Smallhoops

I just saw that. Says he is opening up his recruitment again. Interesting.

Male had an outstanding group of sophomores this season. If there is a good group moving up from middle school, Male could be very good. Of course, the challenge is that the Seventh Region has been dominated recently by Trinity and Ballard. Male was 0-4 against Trinity and Ballard this year, with each loss being in the 14-16 point range. Trinity will be loaded again next year. While Ballard loses a lot of players, I suspect they will again be a typical Ballard team.

Josh Moore on his Twitter account said that only two coaches from Jefferson County returned their ballots. That certainly didn't help any players from Jefferson County. Having said that, the first team is pretty solid. I personally would have put David Johnson on the first team, but everyone who is on the first team is deserving.

Coach Feldhaus did a good job - three winning seasons, overall record of 57-34, three trips to Seventh Region tournament. This is the fourth opening in the Seventh Region (Male, CAL, KCD, Collegiate).

Aspire Academy has a post-graduate program. I don't think he will be taking classes at DeSales. Rather, I think Aspire provides academic assistance in terms of preparing for and retaking the ACT or SAT, and I think there is an option of taking one or two college classes (although I am not sure exactly how that works).

He is a senior. He is doing a post-graduate year there.

Seventh Region Player of the Year Jay Scrubb of Louisville Trinity has announced on his Twitter page that he will be attending Aspire Academy next year. Aspire Academy is in Louisville, having moved there from Phoenix about a year ago.

ttt

Jason Frakes of the Courier-Journal is reporting that Coach Jay Jones has submitted his resignation at Louisville Western High School.

Zach Settembre, who led the Collegiate Titans to a best ever 23-8 record and was named Seventh Region Coach of the Year in his first season as a head coach, has accepted a job as an assistant at a junior college in Florida.

High school basketball at its finest. Disappointing that either of these teams has to be eliminated. You know, Scott County started its season this year with a game against Ballard. I suggest Scott County and Trinity work it out so that they play each other in the first game of next season, as both will be loaded again next year.

Mickey Pearson - Senior - John Hardin - St. Louis

Trinity comes into the state tournament as one of the favorites, and it is easy to understand why. Unfortunately, the Shamrocks play one of the other favorites, Scott County, in the first round. But that is what happens in a blind draw. Trinity comes into the tournament with a record of 30-3. It is a good shooting team, averaging 50.2% from the field as a team. It shoots the three extremely well, averaging 41.3% as a team from three. It has good overall size, with its starters ranging from 6' 2" to 6' 5". It comes into the tournament playing well, as evidenced by its 68-53 defeat of Ballard in the Seventh Region championship game. They looked really good in that one. Trinity is led by three of the best players in the state. Jay Scrubb, a 6' 5" senior, was named the Seventh Region player of the year after averaging 17.9 ppg and 7.1 rpg for the Rocks. Scrubb scores from both inside and outside; he is a 51.2% shooter from the field, and a 36.2% 3-point shooter. David Johnson, a 6' 5" junior, averages 13.9 ppg and is a 43.9% 3-point shooter (51.2% field goal shooter). Justin Powell, a 6' 4" sophomore, averages 11.3 ppg and is a 50.8% 3-point shooter (54.1% field goal shooter). While Scrubb will likely go to prep school next year, all three are high Division I players talent-wise. Trinity's other two starters are solid. Stan Turnier is a 6' 3" junior who shoots 41.6% on 3's. He averages 7.8 ppg, most of which comes from 3-point shooting. Jamil Hardaway, a 6' 2" junior, averages 6.2 ppg and shoots 60.7% from the field. Hardaway is the only Trinity starter who is not a 3-point shooting threat. Trinity's depth is a little suspect. The leading scorer off the bench is senior Robbie Springfield, who averages 3.9 ppg. Depth (or lack thereof) played a role in two of Trinity's losses. Foul trouble limited Jay Scrubb's minutes in Trinity's 65-57 loss to Fern Creek in the King of the Bluegrass tournament. Justin Powell was sick and did not play in Trinity's 53-52 loss to Madison Central. In its third loss, a 52-50 loss to Lexington Christian, Trinity shot only 38.5% from the field, including making 8 of the 26 3-point shots they took (30.8%). Thus, the keys for Trinity seem to be what they often are for good teams: shoot the ball well and stay out of foul trouble. Trinity has not had very many bad shooting nights, and I don't think they will be intimidated by playing in Rupp Arena. But Scott County will play some solid defense, so it will be interesting to see how they shoot. As for staying out of foul trouble - teams from Louisville have been known to complain about how games in the state tournament are called. Of course, that is largely a result of officials from across the state officiating at the state tournament. Again, we will have to wait and see how it plays out. I hope the Trinity-Scott County game lives up to the anticipation. If it does, it will be a great one.

