................................................... 71

8. Hickman Co...............................(15-7)...........................................................................53

9. South Marshall........................(13-13).........................................................................34

10. North Marshall..........................(9-11)..........................................................................21

 

Others receiving votes:  Reidland, Ballard Memorial, Fulton County, Lowes, Benton.