JokersWild24

If Hopkinsville wins on another buzzbeater while the ball is clearly NOT out of Hop-town's Lartavious Banks' hand as he tries to answer Daviess County's Matt West, then I'm going to start sensing a pattern... :meh:

#Winner

Both are gonna be tough outs. Just so much pressure on a team to repeat, especially when they lost what Covington Catholic did (just Ruthsatz, Heppler, and Schult).

Dirty 'Boro is gonna be a tough out. Love them as my pick for a finalist out of the top bracket.

Post #77 ... this has been over for awhile. Owensboro is going to be a tough out for anyone.

Is this game on deck or something? Last chance to get your picks in everyone.

RP & PP92, how does Owesboro look as a team with staying power through the week?

Game Over! Flip, flip, flip...

#DirtyBoro #MyFinalist

http://www.dailyyonder.com/ky-basketball-v-cordia-win-or-go-home/2015/03/12/7762 Keita played in John Lucas' event for 8th graders, same for a few AAU events too. If he's fooled the people at Cordia, then they aren't exactly the highest on the food chain to be fooled. However, at this point, all this is alleged and nothing is proven. If it's true, shame on the adults who knew and were complicit if that's what the facts show. If it's false then, I feel bad for the kid because he's had to go through a lot that has been nothing but completely unnecessary.

Same link as the first time, yea... thought it was good. Ky. Sports Assoc. v. Cordia: Win or Go Home | Daily Yonder | Keep It Rural My favorite portion: "Rhodes laughs at the idea that he’s cheating... If they’re so great, these teams wouldn’t let them go... He laughs. “If I was cheating, f*** it, I’m going to get a stud…But this isn’t about basketball. I promise you, it’s so much bigger than that.” Honestly, I believe the above.

I'll trust Cal. He seems to be a solid evaluator of talent. Goodin is a player regardless of wherever he ends up. We can probably all agree on that.

100%. I love some kids Lexington Catholic has. I've underrated Jarrod Griffin all year. I love Reese Ryan's toughness. JJ Ogbogu has some edge and is a good athlete. Talbott gets it done. Johnson is up and down. Wouldn't shock me at all if Catholic pulled it out. Not in the least. If I'm a Boyle County fan, I want to see my team control the backboards and not fall into the traps that Lexington Catholic will throw defensively. They'll do a really superb job of disguising their looks defensively and not make their moves until the second or third pass/action or so if you try to run a very deliberate offense. Well coached for sure.

Know where you are coming from there. I think Lafayette is probably deeper than Boyle County, but with what Boyle County can do in terms of running sets that eventually wind up putting Bell, Tyler, and Elkins kind of triangulating on the same side of the floor, I can see trouble for Catholic unless the 4th and 5th guys from Boyle Co are such insignificant threats to score that the Knights can just sell out and overload. IF you get those three on the same side and Catholic can't completely sell out as mentioned above, then Catholic has to have three kids: 1.) Someone capable of stopping Bell's penetration without help, 2.) Someone to cover Tyler on the wing and stay at home, 3.) Someone to keep Elkins from taking any passes from or getting putbacks off of the misses from 1.) and 2.). All of those kids have to be able to do it together, and they've got to be able to keep Boyle Co. off the boards while doing it. If Boyle Co's #4 and #5 scorers get theirs against Catholic, then I'd think that's trouble for Catholic. Even if the Rebels aren't running sets for Elkins, I could see him getting some work in on the glass. Catholic doesn't have a dominant rebounder and I really wonder how well they'll be able to control the backboards at this level. I really felt like Bryan Station beats them if Dishman plays. Will be interesting to see regardless and I think that, like you said, it will be a great matchup. I wouldn't be surprised with anything, but today am more confident with Lexington Catholic than I was yesterday, but they are still the team I've been doubting all season. I don't see them running the table, but maybe the backyard and familiarity is enough to pull them through, but I've seen far more talented Catholic teams not be able to win a game of this magnitude either.

