TripleSevens

FYI...I am aware that Hannah Tubbs is no longer at Holmes or in the 9th region, however, I posted what was printed. Anyway, it should allow discussion on who could take her place in the top ten.

Preseason Top 10 Teams 1. Holmes 2. Highlands 3. Ryle 4. Notre Dame 5. Holy Cross 6. Boone County 7. Cooper 8. Newport Central Catholic 9. Conner 10. St Henry Region's Top 10 Players 1. Briana Adler, SR Highlands 2. Dajah McClendon, SR Holy Cross 3. Jynea Harris, SR Holmes 4. Ansley Davenport, SR NCC 5. Tyrah McClendon-Englemon, SO Holmes 6. Lexi Held, SO Cooper 7. McKenzie Leigh, SR Highlands 8. Hannah Tubbs, SR Holmes 9. Mallory Schwartz, SR Ryle 10. Jenna Martin, JR Notre Dame by Marc Hardin Kentucky Enquirer

I like Highlands as my top pick in the 9th. I think this is their year. I like the fact that they will have a ton of experience at guard play. It seems like Coffey and Adler have been playing forever. (RCC9, How can they still be eligible?) They will also have experience at the 4/5 spot in Leigh...who can create some mismatch problems with her ability to shoot and play on the perimeter. I got a glimpse of some of the younger players over the summer and they played well. Barth just continues to get better and better. Looking at their schedule, they do not play an official home game until Jan 5th. Is this because of the gym renovations? If so, I hope it gets done in time for the game on the 7th when the Bearcats come for a visit.

I think that ranking looks pretty good. Can't debate that too much. And oh yeah...Bosse was huge for her team, I agree, but I'm sticking with Hannah Dossett as best Senior in the 8th last season.

Well... I am not sure what scrimmage you are referencing, however, I can tell with 100% certainty, that Walton did not play ONE scrimmage this summer without missing at least 2 very important varsity players...or to use your wording "starters". (One was in PT for an injury, and another plays travel softball) After the first week or two of June, the number raised to 3, as a couple were in Utah on Walton-Verona's annual Quest program trip. I know one evening, at the Ludlow team camp, they faced a very good Campbell team, with yet, an additional 3 (total of 6, minimum of 4 "starters") gone to either church camp or vacation. It is totally cool if you think Walton should be lower in preseason considerations...it really is. Who knows...you may be right. I just wouldn't base it off of what you saw in the summer. Personally, and hopefully without bias, I do believe that, Lord willing and they can be blessed to be injury free, Walton will be a legit top 3 team in the 8th region. They return almost all of a team that competed just fine last year. They will have too much Senior experience, too much talent, and too good of coaching to not be in the mix.

Was the scrimmage that you saw at the Ludlow team camp?

Another team not mentioned, that is very hard to gauge preseason is Gallatin County. They have a new coach, which I am hearing great things about, and they look to take up the slack left by the graduation of last seasons POY, Hannah Dossett. I think it will be interesting to see where they are after a few games. They still have some pieces and a couple of nice younger players. They will be led by a talented veteran and 1000 pts plus Senior, Autumn Bowen.

I know I am speaking the obvious in stating this, but just as a reminder, as a general rule, it can be very misleading to gauge what a team will actually be based on any summer game or games. A perfect example...I saw Trimble play this summer one time, and had I not known any better, I would have left thinking they would be a non factor of any sort. I guarantee come start of the season, they will not be the same product I saw one time in June.

So your saying he would actually compete in the All A. I knew it. :eyeonyou:

I can see the adding of Collins with the record they had last year, I just wasn't sure what they lost. Admittedly, they are one team in the region I have not seen very much of. I do still think I would give Williamstown a higher preseason ranking over Collins simply because of Kennedy and Montgomery.

