se7ens

Posted on the district site.

If he translates, it won't be for a while.

I don’t normally get things right but...

So realistically, who has a shot? I do not think bringing back Coach Bundy is a likely thing to occur.

Who would be on your shortlist @Mustang? Bob Rowe Adam Franzen Gary Hunter Sara Heinrichs Josh Feldmann Barrett Bradshaw Curtis Bezold Jeff Trunick

Oh I think we are due for a few more. We are well below average openings currently for NKY.

The Paddle football games are epic and in basketball they are in district and conference together so it really heightens every game. And I will tell you what, it doesn’t matter the talent differential any given year between the two; they will always compete against each other.

In NKY, CovCath and Highlands is the premier one. Also have Bracken - Augusta, Campbell - Brossart, and Dayton - Bellevue. Central Kentucky you have East and West Jessamine and Danville - Boyle. You also have the historical rivalries of Mercer - Harrodsburg and Monticello - Wayne that ended when consolidation occurred.

One of the most consistent QBs in the league. Two incredible years (2016 & 2018) and then the rest he was always in the top half of performers in the league. Last year his numbers were somewhat below his averages so his age (36) may be starting to creep in on him. Regardless, this is a big move for the Colts and there is a chance that even a 36 year old Ryan will be the best QB to suit up for Indy since Luck.

Colton Ralston out here hitting all the big shots.

Neither team shooting great. GRC clear advantage in rebounds but also having 11 turnovers. If Sacred Heart continues to take care of the ball, I think you’ll see them start to become more offensively efficient in the second half. May only take a couple big shots from them to get in the swing of things. Still, just a head scratcher to see 11 turnovers by a good team in a half especially with a score this low and them leading.

I don't see a benefit in expanding the state tournament. I think if any major structural issues exist in Kentucky high school basketball, they are shared across the board with a lot of sports and that is the current regional and district setup. I think we are long overdue for a wide spread overhaul at how the districts and regions are shaped and I know this is something currently being discussed in another thread specific to the 8th region (and gets brought up in some form every year about this time). As for post-season specific reforms, I think it would be interesting to discuss eliminating the district tournaments and expanding the regional tournament. Like take the top 4 teams from each district (in a world where have eliminated the silly 3 team districts), seed, then have a random draw. Makes the regular season mean a little more and, honestly, it gets rid of the near-meaningless district title games.

Yes, I could concede moving out Burchett and Phillips, especially for Gavin Stevens. He was a for sure miss from my list. But I will tell you this - Kendall Phillips is going to be wildly good in a few years.

So, I didn't rank players at the end of the year because this region really has like 25 players that all deserve relatively equal praise. That being said, Luke Imfeld is flat out the best and the most important to his team. However, Tramane Alcorn is a very close second AND was probably the fourth most likely player to fill that role for Lincoln at the start of the year. If you had me rank ten, I'd go: 1. Luke Imfeld (Boyle) 2. Tramane Alcorn (Lincoln) 3. Zach Travis (Pulaski) 3. Daniel Mullins (Rockcastle) 4. Jaxon Smith (Lincoln) 5. Kyle Stephens (McCreary) 6. Ethan Cooper (Garrard) 7. Daniel Waters (West Jessamine) 8. Montavin Quisenberry (Garrard) 9. Mason Burchett (Wayne County) 10. Kendall Phillips (Wayne County) Colton Ralston, Dante Hayden, Jake Huggins, Jakei Tarter, Kason Myers, Evan Smith, Drew Marshall are some others that I would put up there as honorable mention (among more that I cannot name off the top of my head).

Whew! What a wild finish to 12th Region competition. Lincoln County is the last team standing from the 12th after Colton Ralston's buzzer beating jumper gives the Patriots a 42 to 40 win in overtime over the hosting Pulaski County Maroons. Let's put a bow on the regional tournament and look at the upcoming path for Lincoln County. Semifinal 1 - Lincoln County 69 McCreary County 49 - Without the services of Evan Smith, the Patriots efforts were led by a balanced attack of Tramane Alcorn, Jaxon Smith, and Jackson Sims. Alcorn and Jaxon Smith had 18 points and Sims had 16 points. Jaxon Smith added 10 rebounds to give him a double-double. McCreary's tournament run ended but by the end of the year there was little doubt they belonged at the top of the tier below the three major contenders. Semifinal 2 - Pulaski County 59 Boyle County 51 - The Rebels came out quick and hot but Pulaski County got the win behind a magnificent second half effort and the leadership of Zach Travis. This ended the incredible season of Luke Imfeld who powered the Rebels all year. Finals - Lincoln County 42 Pulaski County 40 OT - The Patriots controlled the pace the whole game, sending it to overtime at the snail's pace score of 37 all. With no Evan Smith, it took a balanced Patriot effort that included one face unfamiliar to the lime light. Tramane Alcorn led the way with 12 points, Colton Ralston had 10 including the game winner, Jaxon Smith had 8, and Jackson Sims had 6. However, it was Clayton Davis' 6 points and 8 rebounds that really helped fill out the Patriots stat sheet in the continued absence of Evan Smith. It took a complete team performance to defeat the Maroons and now they turn their eyes to the Sweet 16. State Quarterfinals - Jeffersontown versus Lincoln County. This is the first game of the tournament, tipping off at 11:00 AM on March 16th. This should come down to pace of play. Jeffersontown likes to play faster, higher scoring affairs as opposed to the Patriots' methodical, defensive minded game play. Also, Lincoln's biggest weakness remains depth so faster game play would certainly stress that. They have one shared opponent in Great Crossing. Lincoln County defeated the Warhawks, Jeffersontown did not. We will see how clear of a predictor that game is. If this game stays in the 50s or below, the Patriots should be looking good. Beyond that, I do not think they can keep up. If Lincoln can get past Jeffersontown, they would play the winner of Muhlenberg County and North Oldham which should be a winnable game (but certainly not a gimme) either way. Then most likely it would be Clark County or North Laurel waiting in the semifinals (barring upset) and that may be where lack of depth gets the best of the Patriots. It certainly is setup to be an exciting week and Lincoln County has the chance to make some noise.

