Just now, LethalPG said:

PC had a good JV team last year, and a heralded Freshman class coming in.  Similar to Lincoln with being the biggest school in region, it's easier to reload and not rebuild for those two schools because of sheer numbers.  Somerset has Godby and Whitaker who both avg. 18 per game, and look to elevate even more this year.  Around them, they have 3 other guards that started @ times last season.  The one to keep an eye on is Aedyn Absher.  He started every game as a Freshman last season, and has grown to be around 6'4 giving them good size in the backcourt. 

Very true about Pulaski and Lincoln, it's nice to have a large pool to pick from. Love hearing that for Somerset, I've always been a fan of Coach Young.

If Garrard competes in that death district this year, he should get a raise!

5 hours ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

I don’t think there’s a better coach out there than Jackson, but there’s virtually no chance they’ll win region this year. Just don’t have enough overall talent.

I agree the talent discrepancy is there compared to his traditional teams, but he is ALWAYS in the mix and has his guys rolling come March. Just won't be surprised to see them make a run.

I love the GC gym!

2 hours ago, 4 Quarters said:

So where is the gym, and how far is it from the high school?

They built a new school on the other side of town but didn’t build a big gym with it. Built just a small one and they still use the old gym at the old school for games. 

I don't have a dog in this region but I can say from playing in summer ball some observations--some are talking about Lincoln, had one player and a bunch of youth--Bishop if he plays will not make a difference hasn't had much fire since he left Rock. Boyle has zero size and guards while quick where very out of control. Rock is a year away but has best size other than DCA. SW is middle of the pack. West Jess is shadow of what they normally field(we had a player drop 40 and all they could do was argue about who could stop him). Danville has zero chance. Mccreary zero chance. This was before transfers etc but based on Summer DCA wins the region by default, not picking on anyone but compared to recent years this will be a down year for the 12th. It will be DCA or Wayne.

Summer ball can be deceiving.  It can be an indicator, but you never know who is completely whole and there is very limited game planning/no scouting prep. 

I agree summer ball is very deceiving. I was just speaking to the overall level of talent that I witnessed(or in this case didn't witness). Meant no shade just that in my opinion its a 2 horse race for the 12th title based on what I saw.

Just now, Waterboy70 said:

I agree summer ball is very deceiving. I was just speaking to the overall level of talent that I witnessed(or in this case didn't witness). Meant no shade just that in my opinion its a 2 horse race for the 12th title based on what I saw.

No shade, from what I saw.  I agree with most of what you said.  From a size and talent standpoint, DCA is above the rest.  Speaking of summer ball though, Wayne & Somerset played twice splitting the pair of games.  

I didn't see either of those 2 this summer although was speaking of Wayne from what I had heard about and saw last year.....but the region will be wide open this year. Has a couple of favorites but no dominant team.

9 hours ago, Waterboy70 said:

I don't have a dog in this region but I can say from playing in summer ball some observations--some are talking about Lincoln, had one player and a bunch of youth--Bishop if he plays will not make a difference hasn't had much fire since he left Rock. Boyle has zero size and guards while quick where very out of control. Rock is a year away but has best size other than DCA. SW is middle of the pack. West Jess is shadow of what they normally field(we had a player drop 40 and all they could do was argue about who could stop him). Danville has zero chance. Mccreary zero chance. This was before transfers etc but based on Summer DCA wins the region by default, not picking on anyone but compared to recent years this will be a down year for the 12th. It will be DCA or Wayne.

I agree with your overall opinion that talent is down across the region.

I also agree with you on Lincoln not being in the mix this year. But if Bishop decides to play, is healthy and plays like he’s capable of, he has the potential to be a top 10  player. But that’s a lot of if’s.

If Boyle plays with discipline, on paper they should have as good of a chance to win region as anyone. To your comment about size, they have two freshmen that are 6’5”/6’6”. DCA and Wayne have size, but that alone shouldn’t be a disadvantage for Boyle.

I too think Rock is a year away but think they have enough talent to beat anyone. I do like their size across multiple positions and they have Craig who should emerge as a star this year.

SW, West, Danville and Mcreary are out of the mix.

DCA has as good of a chance as anyone. I was a fan of theirs last year but they didn’t live up to expectations. Like Boyle, their key to success lies in being patient, getting better looks and taking care of the ball. They have a rim protector, a slasher, an experienced PG and a shooter. Then the Fugate kid from Garrard would be a shooter that can handle it pretty well also. I think it takes him getting eligible for them to be in the mix. If he is and they gel, look out. Again, a lot of if’s.

If Dumpfort makes a difference inside like some have said, it makes Wayne a different team. If he’s a legit 15 PPG guy, for sure. But I think they’ll be different from others in the hunt in that like last year they’ll play a more methodical style than the other teams mentioned. I think they’ll be tough to beat in a half court game as they have a great scorer and two bigs to contend with. But I would expect teams to press them to speed them up, and I think ball handling could be their weakness.

You didn't mention Mercer but I think they’re certainly in the mix with Barnes and Ellis. They have as much size as anyone and I believe more depth than others. Their question mark will be taking care of the ball against pressure. Finding that PG.