I have no problem putting SK at the top of any 8th region preseason ranking. The 8th Region reigning Champs will have to overcome the loss of perhaps their two best defenders and their second leading points producer, however, they have a deep underclass talent pool and a lot of kids that played over the summer. As they reload, they will be led by all region player, and 8th region tournament MVP, Allison Niece. Niece comes back after a freshmen season where she tallied 16.5 ppg and shot 47.8% from the field. Also returning is Junior center Madi Meier who returns off of a 10.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg effort last season. As far as who is after that, there are several teams to consider. Walton-Verona has to be put in the mix. Minus the loss of one player to graduation, they return the remaining rotation from last season. The Bearcats will be led by the Senior combo of Hailey Ison and Morgan Simpson. Ison, a two time all region player, is the leading returning scorer in the region at 18.1 ppg. Shooting just under 42% from the 3 point line and 44% overall, Ison led the state last season in free throw percentage at 89.5%. Simpson, one of the regions top rebounders at 8.4 rpg, will look to build on last seasons 13.6 ppg. One of Walton-Verona's strength could be its large Senior class. In addition to Ison and Simpson, Shelby Beckham, Zoe Luebbe, Olivia DeZarn and Emma Rodgers are all major contributors. If the younger talent merges into the mix, the Bearcats could be one of the deeper more experienced teams in the region. Shelby County could still be a factor. They return their leading scorer from last seasons very deep team, and the regions top big in 6' Senior Justus Martin. Martin comes off of a 9.7ppg and 6.6 rig effort last season. The Rockets will have a big hurdle to overcome, having lost 5 to graduation, however in speaking with Coach Holland over the summer, he was confident that there were some younger perimeter players in the program that were ready to make an impact. If so, then Shelby County could be back in the mix of things. Anderson should still be competitive. They graduated three of their starting 5, however they return all region player in top shooting guard Kaci Currens (no stats listed for Anderson County on the KHSAA sight. C'mon coach!). The Bearcats appear to still be a very guard heavy team, so you can expect Coach Birdwhistell to once again, play an uptempo, back and forth, style. Another team to possibly consider in the mix is Trimble County. They return both of their leading scorers off of last years team in all region Juniors Shelbe Black (11.8 ppg) and Kaylee Clifford (11.5 ppg). Black, a 6' plus center, comes in shooting 49.6% overall, including 32% from the 3 point mark, while grabbing just under 7 rebounds a game. Clifford, a lengthy shooting guard, returns to build on her 41.2 field goal percentage and 4.1 rpg from last season. The biggest question mark for the Raiders will be at point guard. If they can find that answer, then they can again look to get back in the mix of things in the 2016 8th region tournament. Another team to add is Williamstown. They will be led by Junior all region player Michaela Kennedy and Senior Rachel Montgomery. Kennedy, a shooting guard, comes back off of a 15.1 ppg campaign last season while shooting 32.6 from the 3 point line. Montgomery, returns from a 14.9 ppg effort and 5 rebounds per game. When you add an experienced Senior point guard in Katie Cheek (9.7 ppg), the Lady Demons should have the pieces to compete. The biggest question for Williamstown will be depth.

Congrats to Presentation on the All "A" Statewide Championship. They were fun to watch. Congrats to Beechwood on their runner up finish. As a NKY resident, it was great to see Beechwood, Walton-Verona, and Bishop Brossart all in the 8 team Championship bracket.

Great job Bearcats!

I saw her play in a June scrimmage. It was great to see her back on the court! And she looked well over her injury even then. Looked like her old self playing D and hitting threes!

28-14 final. Holy Cross gets the win on the road.

HC touchdown. HC 28. WV 14. 3:48 left in 4th.

Holy Cross answers with a drive of their own. HC 21. WV 14

Bearcats take opening drive 90 yards and cap it with a two yard td run. Pat good. Tied 14 -14

Halftime. Holy Cross up 14-7. Holy cross went up 14-0 in the second with a pic six by 21 (I think) Walton breaks a 78 yard run to get in the redzone with under a minute before half. They complete a fake field goal on 4th down to convert for a first which leads to about a 10 yard td pass with 2 sec on the clock. Pat good. Should be a good second half.

I would put the top three in this order for preseason. 1. Campbell County 2. Mason County 3. Scott I give Campbell just a little (razor) edge because I love the way they played defense the last couple of times I saw them play.

If you consider 0 for 35 to be probable, may I suggest you stay away from the casino. :thumb:

Great job Walton Verona! And congratulations to Angel, Grace, and Hailey.

That list is big time for sure! Kid is going to need wisdom with all of those choices! God bless her.

Perhaps I have missed it, but does anyone know who has been hired to fill the open coaching position since Coach Merkely has stepped down?

Congrats Payton! Very proud of that kid and very happy she is able to pursue her dreams and get a great education!