WVFrank

Williamstown......8 8 15 25 56 Simon Kenton....10 17 12 20 59 Williamstown (0-5) -- West 17, Harris 2, Rothwell 2, Willhoit 19, Prokopchak 3, Northcutt 13. Simon Kenton (4-1) -- Wainscott 20, Owings 11, Stevenson 18, Cook 2, Tomlin 4, Webb 2, Blevins 2.

Simon Kenton......11 19 11 22 63 Walton-Verona....13 11 12 14 50 Simon Kenton (3-0) -- Wainscott 17, Owings 15, Stevenson 12, Cook 2, Orr 12, Morrison 3, Blevins 2. Walton-Verona (1-2) -- Clinkenbeard 4, Slavey 5, Hoffa 2, Ginn 2, Taulbee 6, Dixon 8, Judy 12, Sandlin 11.

Cooper...........7 11 13 12 43 Boone Co......24 36 18 13 91 Cooper (2-3) -- Conner 1, King 2, Pittman 7, Thompson 4, Smith 16, Sams 11, Restaino 2. Boone Co. (2-2) -- Robertson 5, Jones 6, Marschall 5, Harrison 8, Shrout 14, Browning 6, Hickman 2, Hare 2, Moss 18, Nash 13, Switzer 12. Lots of playing time for reserves. Looks like, based on who started for Boone against Princeton (didn't see this one), that non-starters scored 42 of Boone's points. That speaks well for depth for the Lady Rebels. I believe the starters played less than 2 quarters.

Boone actually played Princeton tough for two quarters with a 29-29 tie halftime score. The third quarter was a disaster as the Rebels turned the ball over repeatedly. What was a bit disappointing about that for me was that it wasn't the full court pressure that did it so much as just bad decisions in the half court. A number of those turnovers were communication errors between new players and returners. But that will get better as this team continues to play. Of course Princeton is the type of team that smells blood and goes into a gear they don't have until that string of errors comes along and opposing teams have even more trouble with all that quickness. It just isn't seen very often in HS girls BB. One thing for sure, Boone won't see anything again this season to match the quickness and athleticism of Princeton! They were, last night, at least in the third period, the best team I've seen BC go against in the past couple season. I had heard a lot about 9th grader Mitchell and she was as good as advertised. Quick as a cat and utilized a great crossover move that was often, IMO, a carry but not called. Maybe it was so quick the officials couldn't see it. And then again, with the leniency today on that aspect of the game maybe it is just the "old-timer" in me! The thing she has added to the Vikings that they didn't have last season is outside shooting. You have to give her space or she is by you in a flash. So, back off and she pops the three. She hit 4 of 6 last night including three in the decisive third quarter. Shakeira Lang also hit 4 of 10 threes and I believe 2 of those were in the third period also. Both these ladies were left handed so the three top scorers in the game were lefties with Moss being the other! Moss had good numbers but I think she is still rounding into shape after some time off because of her knee and wisdom teeth extractions. I think Princeton could be beaten by a fundamentally sound team that can make them play more of a half court game, which Boone did for the first half. But that may be a tall order for the vast majority of teams they will see this year! Tremendous quickness and athletic as can be.

Colerain is 0-2 on the year but I believe they are better than that record would indicate. Problem right now might be one of confidence. Their regular season opener they led 33-16 at halftime then got outscored 42-12 in the second half, 26-5 in the fourth quarter, to lose by 13. That's got to be a mind effecting game. Wow! But they have some nice players, decent overall size, start 4 juniors and a senior, play some tough defense, and score off of turnovers. If they've recovered from that first game collapse it could be an interesting game but Ryle should be able to pull this one off.

It was! I watched Taulbee in warm-ups hit 10 straight from 3, some from NBA range. BUT....................that's against no defenders. Many girls in high school are really good stand-still shooters (and Taulbee is obviously very good) but have difficulty if moving and trying to hit that same shot. But fact is W-V got very few open looks against Boone's man to man. Annie Browning was on Taulbee much of the time and she is an underrated (IMO of course) defender. Annie moves her feet well, is quick and aggressive, and generally gives most guards looking to shoot the standstill shot fits.

From the Lexington Herald-Leader: Lexington Catholic Coach: Chelsea Chowning, first season Last season: 14-14 (lost in first round of district tournament) Who's gone: Anna Gayle Scott, Meghan Cawood, Lexi Mullikin Who's back: Alex Botkin (6-0 jr.), Elizabeth Walton (6-0 jr.), Octavia Wilson (5-8 so.) Fresh faces: Kendra Shaw (5-7 sr.), Bonnie Rhule (5-8 jr.), Emily Johns (5-10 jr.), Sarah Cawood (5-4 so.) Outlook: Chowning's only been at this coaching thing for a few months, but she's got summaries down pretty well. "We're not too big and we're not too fast, so we're going to have to work for everything," she said. She's inherited a group that is willing to do everything she's asked. Look for this year's version of the Knights to be more structured on offense and more conservative on defense, Chowning said. Top scorer Wilson (14.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg) is back, as is Botkin (9.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg), but there are a lot of players who will be contributing to the scoring column. Chowning likes the leadership she's seen from a strong junior class. She'll need some of her freshmen and eighth-graders to contribute and give the team some depth. A lack of size and depth, especially in the frontcourt, is a concern. Rebounding and post defense will be a five-person job.

