BluegrassPreps.com Week 11 Region 8 review and rankings

www.bluegrasspreps.com Region 8 Week 11 Review and Rankings

by Colonelmike

 

 

1 - Woodford County (#13 Bluegrasspreps)– (22-5)   Woodford claimed a couple of decent wins last week, defeating two solid out of region opponents.   The Yellowjackets beat West Jessamine, 87-72 before topping a good 5^th Region team, Central Hardin, by 7. 

The Jackets placed six players in double figures against West Jessamine, led by Jackson Twombley’s 20.   Woodford shot nearly 59% from the floor and hit 12 of 24 threes.

Woodford County remains the only 8^th Region team ranked in the Bluegrasspreps.com Top 20, at #13.

Woodford wraps up their season on the 15^th against another solid 5^th Region team, the Bardstown Tigers.   

2 - North Oldham (15-9)  North continues to tantalize and sometimes torment, but the Mustangs have won 5 of their last 7 games, and – most importantly – are 3-0 against 8^th Region opponents during that stretch, with victories over defending 8^th Region champ Oldham County, South Oldham, and Grant County.

North remains the only team in the 8^th Region that is undefeated against region foes, with a  5-0 mark (wins over Oldham County, South Oldham, Grant County, Simon Kenton, and Walton-Verona).

North could pretty much do no wrong against South Oldham last Monday, slamming the Dragons, 69-52, behind 54% shooting and a 9 of 20 performance beyond the arc.   Star guard Dallas Roberts was 12 of 19 shooting, including 5 of 7 beyond the arc, with 29 points.   The win automatically qualified North for the 8^th Region tournament by virtue of being the #1 seed in the 3-team 29^th District.

North again shot the ball well (49%) in a two point win over Grant County, before falling on Saturday to 6^th Region power Fern Creek, 57-49.   The two teams were tied 42-42 heading into the fourth, but a 3 of 14 shooting period doomed the Mustangs to the loss.

North wraps up the season with a continued aggressive schedule.   The Mustangs face Collins on the road 2/15 and finish the season on Friday, 2/18 at St. Xavier (broadcast beginning at 7 pm on www.pegasussportsky.com).

 

3 – Oldham County (16-8)    The Colonels stay at #3 this week after an up-and-down week last week that saw Oldham fall twice to highly-regarded squads from out of region.

Oldham began last week with a tough loss to #5 ranked Covington Catholic.   After a nip-and-tuck first half, the Colonels’ shooting eye went south in the second half, and CovCath pulled away for the 28 point victory, 83-55.   

Oldham rebounded with a strong second half performance against Gallatin County, blowing open a four-point halftime margin, outscoring the Wildcats by 20 in the second half en route to an 84-60 victory.

Oldham ended the week on a sour note, falling, 60-58, to DeSales in the Ronald McDonald House Classic.   Four Colonels reached double figures and Oldham shot 49%, but poor free throw shooting (7 of 12) was costly.

Oldham wraps up the season with an extraordinarily tough final week, with games on the road against defending state champ Highlands (2/15), a 20+ win team from Great Crossing (home game Thursday, 2/17, live coverage on www.pegasussportsky.com), and a season finale on the 18^th on the road at Walton-Verona. 

4 – Collins (19-5)    Collins has won 7 of their last 8 games, with the Titans’ only loss during this strong stretch run coming at the hands of Oldham County.

Chris Gaither’s squad won three close games last week, outlasting strong teams from St. X (59-58) and Trinity (45-42), and out-dueling cross-county rival Shelby County, 53-49.   

As usual, the Collins defense led the way.

Collins is the highest-ranked team in the 8^th Region, according to the KHSAA’s RPI rating.     The Titans are ranked #21, statewide, per the RPI.

Collins will prepare for the district tournament with two challenging games at home.   2/15 vs. North Oldham (6 pm) and on 2/18 versus Christian Academy of Louisville.

5 – Spencer County (17-8)    The youthful Bears head into the final week of the regular season riding the region’s longest winning streak.    Spencer beat three teams last week – Anderson County, North Hardin, and Eminence – all by convincing scores and got this week off to a good start with a Valentine’s Day victory over Henry County, 72-43.

The Bears have now won 8 games in a row.    The Bears have scored at least 62 points in each of those eight wins, while holding three of those opponents below 50 points.   The opponents?   Not such a shabby group – Spencer holds victories over Collins, Grant County, and South Oldham in the stretch, and is 6-0 against Region 8 competition during that span.

Jason Burns’ team is 9-3 against region opponents this season.   The Bears just missed out on the #1 seed in the 30^th district tournament, but Spencer will host the district.

This week, Spencer will be favored to push that streak to 10 games as they travel to Collegiate on 2/17 and wrap up the season at Campbellsville on 2/18.

6 – Grant County (16-12)   One week ago, the Braves were one of the region’s hottest commodities.   All of sudden, Grant is on their worst slide of the year, having lost five consecutive games.

Before any Braves fans lose their heads, the drought has come against pretty formidable competition.    The Braves fell to North Oldham (by just 2 points), 21-win Great Crossing by 12, and 22-win Breathitt County by a single point.

