article 8th Region Week 9 Review - A New Number One

8th Region Week 9 Review – A New Number One

 

There was a bit of upheaval in the 8th region this past week, as game results generated some movement in the rankings. Seven teams moved from their spots in last week’s rankings.

 

A quick scan of the 8th region this week:

 

1 – Simon Kenton (16-4, 6-0 vs 8th region foes, won five straight) Last week: #2 – The new number one in the rankings is the hottest team in the region, riding a five-game winning streak as we move into the new week. SK has yet to lose to an 8th region team, and they have some significant wins against 8th Region competition. To date, SK has region wins over South Oldham on the road, #20-ranked Walton-Verona, North Oldham, Williamstown, and Grant County).

 

Last week, the Pioneers won two games, pounding Boone County, 103-81 in a game in which six Pioneers reached double figures in scoring, including Jeremy Davis (20 points), Robbie Krohman (18), Kelly Niece (17), Logan Schwartz (17), Colton Lair (11) and Isaac Miller (11). SK shot a blistering 60.3% from the field, including 13 of 28 (46.4%) from beyond the arc.

 

SK wrapped up the week with a 74-60 win over Frederick Douglas.

 

Simon Kenton can further stake their claim to the #1 ranking this week against the top-seeded teams from the 31st and 29th districts:

 

1/29 vs. Gallatin County 2/1 vs. Oldham County

 

2 – Collins (16-6, 6-1 vs 8th region, lost two straight) Last week: #1 – The Titans have gone into a mini-funk of late, winning only 3 of their last 6 games. Granted, two of the games were by fewer than 10 points against quality opposition (South Oldham and Woodford County), but the third loss was against a very up-and-down Bullitt East (10-11) team.

 

South rallied for a double-digit second half deficit to beat the Titans in Shelbyville, but Collins bounced back to win three in a row. But that budding winning streak collapsed last week as Collins dropped two.

 

They started the week with a solid 11th region team, Woodford County, losing by a respectable 69-62 score. Marcellus Vail scored 27 points and Dayvion McKnight had yet another double-double, with 19 points and 15 boards. But the bench contributed almost no points, and Woodford won the game from the outside by hitting five more threes than Collins, which managed just 4 of 13 from beyond the arc.

 

Then came the surprise game, as Bullitt East pulled away for a 66-52 win. With Collins hitting just 30% of their shots, and only 3 of 20 beyond the arc, the Titans simply didn’t have the firepower to keep up with the Chargers. McKnight had yet another double-double, with 18 points and 12 rebounds; it was the third consecutive double-double for Collins’ top candidate for 8th Region Player of the Year honors.

 

Putting too much emphasis on the Bullitt East loss would be a mistake – college and pro players are hardly consistent in their performance, so we should never expect high schoolers to be able to perform their best every outing – but the main rationale behind Collins falling one spot this week was more the fact that they’ve now lost 3 of their last 6, including the head-scratcher against the Chargers.

 

Collins has a chance to get back on track this week against some top-flight competition:

 

1/29 at #17 Male 2/1 vs. St. Xavier 2/2 at Warren Central

 

3 – Walton-Verona (17-3, 10-1 region 8, lost one ) Last week: #3 – W-V started off last week fast, winning two games over Louisville Holy Cross (46-39) and Knott County Central (65-32), only to see their run in the state All-A Tournament end in the semi-finals at the hands of Lexington Christian for the third consecutive year. (Lexington Christian then lost to University Heights, 52-40, in the finals)

 

This year, it wasn’t even close, as Lexington Christian ran away with a 48-22 rout. I don’t have the official stats, but among the details that made it to me:

 

- W-V managed only 8 points in the first half.

- The Bearcats shot 0 for 16 from beyond the arc.

- Walton hit just 22% from the field overall.

 

Despite the disappointing loss in the All-A, there’s still no reason to drop Walton-Verona in the rankings. The Bearcats have an impressive 10 wins versus just 1 loss (to SK) against 8th region opponents. They’ve beaten Gallatin County twice, Oldham County, Spencer County, and Campbell County (then ranked #14).

