Niece is a nice player, but with her size she would be better at the two or three.

Some very valid points, but I would have SK no worse than 3. You are correct that they lost the best point guard in the region from last year, but with Niece coming in they just got no question what will be the best point guard in the 8th this year and quite possibly be the best overall player in the 8th.

 

really?

I read somewhere that a junior from Shelby was ranked in the top 20 players in the state? Justus was her name, I see where she is in the top 5. Maybe it was Rick Bolus, so take it for what it is worth.

really?

 

IMO yes.

We will learn quit a bit about these "rankings" very early in an interesting opening night match up between SK and Shelby County on Monday, Dec 1st.

I know this thread is a little older, and its been discussed some, but I thought I would drag it out of the archives. Teams start practicing in a couple of weeks and I am getting a little antsy. Besides, now that we have seen all the transfers get nestled into their new schools, and we know for sure who is where, I thought it would be fun to reassess the 8th region.

 

 

I will start....and I am basing my ranking on the obvious..."pre-season". No teams have played yet so I will base my opinion on who returns for who, who graduated, who transferred in or out, what kind of experience is present, and how deep a team may seem to be.

 

1.) Shelby County - They return a bunch, including a very good post player in Justus Martin and two of last seasons 8th Region all region team members in MacKenzie and Savannah Raizor. They had a quality season last year and it should only get better for them this season.

 

2.) Walton Verona - I know some may frown on this and that is okay, I don't care. Let's just say I am putting them here because I am a totally emotional illogical fan. You can move them last if you want to, it wont hurt my feelings any.

 

3.) Trimble County - (Okay, Ive probably lost more of you in the credibility department...I still don't care.) With the addition of the guard from Henry County, this team moves up in my ranking. It helps answer ball handling and point guard questions they may have had. Trimble lost their leading scorer in Page Black and she will be hard to replace for sure. They do however return the Clifford girl who can flat out shoot. They return Shelby Black, a very nice post player with great size and strength. She is athletic for her size and will absolutely light you up from 3 point land. They are ALWAYS well coached and will be balanced. Trimble's offense has phenomenal ball and player movement. It is hard to guard when they are patient.

 

4.) Anderson County - I know they lost McKee and Cann however, I know they still have some quality athletes, some shooters and ball handlers with experience. Obviously they come down from the place they were, but they will not fall of the map.

 

5.) Simon Kenton - (For many of you, if I haven't lost you yet, I have now for sure) Here me out....They lost virtually their whole team to graduation. I think it was 7 Seniors and 6 of them either started or played major roles. They lost the best point guard in the region IMO. They lost something like 90% of their scoring. The lost all the best defenders they had. Yes they have potential with the returning upper class men, who had mostly been just role players, some quality younger players, and the addition of Ally Niece, however, it will take time for them to get better. Perhaps the second half or later part of the season they can fill their potential. They have a lot of work to do. One thing that will hurt them is that there depth, is very young, small and inexperienced. There is no way they play defense early in the season like they did last year, which was certainly one of the things that group could hang there hat on last year. Can they be ranked higher - yes, but not before the season starts, they will need a lot of the season to improve, get experience and get better. This shouldn't bother anyone anyway, its the end of the season that matters and I am sure they will be squeezing themselves in when that time comes.

 

6.) Gallatin County - Returning Hannah Dossett, arguably the best returning player in the region. They also return Junior Autumn Bowen who after the graduation of Brook Dossett, will certainly see her scoring continue to go up. I watched Bowen go 6 for 6 from 3 point land in last years regional game against Shelby County.

 

7.) Grant County

 

8.) Williamstown

 

9.) Carroll County - Saw them play at SOAS last spring. They are working hard and getting better.

 

10.) Oldham?? South Oldham?? I am struggling on this one people.

 

 

Now...you all please reply. Chop it up...agree, disagree, rewrite your own, call me crazy if you want to, that is fine. Things are getting closer and I like to see the banter and discussion. What say you?

 

I cannot disagree with your top 5/6 - I might change the order some, but I would put South Oldham at 7 for now. Yes I know everyone thinks they are down, but they will bounce back this year. They took Walton to OT last year which proves that they can play. They have positive floor leadership this year in their players and they want to win! Add in new coaches that have team excited & motivated to play. Good combination for success.

Williamstown will have some nice returning starters in Rachel Montgomery, Michaela Kennedy, Sammie Souder, and Katie Cheek. Those girls compete and play hard so you certainly can't overlook them. One of the biggest weakness for Williamstown is that they will not be very deep beyond those four.

 

I'm not familiar with all of the 8th, but why does Trimble get a nod with three players worth noting and Williamstown gets shut down with four solid players?

