Basketball is off and running in the Bluegrass State.  And wow, what a great first week of 8^th region of basketball action.  I really hate to move teams up or down after 1 week but I feel I have to by the way the games turned out this week.  First of all, Oldham County seems to be much better than I expected, and Anderson County is much better than I expected.  I really missed it on those two teams, however, its only been one week.  Henry County disappointed me a bit by the way they started because I was really high on them.  I did hear they might have a player or two out, so obviously that will impact a team.  With that said, I tried my best to be fair after one week of action. 

 

1.      North Oldham-  went 2-0 last week beating Ballard and Waggner. This week they have Simon Kenton, Huntington Prep, and CAL.  The Mustangs will be my number 1 all season until someone else proves otherwise

2.      Woodford County – went 1-0 last week beating Tates Creek.  This week they have Jeannette,PA and Henry Clay this week…. I am excited about seeing this team in person.

3.      South Oldham- went 2-1 last week beating Ryle and Bardstown but lost to Eastern in overtime.  I watched them play vs Eastern and I was very expressed.  They were missing Kolton W, arguably their best player and still are a great team. This week they have Collns, Walton- Verona and Pulaski County.

4.      Collins- went 3-0 last week beating LaRue, Franklin County and Walton-Verona.  This week they have South Oldham, Shelby County and Gallatin County.  Happy to hear Coach Gaither is back on the bench after dealing with a crazy, parent accusation situation.

5.      Oldham County – went 2-0 last week beating Spencer County and Henry County. Both of their wins were against teams that were preseason ahead of them.  This week they have Simon Kenton, Scott County, and 2 games in a Classic looks like in Scott County.  Are the Colonels for real?  I was not expecting them to start 2-0.

6.      Simon Kenton- went 0-2 last week getting beat by Lloyd Memorial and Connor.   Both of these teams are REALLY good so that is why I am putting them 6^th and not dropping them further down. This week they have Oldham County and North Oldham.

7.      Anderson County- went 3-0 this week beat Henry County, Washington County, and John Hardin.  They are similar to Oldham County, they look A LOT better than I thought they would be.  This week they have Grant County, Bluegrass United, Menifee County.  They might crack the top 5 next week.

8.      Spencer County- went 0-2 this week getting beat by Oldham County and Butler.  I understand the Butler loss but the Oldham County loss shocked me.  It is still early so Coach Burns will get the boys going.  I see them getting closer to the top 5 in the coming weeks.  This week they have Eastern, Evangal, and WEB DuBois

9.      Henry County – went 0-2 this week losing to Anderson and Oldham County.  I was really disappointed in these outcomes.  I had lost all hope in the Wildcats this early in the season lol.  Then I found out they are missing a couple players.  I hope everyone gets healthy and eligible.  I love rooting for the smaller county teams.  This week they have Bullitt East , Trimble Couty and Henry Clay.

10. Walton Verona- went 1-2 this week losing to Dixie Heights and Collins and beating Newport Central .  Even though they lost 2 games I am keeping them in the top 10 because they only lost by 2 to Collins.  That shows that they are a pretty good team. This week – Gallatin County , South Oldham and Newport

11.  Owen County- went 1-1 this week beating Mercer County and falling short to Western Hills.  I haven’t seen them in person but am excited to see if they are good enough to knock off Henry County in district play.  This week they have Shelby County, Eminence, and Grant County.

12. Eminence -went 0-2 losing to Heritage and Berea.  They averaged 70 points in the two loses so this team has a chance of being a solid ball club.  This week they take on Carroll County and Owen County.

13. Shelby County-  went 1-0 last week beating Waggener.  The Rockets are a team I really want to see play because this first game has my head scratching.  They beat Waggener who only lost to North Oldham by 6 points. Hmmmmmmm??? Is Coach Leslie going to turn things around this fast at Shelby?  This week they have Owen County,  and Collins. Both teams are ranked ahead of them.  They will have a chance to make a move.