 

The Bearcats are also getting healthy, as Trey Bonne is back in the Bearcat lineup.

Walton-Verona returns to District 32 play this week. The Grant County game will be particularly interesting; have the Braves closed the gap any between them and the Bearcats? If so, the 32nd tournament could turn into a 3-horse race, and it looks likely that these two teams will play in the semi-final round of the 32nd in an elimination game.

 

1/29 vs. Williamstown 2/1 vs. Grant County

 

4 – Oldham County (14-7, 6-2 region 8 won two straight) Last week: #4 – The Colonels remain at #4 after going 2-1 last week.

 

Oldham started the week by laying an egg against Pleasure Ridge Park. The Colonels shot just 37.5% in the game and missed all fourteen of their three point attempts. Despite shooting an exemplary 71% at the line (22 of 31), Oldham fell by 7 to the Sixth Region school. Matthew Teague was a bright spot; the senior has been playing extraordinarily well of late and led the team with 18 points.

 

But Oldham County bounced back to win two to wrap up the week, slamming longtime rival Shelby County, 63-38, and knocking off Tates Creek, 76-64.

 

The Colonels have matured steadily as the season has progressed, and they have as many top-quality wins as anybody, having defeated Central Hardin, South Oldham, Gallatin County, Spencer County, Taylor County, and Highlands. But they have about as many losses to some of their tougher opponents, dropping games to Grant County (by 3 on a last second shot), Walton Verona (by 6), #1-ranked Scott County, George Rogers Clark, and top-20 Campbell County.

 

Will the real Oldham County please stand up?

 

Coach Coy Zerhusen and his squad will really have a chance to show how far they’ve come as they probably have the most difficult week ahead of any 8th region team:

 

1/29 at #6-ranked Waggener 2/1 at Simon Kenton 2/2 at Highlands

 

5 – South Oldham (15-5, 6-3 vs 8th Region; won one) last week: #5 – South rallied for a big district win one week after suffering two straight losses.

 

After traveling to Shelbyville and knocking off Collins on 1/8, overcoming a double-digit second-half deficit, the Dragons dropped two games to two of the top teams in the region, 83-80 to Oldham County and 83-79 to Spencer County. In each game, the Dragons were undone by their defense despite an impressive offensive performance; for example, against Spencer, South shot 49% overall and 47% from beyond the arc (16 made threes) and 75% from the line.

 

Last week, South ended the budding losing streak by knocking off 29th district rival North Oldham, 80-71. It was the fifth time in the last 8 games that South has scored 80 points or more; the Dragons lead the region in scoring at 80.2 ppg. But South, allowing 67 ppg, has given up 79 ppg in the last three contests.

 

North Oldham actually held down the region’s leading scorer, Luke Morrison (26.1 ppg), as he made just 5 of 14 shots and finished with one of his lowest point totals of the season with 15 points. But point guard Seth Johnson had a monster game that North couldn’t stop, scoring 30 points on 8 of 17 shooting, including 2 of 5 beyond the arc and 12 of 13 at the stripe. Johnson’s ability to penetrate simply was something the Mustangs couldn’t prevent, and South took advantage at the stripe, where the team shoots an unreal 78.6% overall.

 

That night, South hit 23 of 26 free throws (88%).

 

South continues to be a dangerous team. To beat them, you have to be able to score a lot of points; South has scored over 80 points in 12 of 20 games. And you have to figure out what to do about Player of the Year candidate Luke Morrison, who – four games ago against Oldham County – scored 43 of the Dragons’ 80 points. Morrison continues to lead the 8th region with 26.1 ppg average and is hitting an amazing 56.9% beyond the arc (79 of 137).

A lot of coaches will tell you that if you can score 60 or more points, you have a solid chance of winning in high school basketball. South’s LOWEST score this season was 61 points in a 7 point loss to Covington Holy Cross.

 

This week: 1/28 at Carroll County 1/29 Christian Academy of Louisville 2/1 at Manual

 

6 – Gallatin County (14-5, 8-4 region 8, won 2 straight) Last week: #6 – Gallatin stays put this week at #6. The Wildcats haven’t knocked off any of the top 5 teams in this ranking, but they’ve won a lot of games, scored a lot of points, and have represented themselves well when they have played one of the top 5.

