The PSN Best in Hoops is this week, and Oldham County HS has assembled a pretty solid group of eight for this year's tournament. (records below as posted as of this writing)

 

Thursday round 1:

 

2 pm John Hardin (6-0) - The Bulldogs are ranked #1 in the Fifth Region and feature Mickey Pearson, who comes into the tourney with monstrous near-double-double averages of 28.2 ppg and 9.4 rebounds, while shooting 57% from the field. I haven't seen John Hardin yet, but people who have tell me that this team perhaps should be the favorite in a strong Best in Hoops field.

 

vs.

 

Grant County (2-6) - The Braves are slowly building a cohesive, balanced attack that features strong outside shooting, and lots of trips to the free throw line, where the Braves hit 76%. Luke Dawalt leads the Braves at 13.8 ppg / 8 rebounds; Grant has already thrown some scares into the likes of South Oldham, losing by just four.

 

3:45 pm Fort Walton Beach (FL) (5-3) The Vikings have lost three games, but by a total of just 20 points.

 

vs.

 

DeSales (2-5) The Colts are putting up some points, and despite losing 5 of their first six, they've been seasoned by a tough early schedule. Those five losses were to Elizabethtown, Oldham County, Fairdale, South Oldham, and Newport Central Catholic, teams which all have won at least five games and have a combined record of 27-7. DeSales' recent win over Bowling Green may have served notice that Tom Crews' team is coming together.

 

5:45 pm Warren Central (7-0) The top ranked team in the Fourth Region, the Dragons are undefeated at 7-0 coming into this tourney. Coach William Unseld appears to have another "winner" in Bowling Green.

 

vs.

 

Jeffersontown (4-2) The Seventh Region is represented by the Jeffersontown Chargers. Jalen Davis-Rhodes and Jordan Lyons both average 10 ppg to lead the Chargers who appear headed for a bounceback season after winning just ten games last season.

 

7:30 pm Oldham County (8-0) The Colonels are either "1" or "1A" in the Eighth Region right now and feature a veteran lineup, including five senior starters. Jackson Gibson may not win the award in a region that features the amazing Cobe Penny (Anderson County), but he's off to a Player of the Year start to the season while averaging nearly 17 ppg and more clutch shots than you typically see in a full season.

 

vs.

 

North Bullitt (3-4) The Eagles just ended a four-game losing streak with a 75-47 win at Shawnee, but North Bullitt's most impressive game of the year may have been the game before that - a narrow one-point loss to 8th region power Collins. That score should put everyone on notice that this team won't be easily beaten. North hasn't posted cumulative stats yet, but Lance Johnson averaged about 13 ppg in their first four contests.

 

Second round games on Friday 12/22 - losers' bracket games at 2 pm and 3:45 pm, with winners' bracket games at 5:45 pm and 7:30 pm.

 

Saturday 12/23 - 7th place game 11:45 AM 5th place game 10:00 AM 3rd place game 1:45 pm and championship at 3:30 pm

 

This should be a great tournament to attend this week, but if you can't attend, Pegasus Sports will air live video coverage of each game. The Pegasus Sports Network - PSN All games will also be archived.

 

One thing's for sure, the host school gave itself a tough row to hoe! The Oldham County Colonels will be favored against North Bullitt in round one, but then likely would face - assuming no upsets - an undefeated Warren Central team in the semis and an undefeated John Hardin team in the finals to win their own tournament.

 

Would love to hear some comments from folks whose teams are in this one.

 

Dragonfire, got some thoughts?

 

CM

If you think Oldham County is #1 in the 8th - and the Colonels right now appear to be definitely in the top two - then there's three region favorites in this tournament.

Warren Central's Skylar Potter will be worth the price of admission....Mr Basketball candidate

Don't be surprised if Warren Central struggles. For whatever reason, they have always seemed to struggle in the first holiday tournament they go to. I don't know if it is the longer travel, change in times, whatever, but they have not advanced to a winner's bracket final in the initial tournament of the year since 2011/12, and haven't won their initial tournament in 13 years. They obviously have the talent to compete, but I would personally rate John Hardin and Oldham County ahead of them in my expecations. John Hardin because I believe they're the best team in the tourney, and Oldham County because they're the host - and also quite talented.

