When: Saturday, January 7, 5:00 pm

Where: Gallatin County High School

The road to Richmond comes to an end for the 8th Region on Saturday night, and it is the exact teams that were majorly expected coming into the tournament. Owen County and Walton-Verona will square off for the first time this season, and it is expected to be a good one. 

 

A Little History

Since 2012, these teams have combined for 8 All 'A' Regional championships. The Bearcats are coming into the game looking for their 6th championship in the last 7 seasons. They have surely dominated recently, but earlier on in the decade the Rebels won in 2012, 2015, and 2016. In recent years these are the 2 powerhouses of the 'A' in the 8th, so it should be a classic. 

 

Walton-Verona Bearcats (10-3)

The Bearcats have exceeded all expectations to begin the season. After losing their 2 main components of their team last season (Cameron Christy and Brant Smithers) Coach Hester has found players to fulfill their scoring, and have not slowed down. 2 of their 3 losses have came from the top-2 teams in the region, and the other being a very tough Eastern team. 

Walton has an extremely impressive 5 players in double figures, led by Julian Dixon (16.8 ppg) and Carter Krohman (16.9 ppg). They are also followed by Aaron Gutman (15.5 ppg). They are shooting 38.4% from behind the arc, and are averaging 10.4 3p field goals per game. Dixon is also very close to averaging a double-double, coming in with 9.5 rpg. 

If I were to guess, Dixon will be Walton's best matchup vs Teagan Moore, and I am excited to see how Dixon will step up to the challenge guarding arguably the best player in the region. 

The key player for the Bearcats could very well be Gutman. You know what you are getting with Krohman and Dixon, but if Gutman can perform well as their 3rd scoring option, he could make a huge impact in the result. 

 

Owen County Rebels (8-4)

The Rebels come into the game with wins over Carroll County in round 1, and Gallatin County in the semifinals. Coming into the tournament, they were on a 2-game win streak with loses to Cooper and Central. Before that, they were on a 5-game win streak after losing to #2 in the region Collins and a top team in the state North Laurel. 

They are led by reigning 8th Region Player of the Year Teagan Moore, who has had a tremendous season. Coming into the game, Moore is averaging 32.3 ppg, 11.1 rpg, shooting 65.8% from the field, 45.1% from 3, and 84.3% from the line. Moore is without a doubt the best player in the tournament, and you should expect another huge game to add on to his first 2 games. Against Carroll County and Gallatin County, Moore averaged 35.5 ppg and 16 rpg. Walton-Verona has the best chance at shutting him down with Julian Dixon matchup up well against him, but I don't know if it will be enough to stop him. 

Moore is also assisted by Brax Ward (12.1 ppg) and Micah Shelton (9.8 ppg).

I think the big question for the Rebels will be who will step up for them outside of these 3 and provide scoring. If they can find another good option in this game, they have a good shot at defeating the Bearcats. 

 

This game will be decided pending on which WV team shows up tonight.  If the one appears that played W'town the other night shows up, OC wins.  If the shooting WV team shows up, WV will win.  I'm leaning toward OC.

 

6 minutes ago, 4 Quarters said:

This game will be decided pending on which WV team shows up tonight.  If the one appears that played W'town the other night shows up, OC wins.  If the shooting WV team shows up, WV will win.  I'm leaning toward OC.

Walton has the potential to run them out of the gym, and also the potential to lose by 15-20 points. It can very well come down to the speed of play, as Walton loves to play fast, and Owen plays slower. Whoever can control the pace of play will most likely come out on top. 

27 minutes ago, Adrian Woj Burner said:

 

Walton has the potential to run them out of the gym, and also the potential to lose by 15-20 points. It can very well come down to the speed of play, as Walton loves to play fast, and Owen plays slower. Whoever can control the pace of play will most likely come out on top. 

I don't think WV can rebound with OC which will slow down WV's running game.  This will make the WV 3 point shooting more important.

I wouldn't say that it slows down their running game, they push the ball just as hard on a made basket than they do a missed one. It will for sure be an interesting game, intrigued to see (I'm assuming) Dixon guard Moore, also how Ward performs against a fairly short team. Will the height out there hurt or help him? I could see him making a huge impact scoring and rebounding, but could also see him go ghost if speed of play is up. 

10 minutes ago, 4 Quarters said:

I don't think WV can rebound with OC which will slow down WV's running game.  This will make the WV 3 point shooting more important.

I wouldn't say that it slows down their running game, they push the ball just as hard on a made basket than they do a missed one. It will for sure be an interesting game, intrigued to see (I'm assuming) Dixon guard Moore, also how Ward performs against a fairly short team. Will the height out there hurt or help him? I could see him making a huge impact scoring and rebounding, but could also see him go ghost if speed of play is up. 

 

Thoughts on this one as should be a good game?

1 hour ago, TDFEVER said:

Thoughts on this one as should be a good game?

Already have it posted, a couple replies and votes.

https://bluegrasspreps.com/forums/topic/237346-walton-verona-vs-owen-county-predictionsupdates-8th-region-all-a-championship/#comment-5000015

@TDFEVER

WV by 15+

Sorry as missed that! 

16-7 Owen after 1. Moore dominated

30-16 Owen with 3:46 to go. Moore has at least 20 of Owens 30.

23-38 Owen at half