 

For example, Gallatin lost to Oldham at Oldham County by just one point….and fell to Collins by just 2 points. The Wildcats have proven they can compete with the best the region has to offer.

 

The Cats went 2-0 last week in district competition, as they have solidified their grip on the #1 seed in the post-season 31st district tourney. They walloped Henry County, 70-54, shooting 49%. They wrapped up the week with a 79-63 victory over Williamstown, 79-63.

 

Gallatin has gone 7-0 against district 31 competition this season.

 

Gallatin continues to show good scoring balance; against Henry County, Wyatt Bowen led the way with 17 points; against Williamstown, it was Troy Coomer pacing the Cats with 14 points.

 

The key for Gallatin continues to be their offense. The Wildcats have won 8 of their last 10 games; in the eight wins, the Cats have averaged 71.6 ppg. In the two losses, the offense struggled to a paltry 45 ppg.

 

This week will provide some opportunities for Gallatin to get some signature wins as they face the region’s top-ranked Simon Kenton Pioneers and also the #5 – ranked (in region 8) South Oldham Dragons, with both games on the road.

 

1/29 at Simon Kenton 1/31 Anderson County 2/2 at South Oldham

 

7 – Spencer County (12-9, 4-3 region 8, won 3) Last week: #8 – The Bears continue to make their move upward as they’ve won three in a row.

 

After upsetting South Oldham on 1/19, the Bearcats seem to get the spark they needed as they won both of their matchups last week, 58-37, over district 30 rival Anderson County, and following that up with a 58-53 win over Bardstown. Spencer shot just under 54% against Anderson, with Sam Conley leading the way with 15 points. Jacob Seawright tossed in 13 in the win.

 

Spencer is on the “cusp” in the region, and could go “either way”. They appear favored to make it to the region tournament in New Castle, especially after the convincing road win over Anderson County. They previously lost to Collins, and have one remaining district seeding game left, a home matchup with Shelby County, in which they’ll be favored. A Spencer – Anderson semi-final elimination game looks all but certain, but the Bears would have to be the favorite to advance.

.

On the other hand, a lack of size hurts Spencer, as some of their best players have to play out of their natural position. And a lack of depth could hurt the Bears, particularly if there are any injuries between now and tournament time.

 

It should be noted – again – that the Bears have lost 7 (of their 9 losses) by just 42 points, an average margin of just 6 points per game. Bottom-line is this: The Bears have been competitive in all but two games (Collins and Walton-Verona) all year. Among those seven losses: to #7 Ballard, Oldham County, Taylor County, and Madison Central – all decided by less than 10 points.

 

This week:

 

1/28 Pleasure Ridge Park 2/1 at Trimble County 2/2 Rock Creek Academy (Sellersburg, IN)

 

8 – Grant County (14-8, 4-4 region 8, lost four straight) Last week: #7– Grant County is taking a bit of a nose-dive right now, riding one of the longest losing streaks in the region at four straight.

 

Last week, Grant dropped games to Dixie Heights, 82-69 and Aiken (OH), 74-63.

Despite scoring over 60 points in each game, Grant is struggling a bit on offense, shooting less than 40% from the field in both games. And the offense is Grant’s strength: The Braves have scored over 60 points in 10 of their last 13 games.

 

Even when the Braves lose, they usually score over 60 points; in only two of their 8 losses did Grant County fail to crack the 60 point mark.

 

But in four of the last five games, Grant has hit less than 40% of their shots.

 

This week will be a challenging week for Grant, and an opportunity to show that they are a legitimate contender in the 32nd district when they face off with the Bearcats at Walton-Verona.

 

1/28 at Beechwood 1/29 at Henry County 2/1 at #20 Walton-Verona

 

9 – North Oldham (9-15, 1-8 region 8, lost 2 straight) Last week #9 – North Oldham continues to be a work in progress as first year coach David Levitch fine-tunes a team that had never played his style of basketball before and is learning on the fly.

