South Oldham vs. Henry County Predictions/Updates

[ColonelMike]

FINAL

South Oldham 81

Henry County 55

Looked like the "old" Dragons....South hits 15 threes and racks up 81 points in winning their third straight.

[ConverseAllStar]

Pretty impressive win for South, although Henry County with a limited Hardin is a different team. 

[BigRob]

Was this unexpected? I know South is at another level from what Henry County has been playing and to have any chance, Hardin needed to stay out of foul trouble. 

[dragon man]

This was a solid win for the young Dragons.  Its not merely the win that is significant, but it's the dominant fashion.  Henry Co had a good record, and some confidence coming into the game.  The Dragons picked them apart from the start.  Good ball movement, and shot selection was improved... so, scoring was fairly balanced.  South got open looks all night long.  When Henry stepped up the pressure, South outmatched them with more speed, energy and execution.  The Dragons continue to grow & mature, this game was a positive step for them.  

[ColonelMike]

3 hours ago, dragon man said:

This was a solid win for the young Dragons.  Its not merely the win that is significant, but it's the dominant fashion.  Henry Co had a good record, and some confidence coming into the game.  The Dragons picked them apart from the start.  Good ball movement, and shot selection was improved... so, scoring was fairly balanced.  South got open looks all night long.  When Henry stepped up the pressure, South outmatched them with more speed, energy and execution.  The Dragons continue to grow & mature, this game was a positive step for them.  

Excellent game for South; the Dragons shot extremely well, and hit 15 threes while shooting 43% beyond the arc.

Except for a little drought midway through the second that saw Henry erase most of a 19-10 deficit and pull to within 21-17, South dominated the action at both ends of the court.    

After watching South "grind" their way to victory in their last two games - a style very uncharacteristic for the Dragons under Steve Simpson - we saw South get out and run last night, and bury Henry County under an avalanche of three pointers shot with pinpoint accuracy in the big Henry County gym.    This looked more like the South team that has led the 8th Region in scoring for the last 5 years...

In four games, South has now hit 44 threes, and has hit at least 9 in all four games.

South improves to 3-1 on the season; Henry County falls to 6-2.

Among the things we saw from South:

• Depth.   Steve Simpson is going to be fine as far as depth goes, which he needs to run the style he plays.   South got in deep with fouls last night, but there were so many interchangeable parts for Simpson to move into the game, that it didn't matter.   Zach Dolan wound up being the only Dragon to foul out.
• Ben Michel.    The Dragons' big junior rebounded from the Bullitt East game with a big performance against the Wildcats, hitting four threes from the outside, and scoring on power drives to the basket as well.   He was a matchup nightmare for the Cats' smaller guards.   I had him unofficially with 22 points (but I did miss 2 points for SO on my stats sheet, somewhere....)
• Cole Davis - One of the things South needed to find early in the season was a steady performer.    The jury's still out, but point guard Cole Davis has now scored in double digits in all four South games, the only Dragon to do so.   He's done it while also handling the role of point guard.
• Rebounding.   This was a real test for South, facing the Wildcats' twin towers (Trevor Hardin and Sam Royalty).   We didn't have the final, official rebounding totals for the two teams, but South unofficially had 22 boards - probably good enough to keep Simpson happy.

Henry County 

• Trevor Hardin is a beast.  I have really enjoyed watching him play over the last few years, and Wildcat fans should really relish this year, his senior season.   Hardin led all scorers on the night despite fouling out with plenty of time to play, and was dominant on the glass.   Even after getting his fourth foul, Hardin was aggressive and strong with the ball, and simply overpowered every defender who tried to get in his way.     One of his most impressive plays came in the second half when he caught the ball in the paint between three defenders, powered through all three to score, and got fouled.   
• Henry misses Will Peyton.    Peyton adds depth and some scoring to Enoch Welch's lineup.   The Wildcats need that extra contributor and additional scoring option.   Henry's off to a great start, even with Peyton on the sidelines; the Cats will be even better when he returns.
• Taller guards are an issue.    Ben Michel - who plays on the perimeter - and Cayden Brown both had four three pointers last night, and the taller South guards lit up the scoreboard for 15 threes total.    Other tall guards - such as Teagan Moore of Owen County - have also had success against Henry's quick, but short, perimeter players.    It'll be interesting to see what Coach Welch - one of the region's best tacticians - does to adjust.