Kentucky High School Girls Basketball Media Poll: Sacred Heart No. 1, new team in rankings

Fresh off its Louisville Invitational Tournament championship, the Sacred Heart Academy basketball team kept the No. 1 spot in the Kentucky High School Girls Basketball Media Poll.

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The Valkyries (21-3) received 15 of the 16 first-place votes. LIT runner-up Manual (21-2) is No. 2. Cooper (17-3) received the other first place vote and is followed by McCracken County (24-2) and Mercy (16-8) in the top five.

All “A” Classic champion Covington Holy Cross (21-5) joined the top 10 at No. 7. Bowling Green (15-8) dropped out of the top 10 as the result of Covington Holy Cross’ climb.

The Kentucky High School Basketball Media Poll is conducted by 16 sports journalists ― one from each of the state’s 16 basketball regions. The poll will be released each Tuesday morning throughout the regular season.

Along with the statewide top 10, voters will provide top-five rankings for their respective regions.

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Here are the rankings:

Girls statewide poll

First-place votes in parentheses; records through Sunday’s games.

Rank-school (FPV)             Record       Pts      LW

1. Sacred Heart (15)              21-3         158      1

2. Manual                              21-2         142      2

3. Cooper (1)                         17-3         120      3

4. McCracken County            24-2         116      4

5. Mercy                                16-8           92       5

6. George Rogers Clark         15-6           68       7

7. Covington Holy Cross        21-5          39       NR

8. Henderson County             15-4          37        6

9. Ryle                                     17-7          29       8

10. Christian Academy            15-5          23        9

Others receiving votes: Bowling Green 21, Pulaski County 9, Graves County 7, North Laurel 5, Bethlehem 3, Pikeville 3, Central 2, Danville 2, Franklin County 2, Dixie Heights 1, Madison Central 1.

First Region

Chelsea Parker, The Paducah Sun

1. McCracken County

2. Graves County

3. Christian Fellowship

4. Carlisle County

5. Mayfield

Second Region

Scott Brown, YourSportsEdge.com/WKDZ-FM

1. Henderson County

2. Hopkins County Central

3. Crittenden County

4. Union County

5. Madisonville-North Hopkins

Third Region

Mark Mathis, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

1. Owensboro Catholic

2. Meade County

3. Breckinridge County

4. Owensboro

5. Butler County

Fourth Region

Micheal Compton, Bowling Green Daily News

1. Bowling Green

2. Barren County

3. Franklin-Simpson

4. Metcalfe County

5. Monroe County

Fifth Region

Josh Claywell, Bardstown Kentucky Standard/LaRue County News Herald

1. Bethlehem

2. Taylor County

3. Nelson County

4. North Hardin

5. John Hardin

Sixth Region

J.L. Kirven, The Courier Journal

1. Mercy

2. Whitefield Academy

3. Bullitt East

4. North Bullitt

5. Bullitt Central

Seventh Region

Jason Frakes, The Courier Journal

1. Sacred Heart

2. Manual

3. Central

4. Christian Academy

5. Assumption

Eighth Region

Josiah Koenig, Oldham Era

1. Spencer County

2. Anderson County

3. Owen County

4. Grant County

5. South Oldham

Ninth Region

James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer

1. Cooper

2. Ryle

3. Covington Holy Cross

4. Dixie Heights

5. Conner

10^th Region

Evan Dennison, LinkNKY.com

1. George Rogers Clark

2. Montgomery County

3. Paris

4. Bishop Brossart

5. Scott

11^th Region

Jared Peck, Lexington Herald-Leader

1. Frederick Douglass

2. Franklin County

3. Madison Central

4. Berea

5. Great Crossing

12^th Region

Mike Marsee, Danville freelancer

1. Danville

2. Danville Christian

3. Southwestern

4. Rockcastle County

5. Pulaski County

13^th Region

Les Dixon, 13thRegionMediaNetwork.com

1. North Laurel

2. Corbin

3. Knox Central

4. South Laurel

5. Bell County

14^th Region

John Lowe, WYMT-TV

1. Perry County Central

2. Leslie County

3. Knott County Central

4. Owsley County

5. Hazard

15^th Region

Randy White, Appalachian News-Express

1. Pikeville

2. Lawrence County

3. Johnson Central

4. Martin County

5. Paintsville

16^th Region

Matthew Sparks, Ashland Daily Independent

1. Boyd County

2. Russell

3. Rowan County

4. Ashland Blazer

5. Lewis County

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky HS Girls Basketball Media Poll: Sacred Heart Academy is No. 1