OK, I was nearly through with my Week 2 write-up, and something happened and I lost everything. Since it's 1:40 AM, I'm going to re-do my rankings right now, and will have a supplemental write-up completed Monday evening. My apologies:

 

Region 8 Boys' Rankings as of 12/15/14

 

1 - Oldham County (6-0) - Colonels appear clear-cut number one at this juncture, avraging 82.7 ppg and winning their games by an average of 25.2 ppg against some quality opponents. 25 point win over Anderson County this week on the road was impressive.

2 - Owen County (6-0) - the only other undefeated team in the region got a solid victory at home over Grant County this week.

3 - Collins (3-2) - Win over crosstown rival Shelby County, 59-51, was a solid indicator of what this team can do. Brent Kidwell is really pouring in on during his senior season. But Collins is just not scoring much and is gving up almost as much on defense.

4 - Grant County (4-2) Braves look very good, and have all the pieces. A good shooting team, they are excelling at their charity stripe, where they are hitting 73.8% as a team. Not only that, they are getting there a lot - in their first five games, they have gotten to the line an average of 32 times a game. Braves averaging 76 ppg.

5 - Simon Kenton (3-2) SK has won their last three after dropping their first two. We'll learn a lot about Trent Steiner's squad this week in the Oldham County "Best in Hoops" tourney, which features solid competition.

6 - Shelby County (4-2) The Rockets have been winning despite some stacked odds. Two of the region's best players - Malik Manica and James Gordon - are out; Manica until at least February and Gordon indefinitely (until a pesky back issue is resolved). But Shelby has enough firepower to win, anyway. Got to resolve ballhandling, chemistry, and defense issues but they have time.

7 - Anderson County (4-1) - Bearcats' only strong opponent - Oldham County - took them down by 25. But Anderson has enough shooters to topple anyone.

8 - Henry County (4-1) - The Wildcats have already set themselves up as the chief rival to Owen County for the 31st District title, defeating fellow 31st teams Gallatin County (by 12) and Eminence (by 2). A relatively inexperienced varsity team, the Wildcats have a lot of room to grow.

9 - North Oldham (0-3) - Mustangs haven't won a game, but are averaging nearly 70 ppg in three losses to top tier teams (Bullitt East, Fern Creek, and West Jessamine). Have performed pretty well against quality competition despite just getting football players back.

10 - South Oldham (2-3) - defending champs off to a slow start

11 - Trimble County (3-2) - Raiders are veterans, but struggled against premier teams Owen Co. and Oldham County this past week

12 - Walton-Verona (2-3) - veteran team whipped Gallatin by 20.

13 - Spencer County (2-4) - tough district for the Bears to get out of.

14 - Gallatin County (2-4) - loss of Carlton in game 1 hurts, but Wildcats have time to recover.

15 - Eminence (1-4) - lost by just two to Henry County this past week; could contend for a region berth.

16 - Carroll County (1-3) - looks to be odd man out in the 31st.

17 - Williamstown (2-3) - small, young, and inexperienced.

 

I will update this Monday night.

Thanks Colonel, Mike. Bummer that you lost it all. Will look for the rest of it later.

I was at the Oldham-Anderson game. Game was never in doubt, Oldham looked in mid season form, and for whatever reason Anderson looked lost which is very unusual for a Glenn Dury coached team.

 

With that said, I am convinced the 8th is wide open. I saw an Oldham team that is an off night away from losing to anyone in the top 7 below them. I don't think they have those one or two go-to guys that can put the team on their back and carry them on a night they might need that. That's not a knock on Oldham, it's just, in my opinion, what it is. Their strength and what impressed me is their teamwork and willingness to find their teammates, and the sum is greater than the individual parts. But some nights, especially when you get to region and every game can be a dog fight, you need those one or two players to step up and carry the team across the finish line. I'm not sure, in that situation, Oldham has that.

OK, gang, so sorry to let everyone down Sunday night....I really have no idea what I did, but I must have hit something wrong on the keyboard....lost the entire write-up just moments before finishing it.

 

Well, above is this week's rankings. Trimble has already slightly adjusted things by knocking off the team just ahead of them, South Oldham, by 12. I'm truly not surprised by this; Trimble has a lot of veteran talent and a good coach in Bob Lauster....

