North Oldham vs. Shelby County Predictions/Updates

Shelby County visits North Oldham Saturday 1/18/2020

Tip-off: Scheduled for 7:30 pm ET, but most likely will not tip until approximately 7:45 pm due to the preceding girls' matchup.

Pegasus Sports Network Broadcast Time: Approximately 7:40 pm ET

Shelby County will wrap up a pretty challenging three game stretch with this game, with the last two being on the road. The Rockets fell by 16 to Anderson County in a district game last Friday, and will challenge region favorite and cross-town rival Collins tonight. A 24-hour turnaround, and the Rockets travel to Goshen to take on a battered Mustang squad, which is trying to put five healthy bodies on the court.

For North Oldham, it will be their first game after a week off; the Mustangs last played last Friday in a loss to Woodford County.

Both teams are in slumps; North has lost 7 of their last 9; the Mustangs have been hit hard by injuries; at last word, star point guard Justin Powell is still out with a groin injury, and Nick Kokoski, a senior reserve guard who was expected to contribute in the second half of the season, is out for the year with a knee injury. Luke Barry has missed some time, and Ian Higdon went down in the Woodford game with an undisclosed back injury.

Shelby has lost 10 of its last 12 games. The Rockets are still trying to find their offense, and are averaging just 54.1 ppg through 15 contests. Shelby still has a brutal schedule remaining....besides #5-ranked Collins and North Oldham, the Rockets will face #10-ranked Bourbon County, #13 Oldham County, #16 South Oldham, Woodford County, and Spencer County in their remaining games.

North Oldham also has a ridiculously difficult schedule left to play. The Mustangs face #13 Oldham County, #16 South Oldham, #4 Ballard, #1 John Hardin, and #5 Collins over the next few weeks. If John Hardin is still number one ranked on February 13th when the two teams play, it will be the THIRD team this year that North Oldham has faced when that team was ranked #1.

All rankings are bluegrasspreps.com rankings...

Live broadcast (and archived) at The Pegasus Sports Network - PSN

I will not be at the game; I will be at my youngest son's college track meet in Indianapolis, so I doubt I'll be able to post any updates. HOWEVER, I'll be tracking the game in Indy, and if I can post updates, I will.

Thoughts on this matchup, or thoughts on the two teams in general?

CM

With Powell, this is a 20+ point win for North.

Without him, and without their other players, this could be a pretty good game.

I’ll still take the Mustangs in Goshen, but I don’t expect it to be a sizable margin.