WHAT:   29th District Finals

WHO:   Defending 29th District champs / 8th Region Champions Oldham County (18-10) vs. #1 District seed North Oldham (15-11)

WHERE:   South Oldham HS, Crestwood, KY

WHEN:  Friday, 2/25/22

BROADCAST:   7:30 pm ET free live hi-def video coverage on www.pegasussportsky.com

This one should be FUN.

North won the regular season matchup by four.

This is a rematch of last year's 8th Region finals, won by Oldham County.

Oldham County is led by a trio of All-8th Region players - more players than any team placed on the All-Region Team:   6'10" senior center Hayden Burgess (14 ppg / 5.5 rebounds), 6'6" senior forward Sam Powell (16.2 ppg / 5.4 rebounds), and 6'0" sophomore PG Max Green (14.5 ppg   71 made threes @ 40.6%).    Oldham County is a solid shooting team at 49% overall and 37+% from beyond the arc.    Burgess has some of the sweetest offensive post moves in the 8th Region and a devastatingly accurate hook shot.  Burgess is hitting 63% of his shots.   Powell is a legitimate inside-outside threat who is hitting 50% from the floor, despite taking almost half his shots from beyond the arc.  Green is just a sophomore, but he has the ability to hit ridiculous shots and he is maturing as a point guard.    Luke Amburgey off the bench is a blue-collar all-around contributor, adding 5.6 ppg / 5.5 rebounds.

Offensive depth may be a concern for Oldham, but this team has length, height, and the ability to score.  

North Oldham is led by the 8th Region Player of the Year runner-up, Dallas Roberts.    Roberts, averaging 17 ppg, is the undisputed leader of this team, and the definite "go-to" guy in the final moments of a close game.   Roberts, a junior who has started for four straight years, is on pace to become the school's all-time leading scorer, eclipsing the record held by his coach, David Levitch.    

North features perhaps the best defensive interior, with 6'7" shot-blocker extraordinaire Luke Anderson and 6'6" offensive machine Ian Higdon.   Higdon joined Dallas Roberts on the all-region team.

Jack Scales (12.3 ppg, 76 made threes at 41.6%) is the team's premier outside threat....Higdon is averaging almost a double-double (13.3 ppg / 9.1 rebounds)...    

North began the year as the preseason favorite to win the 8th Region, one year after finishing as the region runner-up to Oldham County.   An up-and-down year has moved the expectations needle down a bit, but North is clearly one of the region's best teams.   Some of the inconsistency may stem from the Mustangs' age; North's top six players are all underclassmen.

This one is a very hard call, I'll just let it ride.

Either team could win the 8th.

Good luck to both teams.

 

 

3 hours ago, Mojocat said:

Honestly, both of these teams have underachieved a little relative to what I expected.  OC is 18-10, North is 15-11, and I would have made a small wager neither would have near that many losses.  That's just a naked assessment of the wins and losses, there may be other factors I'm not privy too (I do know, for example, that North had some Covid and injury issues, which likely played a part in at least some of their Ls).  I wanted to say that OC played really well in its game against South earlier this week, and maybe that will carry some momentum into the game.  But one of the OC parents told me they had lost 3 of 4 to end the season (maybe that thumping from Covington Catholic had some lingering effects).  They did beat South by 28, but that score is mildly deceiving - it was a 4 point game mid-way thru the 3rd, and in the 4th once OC took the lead to double digits South seemed to let go of the rope a little bit.  Ben Michel only played 62 seconds in the second half for SO before exiting with a gruesome headbleed, and with him out, South had no size at all really to combat the 6'11 Burgess and the 6'6 Powell.  Point is, OC ended that game seemingly on a roll, but I'm not sure how much we can take from that.   North meanwhile has lost 3 straight and 4 of 6 to end the year.  So, both teams have good talent and can at times look very good - each team also has battled inconsistency and at times has looked less than very good.  I think, because OC did at least have that feel good game Tuesday and because they lost the first matchup and may therefore have a little bit of a psychological edge....I'll go with the Colonels in a close one.  Call it 47-44

I still don't who wins, but you are spot on with your breakdown.

end of one

Oldham County 23

North Oldham 11

Max Green with four (of five) threes for 12 points for Oldham

3:25 left in half

Dallas Roberts rallying North

Oldham 29 North 24

HALF

Oldham County 37

North Oldham 31

Sam Powell and Max Green with 12 apiece for OC

42 seconds left in the third

Dallas Roberts' three pulls North to within 8

Oldham County 50 North Oldham 42

Oldham with 5 team fouls in the 2nd half; North Oldham with zero fouls

3:59 left

Oldham leads 54-46

1:38 to play

Dallas Roberts with a three for North 

Oldham leads 58-53

Oldham ball after a timeout

FINAL

Oldham repeats

Oldham County 65

North Oldham 56

Dallas Roberts 26  North

Sam Powell 23 points for Oldham 

Oldham's Hayden Burgess had 10 points, 11 rebounds, 7 blocks

 

All tourney - South Oldham's Cole Davis and Christian Veirs, North Oldham's Luke Anderson, Ian Higdon, and Dallas Roberts, and Oldham County's Hayden Burgess, Max Green, and Kenton Slechter, Sam Powell

MVP -  Oldham County's Sam Powell