 

A quick look at the top teams so far:

 

Oldham County I concur with BigVMan in that Oldham looks to be in mid-season form. This could be bad - you need to improve every night the entire season, so the challenge right now is for coach Coy Zerhusen to keep his team focused. He seems to have their attention right now, though. Of the 8th region teams I've seen to date, Oldham is clearly the front runner to win the region. Very good passing team, very good scoring balance, great shooters, and very unselfish. Good team quickness. Not as big as some of the other teams, but they have enough height and their main weapon against the BIG teams is their depth and team speed, anyway. Oldham is going ten deep easily right now, and getting big efforts off the bench. Jacob Bates, Brandon Johnson, and Clayton Wirth all have double-digit games off the bench. Oldham is outscoring the opposition, 82.7 - 57.5, and the impressive thing is that the opposition has been pretty decent: OC beat sixth region power DeSales by 11, Anderson County by 25, and a solid Trimble County team by 35 while limiting the Raiders to just 29 points. Oldham may or may not win the region, but they are out in front right now.

 

Owen County Some may think I'm reaching a little here, but I think right now the Rebels are playing awfully well. There's simply no questioning Carson Williams' talent - 23 points and 15 rebounds per game to date - but the supporting cast is looking pretty solid. Chad McDonald is averaging 17 ppg and hitting 58% of his threes, and Vince Toftness is tossing in 12/game. Owen roasted Trimble, 76-38, last week and then got an impressive win, 53-51, over a powerful Grant County team. This is a good offensive club that shoots the ball well, and when Williams is on the floor, they have the region's best player on their side. The big difference between Oldham and Owen right now is depth; Oldham can survive foul trouble; I'm not sure Owen can.

 

Collins Right now, Collins holds this spot down. Brent Kidwell is simply exploding for his senior year, averaging over 22 ppg. Deion Cocran is addin 18 ppg. The win over a very talented Shelby County team last week by 8 tells me that this team has to be ranked among the region's premier teams right now. There are concerns, though....Collins is averaging just 58.8 ppg and giving up nearly as much. And that loss to Franklin County was a surprise. Still - talented guards can take a team a long way.

 

Grant County The Braves last won the region in 1979, and this year's squad may have the talent to get Grant back to the Sweet 16. Right now, the Braves need to start winning some games against the premier teams; their two losses are to Louisville Male by 15 and Owen County by 2. On the other hand, they've beaten the teams they were expected to beat. Seth Adkins (15.2 ppg) and Austin Johnson (16.4 ppg) are leading the way and the Braves are averaging 76.3 ppg, second only to Oldham County. And the Braves are getting production from several: In their first six games, the Braves have had four different players lead the team in scoring. A good shooting team, the Braves are especially deadly at the line, where the are hitting 73.8% as a team. And they are good at getting to the line - they've shot 160 free throws in their first five games, an average of 32 attempts per game.

 

Simon Kenton Trent Steiner's team was an overtime loss in the region final away from a Sweet 16 trip last year, and the Pioneers bring back size and experience this year. After an 0-2 start, the Pioneers have won three straight. They have a big chance to show what they can do this week in the Oldham County Best in Hoops Classic against a solid field. The Pioneers open with Louisville Male on Friday, a team that beat District 32 rival Grant County by 15.

 

Shelby County I picked the Rockets #2 in my pre-season rankings - and I notice that my good friend John Herndon, who did the Cats' Pause rankings for the 8th Region, picked the same. I'm still sold on Shelby - they are deep, talented, and do a lot of things well. But they are off to a rickety start. Malik Manica is out until probably February, and the Rockets have not been the same team without him, with sloppy ballhandling and without the energy he brings to the court. Last year's leading scorer, James Gordon, has missed action since tweaking his back against Mercer County in the first game; Shelby has missed him on the inside. But I have no doubt Jason Couch will get this team together, much as he did last year's unit. If Gordon and Manica come back full - speed, this team is a threat to win it all. Without them, a lot of question marks have to be answered....today's Shelby team struggles with ballhandling, is not as strong on defense, and has problems at the line (2 of 12 against CAL and 8 of 14 against Collins at the line). That said, they are still so talented, they are 4-2. Gut hunch: Couch will have this team humming along come tournament time.

 

Anderson County Bearcats could be top 5 on any given night - or bottom five. It all depends on their shooting, which is their claim to fame. Austin Cummins will likely contend with Carson Williams of Owen County and Brent Kidwell of Collins for region scoring honors this year. He's already set a school single game record this year with 45 points. Simply put, Anderson has the abiliy to put up points, and every Glenn Drury team I've ever seen plays defense. Great defense wins championships....so if Anderson can become a premier defensive club, and get on a hot streak shooting, they could win the region. Getting there will be a challenge, though, in a district with Shelby County and Collins.