But….Grant also lost to two teams with losing records, falling unexpectedly to Shelby County (9-16) by ten points in a game in which the Braves hit just 3 of 19 from beyond the arc.   Dylan Hammonds had another monster game – 27 points / 19 rebounds – in the loss, but everyone not named “Hammonds” was just 7 of 28.

The Braves also were upset by Frederick Douglass, 57-49, to start this week.  

Grant still has had an impressive season, and Dylan Hammonds has had a Player of the Year sort of campaign.   The Braves stay put in the 6^th slot in this ranking, despite the slump.   They’ll have a chance to rebound against good competition this coming week as they travel to Gallatin County on 2/15 and then take on perennial 10^th Region powerhouse Mason County on the road to finish the year on 2/17.

 

7 – Walton-Verona (15-10)    The Bearcats, mired in a slump about a week or so ago, have re-emerged as the team we saw early in the season.   Walton won four in a row last week, against good competition, with two of the victories coming on the road.

It all started with an up-and-down affair at South Oldham.   In a battle of the two highest-scoring teams in the 8^th Region, the Cats came out on top behind four players in double figures, led by Cameron Christy’s 22.   Julian Dixon contributed a double-double, with 17 points / 10 rebounds.   Walton owned the boards to the tune of 39-24.

The very next night, W-V travelled to 31^st district leader Owen County and claimed a 63-61 victory behind Christy’s 24 points and Brant Smithers’ 20.

Two nights later, the Bearcats got their biggest win of the week, topping then #18-ranked Dixie Heights, 76-64.    The next night – in a game that could have been a trap game, coming just 24 hours after the emotional high of the win over Dixie – Walton-Verona was downright overwhelming in a 92-68 win over Henry County.

The impressive week moves the Bearcats up one spot, vaulting over an up-and-down Simon Kenton team.

It looks like the Bearcats are going to have some serious momentum heading into their first round 32^nd district tournament game next week against Simon Kenton.

This week, W-V wraps the regular season up with three games.   2/15 – vs. Holmes     2/17 at Carroll County     2/18 vs. Oldham County

 

8 – Simon Kenton (12-11)    This Simon Kenton team is going to be heard from, before all is said and done.   The Pioneers have been competitive with just about everyone this year – but SK just can’t seem to string together victories.

The Pioneers have gone 4-4 over their last 8 games, and haven’t had two wins in a row since December 17^th and 20^th, when they beat South Oldham and Muhlenberg County.

Last week, the Pioneers played the final three games of a six game home stand, grabbing a 60-59 squeaker over Gallatin County, losing by 7 to Campbell County, before closing the week with a 67-48 victory over Scott High.

Gabe Dynes led SK in scoring against Gallatin (18 points / 8 rebounds) and Campbell (18 points / 9 rebounds).   The Campbell game was the fourth consecutive game Dynes had led SK in scoring.

Jack Marx led the way in the win over Scott High with 17.

SK continues to shoot pretty well; the Pioneers were over 50% twice last week, shooting 52.3% against Gallatin and 57.1% against Campbell County.  

Simon is even more impressive at the line.  Over the last five games, SK is 62 of 81 (76.5%) at the stripe.   On the season, SK is one of the best teams in the state at the charity stripe, hitting 73.5%.

The Pioneers wrap up the season this week at Boone County (2/15) and home against Owen County (2/17).

 

9 - South Oldham (10-14)   South Oldham is this week’s highest ranking team with a losing record.  Like SK, the Dragons have had a rather frustrating season, filled with narrow losses to top teams, coupled with some very impressive wins.

Last week was a very difficult week for the Dragons, as they took on three powerful teams, and lost all three games.    North Oldham hammered South as the Mustangs claimed the #1 district seed with a 69-52 win.     Walton-Verona owned the glass against South the very next night and used that advantage to take an 81-72 win in Crestwood.   South then suffered another setback against the pre-season #1 pick in the 6^th Region, the Bullitt East Chargers, 71-56.

But South has righted the ship as they started this week with an 89-43 pounding of a good Gallatin County team on the road.   The Dragons flashed memories of South teams of old as they hit 65% from the floor, including an impressive 12 of 24 beyond the arc and 9 of 10 at the line.   Tate Holbrook led five Dragons in double figures with 17 points.

South wraps up the season with two games this week.   The Dragons travel to Louisville on Tuesday, 2/15, to face 6^th Region power Iroquois (21-3) before finishing up at home on 2/17 against North Bullitt.   The South vs. Iroquois matchup will be aired on www.pegasussportsky.com.

 

10 - Owen County (17-9)   Owen County has very quietly amassed a pretty impressive record this year, tied with Spencer County for the third most victories in the region at 17.    Owen County has won 16 of their last 18 games, and will wrap up with games at home against Boone County on 2/16 and at Simon Kenton on 2/17.

The only two losses over that span were a 67-60 overtime loss to Grant County and a 63-61 loss to Walton-Verona on 2/9.  

Teagan Moore continues to put up Player of the Year numbers; he had another monster game against Walton on 2/9, when he hit for 42 points.

