8th Region Week 7 Review

[ColonelMike]

8^th Region Week 7 Review

By:  Colonelmike

 

Although a lot of games got cancelled this week – due to weather, this time, though many were also cancelled / postponed due to COVID – we did get in some games.   And we saw some impressive out of region wins for the 8^th Region, as Oldham County went on the road and defeated #6-ranked DeSales, Walton-Verona beat #20-ranked Lyon County on a neutral floor, and Gallatin County stunned unranked – but highly-regarded – Beechwood on a buzzer-beater by Ashton Gullion.

All in all, the 8^th went 6-4 against out of region competition last week.   The Eighth also got wins over Bishop Brossart (lost to Grant County), Villa Madonna (Williamstown), and Bullitt East (Spencer County).

South Oldham just missed on a big out of region win.   The Dragons were unable to hold onto a ten-point halftime lead and wound up falling by just 6 points to Christian Academy of Louisville, 80-74.

The disparity in the number of games played continues to grow..five region 8 teams have played 16-20 games (Gallatin – 16, Henry County-17, Williamstown-18, Walton-Verona-18, and Grant County-20), but four teams have played eight games or less (Anderson County, Carroll County, South Oldham – all 8 games – and North Oldham-7 games.)

Two teams – North Oldham and Woodford County – did not play a game last week.    North hasn’t played since February 9^th; Woodford’s last game was February 8^th.

Individual players are putting up some impressive numbers, though, and the region is sporting four players who are averaging double-doubles(!).   The scoring leaders for each Region 8 team:

Player	Team	PPG Average	Rebounds Ave.	Other
Kelly Niece	Simon Kenton	28.6	4.8	>2,000 career pts
Keishaun Mumphrey	Carroll County	25.9	11.5	Double-double machine; only player to average double-double in the 8th Region last year.
Teagan Moore	Owen County	24.9	10.2	Another super sophomore
Trevor Hardin	Henry County	21.1	11.7	66.5% from the floor   Senior.  Region 8’s top rebounder/game.
Brent Smithers	Walton-Verona	20.4	3.3	49 made threes (40.8%)
Dylan Hammonds	Grant County	20.1	10.3	4 straight double-doubles; averaging 23.5 ppg / 14.3 reb during that span.  Sophomore
Sam Conley	Spencer County	19.5	6.8	Bears 8-0 with Conley in lineup
Dallas Roberts	North Oldham	18.2	1.2	89.3% free throw shooter
Hunter Penn	Woodford Co.	16.8	9.3	65.1% from the floor
Ben Michel	South Oldham	15.2	4.8	52.1% from the floor
Tyler Slone	Oldham County	15.0	6.3	93.5% free throw shooting (KY Top 10)
Tristian Staley	Anderson Co.	14.7	4.1	41.4% beyond the arc
Gunner Feagan	Williamstown	14.2	2.4	78.1% Free throw shooter
Dylan Jennings	Trimble County	13.8	1.9	56.3% from the floor
Timothy Fuller	Shelby County	12.9	5.9	Another soph leading his team
Kenyon Goodin	Collins	12.4	3.5	Sophomore transfer from Butler
Logan Riddle	Gallatin County	10.7	3.7	52.1% from the floor

 

Note:  No player listed for Eminence at this time due to lack of stats.

This week’s write-up is a little abbreviated.   My apologies.

On to this week’s countdown:

After Week Seven:  (all upcoming games shown are 7:30 pm starts, unless otherwise noted):

1 - Oldham County – (7-3)  Last week: #1   The Colonels remain at number one in the rankings, and actually cemented their status with a 77-72 road win over #6 DeSales last week, without a doubt the biggest “out-of-region” victory by an 8^th Region team so far this year.     Tyler Slone led the Colonel attack with 23 points and 12 rebounds, both team highs, and Oldham iced the game at the stripe, where the Colonels – the Region’s top free throw shooting team at 76.4% - hit 15 of 16.

Less than 24 hours later, the Colonels had to face #3 Covington Catholic, also on the road, and took one on the chin, 76-48.

It doesn’t get any easier for Oldham this week, as the Colonels host #10 Eastern on Friday and travel to play Region 8’s hottest team, the Spencer County Bears, on Saturday. 

This Week –   2/26 vs. #10 Eastern (www.pegasussportsky.com)     2/27 – at Spencer County

 

2 –  Simon Kenton (9-5)    Last week:  #2    Star guard Kelly Niece had 41 points – his second game of the year over 40 points – as the Pioneers used a huge fourth period to pull away from South Oldham on Friday, 88-69.

