Who:  South Oldham vs. Spencer County

When:  At South Oldham HS, Crestwood, KY

Date:  THURSDAY, 3/4/21

Broadcast:  Free live video broadcast begins at 7 pm ET on www.pegasussportsky.com

South Oldham faces Spencer County in a late-season showdown in Crestwood, KY on Thursday.

The Bears stumbled a couple of games back against Western in a bit of a shocker, and they are coming off a narrow 7 point loss to region favorite Oldham County, but the bottom-line is that Spencer is 10-2 this year with Sam Conley in the lineup.     

Conley, averaging 20.4 ppg and 7.1 rebounds - both team highs - is making a strong bid for 8th Region Player of the Year in his senior season.   Although the Bears rarely lose when he plays well, Spencer has gotten some strong support this year, scoring wise, from Jake Whitlock, who is averaging 15.8 ppg.   Whitlock is deadly at the line, where he is hitting 85%.

Spencer has a thin bench, and perhaps that's contributed to their Achilles' Heel, which has been their shooting.   The Bears are hitting just 39.5% from the field on the season, and 29.6% from beyond the arc.   (in that upset loss to Western, the Bears hit just 29.4% from the floor, 17.6% from beyond the arc, and 53.8% from the stripe).

South Oldham is dealing one of the most challenging stretches of coach Steve Simpson's career, having lost 6 of 7.   South is currently on a two-game losing streak, having lost to Grant County on the road by 6 in overtime, and then coming home and falling to a resurgent Gallatin team by 10.

Despite the pedestrian 4-7 record (as of this writing), South has weapons, and those looking at their record may be shocked when they get on the court.   

The Dragons have multiple shooters who can light it up on any given night.     6'6" swingman Ben Michel leads the team at 14.8 ppg / 4.8 rebounds; Cayden Brown is close behind at 13.5 ppg.   Point guard Cole Davis is also averaging 13.5 ppg.     Three different Dragons - Michel, Brown, and Davis - have scored over 20 points at least once this season, and four other Dragons have recorded at least one double-digit performance:   Zack Dolan (19 point high game), Christian Veirs (12), Kiya Ledford (12), and Ian Von Feldt (11).

As always, South will shoot the three in bunches; this year's squad is making 10 a game.   Six different players are hitting over 40% beyond arc; two additional players are over 37%.

Sideline twist:   Spencer coach Jason Burns coached under Steve Simpson at South Oldham.

I will post updates as I can.

 

3 hours ago, ColonelMike said:

South Oldham is dealing one of the most challenging stretches of coach Steve Simpson's career, having lost 6 of 7.   

yep.  Very difficult stretch.  I have commented several times now about the differences in this team pre- and post-quarantine, but at some point you are what your record says you are.  It's getting late to turn things around - somehow, there are only 5 games left in the regular season (!).   South has never made its living on the defensive end, but that philosophy can work (and has) if you are scoring enough.  As the season has progressed, this team has 3 kids who can be relied upon to score consistently.  And I'm not talking about a 24 ppg scorer - each of them can be counted  on to give you around 15 a game.  So that's 45 points you can safely assume.  The problem is no one else is reliable yet to score points.  In short, the team is averaging around 67 points per game - which isn't enough to be merely mediocre on defense.  

Thanks for the preview, ColonelMike....

 

No mention of Hornback for the Bears, but he is averaging around 13 per game and is planning to play college basketball. That’s three very talented and experienced seniors for South Oldham to guard without fouling. 

^^^True.   Also, by the way, South’s JV team is now in quarantine.  They won’t play Thursday, and the Varsity tip has moved to 7 pm......

3 hours ago, ConverseAllStar said:

No mention of Hornback for the Bears, but he is averaging around 13 per game and is planning to play college basketball. That’s three very talented and experienced seniors for South Oldham to guard without fouling. 

LOL!  

I didn't know you wanted my complete Encyclopedia Britannica preview!   (that'll cost you extra)

I didn't have time to provide a more in-depth write-up other than a couple of quick paragraphs for both, but you are most certainly correct, Hornback is averaging 13.3 ppg for the Bears.   #2 in rebounding on the team and also the #2 free throw shooter at 70%.

8 hours ago, ColonelMike said:

LOL!  

I didn't know you wanted my complete Encyclopedia Britannica preview!   (that'll cost you extra)

I didn't have time to provide a more in-depth write-up other than a couple of quick paragraphs for both, but you are most certainly correct, Hornback is averaging 13.3 ppg for the Bears.   #2 in rebounding on the team and also the #2 free throw shooter at 70%.

I’ve come to expect nothing less from you CM!  But, you are dating yourself with the Encyclopedia Brittanica reference ?

1 hour ago, ConverseAllStar said:

I’ve come to expect nothing less from you CM!  But, you are dating yourself with the Encyclopedia Brittanica reference ?

True! 

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