ColonelMike Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 8th Region Week 4 Review By: Colonelmike As we wrap up January of 2021, the name of the game is simply getting the chance to play games. At the end of January last year, Eminence had played 23 games…this year, Grant County heads into February having played the most games of any 8th Region team – twelve. Carroll County still has just two games under their belt, and Oldham County and North Oldham have played just three. The average team in the region has played just 7.5 games. As such, averages are a little less relevant for comparative purposes. While anyone averaging 20 points per game is doing a good job – it’s kind of difficult to make any comparisons between a player who’s averaging 20 ppg after twelve contests versus someone who’s played just two games and is averaging 25 ppg. Hopefully, February will bring a lot less cancellations, and we’ll start to really sort out these teams. Player Notes: Last season, only one player in the 8th Region – Carroll County’s Keishaun Mumphrey – averaged a double-double for the entire season. The season isn’t over, but through four weeks, three players are averaging double-doubles this year: Keishaun Mumphrey, Carroll County 29.5 ppg / 12.0 rebounds Trevor Hardin, Henry County 22.2 ppg / 12.3 rebounds Hunter Penn, Woodford County 16.9 ppg / 10.0 rebounds Just outside the double-double range: Teagan Moore, Owen County 24.6 ppg / 9.0 rebounds Dylan Hammonds, Grant County 17.4 ppg / 8.7 rebounds Tate Ogburn, Trimble County 9.4 ppg / 9.3 rebounds After Week Four, here’s where we stand (all upcoming games shown are 7:30 pm starts, unless otherwise noted): 1 - Oldham County – (2-1) – Last Week: #1 Oldham County didn’t play last week, and heads into February with just three games under it’s belt. That said, I’m going to adopt the old NFL standard – the starting QB doesn’t lose his starting job because he misses a few games. For now, Oldham remains on top of the standings. The Colonels have two major challenges this week as they face the perennial 8th Region contender and defending 8th Region champ Collins on Tuesday and the powerful Seneca Redhawks on Thursday. Both games will be serious challenges to the Colonels, who’ve been idle much of the season. This Week – 2/2/21 vs. Collins (free live video on www.pegasussportsky.com) 2/4/21 vs. Seneca (www.pegasussportsky.com) 2 – North Oldham (1-2) – Last week: #2 Like Oldham County, North Oldham did not play last week. This week: 2/5/21 at Grant County 2/6/21 at Butler 7 pm ET (free live video www.pegasussportsky.com) 3 – Simon Kenton (5-2) – Last Week: #3 Simon Kenton played just one game last week, meaning the Pioneers have also been sidelined a bit of late, with just 2 games in 2 weeks. SK lost a heartbreaker to the Dixie Heights Colonels, 77-75 last week, despite an incredible 42 points from senior guard Kelly Niece, who put together the following line: 13 of 18 inside the arc, 5 of 10 beyond the arc, and 1 of 2 at the line. Niece, who is now averaging 24.7 ppg on the season, is also hitting 53.5% of his shots from the floor as he makes a strong case for 8th Region Player of the Year honors. Freshman Travis Krohman hit 4 of 9 threes in the loss and tallied 12 points, and senior Justin Eversole – who’s been hot of late – added 11 points and 8 rebounds. It was Eversole’s second straight game in double figures. SK has been getting scoring from all quarters over the last four games, with six different players reaching double figures at least once during that span. Besides Niece, Krohman, and Eversole, Jack Marx (10 against Lafayette), Isaac Miller (19 against Grant County), and Andrew Smith (11 versus Grant) have all reached double digit scoring in the last four games. SK faces a tall order this week, taking on three strong northern Kentucky teams, all on the road. This week: 2/2/21 at Campbell County 2/5/21 at Scott High 2/6/21 at Beechwood 4 – South Oldham (3-1) Last week: #4 No games for South last week; the Dragons return to action this week as they try to extend their three game winning streak against a 5-3 Covington Holy Cross team that just got through dispatching another 8th Region team (Walton-Verona). This week: 2/6/21 vs. Covington Holy Cross 5 – Collins (6-4) Last week: #5 Collins defeated a good Henry County squad last week, 63-50, holding Player of the Year candidate Trevor Hardin to his lowest point total of the year (15 points / 9 rebounds). It was only the second time this season the Titans have scored over 60 points in a game. Aaron Thompson led the way with 14 points. The Titans then fell in heartbreaker fashion to a powerful St. Xavier team, 61-57 Quinton Simmons scored 18 points in the game for Collins, who shot a season-best 629% from the floor. Collins played both games without leading scorer Kenyon Goodin. Collins faces off against a difficult schedule this week, taking on region favorite Oldham County on the road and then hosting district favorite Spencer County, before traveling to play cross-town rival Shelby County. This week: 2/2/21 at Oldham County (free live video on www.pegasussportsky.com) 2/5/21 