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8th Region: Final Rankings and District Preview

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Bballjunkie

Bballjunkie

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Well the regular season is over and it was a GREAT one.  Looking back , here is how I rated the top 10 in the preseason

1.      Woodford County

2.       South Oldham

3.      Simon Kenton

4.      North Oldham

5.      Anderson County

6.      Collins

7.      Walton Verona

8.      Spencer County

9.      Oldham County

10.  Gallatin County

 

This is how The Cat’s Pause Magazine Ranked the teams in the Preseason

1.      Woodford County

2.      South Oldham

3.      North Oldham

4.      Simon Kenton

5.      Oldham County

6.      Walton Verona

7.      Anderson County

8.      Collins

9.      Spencer County

10.  Gallatin County

 

Both in my humble prediction and in The Cat.s Pause prediction had Woodford as the best team in the region.  That did not play out at all in the Reg Season.  But then again, basketball is a tournament sport.  Can the yellowjackets cut down the nets?  Also, I didn’t give much respect to North Oldham for being a top tiered team and they have proven me wrong.  They are an elite team that can beat anyone in the state.  Its going to be fun to see how the district tourney plays out. 

 

 

Week 14 Rankings: ( little movement from last week)

 

1.     North Oldham - let me start by saying Coach Letvich is a heck of a coach. The last three years his reason is (19-7 this year, 26-6 last year , 25-6 in 2022-23).  This years team has a mixture of upper classmen and under classmen. Will they be ready for the big stage?  It will be fun to see if they can make it to Rupp.

2.     Simon Kenton- Coach Steiner has done a great job with this group.  They don’t have someone to go get 25 points typically but they are a group that plays well together.  This team is hungry to get to Rupp.  If they continue to play great defense and unselfish offense the sky is the limit for this team . 

3.     South Oldham- Very intrigued by this team. I feel the Dragons are waiting in the shadows for their chance to show the region how good they are. They have a dangerous first round game vs Oldham County but they should win by double digits if they play their game. The rematch with North will be a great game . 

4.     Walton Verona - Can Aaron Gutman led this team to Rupp?  I know he is probably motivated to show he should have gotten the region player of the year.  

5.     Spencer County - Back to back is never easy. However ,Coach Burns knows what needs to be done and how to motivate his guys.  Would be very cool to see this group repeat.

6.     Woodford County -  Similar to South, I feel the Yellowjackets are just waiting for the right time to show everyone what they have. The time is NOW. I can’t get confirmation on whether Boone is hurt or not.  If he is healthy they definitely have a chance to cut down the nuts. If he is not playing I don’t think they have enough to compete. 

7.     Oldham County-  Jakobi McRoberts has made this Colonels team much more of a complete team since joining them a month ago. Can OC beat their Rivals on Tuesday?  It would be a huge upset if it happens that is for sure. Coach Renner has won a lot of big games in his career. Can he add another to his resume. ?

8.     Collins- after losing 6 in a row the Titans finished off their reg season with a win over North Hardin.  They finish the season with a .500 record but they are a much better team than their record shows. Their strength of schedule was crazy hard.  Now they need to have their minds focus on winning in the toughest district in the region .  

9.     Gallatin County - Coach Sullivan’s group finished the ref season 18-10. I think they are playing the best basketball in district 31.  I hope they meet up with Henry in the finals because it will be a great battle.

10.  Anderson County- I had them preseason 5th in the region.  They have had some huge wins but just haven’t been consistent enough to be ranked higher than 10th.  They are looking for a big win in the district to get to the regionals.

11.  Owens County -They finished the season losing two in a row but they were against 2 of the best teams in the region (Spencer and Simon).  Owen is playing some good basketball.  They want to ruin Gallatin’s and Henry’s plan of meeting up in the finals. 

12.  Henry County – I am going to keep them in front of Shelby even though they just lost to them.  They have had a great year but I am going to penalize them for losing to a 4-22 team.  However, I am not going to drop them too far down because their record keeps them ahead of Shelby.  They need to regroup and go try to win a district championship for their school.

13.  Shelby County-  Winning only 4 games was not what they wanted but they started playing better basketball late in the season.  They will be eliminated in the first round of the districts and I know the boys will work hard over the offseason to make next season a successful one.