Who hit the shot?

I follow the 9th, 10th and 12th. I think the 9th and 10th will not be exciting but please turn your attention to the 12th because it could possibly be epic.

The first round of the 12th's Regional Tournament only featured one game that stayed close to the end but what a game that was. Let's take a look at the first round results and what this week has in store as the 12th will crown a champion Tuesday. Quarterfinal 1 - The tournament opened up with a bang as McCreary Central and Mercer County went all the way to double overtime where the Raiders squeaked out a 2 point win. Trevor Ellis had 14 points and 14 rebounds in the losing effort for the Titans. Quarterfinal 2 - Lincoln County showed its scoring ability, surpassing 70 points scored for only the third time in their last 12 games. They bested the Rockcastle County Rockets 72 to 57 behind Tramane Alcorn's 23 points. Jackson Sims provided 8 boards and 10 points, an example of the Patriots really winning the game down low where the Rockets could have possibly given them trouble. Quarterfinal 3 - Boyle defeated West Jessamine 74 to 55 with William Carr leading the way with 21 points. This win, an improvement on their earlier nine point win over the Colts, featuring stellar performances in addition to their star Luke Imfeld's 13 points may show that the Rebels are playing their best basketball when it matters most. Quarterfinal 4 - Host Pulaski County held off the Cardinals of Wayne County by a score of 73 to 64. Zach Travis led the way with 24 points. This is a slight narrowing of the margin from their December matchup when the Maroons rolled the Cardinals by nearly 20. Semifinal 1 - March 7th, 6:30 PM - McCreary Central vs. Lincoln County. The Patriots won the December matchup between these two 62 to 49. Jaxon and Evan Smith had to carry the water that game for Lincoln, scoring 26 and 21 respectively. Tramane Alcorn did not play in that game and Colton Ralston had only 2 points. On paper, this should be Lincoln County fairly easily. But if the Raiders can limit any of the Patriots from breaking out (big if) and hope that their star Kyle Stephens can score a lot more than the six he put up in that December game against Lincoln. Semifinal 2 - March 7th, 8:15 PM - Boyle County vs. Pulaski County. These two teams met on this same floor on February 17th and the Rebels became the only 12th region team to beat the Maroons this year to date. It was an overtime thriller finishing with Boyle on top 74 to 73. Luke Imfeld scored 32 that night for the Rebels and Kason Myers added 27, meaning nearly 80% of Rebel scoring came from 2 players. Can Pulaski County stifle Imfeld? Can Zach Travis keep the Maroon offense clicking? This game has all the makings for a March classic. Championship - March 8th, 7:00 PM. This game could be a lot of things. It could be the fourth game between Lincoln and Boyle. It could be the darkhorse Raiders of McCreary Central playing for a title. It could be Pulaski County looking to cap off this amazing year with a trip to Rupp after having just two regular season losses. What we do know is that there will be star power as each team brings some great individual talent to the table. We will also see if either team is tuckered out from their semifinal the night before. It will certainly be exciting and I will be back next week to talk about it and the 12th Region's champ's hopes at Rupp.

I don’t know what point it makes, but 6 out of the 11 coaches on that are on the list are no longer head coaches in the region.

Holy Cross did 2 huge two things and I will give them all the credit in the world for it. First, they had two scorers tonight who scored frequently, easily, and early in possessions which allowed them to control tempo and stymie their opponents’ momentum for the majority of the game. Second, they made Conner work for every point. Nothing came easily for the Cougars and that started with Hamilton being contained.

Yes, he did and Holy Cross full court face guarded him.

Yes, Dixie held a comfortable lead most of the game but Newport had a surge late. Defensively Dixie’s length really gave Newport trouble. Really clogged the passing lanes and made Newport really work for every score in the half court.

Credit to Conner who had this game tied late after being down big most of the game.

Newport had it to 6 with under 2 minutes left but couldn’t stay in it.

Not a new voice, but DJ Joe Barnes of Bellevue is the best.