SK’s offense looked very polished and efficient in the win, and coach Trent Steiner also got a big game out of Isaac Miller, who finished with 23 points.

It was the 6^th time in fourteen games that the Pioneers had scored over 80 points, and their second straight convincing victory over a solid 8^th Region contender, coming on the heels of an 80-57 win over Walton-Verona.   Simon continues to lead the 8^th Region in scoring an average of 72.4 ppg.

Simon Kenton takes a 3-game winning streak into a challenging week of games.

This week:   2/23 @ #14 Highlands     2/26 vs. North Oldham     2/27 vs. #11 Ashland

 

3 – Spencer County (11-3)     Last week:  #5    The Bears’ winning ways continued last week, and Spencer’s Region Eight-best winning streak is now standing at eight games.

The Bears are 8-0 since Sam Conley rejoined the lineup

Spencer moves up two spots this week.

Spencer County got a solid win in its only game last week, defeating an 8-win Bullitt East team, 65-60.    Sam Conley (27 points / 8 rebounds) and Lucas Hornback (17 points) led the way.

During the 8-game stretch, the Bears’ scoring has increased as Spencer has averaged 64.1 ppg during the streak.

Spencer will be busy this week with four games, and Friday and Saturday will be big for the Bears.   Friday’s game against Collins should decide the #1 seed in the 30^th District tournament; Saturday’s home matchup against Oldham County will tell the Bears where they compare with the region favorites.  

This week:  2/22 vs. Central     2/23 at Western     2/26 at Collins     2/27 vs. #12 Oldham County

 

4 – Collins (9-5)   Last week:  #3    Hard to move the Titans down one after a solid win over Walton-Verona last week, but I’m just really impressed by how Spencer County is taking care of business in a pretty dominant fashion.

Still, Collins got a nice win this week over a twelve-win Walton-Verona squad.   Collins has won three in a row, and Kenyon Goodin and Quinton Simmons are quite a solid 1-2 punch; they both had 13 in the win over the Bearcats.

What’s most impressive about this Titans team continues to be the defense.   In all three of Collins’ most recent wins, the Titans have held their opposition to below 45 points.   The score was especially notable against North Oldham and Walton-Verona; North – averaging 62.1 ppg – scored just 21 points against Collins, over 21 points below their average.   And W-V – averaging 69.1 ppg – scored only 44 points, a whopping 25.1 points below their average.

The outside game, though, continues to struggle.    Collins is hitting just 25.9% beyond the arc; the Titans were 2 of 12 (16.7%) against W-V.

Collins has two big games this week, facing Top Ten DeSales, and battling Spencer County for the #1 seed in the 30^th District on Friday.

This week:   2/22 vs. #6 DeSales   6 pm     2/26 vs. Spencer County  

 

5 – Walton-Verona (12-6)    Last week:  #4   Walton got a huge victory to start their week, knocking off #20 Lyon County, 74-70 in Richmond.   Conner Davis led the way with 25 points, including an incredible 7 of 12 from beyond the arc.   Brent Smithers added 23 points, and the Bearcats hit 16 of 20 free throws to ice the victory.

Walton hit 55% from their floor in their next game, a 68-42 rout of Carroll County in which four Cats reached double figures, led by Brent Smithers’ 22.   Cam Christy (16 points / 10 rebounds), Carter Krohman (13 points), and Julian Dixon (11) rounded out a balanced Bearcat attack.

Collins spoiled the W-V party, topping the Bearcats, 51-44, to cap off the week.

This week:  2/23 at Trimble County     2/25  St. Henry 7 pm     2/26 at Henry County

 

6 -  Grant County (10-10)    Last week:   #7   The Braves, one of the region’s hottest teams, moves up one spot after winning all three of their games last week.  Grant County has now won 6 of their last 7 games and has evened their record at 10-10.

Perhaps the best indication of how much Grant has improved are the two matchups with Beechwood.    The Braves, arguably one of the youngest teams in the 8^th Region, opened the season with a 29 point defeat at the hands of Beechwood, on the road.  

The two teams met again on February 13^th in Dry Ridge.   The Braves didn’t quite turn the tables – Beechwood still came away with the win – but the margin was far closer this time, as the Tigers escaped from Grant County with a 70-61 win.

On February 3^rd, Grant County got perhaps its biggest win of the season, beating 12-5 Henry County by 14 points in New Castle.   Facing one of the region’s best rebounding teams, Grant not only won the game, 73-59, but the young Braves outrebounded the Wildcats, 30-27, with sophomore Dylan Hammonds scoring 28 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Last week, Grant grabbed three “W’s”, topping Williamstown, 59-39, edging Bishop Brossart, 64-57, and beating Anderson County, 63-49.

