The Knights are a familiar face and will be in their own backyard for the tournament. Still, it's been a few years since Coach Salsman's club has been playing this late in the postseason, but make no mistake, the Knights are capable.

 

Leading the way is senior wing Tanner Johnson. While Johnson has been asked to play inside a little more this year, probably by necessity, he's used it as an opportunity to expand his game. He'll lead the way for the Knights, but I wonder about whether he'll be able to show the kind of consistency needed to make a deep run. Of late, teams like Woodford County and Bryan Station have done an excellent job defending him and teams will be taking note of the blueprint that Coach Scott Hundley, one of the best up and coming coaches in the State, laid out to defend him.

 

Slowing down Johnson might not be enough though. That's because Jarod Griffin is an underrated kid, a lefty who can score in a variety of ways and is a guy who can go against tough man that a school like Station can apply but still get 13 when his team scores in the mid-50's, and get those in a variety of ways, whether it's pull-ups, stepping into 3's, or getting in the paint and throwing up a floater.

 

There's also the matter of slowing down Michael Talbott, a small but lightning quick point guard. While Talbott shows a tendency to be a bit one-handed with the ball, he's still usually able to get his despite teams knowing that-- he's just that quick and Catholic plays their system that well.

 

Along with those three, the starting lineup will be rounded out by a pair of seniors, Reese Ryan and Walker Boothe. Ryan is a kid I can't say enough good things about. He's not a scorer, but he'll give you everything else. He's undersized in the post, but can still give you rebounds, he's not the quickest player, but he'll get you steals, he just doesn't back down, doesn't give an inch, and gets after it. Those qualities will serve him well when he continues his career as a quarterback for Western Kentucky University. Boothe is a kid who has steadily improved through his career and will surprise you with some games where he gets into the double digits in points. However, he'll have his hands full with Colton Elkins in the first round.

 

In terms of bench play, the Knights will go about 8 deep. The first guys off the bench are a pair of juniors whose names you might recognize from their exploits on the gridiron-- Donovan Morris and JJ Ogbogu. I really like the edge that Ogbogu plays with, as he brings swag and toughness that Catholic might lack a bit in other places. Morris is another guy who, like Ogbogu, is athletic and will bring toughness, especially on the defensive end and on the glass. If the Knights need to beef up the post, then they'll call on Peter Whitman. He's the younger brother of former Knights great Jack Whitman, and will be ready to explode onto the scene next season, however, from most of what I've seen from him so far this year, I think that the safest thing to say is that while he certainly isn't a bad player, that he's probably not going to be someone you can count on to carry you right now.

 

I would say that Catholic's biggest strengths are that they are an experienced team led by a ton of seniors who is well coached, plays their system well, and knows exactly what is expected of each of them. Their biggest weaknesses are a lack of size and bulk on the interior, which understandably leads to questions about how well they'll be able to control the backboards and keep other teams, especially those with solid post players, from scoring inside the paint.

 

Catholic loses a lot of seniors at the conclusion of the season and will be fairly young and inexperienced next season if we're going on what they are expected to have back right now, so you get the impression that this is a run that this is the run that they've been building for over the past few seasons. The 11th was quite a grinder and the Knights have been playing against teams that could legitimately eliminate them since their district opener against Dunbar, so they'll be no easy out for anyone and whoever it is who sends this experienced group home will know that they've been in a battle.

Nice feature in today's Lexington Herald Leader on Lexington Catholic, the Knight tradition, and family ties across generations:

 

Like fathers, like sons: Sweet Sixteen a family affair at Lexington Catholic | High school basketball | Kentucky.com