You also didn’t mention Somerset and they have a really nice backcourt. I think they were the most improved over the course of last season. I look for them to be in the mix as well, def top 5.

Wayne, DCA, Boyle, Mercer, Somerset - in no certain order. Any one those have the talent to get it done. And Rock is just outside that group IMO.

15 hours ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

I agree with your overall opinion that talent is down across the region.

I also agree with you on Lincoln not being in the mix this year. But if Bishop decides to play, is healthy and plays like he’s capable of, he has the potential to be a top 10  player. But that’s a lot of if’s.

If Boyle plays with discipline, on paper they should have as good of a chance to win region as anyone. To your comment about size, they have two freshmen that are 6’5”/6’6”. DCA and Wayne have size, but that alone shouldn’t be a disadvantage for Boyle.

I too think Rock is a year away but think they have enough talent to beat anyone. I do like their size across multiple positions and they have Craig who should emerge as a star this year.

SW, West, Danville and Mcreary are out of the mix.

DCA has as good of a chance as anyone. I was a fan of theirs last year but they didn’t live up to expectations. Like Boyle, their key to success lies in being patient, getting better looks and taking care of the ball. They have a rim protector, a slasher, an experienced PG and a shooter. Then the Fugate kid from Garrard would be a shooter that can handle it pretty well also. I think it takes him getting eligible for them to be in the mix. If he is and they gel, look out. Again, a lot of if’s.

If Dumpfort makes a difference inside like some have said, it makes Wayne a different team. If he’s a legit 15 PPG guy, for sure. But I think they’ll be different from others in the hunt in that like last year they’ll play a more methodical style than the other teams mentioned. I think they’ll be tough to beat in a half court game as they have a great scorer and two bigs to contend with. But I would expect teams to press them to speed them up, and I think ball handling could be their weakness.

You didn't mention Mercer but I think they’re certainly in the mix with Barnes and Ellis. They have as much size as anyone and I believe more depth than others. Their question mark will be taking care of the ball against pressure. Finding that PG.

You also didn’t mention Somerset and they have a really nice backcourt. I think they were the most improved over the course of last season. I look for them to be in the mix as well, def top 5.

Wayne, DCA, Boyle, Mercer, Somerset - in no certain order. Any one those have the talent to get it done. And Rock is just outside that group IMO.

Yeah I didn't see/we didn't play Somerset or Mercer this summer so I can't speak to them, but We played Boyle twice this summer and No shade to the 2 freshmen you spoke of but they were either not playing or just didn't play well enough to make a impression and Bishop just doesn't seem to have the fire to play anymore(Have heard he is not playing-know he didn't in summer) Its anyones year in the 12th because DCA is the favorite on paper but they will not run away with anything. Good luck to all the teams

34 minutes ago, Waterboy70 said:

Yeah I didn't see/we didn't play Somerset or Mercer this summer so I can't speak to them, but We played Boyle twice this summer and No shade to the 2 freshmen you spoke of but they were either not playing or just didn't play well enough to make a impression and Bishop just doesn't seem to have the fire to play anymore(Have heard he is not playing-know he didn't in summer) Its anyones year in the 12th because DCA is the favorite on paper but they will not run away with anything. Good luck to all the teams

I believe one was out the whole summer and the other missed multiple days as well. Only mentioned that in reference to your comment indicating lack of size would hurt Boyle. If they’re used as one would expect, that won’t be the case and shouldn’t be a an area of deficit for Boyle.

15 hours ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

If Dumpfort makes a difference inside like some have said, it makes Wayne a different team. If he’s a legit 15 PPG guy, for sure. But I think they’ll be different from others in the hunt in that like last year they’ll play a more methodical style than the other teams mentioned. I think they’ll be tough to beat in a half court game as they have a great scorer and two bigs to contend with. But I would expect teams to press them to speed them up, and I think ball handling could be their weakness.

I do think Wayne is another year away from ball handling being something that other teams pick at.  The point guard, Edwards, was an 8th grader last year and the game plan from other teams seemed to be to go at him.  He's a year older now and also has the experience of being the starting quarterback on the football team as a freshman so it will be interesting how that experience plays out.

I know that talent changes as kids mature and teams change from middle to high school, but when the sophomores and freshman were in middle school, you didn't press either team.  I saw them absolutely drill some good teams that tried to run with them.  Will that ever translate to high school?  Who knows.

Dumphord is the key.  I saw him few times this summer and he was a double double machine.  Very engaged and active on both ends of the court.  Will he do the same in the regular season grind is a valid question.

On 10/31/2023 at 10:52 AM, Waterboy70 said:

Yeah I didn't see/we didn't play Somerset or Mercer this summer so I can't speak to them, but We played Boyle twice this summer and No shade to the 2 freshmen you spoke of but they were either not playing or just didn't play well enough to make a impression and Bishop just doesn't seem to have the fire to play anymore(Have heard he is not playing-know he didn't in summer) Its anyones year in the 12th because DCA is the favorite on paper but they will not run away with anything. Good luck to all the teams

One of the big guys was at football camps and other one had surgery on both feet due to growing so fast.  And they say he could even grow more.