 

Despite the record – particularly the 1-8 mark against 8th Region teams – North has been competitive. They beat Frankfort, currently ranked #19 in the Bluegrasspreps state rankings, lost to #7 Ballard by 2, #6 Waggener by 9 (after entering the final minute of play down by one possession), and beat a 13-win Jeffersontown team.

 

But there have been other games against top-tier opposition when the Mustangs simply haven’t had the answers on offense or defense. As a result of this learning curve, North has lost 7 of their last 10 games.

 

Time will tell if this squad can put it all together come tournament time; North already knows that they will be the #4 seed in the 29th district tournament, which means they will face #1 seed Oldham County in the first round, a team that beat the Mustangs by 15 earlier this month.

 

Last week, North played two games, losing both. They first fell to county rival South Oldham in a heartbreaker, 80-71, in a game that wasn’t decided until the final minute or two. The Mustangs then took one on the chin against Moore, falling 64-56.

 

8th grade point guard Dallas Roberts continues to open some eyes. The talented youngster led the Mustangs against South Oldham with 26 points, including 3 threes. Against Moore, he again led the Mustang scoring with 19 and 2 threes. Roberts is gaining confidence at the point position, and is able to find his shot on his own. He’s hitting 33% beyond the arc, and averaging a team-high 14.2 ppg.

 

I said a while back that, for North to be successful, Grant Adelson would have to come out of his slump. And the senior certainly appears to have done just that. In his last two games alone, he has gone a combined 11 of 21 shooting, scoring 18 points against both South Oldham and Moore, while hitting 8 of 15 three pointers in that time period.

 

One thing North is doing well: the Mustangs are getting offensive contributions from several players. Besides Roberts’ 14.2 ppg, Adelson averages 12.2 ppg, Tyler Higdon averages 9.7 ppg / 7.7 rebounds, and Luke Berry averages 9.1 ppg.

 

This week, the Mustangs go on the road:

 

2/1 at Carroll County (8 pm tipoff) 2/2 at Atherton (12:30 pm tipoff)

 

10 – Carroll County (9-8, 7-4 8th region, lost last game) Last week: #10 – Carroll County may be wounded (due to the injury to leading scorer, junior Wyatt Supplee), but the Panthers are still very much in the thick of things, and likely to pair up in the 31st district tournament with Henry County in the semi-final round, meaning one of the two is guaranteed a trip to New Castle for the region 8 tournament.

 

Carroll did not play last week, so no new games to report.

 

The Panthers have a challenging week ahead. First off, they must play four games. Second of all, two are district seeding games, and Carroll can ill-afford to look past either Eminence or Henry County.

 

Finally, the other two games are against South Oldham, one of the region’s best teams, and North Oldham, one of the region’s up-and-coming teams (you ever know when they’ll put it all together). To add to the degree of difficulty, the first three games come on three straight nights. By the time this week is over, Carroll will have faced four teams in five nights.

 

1/28 South Oldham 1/29 Eminence 1/30 at Henry County 2/1 North Oldham

 

11 – Anderson County (9-10, 3-4 region 8, lost 2 straight) Last week: #11 – Anderson County just can’t seem to get any traction this season, as they dropped their only game last week to continue to hover around .500. The Bearcats haven’t won more than three in a row or lost more than two in a row this season, but last weeks’ results don’t bode well for the rest of the year.

 

The Bearcats first faced off with district 30 rival Spencer County, who whipped them by a 58-37 score, the second-largest margin of victory for the Bears this season.

 

The Powell County game, which was scheduled last week, got cancelled.

 

It seems that Anderson should be doing better. They have solid coaching, a roster featuring five veteran seniors, and some experienced talent. But the Cats are hitting just 40% of their shots from the field and 64% at the line. They have only one player averaging in double figures, Tyler Rice, a junior guard who has developed nicely since last year and is averaging 12.1 ppg.

 

The team is also hitting threes pretty well, at a 36+% clip, with Alex Carpenter (40 of 85, 47.1%) and Rice (38 out of 90, 42.2%) leading the way.