The Braves shot well in all three games, including a 57.5% night against Brossart, and a 54.1% shooting effort against Anderson.

Hammonds posted three straight double-doubles – he now has had four double-doubles in the last four games – with 21 points / 13 rebounds against Williamstown, 32 points / 10 rebounds against Brossart, and 18 points / 16 rebounds against Anderson.

This week may be a bit more challenging; Grant squeaked by Owen by just one point in their last meeting, and a hungry South Oldham team visits on Thursday.

This week:   2/22 at Owen County     2/23 at Shelby County 7:45 pm     2/25 vs. South Oldham

 

 

7 – South Oldham (3-5)  Last week:  #6 -  South falls one spot this week after a rough time last week.

The Dragons, coming off their second quarantine this year, and having last played on February 8^th against North Oldham, headed to Simon Kenton to face the Pioneers on Friday, having had no practice since 2/9.    Unfortunately for South, the team was out of synch all night, falling behind 22-11, after one period.   The Dragons slipped behind by 16, rallied to within 5 points in the third period, but ultimately wore down in the fourth and lost, 88-69.    South actually shot well – just a tick under 51% - but the Dragons’ legs were clearly not “under them” as South hit just 4 of 16 threes, all of which were made by Cayden Brown, who scored a team-high 26 points on the night.

South looked much better the following night, facing a very good Christian Academy of Louisville squad.   Ben Michel led the way with 26 points and 9 rebounds, both team highs, and Cayden Brown again excelled with 19.    South led by ten at the break, but couldn’t hang onto the advantage, ultimately falling by a final score of 80-74.

The lack of practice time has impacted free throw shooting, normally one of South’s strong suits.   In the last four games, all losses, South is hitting just 60.4% at the stripe.   

This week:  2/19 at Simon Kenton (www.pegasussportsky.com)     2/20 CAL

 

8– Woodford County (6-8)     Last Week:  #9   Woodford played no games last week, however, no games were actually postponed or cancelled.   Woodford had no games scheduled last week.

The Jackets haven’t played since a 73-59 loss to Scott County on 2/8/21. 

This Week:     2/23 vs. Bourbon County     2/25 vs. Lexington Christian

 

9 – North Oldham (2-5)   Last week:  #8 – North Oldham did not play last week.

The Mustangs fall a spot in this ranking due to their lack of activity.   North has played the fewest games of any team in the 8^th Region, and we’ve seen how this is affecting other teams in similar situations.    The Mustangs have had 7 games postponed/cancelled, including the last four in a row – four great matchups against Seneca, Highlands, Spencer County, and St. Xavier that would have benefitted this program, and told us all a lot about the Mustangs.

North hopes to welcome start guard Dallas Roberts back into the lineup this week; Roberts has been recovering from an injury suffered against Butler on 2/6/21.   Roberts, a sophomore in his third season as a varsity starter, leads the Mustangs in scoring at 18.2 ppg and is on pace to break the school scoring record held by his coach, David Levitch.

North goes on the road this week for two very challenging games.

This week:   2/23 at #10 Eastern     2/26 at Simon Kenton

 

10 – Henry County (12-6)   Last week:  #10 –  Henry County moved to 7-0 on the season in road games with a 53-33 victory over Trimble County in their only game last week.

The Wildcats have now won 5 of their last 6 games, and have a big week ahead in terms of district seeding games.   Henry is in the driver’s seat in pursuit of the District 31 tournament #1 seed, and the Cats face two district challenges this week against Carroll County and Owen County, both on the road.   We’ll see if the Wildcats can maintain their road magic.

Henry County beat Carroll by 15 in their last meeting, but lost to Owen by 9 in their first matchup

This week:    2/23 – at Carroll County     2/26 vs. Walton-Verona     2/27 at Owen County

 

11 – Gallatin County (10-6)   Last week:  #13  –  The Gallatin County Wildcats match the Spencer County Bears for the biggest move up this week, advancing two spots.

Gallatin, boasting the region’s second-longest winning streak now at five games, picked up three wins last week, including a big upset over a 9^th region power.

The week started innocently enough, as Grant beat Williamstown by a relatively close 62-52 score.   Logan Riddle led the way with 22; Zac Johnson had 17, and Drake Skidmore 14 to lead the way for the Wildcats.

Hayden Dickerson (3 points) and Ashton Gullion (2 points) were noticeably quiet on offense in the game.   That all changed in the very next game.

Gallatin faced the powerful Beechwood Tigers in their second matchup of the week.   Shooting a blistering 61.4% from the floor, 11 of 18 beyond the arc, and a precise 12 of 14 at the stripe, the Cats upended the favored Tigers, 77-75, on a buzzer-beating shot from Gullion, who finished with 10 points.