vs. Spencer County 2/6/21 at Shelby County 2:30 pm ET 6 – Walton-Verona (7-3) Last week: #6 - The Bearcat Express hit a pothole last week, as Walton-Verona dropped two games against two quality opponents. The city of Covington wasn’t kind to the Cats as Top 10 ranked Covington Catholic whipped Walton, 84-47, and then Covington Holy Cross topped the Bearcats, 89-76. The Cats continue to be one of the region’s hottest teams from the outside; in their first nine games, the Bearcats made 85 threes at a 44% clip. Sophomore shooting sensation Carter Krohman leads the team beyond the arc, having made 26 of 40 threes for a whopping 65%. This week: 2/2/21 vs. Grant County 2/6/21 at Ryle 2 pm ET 7 – Spencer County (8-3) Last week: #7 Since Sam Conley’s return, the Bears have been unbeatable, winning all five games with Conley in the lineup, the longest current winning streak in the 8th region. Spencer picked up wins last week over Washington County, 74-66, and district rival Anderson County, 59-43, to push their record to 8-3 on the season. Spencer is the winningest team in the 8th Region. Coach Jason Burns was a bit surprised at Conley’s quick recovery from the hand injury. “I was very surprised by his return,” he told me. “We were thinking it would be this week that he comes back. He’s definitely made a difference. Our offense, our defense, rebounding, you name it, has improved.” “He was definitely a little rusty the first two games, but he seems to be close to 100%. Honestly, the way he’s wired, we weren’t surprised to see him come back as productive as he’s been with as much time as he’s been off. He’s a gamer and a winner.” During the current five game winning streak, with Conley back in the lineup, the Bears have averaged 60.8 ppg, with an average winning margin of 14 points. In the first four of those five games, Conley has shot 46.2% from the floor, 80.6% from the line (25 of 31), and averaged 19.5 ppg and 7 rebounds. Spencer plays three times this week, including a district showdown with defending champ Collins in Shelbyville. This week: 2/2/21 vs. Shelby County 2/5/21 at Collins 8 pm ET 2/6/21 at Thomas Nelson 8 – Woodford County (6-4) Last week: #8 Woodford County is one of the region’s highest scoring teams through the first month, averaging 64.9 ppg. They’ve scored 60 points or more in 9 of their first 10 contests. The Yellow Jackets took their offense to a new level last week, topping 80 points for the first time this year in an 81-75 victory over District 30 rival Shelby County, putting Woodford at 3-1 in district seeding play and keeping their hopes alive for the #1 seed. Woodford is 4-2 against 8th Region competition this year, but will only face a region foe one more time during the regular season. They’ll play Oldham County in Buckner, KY on March 4th. This week: 2/2/21 at West Jessamine 2/5/21 vs. Henry Clay 2/6/21 at Frederick Douglass 9 – Owen County (5-4) Last week: #9 The Rebels had an up-and-down week last week. In a battle between arguably the two youngest teams in the 8th Region, the Rebels dropped a narrow 50-49 decision to the Grant County Braves to start the week. Isaac Wash had 26 to lead the Rebels, going 10 of 12 from the field (including 4 of 6 beyond the arc) and Teagan Moore had a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Poor free throw shooting may have ultimately cost Owen County; they hit just 7 of 12 free throws (58.3%). The Rebels then bounced back onto the winning side of the ledger with a 60-44 victory over Williamstown. Owen County is in the unusual situation of having a cast of “young veterans”. Isaac Wash is a junior who has been a significant contributor on the varsity for four seasons. Teagan Moore is just a sophomore, but he’s been one of the leading varsity scorers for three years already. Brax Ward is only a freshman, but he’s a two year veteran of the varsity wars. It all creates a strange situation in which Owen County will sometimes look like a very young team on one night – and a very veteran one the next. In reality, the Rebels are a bit of both. Owen, sporting a 2-0 mark in district seeding play, has a great opportunity this week to advance its cause as the favorite to earn the #1 seed in the 31st district post-season tournament as the Rebels face three district foes, and they’ll be strong favorites in at least two. “Obviously obtaining the number 1 seed is a regular season goal each year,” Owen County head coach Devin Duvall stated. “Our district is very balanced this season as I feel any of the top 3-4 can win it, so this (coming) week is huge for us.” “Our young veterans are learning how to finish games together with confidence, a trademark we haven’t had the past several years. This group is starting to understand the importance of taking care of the ball and defending as a team instead of individually.” This Week: 2/1/21 vs. Eminence 2/2/21 at Gallatin County 2/4/21 vs. Anderson County 2/5/21 at Trimble County 10 – Henry County (7-3) Last week: #10 – Henry County gave a good account of themselves last week against the Collins Titans, but ultimately fell to the defending 8th Region champs, 63-50. Trevor Hardin had 