8th Region Tournament - Final Four

[ColonelMike]

Three frequent flyers and one that's returning after a little vacation populate the 8th Region semi-finals.

I did a little research back to the 2006 tournament, which was the first tournament after the regions were re-districted....

Oldham County (12-4)  The Colonels have been here ten straight seasons, and 12 of the last 15.   In the last 15 years, Oldham appears in the finals more than half of the time.   Oldham has a region-best four region titles since 2006 (2007, 2011, 2012, and 2018) and four region runner-up finishes (2013, 2015, 2019, and 2020).  The Colonels have now reached the finals three consecutive years.   Oldham's region tournament record over the past 15 years is 23-8 (now 24-8 after beating Owen County on Monday).   

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Collins (13-8)  The Titans have never missed the region tournament since opening in the 2010-11 school year.   Like Oldham, the Titans have been here 10 straight seasons.  The Titans were one-and-done their first season, losing to Henry County in the first round, but they were region runner-ups in year two.   By year five, they had won their first title.   Collins has made the finals four times in ten tries, with 3 region titles (2015, 2017, and 2020) and one runner-up finish (2012).   The Titans are 13-7 in the tournament over the last 10 years.  (now 14-7 after their win over Walton-Verona on Monday).

Oldham County won the regular season meeting in Buckner, 61-46, over Collins.   Oldham and Collins have met six times in the region tournament, with both teams winning three games.  The two teams have met in the region tournament four consecutive seasons, with both teams winning 2 games.  Collins beat OC in last year's finals.

In the other semi-final, two teams that have never won a title collide:

North Oldham (6-10)   The Mustangs are more talented than their record suggests.   North rejoins the Region tourney for the first time since 2015, after a five year absence.   North, which opened in 2003-4, first made the tournament in 2006, going to the semi-finals, where they lost to Shelby County.   The Mustangs reached the semi-finals three times in their first five appearances (2006, 2008, and 2011), but North has never made it to the final game.  The Mustangs have been on a region drought; they've only been here once in the last 9 seasons, losing in round one in 2015 to Owen County.   North's first round win over Henry County was their first region victory since 2011.   Overall, North is 3-6 all-time in the region tournament in six total appearances prior to this year.

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Simon Kenton (16-8)  SK joined the 8th Region in 2006, after the state re-districted the regions.   Simon made the first 11 region 8 tournaments after joining, including appearances in the finals their first two years, falling to Shelby County in 2006 and Oldham County in 2007.   Like North, SK broke a long dry spell by beating Anderson County in round 1 on Tuesday; it was the Pioneers' first win in the region tournament since they finished as runner-ups to South Oldham in 2014.  Since then, SK had dropped five straight openers in the region tournament over the last six years.  Before Tuesday's win, SK was 7-14 in region tournament games since 2006, over 14 previous tourney appearances.  The Pioneers have 3 region runner-up finishes to their credit (2006, 2007, and 2014).

North Oldham won the regular season meeting at SK, defeating the Pioneers, 82-70.   The two teams have never met in the regional tournament.

 

No matter what, there will be one team (Oldham or Collins) in the finals who has dominated in the region of late...both have won three titles in the last decade.

And there will also be one team that will be looking for its first region 8 title (North or Simon).

Henry County is limited to about 900 fans in the stands; if you cannot attend, join me for free live video coverage at www.pegasussportsky.com

 

[ColonelMike]

The final four looks a lot like the preseason BGP rankings...

The original preseason BGP Region 8 rankings for these four semi-finalists:  (looks pretty good!)   Spencer County was the missing #3 ranked team.....

Oldham County    #1       (Oldham stayed at #1 all year)

North Oldham      #2       (North fell to #7 in the final ranking)

Collins                   #4      (Collins held at #4)

Simon Kenton      #5      (SK wound up #2 in the final ranking)