As well roll into regional tournament, the 3rd region is as wide open as ive seen it in many many years. I would say there are 5 teams with a legit shot to win the whole thing and no real favorite. Here is how I have them seeded, heading into next week...

 

1.Owensboro Catholic (19-9) – The Aces head into the regional tournament, winners of 4 of their last 5 games. The Aces look to be the most well rounded team in the region with talent inside and out. Players to watch: Luke Hayden is one of the most dynamic players in the region as a sophomore (17ppg). Cam Obryan tweeked his knee vs Apollo but the Aces are hopeful he can work through the injury. Ray Zuerber and Luke Payne are strong senior leaders.

 

2.Muhlenberg County(15-13) – The Stangs are the hottest team in the 3rd region, winning their last 9 games of the season and the 10th district championship. While they lack an inside presence, no one in the region can shoot the ball 1-5 like Muhlenberg. Players to watch: Noah Mcelwain has emerged as one of the best scorers in the region at 17ppg. Clayton Stovall(11ppg) pushed the Stangs to a district title with his outside shooting. Athletic senior guard Kobe Drake is playing his best basketball at the right time, bringing scoring and terrific defense to the table.

 

3.Meade County(20-10) – The Waves have struggled down the stretch, but that was mostly to teams outside the region. Meade is 10-1 inside the 3rd region, and their only loss is to an eliminated Daviess County team. Many coaches view Meade as the team to beat. Players to watch: Meade puts 4 guys in double figures in Josh Durbin(14ppg), Kase Mattingly & Calvin Hackert(13ppg), James Baker(12ppg). The Waves have a good athletic presence in the paint in Baker, while the rest of the guys can score from anywhere.

 

4.Breck County(20-8) – Breck owns the best record of any of the team remaining in the 3rd region. They had won 6 straight before dropping the 11th district championship game in 3 overtimes. Players to watch: Senior shooting guard Cody Mingus has really come on strong in the last few weeks, averaging 18ppg. Tyler Haycraft is the best rebounder left playing in the 3rd. He is averaging a double double at 11ppg/11rpg and is coming off a 20 plus rebound game vs Meade.

 

5.Apollo(9-17) – Apollo shocked the region, knocking off the regional favorite, Daviess County. The addition of Ben Moss makes this team much more rounded and dangerous. Players to watch: Junior slasher Zach Hopewell is one of the most underrated players in the region, scoring 18ppg. He went toe to toe with Stewart Currie in the 9th district tournament. Returning Ben Moss has stepped in and immediately made an impact, averaging 15ppg in his three outings.

 

6.Butler County(12-14) – The Bears had lost 7 straight games entering district tournament play. They were able to upset Edmonson and Grayson to win the district after going 0-6 in the regular season. Players to watch: Butler is always capable of the upset because they have guys who can score the ball. Junior Rex Henderson(18ppg) & Jr Baylee Anderson(15ppg) come into the tournament as the top scoring tandem in the region.

 

7.Ohio County(12-16) – Without two of their better players for the rest of the season, the Eagles are in a tough spot the rest of the way. They have lost 4 straight entering regional. Players to watch: Senior center Travis Carter is one of, if not the, best big men in the region. Averaging 14ppg/9rpg, Carter is a mismatch for almost anyone in the 3rd.

 

8.Grayson County(11-16) – after a red hot start to the season, the Cougars are only 4-12 since the first of the year. They got a convincing win to open district before falling to Butler in the title game. Players to watch: Trey Goff comes in as one of the best 3 point shooters in the state at 43%. Trey is putting up a 15ppg average.

 

 

 

Catholic vs Ohio County – These two teams played a very competitive game in the final week of the regular season. Catholic won, but it took until the 4th quarter to push the lead out.

 

Butler vs Breck – Breck will look to stay hot vs the upset minded Bears. Breck beat Butler 71-48 way back in the 2nd game of the season.

 

Muhlenberg vs Apollo – The Stangs ended their 7 game losing streak and started their 9 game winning streak back on 1/29 against these Eagles. Apollo is a much different team than they were then. This is the most interesting of the first round match ups.

 

Meade vs Grayson – This will be the first meeting between these schools this year. Meade will come in as the heavy favorites.

 

***Boys Semi’s will by Saturday night, while the finals will take place on Tuesday, 3/8.

Without O'Bryan, Catholic with be limited. I look for Meade to win it all.

Don't count out AHS . Moss Is much improved and with Hopewell free to move about and slash if BM will get him the ball, along w good shooters , then they are dangerous ..

Sad that even though KHSAA blew this one, the school blew it much worse----a once respected bball force has now lost all credibility in region and has now demonstrated the will do anything to win even at the expense of their own kids ....

Cam being out really hurts Catholic. I would drop them from 1 to 3 or 4 without him. He was back to playing very good basketball.

 

I definitely won't count out Apollo. They will be a very tough out.

Don't count out AHS . Moss Is much improved and with Hopewell free to move about and slash if BM will get him the ball, along w good shooters , then they are dangerous ..

Sad that even though KHSAA blew this one, the school blew it much worse----a once respected bball force has now lost all credibility in region and has now demonstrated the will do anything to win even at the expense of their own kids ....

 

Truly a sad situation. Adults tend to ruin a lot of things for kids. Good luck to Apollo but this does not shine a favorable light on the program or the administrators. Not a good destination for talented players in the area. There's a huge difference between a good collection of players and a quality program. They have a good collection of players but it kinda gives you a bad feeling about the long term viability of the program under the current regime.

Apollo/Muhlenberg sure lived up to the hype, and was the only competitive game of the first round. Apollo came out and jumped all over the Stangs early, leading by as many as 13 in the early moments of the 2nd quarter. Coach Stovall made a nice adjustment coming out of the locker room, spreading the Eagles out and attacking the basket. Noah Mcelwain was brilliant, going for 30 points. Muhlenberg took the lead late in the 3rd quarter and never looked back. Saturday's semi finals should be great with Catholic and Breck in the early game & Meade and Muhlenberg in the nightcap.

That's what I would call a "tainted" loss. Imagine a young team coming together at the right time during the tournament. That opportunity was denied when the Apollo administration saw fit to reward disloyalty for the 2nd year in a row. Austin Tyler was denied the opportunity to continue his maturing process as a team leader and the team was denied the opportunity to build on it's obvious young talent. Ben (a very talented player) was torched repeatedly after he started picking up fouls. He placed his value above the team's by his lacksidasical defensive effort when in foul trouble. A disturbing trend from the "higher ups" at Apollo has emerged and should give any family pause if they've got a son or daughter that's a talented student, hard working loyal person with a talent for basketball. I, for one, would not consider that school for my sports-minded, excellent students until significant changes are seen.