14.  Grant County – Bosse was a stud all year but just didn’t have much help.  They want to upset Walton-Verona in the first round of the districts to shock the entire region.

15.  Eminence  – great season winning 15 games. Their season will come to an end in the semifinals of the region but they have a lot to be proud of this season.

16.  Carroll County -  They want to beat Eminence in the quarterfinals of the district.  If they do it will be a successful post season run.

17.  Cornerstone Chr- not participating in the post season this year but some great wins in the regular season.  9 wins is huge for this program.

18.  Williamstown – 5-24 was not what they were hoping for this season. Their season will come to an end tomorrow night vs Simon Kenton.

19.  Trimble County- Rough season for the Raiders.  But they played hard and represented their community well this season.

 

DISTRICT PREVIEW:

 29th District:

-       First round match up of Oldham County vs South Oldham should be a great one.  South is clearly the better team but when the gym is packed and the bands are rocking anything can happen.  OCHS had 4 kids avg double figures Henry Marcum 14ppg, Ty Bryant 12ppg, Jeromy Harmon 12ppg and Jakobi McRoberts 10ppg.  If all 4 of those guys are own, then it will be a great game.  The big question is how is OC going to slow up Julian Miles.  The regional player of the year lit them up in the reg season scoring 37points.  He is not the only guy that the Dragons have that can score ---Jake Fithian, William Burnside, and Brooks Bee are all avg double digits as well.  This game will be at South Oldham so even though I love to see a big upset , I believe that the Dragons will win this one by 12 points.

-       In the championship game, South Oldham will be hungry for revenge.  North Oldham dominated them and Julian Miles had his worse game of the year vs the Mustangs when they met in January.  I have a feeling this game will be different even though Austin Sears and Brooks Cargould are the best back court in the region.  The Dragons will win this game by 5 points.  I have a feeling these two teams by might meet again in the regions.

CHAMPION:  South Oldham

 

30th District:

-       Best district by far in the region.  These two semi final games are going to be EPIC.  All 4 teams want to get to Henry County for the regionals but only two can go.

-       Spencer vs Woodford: WOW, what a semifinal game for the districts.  Both teams are good enough to win the whole thing.  Spencer has 4 guys avg in double figures – Jack Armstrong 14ppg, Sam Seawright 14ppg, Jackson Combs 13ppg .  Even though Woodford by have more talent , I believe Spencer plays better team defense.  Rumors of Boone being injured has me worried for this group.  He is the most talented player in the region and he will have a great career at WKU.  However, if his 20ppg is not on the floor I don’t give the Yellowjackets much of a chance.  I am going with Spencer in this one.

-       Collins vs Anderson:  The district is being played at Anderson so that is a huge advantage for them.  This is going to be a great game.  Both teams are fine with playing a slow down control pace.  I believe Gaither will try to speed this game up.  Even though its at Anderson I am going to go with the Titans behind their two headed monsters in Caden Gaither and Cole Harbin. 

-       Championship game: Two of the best coaches in the region will go at it and I believe the Collins Titans will come out on top.  They played some great basketball in the middle of the season then went on a huge losing streak vs top ranked teams.  I believe everything is going to come together at the right time for them.

CHAMPIONS: Collins

 

31st District :

Even though it’s the weakest district in the region it will have the most exciting tournament of them all.

I don’t have a bracket so I am not sure who will match up with each other but the semifinals will have Owen, Gallatin, Henry in it.  The question is who matches up with who.  I really hope that Gallatin and Henry matchup in the championship game because I think it could go down as one of the best games of the season.  Obviously Henry is led by Baylor Nolin who has scored 664 points this season. WOW.  He leads the region in scoring.  However, the key for the team is how well will Traevon Wright play.  He has had some great games this season with this 13ppg.  He will need to come up big for the Wildcats to move on.  Gallatin is a better team than Henry top to bottom.  They have 4 guys averaging in double figures Matthew Griffin 19ppg, Andrew Brinker 17ppg, Ian Wilson 12ppg, and Landon Smith 12ppg.  Gallatin is not very deep so foul trouble could come into play if one of those guys go out and a very inexperience kid comes into a championship game.  With that said I am going with Henry County to win the districts.  I think its their time.