 

But their only win this year against a team with a winning record was when they defeated Lewis County (now 12-9) on 12/28/18 by a score of 60-57.

 

Anderson has been tested, facing Walton-Verona, Collins, Grant County, Spencer County, Paintsville, and Johnson Central. Perhaps that experience will come in handy this week, when the Bearcats play two tough opponents. Win two, and the tide may turn. Lose both, and the coaching staff will have to really get this team pumped up in the final five games to have any chance at returning to the Roy.

 

This week: 1/31 at Gallatin County 2/2 at Woodford County

 

12 – Shelby County (6-15, 2-6 region 8, lost 4 in a row) Last week: #12 – The Rockets have pretty much been mired here in the ranking all season. Despite a credible group of athletes, Shelby just hasn’t been able to recapture the magic of the Rocket teams from the 70s, 80s, and 90s this year.

 

On the one hand, Shelby has often kept the games close. Of the current four game losing streak, 3 of the 4 losses came by 7-8 points. (Oldham County won by 25 in the fourth game). But at the end of the day, Shelby has now dropped 7 of their last 8 games and the going isn’t going to get a lot easier with top-20 Frankfort, Woodford County, Spencer County, DeSales, and Gallatin County comprising five of the final seven opponents in the regular season.

 

Shelby seems destined for the #4 seed in the 30th district, which means a matchup in the first round against county arch-rival Collins, currently ranked #2 in the district, but in the top 10 according to the Bluegrasspreps.com statewide poll.

 

Last week, the Rockets’ offense deserted them as they scored their third-lowest point total of the season against Western Hills in a 53-45 loss and then mustered only 38 points – their lowest output of the season – against Oldham County.

 

Still, there’s a lot to be said about tradition, and Shelby has a wealth of that We’ll see if first-year coach Eddie Oakley can fan that flame as we near the tournaments.

 

This week:

 

1/29 at #19 Frankfort 2/1 vs. Woodford County 2/2 vs. Ryle

 

13 – Henry County (8-11, 5-5 vs Region 8, won last game) Last week: #15 – Henry County is our big mover this week after a very successful week. The Wildcats, who have dominating wins over Trimble County and Williamstown, vaulted over both the Raiders and the Demons this week to move into #13 in the rankings.

 

Last week, Henry lost to district rival and defending district champ Gallatin County, 70-54, but they bounced back to hammer Williamstown, 86-50. The Demons, at 6-17, have been playing teams close this year, and that was their fifth-worst loss of the season….the four worst were to Walton-Verona (17-4), Simon Kenton (16-4), Grant County (14-8), and Lloyd Memorial (14-4). It was truly a dominating performance.

 

The Gallatin game might have been a closer contest had the Cats hit their threes (just 2 of 11) and free throws (10 of 17 for 58.8%). Henry, one of the top shooting clubs in the region overall at 54% from the field, had an off night when they couldn’t afford it (although I’m sure Gallatin’s defense had something to do with it)

 

The Cats seemed to have found their offense; Henry has now won 4 of its last 6 games, while scoring 64 points or more in five of those contests. In contrast, the Wildcats had scored 60 points or more in just 5 of their previous 13 games.

 

The Wildcats seem destined to be the 2 or 3 seed in the district tournament, which means a competitive game against – most likely – Carroll County in the semi-finals, but a game I’m sure the Wildcats would prefer in an elimination game in lieu of top-seeded Gallatin County.

 

This week:

 

1/29 vs Grant County 1/30 vs. Carroll County 2/1 vs. county rival Eminence 2/2 at Washington County

 

14 – Trimble County (8-10, 6-7 vs. region 8, won three in a row) Last week: #13 – Trimble is on a three game winning streak, but falls one spot this week as other teams have simply done better or have beaten the Raiders convincingly in head-to-head competition.

 

Last week, Trimble defeated Brown, 75-60 and Villa Madonna on the road, 70-62.

Scoring points hasn’t been a problem for Trimble, who’s averaging 64.9 ppg now. It’s the defense, which is surrendering 75.2 ppg.

