TheSteelCat

First round match-up at Rupp Arena, 8th region champions vs. 13 region champions. Looking at schedules, both teams are going into this playing some good basketball. Anyone know the type of game that Knox Central plays? More fast paced, pressing defense or slow it down half court man to man? Anyone seen both of these teams play this year and have any input?

Pardee and Miles will be playing in the 8th region championship tonight.

Head says Oldham by 5-10, heart says GC by 4. Monday was the first time I have watched Oldham in a while and they look much improved from the beginning of the year and have a much stingier defense that what Gallatin has played against recently.

From what I could find, WV has never even been to the 8th region semis. I believe 86' was the last time and they were in the 9th region then if I recall.

Fair enough. Then do it like the Louisville and Lexington regions do, 1st round games are played at the home school site.

Is Gallatin not big enough to hold it? It seems like that would be a good trade off. 32nd district has to travel 1 hour or more to play at Henry while the Oldham district travels 20-25 minutes.

And that is the great thing about Dieonte Miles, Mr. Basketball Candidate, I can assure you he didn't bat an eye when he was told those guys would start in his place. He knows the importance of being a great teammate is far more important than starting on senior night. He is one of the most humble and respectful D1 players you will find, would not surprise me one bit if he encouraged coach to start the others over him. Glad Coach Brannen is not stuck in the old days, being a "new school" coach has worked out well over his career.

This is the facts of the senior night, plain and simple. Every senior had started a game this year besides #24 and #5, who from what I have been told work their tail end off in practice every day and deserve some recognition. Coach decided on the other 3 to start with those 2 by choosing the 3 seniors who have been with the program since Kindergarten. Hats off to coach Brannen for allowing every senior to start a game this year and throwing a bone to the 3 guys who have been in the program since Kindergarten.

WV's game plan was to double Niece any time he had it, they were not going to let him beat them. Great game plan and well executed.

That sounds great and all but how many public all A schools consistently win their district/region/state? There is a reason for that. I can't recall the last time a small all A school has won the 8th region, I think someone on here the other day may have said no small all A school has ever won the 8th region. Having a larger school adds to the depth of a team and definitely makes a difference.

Great game plan by WV coaching staff, well executed by the players. Hopefully people wise up and give the WV coaching staff credit after this one. Brannen has beaten Steiner in the district tournament 3 years in a row now with a school a third of the size of SK. Congrats to the Bearcats and the staff on a hard fought, well executed game plan.

Out, as in forced out? Or are you saying he has chosen to walk away?

Great write up, you can always nit pick here and there but overall this is a great piece of work. Just for note, Walton-Verona beat South Oldham last year at Walton-Verona so they did not hold a 5 game winning streak against WV.

Solid win on the road for the Bearcats. SO shot 46% from 3 but could not stop Miles, Pardee and Jones who all had over 20 points each.

I'll go ahead and leave the thread at this point, anyone who thinks AAU is any comparison to high school ball clearly has no clue the amount of time there is put into prepping for a game. Defense in AAU is comical to say the least. I know the amount of hours and depth of scouting reports WV does for every game, nothing in AAU compares but to each his own. Then to say they were tough and exciting but now like watching paint? They mix it up with full court run and jump, trap all over in half court, turn teams over with pressure and trapping defense every game yet they are boring? Sorry but it is hard to even comment on that. Best of luck to the team you support.