SixthRegionHoops

No. Signing with Murray this week. Murray offered him a 70% scholarship, which is about as good as it gets from the baseball scholarship side.

Mack, Ellis, and Schmitt are good players for Holy Cross, and they were playing very poor basketball at the beginning of the year. They are simply playing better now, and with more confidence. They have also played against some good teams in Louisville early on, and that is probably helping them in the All A.

2012 Record: 29-12 21st District (Champions) 6th Region (Champions) Lost to Newport Central Catholic 3-2 in Boys State Tournament Starters lost: 1 Outlook: Another state championship contender with 8 senior starters returning (including the 6th Region Player of the Year, Hunter Johnson) and a deep and talented pitching staff (including 5 seniors, 4 juniors, and 2 sophomores). Coach Bill Miller will likely become the winningest high school coach in KHSAA history. He needs 29 more wins to tie Larry Gumm from Green County HS at 1006 career wins. Bullitt East and Butler are very formidable 6th Region foes. Regular season matchups against Top 25 teams St. Xavier, Male, Eastern, Trinity, Butler, Bullitt East, Henderson County, Woodford County, Central Hardin, and CAL will test a deep pitching staff, led by seniors Kyle Olliges, Hunter Johnson, Greg Laughlin, Austin Beckmann, and Kiron McKenzie. SS Alex Miller started every game as a freshman and is a premier hitter from the left side and an outstanding defender. 2B Blake Stewart is one of the best defensive players in Kentucky and puts pressure on defenses with his bat handling ability. 3B Josh Beams is a hitting machine, and 1B/P/DH Hunter Johnson is a fearsome hitter and a 90+ mph fastball who has committed to play baseball at Murray State. Senior outfielders Ryan Hart and Jacob Clair can run and throw with anyone, and are also threats at the plate. Senior DH Desean Owens has great strength and bat speed, and looks for a breakout year. 2013 schedule: Iroquois (3/21) Lead Off Classic (3/22) v TBA Lead Off Classic (3/23) v TBA @Fairdale(3/27) Glenbard South (IL) (3/28) Glenbard North (IL) (3/29) Myrtle Beach Tournament (4/1) Myrtle Beach Tournament (4/2) Myrtle Beach Tournament (4/3) Myrtle Beach Tournament (4/4) Central (4/9) Manual (4/10) Bill Waddell Invitational (4/12) v. TBA Bill Waddell Invitational (4/13) v. TBA Butler (4/15) Western (4/16) New Albany (4/16) Northern Ky Invitational (4/19) Northern Ky Invitational (4/20) @Doss (4/22) Beth Haven (4/23) Trinity (4/25) Henderson Co. (4/26) Woodford Co. (4/27) Shawnee (4/29) @Holy Cross (4/29) @Central Hardin (4/30) Bullitt East (5/1) St. Xavier (5/2) @Valley (5/6) North Bullitt (5/8) Lone Oak (5/10) Anderson Co. (5/11) Male (5/11) Southern (5/13) Eastern (5/15) Christian Academy Louisville (5/17)

Fairdale's starters can really play. If they stay out of foul trouble and injury-free, they can beat anybody. Four starters are dangerous three point shooters. Not many teams can make that claim.

Taywon Taylor is the only football/basketball player, and he will join the basketball team on Monday, after playing in the state HS all-star football game on December 9. He will be PRP's team leader the minute he gets back on the basketball court.

PRP is not playing well early on despite three wins. They will have to be sharp on Friday against a Butler team that is playing well. Would not be surprised if Butler wins. PRP is ranked too high at this stage of the season.

BE will need huge performances by Troutman, Rakes, and Young, plus one other Troutman. Not having Willis against a superbly talented and big team on the road will be extremely difficult to overcome. Things could snowball against BE if they are not careful here. Best case for BE -- a close win. Worst case for BE -- a double digit loss. In the end, however, playing without Willis against this type of competition may be a good thing for the other BE players later in the year.

