Day 1 of the 2016 Pegasus Sports Best in Hoops at Oldham County HS is in the books, and three of the opening day games were decided by one possession:

 

DeSales rallied from ten points down in the second half to edge Central, 65-62. The Colts, facing the frantic pace of the Yellowjackets, appeared worn down after three quarters, trailing 48-43. But the winners found their shooting legs again in the fourth, hitting 8 of 12 shots, including 4 of 7 threes. Jaxon Burgess, in particular, got hot, hitting 4 of 5 shots (including 3 of 4 beyond the arc) in the frame, pacing DeSales with 27 points. Devin Firman had 16 for Central.

 

Bullitt East 54, Lafayette 52 - The Generals from Lafayette raced out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, but BE kept chipping away, and the two went to the half tied at 27. The second half was nip-and-tuck all the way to the finish, but Bullitt East was the more disciplined team down the stretch, earning better shots than what Lafayette settled for, and BE hung for the 54-52 win. Luke Ezell had 11 points for the Chargers in the win, and Noah Wilson - a 6'2" senior reserve averaging just 3.8 ppg - came off the bench to score 11 on 4 of 5 shooting, including 3 of 4 beyond the arc. With Bullitt East leading, 54-52 and just over 5 seconds to play, Jared Osborne of BE missed the front end of the bonus, and Lafayette rebounded. The Generals got the ball to midcourt and called time out with 2.7 to play. But Jajuante Carpenter's off-balance three while double-teamed was just off the mark, preserving the Charger win. Chris Wharton led Lafayette with 18 points.

 

Waggener 56, Bryan Station 55 - Waggener trailed by 6 or 7 at the half, but rallied in the second half for the win. Bryan Station got off a last-second shot from about 10 feet away in traffic as time expired, but the shot bounced off, sending Waggener to the semi-finals.

 

Oldham County 83, Manual 46 - Perhaps all the drama had been exhausted in the first three games as this one felt largely over by the end of the first quarter, with Oldham leading, 23-14. The Colonels led, 42-29, at the break - at that time the largest lead for any team in the first round games - and then blew the game open by outscoring Manual, 28-6, in the third period. The game ended with a running clock. Sixteen Colonels played and 13 made it into the scorebook, led by junior center Travis Henderson's 16. Three other Colonels reached double figures: Ismail Jones 12, Zach Larimore 11, and reserve Branden Dewitt came in to hit four of five shots and score 10 points off the bench. Manual was paced by freshman backup center Eli Rogers' 9. The tale of the tape was told by the unofficial turnover tally: Manual 29, Oldham County 6.

 

TOMORROW'S SCHEDULE (all games aired live video at The Pegasus Sports Network - PSN)

 

Consolation Bracket:

Central (4-3) vs. Lafayette (4-4) pregame show 2 pm tipoff 2:30 pm

Bryan Station (3-3) vs. Manual (1-5) broadcast time approximately 4:10 pm

 

Winners' Bracket:

DeSales (7-1) vs. Bullitt East (6-3) broadcast time approximately 6:05 pm

Oldham County (7-1) vs. Waggener (5-3) broadcast time approximately 7:55 pm

 

Notes:

- DeSales and Oldham County are both riding six game winning streaks; Bullitt East has won four straight.

- DeSales, Oldham County, and Manual are all returnees to the Best in Hoops. Oldham County beat Manual in last year's title game; DeSales finished 5th in 2015.

- Bulllitt East won despite missing 2nd leading scorer Conner Green (14.5 ppg) and watching leading scorer Jared Osborne (16.3 ppg) manage just 9 points, with only two coming after halftime.

- Central and Lafayette are still adjusting to basketball season; both schools' football teams made it to their respective class' football championship games.-

- Manual has three quarterbacks on their basketball roster.

- Bullitt East is off to a 6-3 start, despite losing all five starters from last year's 27-6 region 6 runner-ups, and nine total seniors. The Chargers also have a new coach in Jason Couch, formerly with Shelby County.

- Oldham County has been very balanced. In their first six games of the season, Oldham County had five different players lead the team in scoring.

 

CM

PSN Best in Hoops Day 2:

 

The DRAMA continues....of the 8 games in the first two days, FIVE were decided by 3 points or less.....

 

Lafayette 81 Central 56 - The Generals bounced back in a big way after losing to Bullitt East on Monday. One of the worst-shooting teams in the tourney coming into the event, the Generals shot an impressive 48% from the field, including an amazing 13 of 27 beyond the arc (48%). They also hit 12 of 16 from the field (75%). Eric Powell was hot, hitting 7 of 11 (including 5 of 9 beyond the arc) and led the Generals with 21...Cameron Greenup added 16. Twelve Lafayette players made it into the scorebook. Central, on the other hand, hit just 32.1% of their shots (including 2 of 17 beyond the arc) and struggled with ball control, unofficially committing 24 turnovers. Korey Johnson led the Jackets with 19. Top Yellowjacket scorer Devin Firman continues to struggle a bit in the tourney, as he was held to just 2 of 11 shooting and 10 points.

