ColonelMike

.....South hit over 60% from the floor, including 52% from beyond the arc, in a dominant first half that ended with a running clock and a 61-22 South advantage. The Dragons repeatedly turned over the Jaguars with an aggressive, trapping, 1-3-1 zone. After halftime, South played a more passive 2-3 zone in the halfcourt and cruised to the win. Dragons played 14 players (10 scored), and they finished 13 of 31 from beyond the arc (42%). South evens its record at 5-5 and East Jessamine falls to 3-8. South plays Iroquois in the semi-finals at 7:15 pm tomorrow (www.pegasussportsky.com for the free, live, hi-def video coverage) and East Jessamine gets a rematch with Garrard County, a team that previously beat the Jaguars by five.

Wednesday schedule: Seneca (4-4) vs. Highlands (10-2) - two teams that maybe didn't expect to be in this game. Highlands will be heavily favored to rebound to victory lane in this one, but the Birds will have to defend the rim better against a very quick Redhawk team. McCracken County (10-0) vs. Beechwood (5-5) - The tourney favorites from Region One won with impressive ease in round one, and they square off against the Tigers, who have won 4 of their last 5 as they go for another upset win in the tournament. Garrard County (6-4) vs. East Jessamine (3-8) - rematch of a previous game won by the Lions by 5. Both teams got overwhelmed in round one by faster, more aggressive teams and look to get back on the winning track. 7:15 pm - South Oldham (5-5) vs. Iroquois (8-3) - These two teams play each year, so they are familiar with each other and each other's style of play. This will be a very fast paced game. If South executes the way they did against East Jessamine, the Dragons have an excellent chance of advancing. The better passing team has the advantage in this one. This game will be broadcast - FREE, live, hi-definition video on www.pegasussportsky.com beginning at 7 pm ET.

Beechwood wins over Seneca McCracken dominant in easy win over Highlands. Bit of a stunner there. Not who won, just by how much. Iroquois vs. Garrard County next. South Oldham vs. East Jessamine at 7:15 pm....pregame at 7 pm on www.pegasussportsky.com

Who: South Oldham vs. East Jessamine When: Tuesday 12/27 7:15 pm tip Where: 2022 Pegasus Sports / First National Bank South Oldham Christmas Tournament at South Oldham HS, Crestwood, KY Broadcast: FREE, live hi-def video coverage starts at 7 pm ET on www.pegasussportsky.com South and East both in re-building seasons, but both coming into the game off victories. South has now won two straight.

Pegasus Sports goes on the air at 7 pm tonight (www.pegasussportsky.com) with FREE live hi-def video coverage of the South vs. East Jessamine game. Pegasus will cover each of the games South Oldham plays. The Dragons will play either Iroquois or Garrard County on Wednesday. We'll see about Thursday.

Surprising result.

BINGO! We have a winnah! Seriously - I agree 100% with Adrian. It's not about the crowds. It's about bonding, travel, 3-4 games in 72 hours or so, and competing against unfamiliar teams in unfamiliar environs. I wish there were larger crowds at these events, but honestly, it just doesn't matter. It would be "gravy", but it's just not entirely necessary to achieve the desired goal. I'm going to be calling my third holiday classic / tournament this week. There won't be anyone there. But it will be a heckuva good time, some solid basketball, and a big opportunity for each of these teams... CM

Yeah, they've updated the KHSAA site since I wrote that. Actually, they now show Butler with THREE losses.

Wow, 10 of the 15 Eighth Region teams that year don't even exist anymore.... Without consulting any of the books, I would have said 1957 - and I'd have been wrong.... ?

I think you can ignore the RPI ratings, at least for now. Not enough games in the barn yet.

Thanks for taking this over for me, Adrian! Rankings look pretty reasonable to me. I'll continue to toss in tidbits as I'll be seeing an awful lot of 8th Region basketball, as usual. This week's coverage on Pegasus Sports is the 2022 Pegasus Sports / First National Bank South Oldham Christmas Tournament.....PSN will cover all three South Oldham games, beginning with Tuesday's (12/27) 7:15 pm game vs. East Jessamine. Our first look at the Dragons this year. CM