 

Central needs this though. They haven't been tested much in the young season so far, and these will easily be their best opponents thus far. Probably the toughest they'll have the entire rest of the regular season.

Anybody out there from the 6th and 7th want to comment on Jtown and North Bullitt?

PSN will broadcast each game of the tourney; among the announcers who will be joining me:

 

Jason Holland - former boys head coach at Henry County, Oldham County, and Montgomery County; most recently head girls' coach at Shelby County

 

Frank Wright - former Mercer County boys' head coach, later head girls coach at South Oldham and Ballard. Also previously coached in Southern Indiana

 

Pat Yates - current assistant boys' basketball coach at North Oldham. Former player at Oldham County HS in the 1980s, where he played in the Sweet 16.

 

Tom Hawkins - longtime high school football coach in the area and former 8th Region referee.

 

Should be a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to this tournament.

 

Have to think John Hardin, Warren Central, and Oldham County will be favored to fill out three of the four semi-final spots. Really don't know what to say about DeSales' matchup with Fort Walton Beach as I know very, very little about the Vikings.

 

Hope anyone who ventures to Buckner for the tournament will stop by and say "Hi".

 

Colonelmike

The Bluegrasspreps.com top 20 rankings are out....and the Best in Hoops features three top 20 teams:

 

#9 John Hardin (7-0) vs Grant County in round 1 Thursday, tip at 2 pm ET

#16 Warren Central (7-0) vs. Jeffersontown in round 1 Thursday, tip about 5:45 pm

#20 Oldham County (8-0) vs North Bullitt in round 1 Thursday, tip about 7:30 pm

 

John Hardin would appear to have a great draw to the finals; only one other team in the upper bracket has a winning record (Fort Walton Beach, FL, is 5-3, per MaxPreps). (That said, DeSales, who is just 2-5, certainly made noise with a convincing victory over Bowling Green the other day)

 

Warren Central and Oldham County are favored to meet in the lower bracket semi-finals, which would be quite a show.

 

CM

Good grief, there's some BIG guards in this tournament.....

 

John Hardin features guards at 6'8", 6'5", and 6'4".....

Warren Central's three starting guards are 6'4", 6'7", and 6'3"....

 

OMG....

 

John Hardin vs. Grant tips at 2 pm

 

The Pegasus Sports Network - PSN

 

CM

Round 1 Results

 

John Hardin 84, Grant County 62 - The Bulldogs rallied from a deficit of as much as nine points in the first half and put away the game late in the fourth quarter despite 23 points / 15 rebounds from Grant County sophomore center Luke Dawalt. Grant County hit 13 of 31 three pointers.

 

DeSales 83, Fort Walton Beach (FL) 60 - Colts never threatened as they race to an early lead and coast against the leg-weary visitors from Florida. Samuel Weining with 28 points for the winners.

 

Warren Central 57, Jeffersontown 56 - Best game of the day. Dragons led, 40-21, at the half, but Jeffersontown pulled to within one basket in the fourth while holding WC to zero field goals in the period on just 0 for 4 shooting. WC turnovers nearly cost them the game, but they hold on for the one point win over the gutsy Chargers.

 

Oldham County 79, North Bullitt 44 - Oldham led just 33-25 at the break, but exploded in the second half to win running away. Jackson Gibson with 24 points for the victors, who played 15 players, with 12 scoring.

 

ROUND 2 Friday 12/22/17

 

2 pm - Grant County vs. Fort Walton Beach

 

3:45 pm - Jeffersontown vs. North Bullitt

 

5:45 pm - John Hardin vs. DeSales

 

7:30 pm - Warren Central vs. Oldham County

 

Pegasus Sports will air video coverage of all the games, beginning at 1:30 pm ET. The Pegasus Sports Network - PSN