15 points and 9 rebounds – though a sterling performance for the 6’5” senior center, it was actually the fewest points he has scored this season (matching his identical 15 point / 9 rebound game against Gallatin County). Henry bounced back to defeat Ludlow, 57-42, later last week. Henry County has several hurdles to clear, including big games against Spencer County, Owen County, and Walton-Verona – among others – and dodging COVID cancellations, but the Wildcats have a shot at winning 20 games for the first time since the 2013-14 team went 20-11. Henry has 15 regular season games remaining, and should be favorites in 10-12 of them. Throw in games in the district and region tournaments, and a 20 win season is definitely possible. This week is big for a Henry County team that is still in the hunt for the District 31 tournament #1 seed; the Cats face district foes Gallatin County and Trimble County during a three-game week. This week: 2/3/21 vs. Grant County 2/5/21 vs. Gallatin County 8 pm ET 2/6/21 vs. Trimble County 11 – Anderson County (2-5) Last week: #11 – The Bearcats dropped two last week, falling 70-64 to Western Hills in a bit of a surprise, and 59-43 to district favorite Spencer County. No stats were available at the time of this writing for either game. Anderson is still trying to jump-start the offense. The Cats have shot just 39% from the floor in the five games for which stats are available, and, not surprisingly, the team has been held to 43 points or fewer in most of their games to date. Tristian Staley is the only Anderson player in double digits, averaging 15.2 ppg for the Bearcats, but head coach Bryan Hyatt knows he has some shooters. Before the season is over, expect Carson Wooldridge (9.8 ppg) and perhaps even outside specialist Jacob Spencer (8.8 ppg) to be averaging in double figures. Anderson will try to break out of its three game losing streak this week against a strong Owen County club. This Week: 2/4/21 at Owen County 12 – Shelby County (3-4) Last week: #12 Shelby hadn’t played in a while, but then got in three games last week, winning two of three games. The Rockets topped Evangel, 67-62, to kick off the week. Four players reached double figures, led by Trenton Burchfield’s 19 points. Tim Fuller scored 17 points and led the Rockets in rebounding with 9, while Omauri Downs and Isaac Chandler added 13 and 10, respectively. The Rockets dropped a district 30 seeding game to Woodford County, but fell by just six points, 81-75. The 75 point total was the highest point total for Shelby this season, but unfortunately for the Rockets, the Yellow Jackets also posted their highest point total of the year in the same game. Shelby is now 0-3 in District 30 seeding games, but has lost all three (to Spencer County, Collins, and Woodford County) by a total of just 16 points. The Rockets wrapped up the week with a 59-45 win over Pineville. Great Crossing transfer Timothy Fuller continues to lead Shelby in scoring and rebounding with averages of 12.6 ppg / 7.4 rebounds. This week: 2/2/21 at Spencer County 2/4/21 at Western Hills 2/6/21 vs. Collins 2:30 pm 13 – Grant County (4-8) Last week: #13 – Joe Utter has been doing a great job of program building in Dry Ridge, and last year he put together an offensive juggernaut that won 22 games and advanced all the way to the 8th Region semi-finals, where the Braves were edged out by Oldham County by just three points. This year, Utter is faced with a totally different challenge. How to get Grant back to New Castle with one of the youngest rosters in the region. The jury’s still out on the 2021 season for the young Braves, but Grant is starting to make a little noise. Sophomore Dylan Hammonds is leading the charge. Hammonds, who leads the team in scoring (17.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 boards) has scored in double figures in all twelve games, and has led the team in scoring in six games. Connecting on 53.8% of his shots from the floor, and nearly 78% of his free throws, Hammonds has been Grant’s most consistent, reliable scoring option. When Hammonds isn’t leading the way, it’s usually fellow sophomore Mason Guffey that takes over (14.4 ppg). Guffey has led the Braves in scoring in each of the last three contests. Last week, Grant went 2-2, grabbing a small upset over Owen County, 50-49, to start the week. The Braves fell to Cooper in triple-overtime, 47-58, before blasting Dayton, 69-49. The Braves ended the week with a narrow loss to Great Crossing, 74-65. Wayne Ziegler led three Braves in double figures against Owen with 17 points, but Guffey led the way in the other three games, scoring 19 against Cooper, 17 against Dayton, and 25 against Great Crossing. Hammonds was in double figures in all three games, including a monster 21 point / 15 rebound effort against Great Crossing. The Braves have a very challenging week ahead as they face a District 32 rival in Walton-Verona to start the week, then go on the road to face a strong Henry County team, before wrapping up in Dry Ridge against one of the top teams in the region, North Oldham. This week: 2/2/21 at Walton-Verona 2/3/21 at Henry County 