Gallatin County 76 South Oldham 66

[Mack The Knife]

Final from Crestwood. The Wildcats bounce back in impressive fashion after letting one get away in Owenton the night before.                                                                   
Ashton Gullion scored a career high 30, including 15 in the first quarter when the Wildcats took control. Logan Riddle added 14 points and 8 rebounds.                                       
Gallatin now stands at 12-7 after their 11th victory in 13 games.

[MBKT]

The Dragons seem to be slipping further from the 8th Region top tier this season. 

[Mack The Knife]

Two straight wins in Crestwood for the Wildcats. They won 79-75 in February 2019.

[Mojocat]

7 minutes ago, MBKT said:

The Dragons seem to be slipping further from the 8th Region top tier this season. 

True.  At the risk of whining.....everyone is going thru this pandemic, but it’s not impacting everyone equally. South had one returning player with any real varsity experience, so a full summer and fall was of crucial importance.  Instead, they got virtually zero practice time.  Somehow, they still got off to a decent start, winning 3 of 4 and beating a decent Henry Co team by close to 30.   Then, a quarantine - and then another quarantine - and they simply don’t look the same as in that opening stretch.  The offense they run is predicated on movement and synchronicity, and it’s really hard to do that without practice time.   There are other things more under their control.  They have a really hard time defending without fouling - a typical game consists of 25 fouls against South and the other team shoots 25-30 free throws.  South of course is a perimeter oriented team, doesn’t shoot a ton of free throws - so before the game starts you know you’re probably at a -10 or -15 deficit in terms of chances from the line.  And - consistent with a young and inexperienced team - I’m not seeing a lot of great leadership (although I say that remotely).  Also, I think we’re on a 4 or 5 game streak where an opposing player had a career high, or at least a really big game.   So, yes, in short - they’re not a top tier team this season.

[ConverseAllStar]

A comparison for South Oldham is their rival at Oldham County. OC is a senior-dominated team with a lot of experience playing together at the varsity level. They seem to have come through their quarantine better than South has through its two quarantines. 
 

That said, virtually every 8th Region team is one quarantine (by an opponent) away from heading to the region tournament. A key part of advancing in the next few weeks is avoiding a positive test!  Nobody is going to rush to get tested, and each team will be on egg shells for 48 hours after each game!

[dragon man]

I completely agree with the assessment above from Mojocat.  The quarantines have been super tough on this Dragon team.  Over the next few weeks, the chemistry for South on offense can & probably will get better, simply because of more time on the court with practice and games.  Last night they, shot over 30 three pointers & made maybe 8?  They're actually getting open shots, they're just not shooting well at all.  Not a good sign for a team that plays this style of offense - but, again, I think this can improve.  I'm most concerned about the defense that's completely broken.   The past 4 losses, the opponents point guards have gone for career highs of 41, 35, 36 and 30.  South has tried man-to-man, 2/3 Zone, 1/3/1 Zone, and other schemes, yet cannot seem to play defense on guards who can penetrate.  This has to change in order for them to improve.