I cannot disagree with your top 5/6 - I might change the order some, but I would put South Oldham at 7 for now. Yes I know everyone thinks they are down, but they will bounce back this year. They took Walton to OT last year which proves that they can play. They have positive floor leadership this year in their players and they want to win! Add in new coaches that have team excited & motivated to play. Good combination for success.

 

I can't argue your case for South being 6-8 in a preseason 8th Region poll. I only put them a little lower because I knew very little about this years line up and their new coach. I only know the VanZant girl and I really like her game. She was hard to stop in that game against Walton last year. (BTW, South shot the ball well in that game. If Walton didn't shoot just as well themselves, South wins that one. Both teams were lighting it up.)

I'm not familiar with all of the 8th, but why does Trimble get a nod with three players worth noting and Williamstown gets shut down with four solid players?

 

Not sure what you mean by "shut down", but I'll try to answer your question.

 

I certainly am not putting down any Williamstown players. In fact I was complementing them. They play hard and they have gotten better every year.

 

If you are referencing my attempt of a preseason poll and putting Trimble higher than Williamstown, that is certainly not a "shut down" to Williamstown. It's just my opinion that when going beyond the discussion of "this team has three good players and that team has four good players", and considering what type of players (post guards etc.), I think Trimble is more complete 1 through 5, and is therefore a harder team to beat. Certainly not impossible to beat, just harder to beat. I also gave Trimble a lot of credit for what they accomplished last year.

 

One last thought, and please now it's all in fun....Even though I am a rotten Walton fan, I really do like those girls from Williamstown. I would never want them to be "shut down", except.....................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..........when they play Walton. :clap:

I hope I didn't come off standoffish. I really don't have ties to W-town, but on the surface it looks like they would be at an advantage. I guess Trimble must not fall off as much beyond their three. I just checked out their roster on KHSAA and they (Trimble) don't list many. They have 8 with the addition of Clark from Henry. It looks like if W-town comes together, they could have a good 2-3 years.

I hope I didn't come off standoffish. I really don't have ties to W-town, but on the surface it looks like they would be at an advantage. I guess Trimble must not fall off as much beyond their three. I just checked out their roster on KHSAA and they (Trimble) don't list many. They have 8 with the addition of Clark from Henry. It looks like if W-town comes together, they could have a good 2-3 years.

 

First bolded - This is a valid point and question. I wonder the same thing. There weakness could certainly be depth also beyond there balanced first 5.

 

Second bolded. - It is certainly possible. It is just difficult for them being in the same district as SK and Walton. And don't forget and improving Grant.

First bolded - This is a valid point and question. I wonder the same thing. There weakness could certainly be depth also beyond there balanced first 5.

 

Second bolded. - It is certainly possible. It is just difficult for them being in the same district as SK and Walton. And don't forget and improving Grant.

 

I made the comment during summer ball that the Lady Raiders will need to go 7 deep in order to have success this season. Since then they've picked up Clark which really helps that cause. It will be interesting to see how things play out. As you mentioned about Williamstown and their district, Trimble County has had their own problems getting out of the 29th with the Oldhams.

I can't argue your case for South being 6-8 in a preseason 8th Region poll. I only put them a little lower because I knew very little about this years line up and their new coach. I only know the VanZant girl and I really like her game. She was hard to stop in that game against Walton last year. (BTW, South shot the ball well in that game. If Walton didn't shoot just as well themselves, South wins that one. Both teams were lighting it up.)

 

That was a great game last year. South rallied back two different times from double digits to almost steal the game- the big no call "time-out" dilemma if you remember that. Both Jones and VanZant have been starters since their soph years and Wilson was a major contributor/starter last season. All three are very capable of putting up some big numbers and will be tough to guard. The seniors in addition to three solid juniors, two talented soph's, and several surprise freshman/middle school players will round out a team determined to prove the nay-sayers wrong.

That was a great game last year. South rallied back two different times from double digits to almost steal the game- the big no call "time-out" dilemma if you remember that. Both Jones and VanZant have been starters since their soph years and Wilson was a major contributor/starter last season. All three are very capable of putting up some big numbers and will be tough to guard. The seniors in addition to three solid juniors, two talented soph's, and several surprise freshman/middle school players will round out a team determined to prove the nay-sayers wrong.

 

 

Sounds like there is still some weapons in the program. Walton and South don't play in the regular season this year, so I'll have to get my South updates on here. Hope they have a great year!

We will learn quit a bit about these "rankings" very early in an interesting opening night match up between SK and Shelby County on Monday, Dec 1st.

That game will tell us who's best on Dec. 1st but there's a lot of ball to be played before regional tournament time.