2/5/21 vs. North Oldham 14 - Gallatin County (3-5) Last week: #14 Gallatin County has had a slow start to their season as they seek a fifth consecutive District 31 title, but the Wildcats started to find a little traction last week as they got two wins, by nearly identical scores. Gallatin shot the ball real well (49%) from the floor in a convincing 62-44 victory over Williamstown to kick off the week. Logan Riddle led three Cats into double figures with 19 points. The Wildcats’ shooting eye got cloudy against Eminence, but Gallatin practically duplicated the Williamstown game score when they prevailed for a 31st District seeding victory, 64-42, over the Warriors. Hayden Dickerson had 21 points in the win over Eminence. Dickerson, whose season got off to a slow start, with only 13 combined points in his first three games, has really started to assert himself offensively over the past five games, posting four double-digit performances. His 21 points against Eminence was a season-high. Over the last five games, Dickerson is averaging 12.2 ppg. Head coach Jon Jones is looking for consistent play with a big week coming up. “We are still struggling with consistency,” he said. “We were counting on senior leadership from Hayden Dickerson. He started very slow but he has played well the last two games. Zac Johnson has been a major contributor the last two games, excellent defense and playing under control. Hopefully, others will gain more consistency.” “We are counting on (Logan) Riddle, (Drake) Skidmore, (Kellen) Dosset and (Ashton) Gullion to provide scoring,” he continued. “They are up and down. This is a big week with Owen and Henry. Those two schools are playing better than us at the moment but the gap is narrow.” Gallatin, which has now won two in a row after starting the season 1-5, has three games scheduled this week, including two District 31 seeding games. This Week: 2/2/21 vs. Owen County 2/4/21 at Bellevue 2/5/21 at Henry County 8 pm 15 – Trimble County (1-6) Last week: #16 – Trimble County did not play last week. The Raiders move up one this week past Williamstown, as the Demons take a step down. Trimble is starting to show some life on the offensive side of the ball. The Raiders shot 56.8% in a narrow, 77-70 loss to Woodford County the week before last, and hit 66% from the floor earlier in a game against North Oldham. Dylan Jennings had 33 points against Woodford (including 5 of 5 beyond the arc), and has been on fire of late, having averaged 18.8 ppg over the last five games. Sophomore J.T. Wilcoxson has also posted some big numbers, averaging 18.3 ppg over the last four games, including his own 33 point outing (against North Oldham). Tate Ogburn is close to averaging a double-double for the Raiders, with 9.4 ppg / 9.3 rebounds. We’ll see how Marcus Mumphrey’s second team in Bedford does the rest of the way, but don’t be surprised if this Trimble County squad starts reversing its fortunes from the first month of play. This week: 2/2/21 vs. Carroll County 8 pm 2/5/21 vs. Owen County 2/6/21 at Henry County 16 – Williamstown (3-6) Last week: #15 – Williamstown and Trimble County swap spots this week, the only movement of any teams in the 8th Region rankings this week. The Demons, after dropping two games against 31st District teams, fall one spot. Gallatin County handed Williamstown their first loss of the week, 62-44. Williamstown shot just 37.8% in the game, and only attempted three free throws, hitting one. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Demons, 26-17. Caleb Tritschler led the way for Williamstown, with 15 points. Owen County made it two losses in a row by an almost identical score when the Rebels topped the Demons, 60-44, to wrap up the week. Williamstown has some talent on this roster. Cole Kightlinger is a 1,000 point career scorer. Tritschler has the potential for a double-double every night. Gunner Feagan leads the team in scoring at 13 ppg. Joel McCain and Kenner McClelland both are excellent “supporting cast” scorers who can erupt for 20 on any given night. But the Demons continue to struggle with accuracy, hitting just 36.9% from the field and 52.6% from the line. The Demons have three games this week, and will be favored in two. The February 5th matchup against District 32 rival Walton-Verona will say a lot about Williamstown’s chances of reaching the Region 8 tournament this year. This Week: 2/2/21 vs. Eminence 2/5/21 at Walton-Verona 2/6/21 vs. Calvary Christian 3 pm 17 – Carroll County (0-2) Last week: #17 – The Panthers haven’t played a game since January 19th, when they lost to Ryle. Carroll has suffered 7 consecutive cancellations since then. This Week: 2/2/21 at Trimble County 8 pm 2/5/21 at Eminence 8 pm 18 – Eminence (0-6) Last week: #18 – Eminence lost its only game last week, falling to Gallatin County, 64-42. No stats are available as of this time. This week: 2/1/21 at Owen County 2/2/21 at Williamstown 2/5/21 vs. Carroll County 8 pm 2/6/21 vs. Dayton
ConverseAllStar Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 Hope to see more game recaps in next week’s report!
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