14. Grant County- went 2-0 this week beating East Jessamine and Harrison County.  Great start by the Braves.  This week they have Bishop Brossart, Anderson County and Owen County.

15.  Carroll County- they went 1-1 this week beating Cornerstone Christian and losing to Ludlow by 3.  This week they have Eminence and Gallatin. 

16.  Gallatin County- they went 1-3 this week.  Opening the season playing 4 games in the first week sounds exhausting.  They only scored 15 points vs Beechwood which will get your attention.  They have Walton-Verona , Carroll County and Collins this week.

17. Trimble County – went 0-2 this week losing to Highlands Latin ad Calvary Christian. Neither are a powerhouse to say the least.  Could be another long year for the boys from Bedford.  This week Franfort Christian, Dayton, and Trimble County.

18. Williamstown- went 0-2 this week to Dayton and Villa Madonna and neither game was close.  This week they have Villia Madonna again, and Bellevue

19. Cornerstone Christian- went 1-2 this week beating Community Christian and losing to Trinity (Whitesville) and Carroll County.  Can they get out of last place?  I think they have a great chance to.  This week they have River City, Highlands Latin, and Woodford County.

 

Games of the week:

Dec 9- South Oldham  vs Collins-  This game will let the region know if Collins can compete with the top 3 teams.  Coach Gaither is hungry to compete against any and all teams in the 8^th.  However, Coach Simpson probably didn’t retire after last year because he knew he was going to be good again.  They are better than expected.

BBALLJUNKIE pick-  South by 10

Dec 9: Oldham County vs Simon Kenton-  This game will show us how for real the Oldham County bunch is.  They came out of the gates hot scoring a lot of points.  But that was at home. Can they do it on the road?  Simon Kenton has been tested early so they will be ready.

BBALLJUNKIE pick- Simon Kenton by 5

Dec 12: Owen County vs Eminence  -  Since they are ranked next to each other I think this will be a great game.  Can either compete in District 31 where Henry County is a heavy favorite?

BBALLJUNKIE pick- Owen County by 10

Dec 12: Shelby County vs Collins:  The Rockets haven’t beaten their cross town rivals in a LONG time.  Can Coach Leslie turn things around this quick in Shelbyville?  There will be a lot of emotion in this big rival game.  I am excited to watch it.

BBALLJUNKIE pick- Collins by 15

Nico Ballard has turned into a scoring machine for South Oldham. Averaging 30 ppg with 25 made 3s through 3 games. Dragons will be elite offensively when Kolton W comes back from injury.

This is a great recap @Bballjunkie! The 8th Region is going to be fun to watch this year.

On 12/7/2025 at 9:55 AM, Bballjunkie said:

Dec 12: Shelby County vs Collins:  The Rockets haven’t beaten their cross town rivals in a LONG time.  Can Coach Leslie turn things around this quick in Shelbyville?  There will be a lot of emotion in this big rival game.  I am excited to watch it.

BBALLJUNKIE pick- Collins by 15

Shelby won both games in the 2023-2024 season.

23 minutes ago, SummerShootout said:

Shelby won both games in the 2023-2024 season.

I must have missed that when I quickly looked through the schedule the last few seasons. 
 

Crossed town rivals are fun. Do you know if the game is being streamed? 
 

Should be on MLCHS Athletics YouTube channel.

great write up 

11 hours ago, BBN_34 said:

Nico Ballard has turned into a scoring machine for South Oldham. Averaging 30 ppg with 25 made 3s through 3 games. Dragons will be elite offensively when Kolton W comes back from injury.

its a great system for a shooter 

Great write up. I think a lot of people out here were very disappointed in these outcomes. But it is very clear that they are missing those guards in a big way. Baylor Nolin is being thrown into the point guard role for the team right now which isn’t an awful thing it’s just the people around him can’t help him get it up the floor right not. It’s a big learning curve right now I think, they will get better. Good news is they will both be back within the next week! In time to play Owen County I believe.