I knew Fairdale would be very good, just not this good this early. Even though J'town lost some very good players, I am very impressed that Fairdale was able to demolish them they way they did. With Fairdale's shooters, they could be a nightmare to Bullitt East and PRP all year long.

No matter what, you have to keep your comments to yourself and your emotions in check. Willis can learn and get better from this, or he can go into every game with bad karma toward the officials. Be smart Derek and let your ability show out, not your emotions or anger toward the officials.

I was closer. I said BE by 15. No high schools sports bookies to take my action though.

If Moore's relatively inexperienced front court players perform at a high level, they have a shot. I will take the Bears, however, because McReynolds is superb and the Butler guards will compete with the Sanford brothers.

Doss is very good, and I am not sure if North Hardin knows what they are dealing with here. Doss by 7.

Lafayette is big, but BE goes 6'6 (Young); 6'9 (Willis), and 6'4 (Troutman) on the front, so that is a wash. The perimeter play of Trey Rakes, along with Willis and Troutman will be very difficult for Lafayette, and BE may win by a lot if they make their perimeter shots. I like BE by 16 points, and they should reach the 75 point mark.

Potential second round games: Madison Central v. Ballard; Christ Presbyterian v. Trinity; Bullitt East v. PRP. You better get to the gym early if each of these teams win their first round games. Trinity and PRP appear to have the biggest hurdles to clear in round one against out of state teams. PRP's opponent from Brooklyn has a PG that is going to Connecticut. Trinity may find it tougher than usual without defensive stopper James Quick. Darryl Hicks may have to score 40 points, unless their sophomore big man can develop into a 20 point scorer from the post.

DeSales QB, Nathan Roush, is an excellent and overlooked player. Outstanding runner and, when you start to stack the box, he has the ability to hit a TE or WR in a seam for a score. I look for Roush to play up to the significance of the game, and DeSales wins a close game.

Parking is not good, in my opinion. I would suggest meeting at a hotel near the airport and carpooling with friends from there.

They were up 10 in the first half when I had to leave. Lex Cath was playing without their 6'8 post player, but Iroquois is much improved. Jeff Morrow is building something at IHS.

PRP defeated a very good Perry County Central team yesterday 79-57. Game was closer than the final score suggests. Junior G Antonio McDaniels and Senior C Robert Sawyer scored 17 points each for PRP. Junior F LaMontray Harris added 14, and Junior G/F John Oyler added 8. Jovante Lavender, Byrce Byrd, and Richard Clemons added 7, 6, and 5 points respectively. Freshman Braxton Beverly from PCC showed tremendous poise against PRP's pressure defense, and led the Commodores in scoring with 22 points.

Lost to Lafayette 74-71 in a scrimmage at PRP. Missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. Gritty performance by Hazard against a huge team, Lafayette, who will be difficult to deal with as the year progresses.

Central has a very difficult time scoring without QB Taeshaun Gibbs. If he plays Central will likely win because he is KHSAA's version of Denard Robinson, and Central's linebackers are unlike anything Monroe County has seen this year. By the way, Central's defensive backs don't allow many completions. Hard to see how Monroe County scores enought points, unless Gibbs is out. If Gibbs doesn't play, 14 points may win it.

The street fight with Butler made PRP play a game that challenged their toughness, and they emerged as the winner. That toughness will be needed on Friday night. Look for a high scoring game. Winner will be in the 30's, maybe 40+.

Broken ribs make it hard to breathe and very difficult to raise your arms, let alone play in a high school football game where you are asked to extend your arms to catch passes. Quick's backup is plenty talented and will have to play from here on out. If Scott County can score (and they are the highest scoring team in the state) against Trinity's outstanding defense, they have a shot. They will need to score at least 24 points because Trinity has a week to plan without Quick, and they will score at least 3 TDs.

Plays Lexington Catholic at Pleasure Ridge Park on November 17 at 7:30.

Plays Lafayette at Pleasure Ridge Park on November 17 at 4:30. Should be a stiff test.

Plays Kentucky Country Day at Pleasure Ridge Park on November 17 at 3:00