I watched two quarters of Boone County versus South Oldham. Boone jumped to a 25-6 first quarter margin behind 9 points in the first 4 minutes by Sydney Moss and a barrage of threes by senior guards Stacy Shrout and Annie Browning. The second quarter was basically even as Boone mixed in lots of players and used multiple combinations, and #25 for South Oldham did some nice things to keep South Oldham more competitive. Score at the half was 36-18. I understand that the score stayed in the 25 point margin pretty much for the rest of the scrimmage.

Yep. Thanks for the catch! Hard to proof read what you write at times.

My first thought is that “to improve” is one really tough chore. 28-4 and a second round one-point loss in the Sweet Sixteen is a tough act to follow. To “be successful” the Lady Rebels will obviously have to replace the two senior starters they lost in Jocelyn Davis and Heather Sandlin. Sandlin is a key loss, IMO, as she was excellent at handling the basketball and distributing it, played really good defense, and developed a real knack in knowing where and when to get the ball to the Lady Rebels main scorer Sydney Moss. Davis was a multi-year starter and was a solid performer in nearly all phases of the game. Most people see Ryle as the favorite in Region 8 with nearly their entire team returning and that certainly is justified (although the Cat’s Pause sees it differently). But I don’t think BC is going to give up the region without one heck of a fight. And I think the Lady Rebels may surprise with the replacements they insert into their lineup. I look for 6-0 junior Lydia Nash to provide a solid inside scoring threat and rebounding force that can take some of that load off of Moss. Nash averaged 4.1 PPG and 2.6 RPG last season in limited playing time and has looked stronger and better through this past summer. Sophomore point guard Jessica Jones may hold the key to Boone County’s ultimate success. JJ improved dramatically this summer while playing AAU ball for the Cincinnati Heat. She still has to continue to improve but I think that improvement will come as the season unfolds. She is an absolute shutdown defender and is cat-quick. Obviously, taking care of the basketball and distributing it properly is where she needs to be focused. And based on what I saw this summer I think she will just continue to improve there as she plays more. Boone County does return three starters in Moss and guards Annie Browning and Stacie Shrout. Moss averaged 22.6 PPG and 10.8 RPG last season, was named NKY Player of the Year by the Cincinnati Enquirer, made All-State, and has simply continued to improve through this summer. She played out on the floor a lot this summer, handled the ball well, and shot the three more than ever before. I see her playing away from the basket more than last year with Nash playing down there, but I’m betting Nell will also use her down low, particularly when a basket is crucial! Browning and Shrout are definite 3-point threats and Moss, Browning, and Shrout were 3 of Boone County’s top 5 scorers last season. Nash was number 6. The Lady Rebels just might also get unexpected help from senior Jackie Marschall. Marschall played a lot as a sophomore but suffered a severe knee injury and spent last season as a vocal leader while playing very little. At an early open gym she was seen participating without the huge knee brace and looking very much like a contributor. I expect Boone County to be very, very good again this season. I don’t think they will give up the Region 8 title they won the last two years without a fight, but with the tough, tough challenge presented by the Ryle team returning all of their top players, one would be hard-pressed to actually predict that. Bopne County has toughened their schedule a bit with two trips into Ohio to face a loaded Cincinnati Princeton squad and the defending DIII Ohio State runners-up Middletown Madison with returning national Top 50 Senior Ally Malott, as well as trips to the Republic Bank Classic in Lexington, which traditionally features some of the top teams in the state, and the Louisville Invitational which also is loaded with top Kentucky squads. It will be nearly impossible for Boone County to repeat a 28-4 record against the type of schedule they are playing, but I would not be at all surprised to see them actually better than last season by tournament time.

Congratulations to Abby and her family!

Absolutely!!!! Enjoy the moment and best of luck to Lauren as she moves on!

Sent you a PM with my email addresses. You get it?