Tuesday 12/27 - Round 1 at South Oldham HS, Crestwood, KY 2 pm - Seneca (4-3) vs. Beechwood (4-5) - Two teams that have reversed their fortunes of late; Seneca's Redhawks enter the tourney on a three-game winning streak. Included in that streak is a win over Butler, the only loss the Bears (7-1) have this season. QuelRon House (22.9 ppg) leads the Redhawks. Beechwood is also on the rise, having won 3 of their last 4 games. The Tigers were the runners up in the Swauger Holiday Classic, losing in the finals to South Oldham by 21. Interestingly, if both teams were to win 2 games, Beechwood could meet South Oldham in the finals in this tournament as well... 3:45 pm - Highlands (10-1) vs. McCracken County (9-0) - The matchup of round 1. Highlands won the 9th Region - and the state - tournament in 2021. McCracken has won 3 of the last 5 Region 1 titles. Highlands has lost just one game, to Henry Clay, by a mere 9 points. McCracken is undefeated - and beat Henry Clay by 6. This should be an absolute barn-burner and a must-see game. Interestingly, these two "just missed" each other in the Mason County tournament, where McCracken won the title in the game against Henry Clay. Highlands features four players averaging in double digits; Jack McCune leads McCracken; he is coming off a 23-point effort in the Mason County title game. 5:30 pm - Iroquois (7-3) vs. Garrard County (6-3) - Again, two teams coming in on an uptick. Iroquois (Raiders? Raider-Wolves? LOL) is riding a four game winning streak coming into the tourney, and Garrard's Lions have won 4 of their last 5. Iroquois is coming off three easy wins en route to the title in their own tournament; they hit over 55% from the floor in the semifinals and finals. Jamir Ford leads the team at nearly 20 ppg. Ethan Cooper, who is the highest-scoring player coming into the tournament at 26+ ppg, leads the Lions, who have already beaten one team in the tournament, East Jessamine, by five. More notably, the Lions upset Danville Christian, a 7-win team that already owns a victory over top 20-ranked Evangel. 7:15 pm - South Oldham (4-5) vs East Jessamine (3- 7) Both teams have had a bumpy start to the season, but both come into the tournament off wins. South won the Swauger Holiday Classic, besting Bellevue, 71-34, and Beechwood, 76-55. The Dragons, as usual, are hitting the 3-point bombs well, averaging over 12 made threes a game at nearly a 36% clip. Julian Miles averages 18.7 ppg and over three made threes per contest. The Jaguars won their most recent game by 22 over Apollo, and both Radford Myles (24) and Hayden Frazier (22) cracked the twenty-point mark. For the season, Jacob Lockett leads the team in scoring at 12 per game. FREE, LIVE, HI-DEF video coverage starts at 7 pm on www.pegasussportsky.com (all South Oldham games in the tournament will be covered on Pegasus Sports)

Well said. South does not appear to have one of the better teams the school has had over the last 20 years....but being "down" is ultimately inevitable at some point....it's just difficult to stomach (as a fan) when your team has had the incredible success the Dragons have had this past decade, winning 3 of the last 9 region titles. But even suggesting Steve Simpson is anything but an incredible coach would be unwise. Hard to argue with 400+ wins, three Sweet 16 appearances, and pretty much all the school records of any type. There's a reason why the folks in Crestwood have already named the court after him. Even good coaches have to deal with sub-par seasons every now and then. I'm no expert, but I've been the broadcast voice of the 8th Region for nearly 30 years, and have covered all the Oldham County schools since 1979 (1989, in the case of South), so I can at least say that I've seen a game or two. The bottom line is this: Even great programs have down years. But it's still early, early in the season. Way to early to be throwing stones.

Free live, hi-definition video coverage begins at 4 pm ET on www.pegasussportsky.com Oldham figures to be the favorite in this one against a very young, but talented, Taylor County team.

TP, any story on this one? BTW, great to meet you yesterday! Wish we'd had more time to talk, but I had to get back to the broadcast post-game....

Who: Oldham County vs. Taylor County Where: Pleasure Ridge Park, MAC's Childcare Holiday Classic Tournament When: Sunday 12/18/22 Tipoff at 4:30 pm Broadcast: FREE, Live hi-def video coverage begins at 4 pm on www.pegasussportsky.com Oldham County fell to Evangel, and Taylor lost to St. Xavier, in round 1. The two meet in the loser's bracket at PRP. Mike Montgomery and Tom Hawkins have the call from Louisville.

Pegasus Sports would have been there, but Fairdale has NFHS and so the individual teams can't bring their own broadcast crews.....

TigerPride, are you going to be at the MAC's Tourney? Come see me! Oldham could play X in the second round....(?)

Not an entirely unexpected result, thought I thought it would be closer. W-V must shoot well, and they faced one of the 2 or 3 best defensive units in the region. It's hard for anyone to score against the Titans. The Bearcats can literally beat anyone - they are such tremendous shooters and they wear you down with their tempo - but Collins makes every shot a chore. The teams that tend to fare better against Collins have strong inside and inside-outside games; W-V is a bit undersized on the inside. Both teams figure to be a factor come March.

Oldham trying to build off a shellacking of Bullitt Central last night. Green with 33 - he had 31 at the half and pretty much sat the rest of the way. Probably would have had a shot at Curt Robertson's record had he been needed in the second half.

That would be "Jack" Scales.... LOL

Another big win for the often-overlooked 8th Region

Dallas Roberts wins it at the buzzer! FINAL North Oldham 50 Trinity 48

Drae Vasser had hit the two FTs to tie the game for T....

North with the ball Mustangs TO 12.8 to play tied at 48