Dickerson led the Wildcats with 20 points, including 4 of 4 shooting from long range, and Brayden Terrell added 14 in the big win, one of the biggest of any 8^th Region team this week.

In the final game of the week, Gallatin struggled a bit in getting by Carroll County, which always seems to play the Cats close.   (Gallatin had beaten Carroll just one week earlier, by just one point).    The Wildcats won, 58-52, to complete a perfect week on the court.   Riddle led the way with 18 points and 9 boards, while Gullion added 15.    Gallatin overcame a difficult night at the line (16 of 28 for 57.1%) by hitting 20 of 40 from the floor, overall, for 50%.

This Week:    2/23 vs. Eminence     2/25 at Owen County 2:30 pm     2/26 at South Oldham

 

12 – Owen County (8-6) Last week: #11    The Rebels have won three in a row, but slide a bit this week to #12, as the surging Gallatin County Wildcats move up.

The Rebels won two games last week, though their first game – a 54-43 victory over Eminence – didn’t exactly shine.   Sophomore Teagan Moore had 23 points / 8 rebounds to lead the way, and the Rebels salted things away with spectacular free throw shooting (19 of 23, 82.6%).

Moore really had things going his way against Shelby County in the Rebels’ next outing.   Moore had 34 points and 13 rebounds in the win, which saw Owen hit 53.7% from the floor and 75% (18 of 24) at the line.   Moore alone was 13 of 14 at the stripe, elevating his season free throw shooting percentage to over 79%.    Owen prevailed over the Rockets, 69-61.

The Shelby game begins a 10 game long homestand for the Rebels to close out the season.   Owen has a very real chance to go into their season finale against Simon Kenton at home with a record of 16-6.   Though some clear pitfalls stand behind now and then – Grant County, Gallatin County, Henry County, for example – the Rebels won’t be significant underdogs to any of their next eight opponents.

This week:   2/22 vs. Grant County     2/23 vs Williamstown     2/25 vs. Gallatin County 2:30 pm     2/27 vs. Henry County

 

13 – Shelby County (4-9)    Last week:  #12  Shelby County dropped two close ones last week, and falls one notch in this week’s ranking.

Bullitt Central topped the Rockets, 57-54, to start the week, and Shelby fell to 8^th Region rival Owen County, 69-61 to end the week.

No stats were available as of this writing. 

Shelby County has now lost four in a row and seems to be in a bit of a funk.   The Rockets showed some promise early, and have been particularly competitive against District 30 foes, losing to Collins by 4, Spencer County by 6, and Woodford County by just 6.   They also played a strong Henry Clay team from the Eleventh Region to a 10-point game.   The Rockets, however, have yet to get “over the hump” by getting a quality win or a region victory.

As of now, Shelby County is the only team without a victory over a Region 8 opponent, as the Rockets are 0-5 against region competition.

The Rockets still have nine games left to play, and Shelby should be favored in five of those games.   The other four games will reveal how much this team has developed, as Shelby faces Grant County, Gallatin County, Henry County, and Simon Kenton.

This week:   2/23 vs. Grant County  7:45 pm     2/25 at Anderson County     2/26 vs. North Bullitt

 

14 – Anderson County (2-6)   Last week:  #14    Anderson County got in one game last week – their first game since January 29^th.    Grant County beat the Bearcats, 63-49.

Anderson County played four games in eleven days to start the season (from January 5^th to January 15^th).  Since January 15^th, a span of 37 days as of this writing, Anderson County has played just four games.

The Bearcats, who’ve been challenged just to get some sort of rhythm/continuity to anything they are doing, have lost four straight.

If Anderson County can play all the games scheduled this week, the Bearcats should be competitive in all of them, giving them a chance to get some sort of momentum built up.

This Week:   2/22 at Nelson County     2/25 vs. Shelby County     2/26 vs. Frankfort

 

15 – Trimble County (5-9)    Last week:  #15 –  Trimble County had won four of five heading into last week, and came very close to making it five of six, but the Newport Wildcats put the brakes on things with a 62-58 victory over the Raiders.

No stats were available as of this writing.

Trimble is slowly seeing its offense become more proficient, and multiple players are showing themselves to be threats.    Three Raiders are now averaging in double figures, led by Dylan Jennings’ 13.8 ppg (56.3% FG), sophomore J. T. Wilcoxson’s 13.0 ppg, and Tate Ogburn’s near double-double average of 10.0 ppg / 8.3 rebounds.   Ethan Horn is knocking on the door of double figures, averaging 9.7 a contest.