Not sure where the various teams recruiting her see her playing but WVU plays four out, one in and she would play one of the four out spots if she went there. In that set up she could use her natural skills to get shots and even post up occasionally depending on the size of her defender. I think she can play on the wing. She played out on the floor mostly this AAU season, handled the ball well, and shot the three well also. One of her best games came against a DFW T-Jack team (Brittany Griner's old team) that was loaded with the most talented bunch of quick guards I've ever seen on the HS level. She had 29 points and 11 rebounds in that game and took the ball down the floor against their pressure which wasn't easy to do. She also had a 28-point, 13 rebound second half in a game at Chicago, bringing her team from a 22 point second half deficit to within three before time ran out. As Crunch-time says, she needs to get better on the defensive end. I've seen her play good defense, even out on the perimeter, but she needs to be more consistent. Against the T-Jack team one of their guards, ranked in the Top 5 2012 recruits, faked Syd out (which she was doing to anybody guarding her!) and blew by for a layup.........except Syd recovered nicely and blocked the shot from behind! That shows what her ability allows her to do if she is motivated on defense.

Actually she didn't. Had kinda a short notice because her original plan to go to WVU's Mountaineer Madness on Friday night got cancelled. WVU preferred she visit a practice later. Their women practiced earlier in the day of Mountaineer Madness and not a lot was planned for them at the Madness. And then her brother's football game (and celebration after a big win!) ran late on Saturday and she didn't make it up to Xavier. She will likely take an unofficial there at some point to go with ones already made to West Virginia and Florida. Louisville is playing an exhibition game on Saturday in the new arena down there and she has tentative plans to go to that. All four of the above schools have offered along with Dayton and Kansas........that I know of.

You could be right in that Demling perhaps saw most of the players but maybe not all. He needed to get to a Top 20 so perhaps relied on inputs from others to get the bottom part of his list. I do know he sees a lot of players and, IMO, does a pretty good job overall in his rankings. Of course any rankings are subjective and generally not to the liking of all who see them. Rick Bolus is another who ranks players and I see perhaps more to question (from my perspective, based on players I have seen) in his rankings than with Demling's. Bolus seems to have a bias toward those who attend his camp. Understandable I suppose, and probably good for business (!), but not necessarily conducive to accuracy overall. All in all, ranking players is a tough task. But rankings do give folks something to talk about and agree/disagree on.......and that's always interesting!

From everything I heard all summer I would have been surprised had she made any other choice. Congratulations to an outstanding young talent! http://jodydemling.courier-journal.com/

Who is it that isn't giving her credit? Also, in looking at NKU's roster over the last several years, it appears they have always had at least a couple of 5-4 to 5-7 guards listed every year. They have signed at least one in that size range about every year. I haven't seen them play so you may well be correct that they prefer the bigger guards. But they do (and have had) the smaller guards on their roster. Probably those ball handlers I mentioned earlier that every team needs.

Courtney Sandfoss of New Cath signed at NKY and I don't think she fits the definition of a "big guard", being about the same size as Abby. Of course Courtney is much more of a point guard/ball handler which teams need regardless of style. Abby is more of a long range shooter and will fit well with the style Wright State will play, assuming new coach Mike Bradbury continues what he did at Morehead last seaon. His Eagles jacked up three's at the rate of 30 per game. That led all DI schools in the country. So one would think Abby will get to do what she does best at Wright State. Looks like a good choice in that regard.

My understanding is that UK did come in late with an offer but that ship had passed and Hammond was no longer interested.

Wouldn't be a surprise I don't think. Someone close to the situation told me back during the summer that was a strong possibility.

Actually Sarah is No. 12 (See the link for the ESPNU Hoopgurlz Top 100 for 2011 list). Quite a climb in ratings this summer for this young lady! Also, Averee Fields from Calloway County, a West Virginia commit, is No. 80 on the 2011 list. http://insider.espn.go.com/ncw/recruiting/tracker/espnu100?&season=2011&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncw%2frecruiting%2ftracker%2fespnu100%3f%26season%3d2011

No question that "chemistry" can be a key for any team.

I understand your point but I agree with others that the AAU route opens doors that can't be opened in HS. Again, using my granddaughter as an example...........she was drawing attention in HS because of her scoring and rebounding but colleges had to wonder if she could play out on the floor at her size. This summer showed them she could do that and do it very well so the recruiting interest has picked up dramatically. That said, maybe she'll get the chance to show that same thing this year in HS but it isn't important now because the recruiters already know. I think becoming the best player you can be involves a lot of things, including some of the things you point out, but I personally believe that going against the best competition you can find is a major key, and you can't do that without playing AAU.

I'm not sure you've seen enough AAU games. Yes, some are run-and-gun with little defense but over the past three summers I've seen games that were won with defense. It obviously depends on the program and the coach but the idea that AAU has no defense doesn't match up with what I've seen watching a couple hundred AAU games. And, if a player is on one of the better teams the competition they see is far stronger than anything they'll see in HS. My grandaughter, for example, played a game against Brittney Griner's old AAU team in late May. That team had 8 seniors who had signed with DI schools, some of them among the best, along with the No. 3 and No. 5 rated sophomores (juniors to be) in the country. Nowhere in HS do you go against an array of talent like that. And defense? That team was the quickest, toughest trapping defensive team I've seen at any level below college.