 

Henry County Wins over Eminence and Gallatin County have established Henry as the most likely team to come out of the 31st with Owen County. This team is inexperienced; we'll see just how good they are this week on the 19th, when they face Owen County. We'll learn even more about the Wildcats between 1/23/15 - 2/19/15 when they face South Oldham, Oldham County, Grant County, Shelby County, and Simon Kenton over a four week period.

 

North Oldham OK, I haven't typically found myself putting "0-fer" teams in the top 10, but North fits here. New coach Rob Burton has the Mustangs playing inspired ball, but they opened against three really good teams (Bullitt East, Fern Creek, and West Jessamine) and they acquited themselves well. I didn't expect them to lost to Bullitt Central, but the Mustangs are just now getting all their football players back after the football Mustangs reached the Class 4A semi-finals. North has size, speed, and a couple of really good guards who can take over a game.

 

South Oldham The Dragons should be flipped with the Trimble County Raiders after losing to the Bedford team, but Steve Simpson will likely get this squad going in the second half of the season. The Dragons have some athleticism and can shoot.

 

Trimble County The Raiders are a solid bunch. Good balance; good shooters.

Big games this week:

 

12/16/14 - Oldham County vs. Grant County - start of a big week for Oldham.

Gallatin County vs. Owen Cco in a dstrict 31 showdown.

 

12/17/14 - North Oldham vs. Trimble County - Raiders can claim at least the #2 seed with a win.

 

12/18/14 - Oldham County vs. Central (first game in the Best in Hoops Classic)

 

12/19/14 - Owen County at Henry County - the 31st District's top two teams collide in New Castle.

Oldham Co second round game in Best in Hoops against either St. X or Paul Lawrence Dunbar

Simon Kenton vs Male in Oldham Co. Best In Hoops tourney.

 

12/20/14 - Oldham County third round game in Best in Hoops Tournament against Male / Simon Kenton / Eastern / Ashland.

 

12/21/14 - Oldham County final game in Best in Hops Classic.

All games of the Best in Hoops Classic can be heard on Internet TV on the Pegasus Sports Network on the internet. http://www.pegasussportsky.com/

OK, gang, so sorry to let everyone down Sunday night....I really have no idea what I did, but I must have hit something wrong on the keyboard....lost the entire write-up just moments before finishing it.

 

Well, above is this week's rankings. Trimble has already slightly adjusted things by knocking off the team just ahead of them, South Oldham, by 12. I'm truly not surprised by this; Trimble has a lot of veteran talent and a good coach in Bob Lauster....

 

A quick look at the top teams so far:

 

Oldham County I concur with BigVMan in that Oldham looks to be in mid-season form. This could be bad - you need to improve every night the entire season, so the challenge right now is for coach Coy Zerhusen to keep his team focused. He seems to have their attention right now, though. Of the 8th region teams I've seen to date, Oldham is clearly the front runner to win the region. Very good passing team, very good scoring balance, great shooters, and very unselfish. Good team quickness. Not as big as some of the other teams, but they have enough height and their main weapon against the BIG teams is their depth and team speed, anyway. Oldham is going ten deep easily right now, and getting big efforts off the bench. Jacob Bates, Brandon Johnson, and Clayton Wirth all have double-digit games off the bench. Oldham is outscoring the opposition, 82.7 - 57.5, and the impressive thing is that the opposition has been pretty decent: OC beat sixth region power DeSales by 11, Anderson County by 25, and a solid Trimble County team by 35 while limiting the Raiders to just 29 points. Oldham may or may not win the region, but they are out in front right now.

 

Owen County Some may think I'm reaching a little here, but I think right now the Rebels are playing awfully well. There's simply no questioning Carson Williams' talent - 23 points and 15 rebounds per game to date - but the supporting cast is looking pretty solid. Chad McDonald is averaging 17 ppg and hitting 58% of his threes, and Vince Toftness is tossing in 12/game. Owen roasted Trimble, 76-38, last week and then got an impressive win, 53-51, over a powerful Grant County team. This is a good offensive club that shoots the ball well, and when Williams is on the floor, they have the region's best player on their side. The big difference between Oldham and Owen right now is depth; Oldham can survive foul trouble; I'm not sure Owen can.

 

Collins Right now, Collins holds this spot down. Brent Kidwell is simply exploding for his senior year, averaging over 22 ppg. Deion Cocran is addin 18 ppg. The win over a very talented Shelby County team last week by 8 tells me that this team has to be ranked among the region's premier teams right now. There are concerns, though....Collins is averaging just 58.8 ppg and giving up nearly as much. And that loss to Franklin County was a surprise. Still - talented guards can take a team a long way.

