Now that action has wrapped up in the region for the week (and the regular season), we can turn our attention to the district tournaments in the 8th Region. North Oldham finished the year extremely strong but suffered a major injury. Can Woodford County (or someone else) take their place as the regional favorite? Are there any district upsets on the horizon? Could Woodford County possibly be one of those teams vulnerable to upset? It should be an extremely fun week as we enter the postseason. 

Rankings:

1. North Oldham - Eli Green is now out for the remainder of the year but the Mustangs motor on into the postseason behind Gregg and Rondo. They got a massively impressive win over Jeffersontown and another win over 6th region competition with Fairdale. They are automatically in the regional tournament and wait on the winner of Oldham versus South Oldham.

2. Woodford County - The Yellow Jackets stumbled a bit against high-powered out-of-the-region competition as they fell to Frederick Douglass by 6. The week before they beat Anderson County but it was a rockfight with only an 11 point-differential. I bring that up because Woodford now waits on the winner of Shelby County and Anderson County for the district semifinals. Should they take care of business? Of course. Is that guaranteed? Of course not. 

3. South Oldham - The Dragons poured on the points this week as they beat Fairdale 103 to 83 and Gallatin County 89 to 50. The week before they beat Oldham County by 16 but "only" scored 70. They play Oldham County this week for their ticket to the regional tournament. 

4. Simon Kenton - The Pioneers fell to a solid Highlands team by 1 at home before demolishing Owen County 74 to 36. They are all but assured a ticket to the regional tournament as their semifinal opponent is Williamstown, a team they defeated 72 to 15 in January.

5. Henry County - The Wildcats had a major blip as they were blown out by Owen County. However, they did recover with a win over Shelby County where they scored 92. They await the winner of Eminence and Carroll County for the district semifinal. Both of their games were those teams were significant blowout wins.

6. Spencer County - The Bears are on a four loss skid as they continued that streak with losses to North Hardin and Bardstown. They now enter the district tournament as the 3 seed taking on Cornerstone Christian with the winner getting Collins in the semifinal game. Spencer blewout Cornerstone last time and should this time. That Collins game is very compelling as they only fell by 6 last time and have composed a better season overall. That semifinal game will be fun to watch.

7. Grant County - Speaking of fun semifinal games, the Braves are going to take on Walton Verona, a team they defeated by just 3 last time out. Braylen Flamini had 21 in that win. Flamini and Mason Hammonds have really turned on as of late to help round out this Braves group behind Hamm, Wagner, and Blake. 

8. Anderson County - The region-leader in wins, the Bearcats are 6 of their last 7. Unfortunately, if they can get past Shelby County they will have a rematch with Woodford County, that one team to beat them in that stretch. But Shelby County should not be taken for granted as they only beat them by 9 last time they saw them.

9. Walton Verona - As we discussed, the Wildcats are poised to take on Grant County with the season on the line. They come in high riding a 5 point win over Scott County.

10. Oldham County - On the flipside, Oldham just lost to Scott County by 4. They now have to face South Oldham in their semifinal game, a team they lost to by double-digits. They did have a quality blowout win over Collins earlier in the week.

11. Owen County - The Rebels got huge wins over Henry County and Spencer County this week. They have a bye in the district tournament and await the winner of Gallatin and Trimble County, two teams they defeated by double-digits. If they advance, that same Henry County team should be waiting for them. Winning the district title will be extremely important as it means, almost certainly, avoiding North Oldham in the first round. Though maybe not likely to win, Owen County is capable of competing with every team in the region not named North Oldham.

12. Collins - Well, here are the Titans. Though a 2 seed awaiting the winner of Spencer and Cornerstone, they have limped through the last leg of the season and ended with an absolutely brutal loss to Central 35 to 25. Though they defeated Spencer earlier in the year, I do not expect them to repeat that victory.

13.  Shelby County - Shelby County was 8-10 when this current 10 game losing streak started. Anderson County was a part of that streak, a 9 point loss. Can Shelby redeem themselves win a win over the Bearcats and earn a date with Woodford County in the semifinal game?

14. Gallatin County - The Wildcats need a win over Trimble County to make it to the semifinals against Owen County. They defeated Trimble by 19 earlier in the year but fell to Owen by 17.

15. Carroll County - The Panthers are on a 5 game winning streak.  A win over Eminence is part of that run and they will face them again in the district tournament. If they get past them, Carroll County will face Henry County with a regional tournament berth on the line. They lost to Henry by 26 on February 10th.

16. Eminence - Eminence is on a 7 game skid and of course one of those losses was to Carroll County, their district opponent foe. 

17. Trimble County - The Raiders fell to Carroll County and Portland Christian but defeated Cornerstone Christian. They face Gallatin County in the district tournament. 