The Raiders will have the opportunity to settle a score this week, facing Spencer County in Taylorsville.   Trimble lost to Spencer by 21 in game two of the season back on 1/9/2021, 58-37.

This week:    2/22 at Spencer County     2/23 vs. Walton-Verona     2/26 at Carroll County 8 pm

 

16 – Williamstown (7-11)  Last week:  #18   The Demons have now won three of their last five, but truthfully, the most impressive of those five games may have been one of the two losses.

Williamstown fell last week to Grant County, 59-39, to start the week.   30.8% shooting from the field doomed the Demons, and no Williamstown player even reached double figures; Gunner Feagan led the team with just 9 points.

Williamstown played much better in their second game last week, despite falling to Gallatin County, 62-52.   The Demons shot a season-best 57.6% from the field – only the third time Williamstown has shot over 50% from the floor this season – and Gunner Feagan enjoyed a tremendous ballgame, scoring 25 points on 9 of 11 shooting from the floor (including 6 of 7 threes).   Joel McCain had 14 points and Cole Kightlinger grabbed nine rebounds.   Despite losing the game, the Demons showed the potential to play well despite facing one of the hottest teams in the region.

Buoyed by that effort, Williamstown picked up a win to wrap up the week, beating Villa Madonna, 51-46 behind twenty points from Gunner Feagan.   McCain again hit double figures with 13 points, and Cole Kightlinger added 9 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.   Feagan again lit it up from deep, hitting 6 of 8 threes.

Gunner Feagan seems to have really hit his stride of late.   The sophomore guard – part of a tremendous class of sophomores that is strutting its stuff throughout the region – is leading the Demons in scoring at 14.2 ppg, while hitting 36.4% of his three pointers (52 of 143).   At the line, he’s hitting 78.1%.   Feagan has led the Demons in scoring in each of the last four games, during which time he is averaging 20 ppg and has hit 16 of 29 threes (55.2%).

Williamstown has a full schedule with four games this week.

This Week:    2/22 vs. Model  7 pm     2/23 at Owen County     2/25 vs. Boone County     2/26 at Eminence

 

17 – Carroll County (1-7)   Last week:  #17  –    Carroll managed to get in two games last week, but fell in both.  Walton-Verona handled the Panthers to start the week, doubling up Carroll’s score in an 84-42 decision.   Keishaun Mumphrey recorded another double-double for Carroll, with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but no other Panther had more than five points.

The Panthers made the second game last week much more interesting.   Behind Mumphrey’s 24 points / 11 rebounds, Carroll County played Gallatin County close, but ultimately lost their fifth consecutive game, 58-52.    Again, no other Carroll County player reached double figures

Mumphrey continues to not only pile up the points and rebounds at a frenetic pace, but he’s doing it efficiently.   In last week’s two games, Mumphrey averaged 23.5 ppg / 10.5 rebounds while shooting 63% from the field…

Like Anderson County, North Oldham, and South Oldham, Carroll is simply suffering from lack of time on the court.   Carroll has now played 4 games in 9 days (2/12 to 2/20), but prior to that, the Panthers had managed to play just 4 games in 39 days.

This Week:   2/23 vs. Henry County     2/26 vs. Trimble County 8 pm     2/27 at Beth Haven  6 pm

 

18 – Eminence (2-12)   Last week:  #18   –   Eminence managed to get in one game last week, falling in their only game, 54-43, to Owen County.  

No stats are available.

Not much can be gleaned from Eminence’s published stats so far this year, but the Warriors are still working to get the offense in gear   Eminence has scored 50 points or less in nine of their last ten games, and the Warriors are averaging just 42.7 ppg this season, lowest in the 8^th Region.

This week:   2/23 at Gallatin County     2/25 vs. Brown     2/26 vs. Williamstown     2/27 at Caverna

[Dtwagn02]

Great write up as usual! Schedule note, OC added a game tonight against Doss on the road. Tip at 7:30. They were schedule to play last week I believe before weather got in the way. 

[ColonelMike]

58 minutes ago, Dtwagn02 said:

Great write up as usual! Schedule note, OC added a game tonight against Doss on the road. Tip at 7:30. They were schedule to play last week I believe before weather got in the way. 

Thanks, Dtwagn02!

They must have just added it....it wasn't on their schedule yesterday....schedules change hourly this year!   🥴

That will be an interesting game for OC and for Doss.   Oldham needs a nice bouncback after Saturday's loss to CovCath; Doss trying to prove they are legitimate after a 5-0 start has become a 5-2 record once the Dragons played some good competition (Fern Creek and PRP).