 

Grant County The Braves last won the region in 1979, and this year's squad may have the talent to get Grant back to the Sweet 16. Right now, the Braves need to start winning some games against the premier teams; their two losses are to Louisville Male by 15 and Owen County by 2. On the other hand, they've beaten the teams they were expected to beat. Seth Adkins (15.2 ppg) and Austin Johnson (16.4 ppg) are leading the way and the Braves are averaging 76.3 ppg, second only to Oldham County. And the Braves are getting production from several: In their first six games, the Braves have had four different players lead the team in scoring. A good shooting team, the Braves are especially deadly at the line, where the are hitting 73.8% as a team. And they are good at getting to the line - they've shot 160 free throws in their first five games, an average of 32 attempts per game.

 

Simon Kenton Trent Steiner's team was an overtime loss in the region final away from a Sweet 16 trip last year, and the Pioneers bring back size and experience this year. After an 0-2 start, the Pioneers have won three straight. They have a big chance to show what they can do this week in the Oldham County Best in Hoops Classic against a solid field. The Pioneers open with Louisville Male on Friday, a team that beat District 32 rival Grant County by 15.

 

Shelby County I picked the Rockets #2 in my pre-season rankings - and I notice that my good friend John Herndon, who did the Cats' Pause rankings for the 8th Region, picked the same. I'm still sold on Shelby - they are deep, talented, and do a lot of things well. But they are off to a rickety start. Malik Manica is out until probably February, and the Rockets have not been the same team without him, with sloppy ballhandling and without the energy he brings to the court. Last year's leading scorer, James Gordon, has missed action since tweaking his back against Mercer County in the first game; Shelby has missed him on the inside. But I have no doubt Jason Couch will get this team together, much as he did last year's unit. If Gordon and Manica come back full - speed, this team is a threat to win it all. Without them, a lot of question marks have to be answered....today's Shelby team struggles with ballhandling, is not as strong on defense, and has problems at the line (2 of 12 against CAL and 8 of 14 against Collins at the line). That said, they are still so talented, they are 4-2. Gut hunch: Couch will have this team humming along come tournament time.

 

Anderson County Bearcats could be top 5 on any given night - or bottom five. It all depends on their shooting, which is their claim to fame. Austin Cummins will likely contend with Carson Williams of Owen County and Brent Kidwell of Collins for region scoring honors this year. He's already set a school single game record this year with 45 points. Simply put, Anderson has the abiliy to put up points, and every Glenn Drury team I've ever seen plays defense. Great defense wins championships....so if Anderson can become a premier defensive club, and get on a hot streak shooting, they could win the region. Getting there will be a challenge, though, in a district with Shelby County and Collins.

 

Henry County Wins over Eminence and Gallatin County have established Henry as the most likely team to come out of the 31st with Owen County. This team is inexperienced; we'll see just how good they are this week on the 19th, when they face Owen County. We'll learn even more about the Wildcats between 1/23/15 - 2/19/15 when they face South Oldham, Oldham County, Grant County, Shelby County, and Simon Kenton over a four week period.

 

North Oldham OK, I haven't typically found myself putting "0-fer" teams in the top 10, but North fits here. New coach Rob Burton has the Mustangs playing inspired ball, but they opened against three really good teams (Bullitt East, Fern Creek, and West Jessamine) and they acquited themselves well. I didn't expect them to lost to Bullitt Central, but the Mustangs are just now getting all their football players back after the football Mustangs reached the Class 4A semi-finals. North has size, speed, and a couple of really good guards who can take over a game.

 

South Oldham The Dragons should be flipped with the Trimble County Raiders after losing to the Bedford team, but Steve Simpson will likely get this squad going in the second half of the season. The Dragons have some athleticism and can shoot.

 

Trimble County The Raiders are a solid bunch. Good balance; good shooters.

Uh................Johnny Leep has been the head coach at Trimble for 3-4 years now.

Uh................Johnny Leep has been the head coach at Trimble for 3-4 years now.

 

Yeah, I have to laugh at myself. Funny thing is, the vision in my brain was one of Johnny Leep - and I still typed "Bob Lauster"! LOL Johnny actually emailed me.....embarrassing, but we shared a laugh. (At least, I HOPE he was laughing! LOL!)

 

I could have said "Jim Hurst".....

 

See, kiddos, what happens when you reach 52....