18. Cornerstone Christian - The Bulldogs have only one win in 2026 but were competitive with Trimble this past week, falling by just 7. They face Spencer County in their district game.

19. Williamstown - Congratulations to the Demons on their win over Covington Latin. They will face Simon Kenton in the district semfinal.

Appreciate the round up Se7ens.  

Also shout out to the 8th Regions KABC Player of the Year, Anderson County's Andrew Sparrow.

7 hours ago, Iceman13 said:

Appreciate the round up Se7ens.  

Also shout out to the 8th Regions KABC Player of the Year, Anderson County's Andrew Sparrow.

Congratulations to Andrew! We're both a couple of Mercer County boys who landed in Lawrenceburg. He certainly has made the most of it. It is fun to watch him. He plays very hard. 

Very happy for him and proud of him. Good luck to him and his teammates this week!

 

That’s a tough draw for Henry. They’ve had a very good season and they’re rewarded with the best district runner up.

What are the days and times of the games?

March 4th Henry County and South Oldham at 6:30

Simon Kenton and Spencer at 8

March 5th North Oldham and Walton at 6:30

Woodford and Gallitin at 8

Winners March 9th 6:30 and 8

Championship March 10th at 7 

20 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

What are the days and times of the games?

This Wednesday and Thursday is opening rounds and semis on Monday the 9th and the finals on Tuesday the 10th.

Should be a great tournament. Best of luck to all teams. 

Woodford and North Oldham draw into the same bracket.

All games in the 8th Region Tournament, both boys and girls, will be broadcast live on GHP Sports. 
 

https://youtube.com/@ghpsports?feature=shared

Simpson and South Oldham got the best possible draw. Hello 8th Region Championship game. 

The four district tournaments in the 8th varied in surprises and level of competition but overall the region tournament field is what was to be expected. The first round really has only one game that can be called a toss-up though you can never really rule out the March upset.

29th District

One of those rare birds, the three team district, the 29th had the lone semifinal between South Oldham and Oldham County. South Oldham came out victorious 71 to 56. South would make it interesting against North Oldham, falling in a low scoring affair 48 to 38. North Oldham continues to power on even with the absence of Eli Green. North went just 4 from 17 from 3 point range in the title game and were willed across the finish line by Gregg (13 points) and Rondo (10 points).

30th District

And we go from a 3 team district to a 6 team district. Spencer County steamrolled over Cornerstone Christian in the 3/6 game then defeated Collins 60 to 45 in the semifinal. Anderson County bested Shelby County in the 4/5 game by 21 points before losing to the mighty Yellow Jackets of Woodford County. Woodford doubled-up Anderson, 50-25. In the title game, Woodford blew right past Spencer 65 to 32. 

31st District

Now the fun one. Eminence gets the best of Carroll County 64 to 63 in the 4/5 game. Eminence didn't have enough horsepower though to hang with Henry County and lost the semifinal game 87 to 50. Gallatin County ran over Trimble County in the 3/6 game and then got a 6 point win over Owen County to advance to the district finals with a guaranteed berth in the regional tournament. Gallatin's magic seemed to have been all used up by the title game as Henry County dominated 77 to 45.

32nd District

The only four team district in the region. the 32nd saw the one seed Simon Kenton easily dismiss lowly Williamstown with a running clock. The other semifinal was the exact opposite as Walton Verona narrowly escaped Grant County 63 to 60. Simon Kenton bested the Bearcats 56 to 51 in the title game.

Regional Tournament Preview

The top game of the bracket features hosting Henry County face South Oldham. South of course is the team all district winners hoped they didn't draw. The Dragons haven't lost to a team not named North Oldham since January 20th.

The next game is the best one on paper in the whole first round. Simon Kenton faces Spencer County. This is again another matchup that wasn't played in the regular season. Spencer nearly beat Woodford this year and has notable wins over WEB DuBois, Evangel Christian, and LaRue County. Simon Kenton lacks any clear marquis wins but did take care of business in their district and lost by just 1 to Highlands out of the 9th recently. 

In the bottom half, mighty North Oldham starts off with Walton Verona, a team that beat by 20 in the regular season, albeit with Green. Rondo set the tone in that game though with 20 points. Expect a tighter game but North still is the likelier team to advance.

And in the first round finale, Woodford County squares off with Gallatin County. Can Coach Jones restore the magic that got Gallatin this far or is this set to be a blow out? Woodford has really only had two devastating wins this year and tend to grind out victories. Gallatin may be able to hang around but you got to think the Jackets advance.

South Oldham is certainly setup nicely for a run to the championship and if this first round goes by without an upset, North Oldham and Woodford County will be playing for that last title game spot. That would be a raucous semifinal game.

Will these games be streaming anywhere @se7ens?

8 minutes ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Will these games be streaming anywhere @se7ens?

Shared in another thread by @Bebo.

https://youtube.com/@ghpsports?feature=shared