CHAMPION: Henry County

 

32nd District

-       The district up north will come down to Simon vs Walton.  Unless something crazy happens.  I have a feeling that Steiner will come up with a junk defense for Aaron Gutman.  If they slow him down they should win easily.  Its crazy when you look at Simons stats they have one kid avg double figures in scoring .  Jay Bilton 12ppg is the heart and soul of the team.  However, they have a few more upperclassmen that will do whatever it takes to get to Rupp.  I have tried to be unbias all year but I am rooting for this group the most.  I hope they cut down the nets at Henry County and represent Region 8 in Lexington in a few weeks.

CHAMPIONS: Simon Kenton

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Mack The Knife

Mack The Knife

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In the 31st Gallatin is the top seed and plays the Eminence-Carroll winner. Henry gets the Owen-Trimble winner.     
Gallatin has won 7of 9 with the losses coming at Spencer and South Oldham.   
The Wildcats actually led at Crestwood on Friday night with a little over 6 minutes to play and trailed by 5 with 4 1/2 play before the Dragons pulled away in the last 4 minutes.

Bballjunkie

Bballjunkie

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1 hour ago, Mack The Knife said:

In the 31st Gallatin is the top seed and plays the Eminence-Carroll winner. Henry gets the Owen-Trimble winner.     
Gallatin has won 7of 9 with the losses coming at Spencer and South Oldham.   
The Wildcats actually led at Crestwood on Friday night with a little over 6 minutes to play and trailed by 5 with 4 1/2 play before the Dragons pulled away in the last 4 minutes.

Gallatin is really good. I have had them ranked ahead of Henry the last month of the season . I just went out on a limb going with Henry in the 31st.  It will be fun to watch it play out but Henry better focus on Owen first. 

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Adrian Woj Burner

Adrian Woj Burner

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The next couple weeks will be fun to say the least.... predictions below. 

29th: North defeats South 
30th: Woodford defeats Collins 
31st: Henry defeats Gallatin
32nd: Simon Kenton defeats Walton

 

8th Region Tournament: South Oldham vs Woodford County, Woodford County is back to full strength and wins it all. 

Polar Bearcat

Polar Bearcat

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2 hours ago, Adrian Woj Burner said:

The next couple weeks will be fun to say the least.... predictions below. 

29th: North defeats South 
30th: Woodford defeats Collins 
31st: Henry defeats Gallatin
32nd: Simon Kenton defeats Walton

 

8th Region Tournament: South Oldham vs Woodford County, Woodford County is back to full strength and wins it all. 

Picking a region winner from the 30th before the semi finals is a risky proposition.

Adrian Woj Burner

Adrian Woj Burner

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1 hour ago, Polar Bearcat said:

Picking a region winner from the 30th before the semi finals is a risky proposition.

Picking a 4 seed in March Madness as a champion before the Round of 64 is risky proposition as well, but 90% of Kentucky is going to do just that. 

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Bballjunkie

Bballjunkie

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4 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Boone played in their game last Friday at Bryan Station.

Thank you for info. Glad he is healthy. Woodford could definitely make a run 

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Bballjunkie

Bballjunkie

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4 hours ago, Adrian Woj Burner said:

The next couple weeks will be fun to say the least.... predictions below. 

29th: North defeats South 
30th: Woodford defeats Collins 
31st: Henry defeats Gallatin
32nd: Simon Kenton defeats Walton

 

8th Region Tournament: South Oldham vs Woodford County, Woodford County is back to full strength and wins it all. 

It will be fun to see how it plays out. Solid predictions

Bballjunkie

Bballjunkie

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Sunday is a huge day. I have always believed that basketball comes down to matchups. Basketball is a funny sport. Team A sometimes can beat Team B but struggle with Team C whose record is not great but it’s just a bad matchup for them.   Tournament basketball is so fun because of that.  

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Take It Easy

Take It Easy

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15 hours ago, Adrian Woj Burner said:

The next couple weeks will be fun to say the least.... predictions below. 

29th: North defeats South 
30th: Woodford defeats Collins 
31st: Henry defeats Gallatin
32nd: Simon Kenton defeats Walton

 

8th Region Tournament: South Oldham vs Woodford County, Woodford County is back to full strength and wins it all. 

Spencer beat Woodford tonight. Bracket buster.

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