Spencer County at North Oldham Predictions / Updates

The Spencer County Bears travel to Goshen, KY to face the North Oldham Mustangs on Thursday, 12/12/19. Tip-off 7:30 pm.

Big region 8 matchup. The Bears and Mustangs - both of whom are considered region contenders this year - square off in Goshen. The Bears are playing super right now, with their four core players clicking. Sam Conley, Jake Whitlock, Lucas Hornback, and Gage Mabry form 80% of one of the best starting fives in the 8th Region. All four are capable scorers and defenders, and - coming into this week - they had scored 140 of Spencer's 154 points to date.

The bench is thin, but it hasn't hurt the Bears yet, as they come into the week 2-0. They will have also played South Oldham, the #2 ranked team in region 8, by the time they tip off on Thursday.

This is "Oldham County Tour" week for Spencer; they will have played South Oldham (Tue 12/10), North Oldham (12/12), and Oldham County (12/14) by the time the week ends. All three Oldham schools figure to be in the running for the region title this year, although only two can make it out of the 29th district. Still, it may be the best time for Spencer to face the Oldham squads: South had a tumultuous Week One with head coach Steve Simpson sidelined with back surgery; North only got in one game last week, and star guard Justin Powell will have just become eligible to play the day before the Spencer game; and Oldham County basically replaced its entire starting lineup from last year - while the Colonels are off to a strong start, this lineup will not have faced a test like Spencer County yet when they tipoff on Saturday at the Ronald McDonald House Classic in Buckner. It won't be an easy week for the Bears by any means, but they will certainly have some advantages they might not have later in the season.

North Oldham will be playing its third game of the season Thursday. The Mustangs stumbled last week against Iroquois with an ineligible Powell on the sidelines. North struggled to hit shots, grab rebounds, or keep players on the floor (foul issues) in a game where, according to head coach David Levitch, pretty much anything that could go wrong, did. Before this game, the Mustangs will have the chance to right the ship against Trimble County in Bedford in an early-season 29th district seeding game. That will be Powell's first game as a Mustang since he played at NOHS as an 8th grader, and the Mustangs will be heavily favored.

The Mustangs have plenty of complementary talent around Powell to be very good. And Powell is a special enough talent to make the players around him better. His passing should make the two Higdon brothers - Tyler and Ian - a thousand times better in the post, and the fact that Powell will take over the point guard role handled by Dallas Roberts last year means that Roberts will likely have more opportunities to get his shot from the perimeter.

North should be much better this year on offense and defense, though it may take a little while for the unit to find its new identity with the new floor leader.

Thursday will be North's first home game, and - even though it's a weeknight game - the game should draw a decent crowd. I say that it "should" because it will feature two of the most talented teams in the 8th Region and should be a blast to watch.

Live video coverage on The Pegasus Sports Network - PSN begins at 7 pm ET.

CM

Got to believe Spencer County takes this one, especially with this being Powell's first time out.

ColonelMike - are you broadcasting South Oldham v. Spencer County tonight?

ColonelMike - are you broadcasting South Oldham v. Spencer County tonight?

No, not doing the South - Spencer game. Really would like to. Good looking game with Steve Simpson and former assistant Jason Burns going at each other with two really good teams. It's sometimes difficult to get strong enough internet connectivity in order to push video in Taylorsville. We are doing the North vs Spencer game on Thursday and the Oldham vs. Spencer game on Saturday, however.

LOL - it may be just as well. I need a little rest before Thursday-Friday-Saturday, when Pegasus will do 7 games in 3 days!!

(Thur: North Oldham vs. Spencer.

Fri: Oldham vs. Trimble - girls and boys

Sat: Ronald McDonald House Classic, including North vs. Moore, South Oldham vs. Waggener, Oldham girls vs. Covington Holy Cross, and Oldham County vs. Spencer)

CM

Got to believe Spencer County takes this one, especially with this being Powell's first time out.

Technically, it will be Powell's second game. He is eligible Wednesday and will play in North's district matchup at Trimble County that night.

If Conley is 100% Spencer could take down North Oldham. If Conley isn't full speed, I'm not sure who guards Justin Powell. Spencer's lack of depth could hurt them.

If Conley is 100% Spencer could take down North Oldham. If Conley isn't full speed, I'm not sure who guards Justin Powell. Spencer's lack of depth could hurt them.

If Conley is 100% I feel like they should beat North Oldham. Don't think Conley will be the one guarding him anyway. I have a guess as to how they will defend him. It will be interesting to see what Burns comes up with. North Oldham has to figure out how their going to guard 4 different guys that can put up 25 on a given night.

South Oldham must have figured it out last night. Should be another good one!

If Conley is 100% Spencer could take down North Oldham. If Conley isn't full speed, I'm not sure who guards Justin Powell. Spencer's lack of depth could hurt them.

Is Conley hurt already? Also, there’s no one on Spencer that’s going to “guard” Powell. Spencer’s best bet is to make this a shootout. They have more scorers than North. But if this becomes a half court execution game, North wins by double digits.

Is Conley hurt already? Also, there’s no one on Spencer that’s going to “guard” Powell. Spencer’s best bet is to make this a shootout. They have more scorers than North. But if this becomes a half court execution game, North wins by double digits.

They don't have to shut him down. Just keep him under 30. I think a half court game actually favors Spencer County. I would have to disagree with you on that one.

They don't have to shut him down. Just keep him under 30. I think a half court game actually favors Spencer County. I would have to disagree with you on that one.

Shootout favors your scorers. If it’s half court, North can run plays for 2 players and dice up the Spencer defense. We both know that Spencer doesn’t value defense. It’s the DNA that Burns comes from. And with their offensive power, they should definitely look to make more games shootouts.

Shootout favors your scorers. If it’s half court, North can run plays for 2 players and dice up the Spencer defense. We both know that Spencer doesn’t value defense. It’s the DNA that Burns comes from. And with their offensive power, they should definitely look to make more games shootouts.

Are you serious? Spencer County just held South Oldham to 59 points. Spencer County has been one of the better defensive teams in the region over the past three years. No disrespect but you are way off. Burns values defense over everything and preaches it to his players.

Are you serious? Spencer County just held South Oldham to 59 points. Spencer County has been one of the better defensive teams in the region over the past three years. No disrespect but you are way off. Burns values defense over everything and preaches it to his players.

I’m not on the inside. I don’t know what he values. I only know what I’ve seen when I watch them play. Every coach says “we have to get stops and create offense with defense” but very few actually do. But to your argument about “holding South”, would you say South held Spencer to 55? Because not even Simpson brags about South holding anyone. They don’t guard and they embrace it.

I’m not on the inside. I don’t know what he values. I only know what I’ve seen when I watch them play. Every coach says “we have to get stops and create offense with defense” but very few actually do. But to your argument about “holding South”, would you say South held Spencer to 55? Because not even Simpson brags about South holding anyone. They don’t guard and they embrace it.

South Olham is known as being one of the top offensive teams in the state and have been for several years. Spencer County doesn't have that reputation. Several others on here commented the same thing about Spencer holding them to 59. It's only logical that it makes sense that they are a good defensive team. Your comments earlier about Spencer not valueing defense and not being a good defensive team is completely off and incorrect. I would argue that over the last three years they have been one of the better defensive teams in the region. Their defense is why they have won at least 20 games three years in a row.

Captain obvious here but as much as I hate to will give the edge to North. I believe the game will be called closely as opposed to at Spencer. Spencer is very aggressive defensively and very handsy. They, like most teams get away with a little extra bumping and grabbing at home. I think Powell will shoot 100 foul shots in this one. (Dramatic exaggeration) But what do I know?