I hope they rebuild bigger and better. That way, they'll let the crowds that wanna see the Lions play in. What if they could hold everyone who wants to get in to see regular season games??? When Ballard comes and visits a mountain team, it's an event. That's something people in small communities talk about for awhile, saying "remember when Louisville Ballard came to play us" amongst themselves for years. By the way, who is the favorite in the State Tournament this week??? If it's Ballard, then I must have missed it. Cordia will be back, and I think it's going to be something when they are. Everyone on BGP was talking about when Rhodes and the kids would leave, but they haven't, and that tells me something. Signed, Cordia Fan From Day 1

Nice feature in today's Lexington Herald Leader on Lexington Catholic, the Knight tradition, and family ties across generations: Like fathers, like sons: Sweet Sixteen a family affair at Lexington Catholic | High school basketball | Kentucky.com

Video of their game against Trinity last season. Quarterfinals ? 3/21- 12:00 p.m. ? Game 9 ? Quarterfinal 1-Hopkinsville vs. Trinity | KHSAA.tv They came out pressing against them and had Matlock matched up on Owens. Not entirely the same team back this year, but have Matlock and Hatcher back and picked up some guards coming in as well. I'd imagine that it'll be more of the same this year.

Do we get the Hopkinsville who only lost to Ballard by 10 at the King of the Bluegrass or the Hopkinsville that was smoked by Trinity? Methinks the former is closer to what we see, as the Tigers have experience in Rupp, but are for some reason being overlooked. Taylor County has some results, including a loss to Perry County Central, that do give me a bit of pause. They've played a tough schedule and have talent, no doubt, but I wonder whether or not those results will translate. I say that because they did play some tough games, but there were also stretches in between where they could rest and get their legs back under them (i.e., long layoff of tough opponents before the Henderson County game and a week off from there to prep for Lincoln County). I saw Henderson County at Lexington Catholic and thought they were good, but wasn't always super confident in having them as high as others (i.e., all the way up to the #1 , #2 spots in rankings). I see Taylor County's most impressive stretch as their four day run at the King of the Bluegrass around Christmas, where they beat Waggener, Doss, and Wayne County in succession before narrowly losing to St. John's College, D.C. (who'd beaten Ballard). Still, at the same time, you have to think that these games were also in a Christmas tournament and ones where people hadn't had many chances to scout Taylor Co., at least to the extent that they have now. Very interesting first round game, but I think Hopkinsville's experience in this setting is the difference in a close one between two of WKY's top programs and look for Taylor County to make a deep run-- but that deep run will more likely be next year than this one.

Know what you are saying in that Tyler and Bell score most of Boyle's points, but I think Elkins is just as capable and is a kid who could give Lexington Catholic some problems. Will be interesting to see. Neither school has kids who've really played in Rupp and the unfamiliar shooting background typically favors inside play, at least early on in the game. I know Catholic played their regional at EKU, but would still imagine that the difference in shooting between there and in Rupp is quite drastic. This one is going to be close, and one of the best first round games. Like you said, Catholic is usually really good at coming up with defensive game plans that limit what you are wanting to do, but I don't know how much smoke and mirrors they'll be able to use to stop Elkins. I'd imagine that they probably don't want to use Tanner Johnson on him much for risk of foul trouble, but it might come to a situation where they have to.

They remind me of this guy I had come to me for an interview in Legal Aid once. He was "framed" for something like four separate DUI's in a two month span. Also, he was dead set on a free speech violation or something wild like that too.

It's unfair to their own kids that Holmes is going to Binghamton, NY to play in the Stop DWI Classic and getting solid preparation for region while they are beating up on Lloyd and Holy Cross and not getting that same preparation. That NCC is too good to be playing in the All A Classic is a compliment to their kids, not an insult. They could have scheduled a game with LCA and gotten the same out of what they did from the All A.

I don't really think a UHA is the type of school that the tournament was ever intended for. Same for NCC this past season, though for different reasons. I know it might have been a big deal to them to win it all, but at the same time, there's been some fair questions about whether or not it was beneficial to them in the long run. In a few years, I'll probably say the same about someone like Lexington Christian Academy. IMO, this one is more about your teams like Elliott County and Williamsburg. I'm not against privates being in it because you'll have your schools like Sayre, CAL, OBI, whoever that most are perfectly fine with them being in it. Change that to a Cordia though and the sentiment probably shifts noticeably though, and you can't really say that it's for no reason if it means they are knocking out a team like Buckhorn or Owsley County.