 

How Trimble enters the post-season may be critical, as the Raiders will face South Oldham in the #2 seed vs #3 seed game in the first round of the 29th district tournament. The Raiders will probably be favored in three of their remaining games – Dayton, Evangel, and Owen County. They will be solid underdogs against Spencer County and Gallatin County (twice).

 

The wild card games are Henry County (who beat Trimble by 27 in Bedford earlier in the year) and 14-win Lloyd Memorial. The Raiders will probably be underdogs in those two games, too, but those look to be the upset possibilities. The momentum-builders. The confidence enforcers. If Trimble wins 5 of its last 8, the Raiders will enter the post-season with a little swagger…

 

This week: 1/29 vs. Evangel 1/31 at Dayton 2/1 vs. Spencer County

 

15 – Williamstown (6-17, 2-6 region 8, lost 2 straight) Last week: #14 – The Demons fall a spot this week. Although I continue to be very impressed by the improvement in this young team over last year – they are practically a freshman / JV team playing a varsity schedule – the fact is, they just aren’t measuring up to the other 8th region teams. Their two 8th region wins have been over Eminence and Owen County – the two teams ranked lower than the Demons.

 

Still, improvement in a program needs to be recognized. Williamstown has scored 60 or more points 8 times in their 23 games this year so far; they scored 60 or more points only 6 times in all of last season. And – one year after watching their defense be overwhelmed night after night – the Demons have lost 5 of their games by 10 points or less. Flip those five games, and this Williamstown team is a stunning 11-12 one year after winning just two games.

 

Last week, Williamstown defeated Nicholas County, 82-81 in double overtime, before losing to Gallatin County, 79-63 and Henry County, 86-50, both on the road.

 

As the saying goes, “Youth will be served” and if that’s true, then watch out for this team in the next couple of years. The leading scorer? Sophomore Cole Kighlinger at 12.4 ppg.

 

This week:

 

1/29 at #20 Walton-Verona 2/1 at Powell County

 

16 - Owen County (3-14, 2-9 vs. region 8, lost one and 8 of their last 9) Last week: #16 – Owen County, like Williamstown, is looking for better days to come. Like Williamstown, the Rebels are painfully young, with just one senior. That senior is backed by three juniors, two sophomores, six freshman, an 8th grader, and a 7th grader. And those youth are contributing now; 8th grader Teagan Moore is averaging 8.2 ppg. Sophomore Noah St. Clair leads the team in scoring with 13.7 ppg.

 

Last week, the Rebels defeated Eminence, 52-48, as Isaac Smith poured in 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. But Western Hills edged the Rebels three days later, knocking Owen over with a 55-54 win.

 

This week:

 

1/29 at Ryle 1/31 at Louisville Holy Cross 2/2 vs. Model in the Gary Moore Classic at Franklin County HS

 

17 - Eminence (1-19, 0-11 vs. region 8, lost 15 in a row) Last week: #17 – The Warriors’ have lost a region 8-worst 15 consecutive games and things don’t look to be getting better anytime soon for the once-proud program.

 

Eight times during the current losing streak, the Warriors failed to reach 40 points; four times they failed to reach 25 points and once they only scored 14 points.

 

Eminence was busy last week, playing four games, but came up short in all four:

 

1/21 lost to Walden, 68-58

1/22 lost to Owen County, 52-48

1/24 lost to Burgin, 61-55

1/25 lost to Bethlehem, 75-55.

 

Right now, it’s been Eminence’s shooting eye that has deserted them; against Walden they were 9 of 30 inside the arc, 8 of 30 outside the arc, and 16 of 27 (59.3%) at the line. But that’s where the future optimism comes in. Despite those shooting numbers, Eminence lost by just 10 points.

 

Eminence will get some opportunities this week to right the ship, but it’s complicated as they play three straight nights, and four games in five nights.