 

11 – Gallatin County (13-7)    Gallatin County stays put at #11, but has been very up-and-down of late, losing 4 of its last 7 games.    Gallatin’s 1 point loss to Simon Kenton was impressive, and the Cats followed that with 12 point win over Henry County in a 31^st district matchup.  

A second half meltdown led to a 24 point loss to Oldham County, but the Wildcats were subsequently hammered by South Oldham, 89-43, at home on Saturday.

At 15-10, the Wildcats are limping to the finish, but they still appear to be the second-best team in the 31^st and likely bound for a trip to New Castle, where a veteran group of seniors figures to be a tough out.

Gallatin wraps up the season on Tuesday against a strong Grant County team before finishing against Ludlow on 2/18.

 

12 – Shelby County (9-16)   Much like last year, Shelby County is showing some life down the stretch.   The Rockets have won 5 of their last seven as they pick up late-season steam.

At first, it appeared the Rockets were simply beating people they should beat, with wins over Bourbon County, Anderson County, Williamstown, and North Bullitt.   But the Rockets fell to a powerful Collins team by just 4 at Collins and then beat a strong Grant County team by 10 last week.

Shelby still looks like a dark horse to make the region in a powerful district that includes Spencer County, Woodford County, and Collins, but Shelby is ending the year the right way.

Shelby plays Western Hills Tuesday and at Henry County Friday the 18^th.

    

The rest of the pack:

13 – Henry County (10-16)    Henry did what they were expected to do last week, falling to Gallatin County by 12 and to Walton-Verona by a bunch and beating Trimble County and Highlands Latin.  

Sam Royalty has had double-doubles in eleven consecutive games through Monday’s game against Spencer County, including back-to-back games of 26 points / 17 rebounds against Trimble County and Highlands Latin.  

Kevin Wix notched another 30-point plus outing with 35 against Trimble.

Outside shooting continues to bedevil the Wildcats, who have hit just 24 threes in their last ten contests; they have hit 2 or fewer in 7 of their last ten games.

Henry wraps up with Shelby County at home on 2/18.

 

14 – Eminence (12-10)    Eminence hasn’t been able to keep up their early pace, but the Warriors have been a much improved team this season.    Still, Eminence will need an upset or two to reach the Region 8 tournament this year.

Eminence has dropped 5 of their last 7.   Since 2/7, the Warriors have been pounded twice by Owen County and once by Spencer County, two admittedly superior teams.    But the Warriors were stunned in an upset loss to Carroll County by five points after beating the Panthers earlier in the year.  

Eminence closes the year with two road games, on 2/17 at Nelson County and on 2/19 at Calvary Christian.

 

15 – Williamstown (11-14)    The Demons are on a 3-game winning streak after a win tonight (2/15) over Bellevue, 81-55.   Before that, Williamstown vanquished Carroll County, 72-43, and Trimble County, 97-90.

The Demons, averaging 60 ppg this season, have averaged 83 in the past three games.   Four Demons reached double figures against Carroll County, and Williamstown accomplished the feat again against Trimble, with three players reaching 20+ points (Colton Feagan 27 points, Joel McCain 22 points, and Gunner Feagan 21).

The Demons shot 55% from the floor against Carroll and 63% against Trimble.

Williamstown could still finish with a .500 record at the end of the regular season; the Demons face Dayton on the road (2/17), then finish at home against Villa Madonna on 2/18 and against Heritage Academy at 1:30 pm on 2/19.

 

16 -  Anderson County (5-18)   Anderson started last week with a 13 point loss to district rival Spencer County, but found a way to end a 12-game losing streak as they upended Garrard County, 63-57.  

The Bearcats shot 53.7% from the floor in the win and placed two players with over 20 points:   Bryce Snellen had a monster game with 29 points / 19 rebounds, and A.J. Jones added 20 in the win.   Brady White added ten points as those three players accounted for all but 4 of Anderson’s point total. 

The Cats lost on Saturday, 53-39, to Owen County.

Anderson finishes with Carroll County on the road on Tuesday and Franklin County at home on 2/17 at 6:30 pm.

17 – Carroll County (4-23)   Carroll County still has the worst record in the 8^th Region, but the Panthers have quietly won 3 of their last 5, and they move up one spot in this ranking, in part due to their 13-point win over Trimble County on 1/18.

The Panthers won 3 of 4 games last week, defeating Eminence, 72-67, Covington Latin, 57-41, and Pendleton County, 74-62.   Their lone loss was to Williamstown, 72-43.

Carroll opened this week with a 20-point loss to Gallatin.

Carroll faces Anderson County (2/15), Walton-Verona (2/17), and Bellevue (2/18) to end the season, with a fair chance to earn another victory or two.

18 – Trimble County  (7-20)   The Raiders finished their season tonight (2/15) with an 89-81 loss at home to Bethlehem in overtime.

Trimble lost 14 of its last 17 regular season games, with only wins over Henry County, Villa Madonna, and St. Francis during that stretch.

The last three games included losses to Henry County, 80-71, to Williamstown, 97-90, and to Bethlehem

GOOD LUCK TO ALL THIS WEEK!

 

CM