 

Bryan Station 76, Manual 74 - The Defenders rallied from a 13 point second half deficit to create an all-11th Region battle for fifth place (vs. Lafayette). Manual played inspired ball for most of the game, faring much better against Bryan Station's man-to-man full court press than they had against Oldham County's full-court zone press the day before. Both teams hit 25 field goals and both were fantastic at the line (Bryan Station 20/26 76.9%; Manual 18/24 75%) Turnovers were nearly even (Bryan Station 12, Manual 10), as were rebounds. But with the game on the line in the final seconds, it was Bryan Station that made the big plays. Frankly, it was the "Eric Boone show" late, as the Defenders' junior scored at will in the fourth, finishing with 21 points. Manual got the ball into the hands of their big junior center, Noah Hawkins, in the paint for the final shot, but the Defenders got the big block as time expired. Terrance Clayton-Murphy added 20 points for the Defenders and Steven Groves added 10 off the bench.... Hawkins had 17 points for Manual; Brent Williams added 12 and Jonah Gelhaus 11 off the bench.

 

WEDNESDAY CONSOLATION BRACKET: All games live video on The Pegasus Sports Network - PSN

 

Seventh place: Manual (1-6) vs. Central (4-4) pregame show 2 pm tip 2:30 pm

Fifth place: Lafayette (5-4) vs. Bryan Station (4-3) broadcast approx. 4:10 pm

 

Bullitt East 81, DeSales 54 - It was a big sixth-region battle on the winners' bracket side in the semi-finals. Jason Couch's first team in Mt. Washington is doing pretty well early in the season, despite graduating 9 seniors from last year's 27-6 team and all five starters. This was all Chargers from the beginning...although the Chargers led by just 10 at the break, they were clearly in charge, and they pulled away rapidly with a 21-10 third quarter that put the game out of reach. DeSales got 13 from Jaxon Burgess and 12 from Austin Black, but the Colts struggled just to get good looks against the aggressive Charger defense.

 

Waggener 52, Oldham County 49 - The day ended with another nailbiter. but Waggener pretty led throughout; Oldham had just one lead (at 4-3). The Wildcats used their length to befuddle an Oldham offense that averaged 71 ppg and was one of the best-shooting teams in the tournament. Although Oldham shot nearly 50% in the second half, they finished just 39.3% overall for the game, and missed all 11 of their threes. Waggener actually hit 4 fewer field goals, but capitalized at the line, hitting a torrid 11 of 12 (91.6%). Jaago Kalakon was the only Wildcat in double figures with 21 - Oldham's defense was pretty good, holding the Wildcats 23 points below their season average of 75 ppg - while Ismail Jones rallied the Colonels with 10 of his team-high 16 points in the fourth.

 

WINNERS' BRACKET ON WEDNESDAY 12/21/16 - all games LIVE VIDEO and archived on The Pegasus Sports Network - PSN

 

Third place game: Oldham County (7-2) vs. DeSales (7-2) 6:05 approximate broadcast time

Championship: Bullitt East (7-3) vs. Waggener (6-3) 7:55 pm approximate broadcast time.

 

This has been an incredible tournament; great matchups and tremendous finishes. The organizers really set this up for some competitive matchups, as evidenced by 5 of the first 8 games being decided by 3 or fewer points.

There has been a lot of good basketball played in Oldham County this week. And the games have run on time! Looking forward to a championship matchup between 2 good teams in Bullitt East and Waggener.

I guess there's no recap of this since Oldham County didn't win. So here goes:

Oldham County beat Desales in the 3rd place game behind a great game from junior Jackson Gibson. This kid needs to be on some radars because he can flat out play.

 

In the championship game, there was a rematch between Bullitt East and Waggener. BE had beat Waggener by 3 this past Saturday. East came into the game missing 2 starters and their 6th man, but still managed to win by double digits behind 20 points by Jared Osborne, 11 from Luke Ezell, and 10 from Sean Johnson. Luke Ezell and Grant Skaggs named to the All Tournament team. Jared Osborne won Most Outstanding Player for the tourney.

:idunno:There was no recap because I haven't been home since the tourney ended Wednesday....sorry, guys, but the tournament meant I was WAY behind on Christmas errands/shopping and the like. Just didn't feel like sitting in front of the PC yesterday when I got home late.... Here's the final day results and some brief commentary:

 

Central 74, Manual 58 (7th place) - Manual could never quite adjust to the pace in this one, one day after coming within a whisker of beating Bryan Station. Central led, 22-15, after one quarter and was never really threatened. The lead was 10 at the half, 14 after three. The Jackets placed four players in double figures, led by center James Simpson's 16 points and 9 rebounds. Simpson, the QB of the Central football team, came into the tournament averaging just a hair over 3 ppg, but is rounding into basketball form nicely; he was one of the more impressive individuals in the tournament. Devin Firman (10) and Darron Douglas (10) were two other starters in double figures; Josh Watkins came off the bench to score 11. Central had their best shooting night of the tournament; a team that came into the tourney hitting 38% from the field, capitalized on transition baskets for a healthy 54% (27/50) shooting night. Manual was led again by junior center Noah Hawkins, who just missed a double-double with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Brent Williams added 13. (NOTE: There was a scoring issue during this game; we were unable to get the final word from the official scorer, and - because we immediately went on the air with the fifth place game - are not certain of the exact final stats....so if the above is off by a point or so.... :idunno:

 

Bryan Station 74, Lafayette 64 (fifth place)- after an "all 7th region" battle for 7th place, we had an "all 11th region battle" for fifth. These two teams are obviously very familiar with each other.... Unlike the first game, this one took a while to settle. Lafayette led by one (13-12) after one, but Bryan Station staked out a 33-30 halftime advantage. IN the end, it was a strong third quarter performance by the Defenders that decided it, as Bryan Station outscored Lafayette 25-14 in the decisive frame and coasted to the win. (I apologize; I took a break during this game, and I do not have official stats to report)

 

Oldham County 73, DeSales 58 (third place) - this one was a lot more competitive than the score might indicate. Oldham County, fresh off a heartbreaking 3 point loss to Waggener in the SF, came out flat, and the Colts came out blazing, hitting 6 of their first 11 shots to stake out a 14-8 first quarter advantage. Although DeSales' shooting was impressive, their defense was even more so as they held an Oldham team averaging 71 ppg to just 8 first quarter points. Austin Black was practically unstoppable for DeSales, hitting 3 of four shots and scoring 8 first quarter points. Oldham rallied in the second, and Zach Larimore's buzzer-beating layup off the right baseline lifted OC to a halftime 32-31 lead. The second half was pretty much all Oldham, as the Colonels outscored DeSales 18-12 and 23-15 in the final two quarters. Ismail Jones scored 10 of his 11 points in the second half. Zach Larimore had a double-double for OC with 11 points / 12 rebounds. But the day belonged to junior point guard Jackson Gibson. Gibson, averaging 12.3 ppg on the season, erupted for 35 points (20 first half / 15 second half) to be the story of the game. He hit 10 of 21 shots from the floor (4 of 7 beyond the arc) and 11 of 14 at the line. DeSales - unofficial numbers - was led by Sam Weining's 16 and Jaxon Burgess' 15. Austin Black finished with 11. Very impressed by Weining, who had his finest game of the tournament; besides his 16 points, he unofficially had 8 rebounds.

 

Bullitt East 68, Waggener 55 (championship) - Kudos to BE head coach Jason Couch, who had a remarkable challenge awaiting when he took over in Mt. Washington this year. As a head coach, he had to expect some growing pains in December as his new team learned his system....but the challenge was magnified by having to replace 9 seniors, including all five starters from last year's 27-6 team. After this win - the Chargers' second win over the Wildcats this season - things are looking very good indeed for the Chargers, who move to 8-3 on the season. Complicating things for BE coming into the game was the continued absence of second-leading scorer Conner Green (14.5 ppg) and the hand injury to starting center Konner Polson that was suffered on Tuesday in the win against DeSales. Couch adjusted by rotating senior Michael Tandy, Rece Watson, and Tyler Steinmetz in the post, with Watson getting the majority of the minutes. This was a great game - Waggener bolted out to a small early lead, and led, 30-27, at the half. Waggener - sporting Oldham County's white uniforms because they brought their black uniforms and Bullitt East was also wearing dark uniforms - got strong play early from 6'4" sophomore Jaago Kalakon, who showed himself to be a threat to shoot from the outside, and hit the glass well on the inside. Everyone who watched Kalakon was impressed in the tournament; he's an unfinished gem - but he still has 2+ years to play at the HS level and his upside is enormous. Like the fifth place and third place games, this one was decided in the third; BE came out of the locker room and exploded for a 21-7 run in the third that dealt Waggener a death blow. Though the lead was an "overcome-able" 48-37 after three, you could feel that the Chargers were firmly in control. Jared Osborne, after a fairly quiet first half (6 points) led the way, hitting all five of his third quarter shots - including 2 threes. Osborne led all scorers with 20 points and was also Bullitt East's top rebounder with 7 (unofficial). The Chargers' subs took control of the final frame, and helped outscore Waggener, 20-18, in the period. Couch had to be happy with some of the reserves' numbers: Shawn Johnson (10 points), Rece Watson (8 points; 4 rebounds), and Thomas Wisehart (8 points). Those three combined for 11 of 15 shooting (including 2 of 3 beyond the arc). For the game, Bullitt East hit 24 of 43 shots for 55.8%, 6 of 13 beyond the arc (46.2). I must apologize to Waggener - we had a student announcer helping with this game and our Waggener stats are not complete. :( I do want to brag on the young man, however - Garrett Simpson, a 2016 graduate of Oldham County HS and now a freshman at NKU, did a fantastic job of color commentary. He also was the play by play man for one of Monday's games. (Bryan Station vs. Waggener)

 

IF YOU MISSED THIS TOURNAMENT.... you missed an exciting one. You never really know how December matchups will play out, but 5 of the 8 matchups on Monday and Tuesday were decided by 3 points or less. In at least three of those games, the loser had the ball with a final opportunity to tie/win the game. The final day games were all decided by more, but only the Central vs. Manual game was settled early.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL....have a fantastic holiday season to you all!

 

CM

Well written recap. Way more professional than mine. Hahaha