 

1/28 vs. Walden 1/29 at Carroll County 1/30 at St. Francis 2/1 at Henry County

 

Finally, a thought about the Player of the Year award in the 8th….unlike last year, when Cobe Penny practically had it given to him before the season, we had several viable pre-season candidates. Everyone has their favorites, and reasonable people can easily disagree on this, depending upon what one feels is most important, BUT, here’s the five I see as the five atop the leader board….(in no particular order):

 

Luke Morrison, South Oldham – forgive the pun, but Morrison was only getting “Luke”-warm attention in the pre-season polling of coaches. Now, it’s hard to imagine him not being the favorite. Morrison leads the region in scoring at 26.1 ppg, is shooting 58.9% from the floor (with the majority of his shots being jumpers), an insan\e 56.9% beyond the arc (where he’s 78 of 137), shoots 80.6% from the line (79 of 98), and grabs 5.2 rebounds a game. He scored 43 points against Oldham County in a game where he hit 7 threes.

 

Dayvion McKnight, Collins – a double-double machine, one of the craziest combinations of speed, agility, and power the 8th Region has seen at guard in a long, long time. McKnight is averaging 18.3 ppg / 10.7 rebounds, something practically unheard of from a guard. Quick enough to penetrate and big/strong enough to outmuscle opponents for rebounds, he’s a power forward who also has the abilities of a guard. Since he penetrates so well, he gets fouled a lot, and has hit 118 of 148 free throws for 79.7%. Though not really known for his outside prowess, when McKnight shoots threes, he hits for a good percentage (38.5%) on 15 of 39 shooting.

 

Dieonte Miles, Walton-Verona – The premier big man in the 8th region this year, Miles has already committed to Xavier. At about 6-9, Miles towers over nearly everyone in the region, and averages 14.3 ppg and 6.5 rebounds. Not surprisingly, considering his size advantage and usual proximity to the basket, he’s hitting 63.9% of his shots from the floor. However, in a bit of a surprise here, he’s hitting 44% from beyond the arc(!), although he’s only made 16 of 36 on the season. If there’s a fly in the ointment, it’s his poor free throw shooting. As the big man in every game he plays in, Miles goes to the line a lot – he leads Walton-Verona in free throws made and attempted – but hits only 57.9%.

 

Kameron Pardee, Walton-Verona – Having the luxury of two superior big men just doesn’t seem fair, but that’s the luxury Walton-Verona has. Pardee averages 14.9 ppg and 5.8 rebounds, and also is almost “Mr. Automatic” when he shoots, hitting 59.9% from the floor. Like Miles, however, his Achilles’ Heel may be his free throw shooting. He gets more free throw attempts and makes than anyone on the team not named Miles, but is hitting only 61.8%.

 

Kelly Niece, Simon Kenton – Just a sophomore, the talented SK guard is averaging a whopping 23.9 ppg while hitting 52.6% of his shots. Niece is brilliant from beyond the arc, hitting 41 of 83 for 49.4%. At the line, he hits 82.7%, and he also grabs his share of rebounds, snagging 4.4 a game – not bad for a guard.

That’s all – until next week!

Colonelmike

It's the Spencer County Bears not Bearcats.

It's the Spencer County Bears not Bearcats.

 

Sorry, Cardsrule, if you'll notice I only made that mistake once. It happens because I've already done Walton-Verona and when I type in "Bear-" the auto-finish feature completes the word and makes it "Bearcats". Usually, I catch it and correct it, but missed that one. (hey, I caught it 5 out of 6 times this time....that's 83%, a solid "B"! LOL)

 

LOL, I have been around plenty long enough to know that the Spencer team is called the Bears. Especially since my in-laws and other relatives live in Spencer County.

 

CM

Typo. Read and re-read this thing two or three times before posting, but missed a glaring error in the Shelby County write-up, where I wrote that Collins was ranked #2 in the district. despite being ranked in the top 10 in the Bluegrasspreps state ranking.

 

I meant, of course, to say that Collins was ranked #2 in the REGION (not the district).

 

CM

Does anybody know the dates for the regional tournament yet.

Does anybody know the dates for the regional tournament yet.

 

Being that the Sweet 16 begins on March 6, my educated guess is February 25-26 and March 1-2.

I’d say that’s the signature win you were talking about from Gallatin.