The Knights are a familiar face and will be in their own backyard for the tournament. Still, it's been a few years since Coach Salsman's club has been playing this late in the postseason, but make no mistake, the Knights are capable. Leading the way is senior wing Tanner Johnson. While Johnson has been asked to play inside a little more this year, probably by necessity, he's used it as an opportunity to expand his game. He'll lead the way for the Knights, but I wonder about whether he'll be able to show the kind of consistency needed to make a deep run. Of late, teams like Woodford County and Bryan Station have done an excellent job defending him and teams will be taking note of the blueprint that Coach Scott Hundley, one of the best up and coming coaches in the State, laid out to defend him. Slowing down Johnson might not be enough though. That's because Jarod Griffin is an underrated kid, a lefty who can score in a variety of ways and is a guy who can go against tough man that a school like Station can apply but still get 13 when his team scores in the mid-50's, and get those in a variety of ways, whether it's pull-ups, stepping into 3's, or getting in the paint and throwing up a floater. There's also the matter of slowing down Michael Talbott, a small but lightning quick point guard. While Talbott shows a tendency to be a bit one-handed with the ball, he's still usually able to get his despite teams knowing that-- he's just that quick and Catholic plays their system that well. Along with those three, the starting lineup will be rounded out by a pair of seniors, Reese Ryan and Walker Boothe. Ryan is a kid I can't say enough good things about. He's not a scorer, but he'll give you everything else. He's undersized in the post, but can still give you rebounds, he's not the quickest player, but he'll get you steals, he just doesn't back down, doesn't give an inch, and gets after it. Those qualities will serve him well when he continues his career as a quarterback for Western Kentucky University. Boothe is a kid who has steadily improved through his career and will surprise you with some games where he gets into the double digits in points. However, he'll have his hands full with Colton Elkins in the first round. In terms of bench play, the Knights will go about 8 deep. The first guys off the bench are a pair of juniors whose names you might recognize from their exploits on the gridiron-- Donovan Morris and JJ Ogbogu. I really like the edge that Ogbogu plays with, as he brings swag and toughness that Catholic might lack a bit in other places. Morris is another guy who, like Ogbogu, is athletic and will bring toughness, especially on the defensive end and on the glass. If the Knights need to beef up the post, then they'll call on Peter Whitman. He's the younger brother of former Knights great Jack Whitman, and will be ready to explode onto the scene next season, however, from most of what I've seen from him so far this year, I think that the safest thing to say is that while he certainly isn't a bad player, that he's probably not going to be someone you can count on to carry you right now. I would say that Catholic's biggest strengths are that they are an experienced team led by a ton of seniors who is well coached, plays their system well, and knows exactly what is expected of each of them. Their biggest weaknesses are a lack of size and bulk on the interior, which understandably leads to questions about how well they'll be able to control the backboards and keep other teams, especially those with solid post players, from scoring inside the paint. Catholic loses a lot of seniors at the conclusion of the season and will be fairly young and inexperienced next season if we're going on what they are expected to have back right now, so you get the impression that this is a run that this is the run that they've been building for over the past few seasons. The 11th was quite a grinder and the Knights have been playing against teams that could legitimately eliminate them since their district opener against Dunbar, so they'll be no easy out for anyone and whoever it is who sends this experienced group home will know that they've been in a battle.

1 - Owensboro 1 - Hopkinsville 1 - Covington Catholic 1 - Doss 1 - Ballard 1 - Boyle Co 1 - Bowling Green 1 - Knott Co Central 2 - Owensboro 2 - Doss 2 - Ballard 2 - Knott Co Central 3 - Owensboro 3 - Ballard 5 - Ballard Tiebreaker 135

That's pretty close to how I'd break it down too. I would drop Williamsburg and Elliott County down a tier and have them at 15/16 though. I'll be a bit intrigued to see what Collins has. Might be a little better than people are thinking they are. I really like Johnson Central and think that their early losses that look bad are the result of injuries to key players like Gullett, however, they just aren't going to be able to beat Ballard in anything but a huge upset.