Opening Round 1 Corbin 1 Trinity 1 Warren Central 1 John Hardin 1 University Heights 1 Oldham County 1 Covington Catholic 1 Fern Creek Semi-Finals 2 Trinity 2 John Hardin 2 Oldham County 2 Fern Creek Finals 3 Trinity 3 Fern Creek 2018 Sweet 16 State Champion 5 Trinity Tiebreaker 134

I have cast my vote for Trinity, but without much conviction. Should be a heckuva game. Good luck to all involved.

I agree with the thought that Trinity's big three (Scrubb, Johnson, and Powell) all deserve to be in a list of the top ten players in the Sweet Sixteen. That being the case, I find it very interesting that a majority of people voting in a poll in a separate thread are picking Scott County to beat Trinity in their first round match-up. Should be a heckuva game.

There are two 2nd region players in the Basketball Hall of Fame: Joe Fulks (Kuttawa, 1940) and Frank Ramsey (Madisonville, 1949). Fulks was a prolific scorer in the early days of the NBA and was so good he was called the Babe Ruth of Basketball. Ramsey, of course, played at UK and for the Boston Celtics, where he defined the role of a valuable sixth man.

I'm sure some will not be happy with that location since it is a long distance from the eastern part of the state, but I think Owensboro would be a good choice. The Sportscenter is big enough, and I think the city now has enough hotel rooms to accommodate the fans who will attend.

This game has the potential to be epic. I don't know who will win, but it should be a classic. And as @Runcible Owl and @tcjkbt indicate above, both will be really good again next year.

One of the reasons Trinity was able to handle Ballard's pressure defense was its ability to throw over the press. It looks like Trinity's primary ballhandlers (Justin Powell and David Johnson) will again have a height advantage over the Scott County defenders, unless Scott Country uses Moreno for that duty.

I also have not seen Scott County play this season. Generally, what are the sizes of their starters?

Trinity looked really good tonight. They stayed out of foul trouble for the most part (Powell and Turnier each picked up their foul in the third quarter, but it was not an issue). Ballard shot 42% from the field. The final score is a little misleading - games wasn't that close.

I don't think so.

I have been fortunate enough to be at the last 6 Trinity-Ballard match-ups in the Seventh Region tournament. They have all been interesting. In 2012, Trinity won 58-55, led by Mr. Basketball Nathan Dieudonne's 21 points. The Rocks went on to win the state tournament that year. In 2013, Ballard won 57-46. Future Mr. Basketball and Louisville Cardinal Quintin Snider led the Bruins with 21, while Kelan Martin, who has scored almost 2000 points in his college career at Butler, added 18. Ballard eventually lost in the state tournament championship game to Madison Central, 65-64 (after it looked like Ballard had the game won). Snider and Martin returned for their senior years in the 2013-14 season, and Ballard had beaten Trinity in both the King of the Bluegrass and the Louisville Invitational Tournament that season. But Trinity prevailed in the Seventh Region tournament 59-58. Trinity was led by future Bellarmine Knight Daniel Ramser's 14 points. Future Louisville Cardinal Ray Spalding, then a junior, was held to 4 points. Ballard bounced back in 2015 to beat Trinity 67-54. Ballard was led by future UAB Blazer Jalen Perry's 25 points. Anthony Eaves added 14. The game in 2016 will be remembered for Ballard's Jake Ramsey's full court shot at the end of regulation that tied the game and sent it into overtime. It was one of the most electrifying moments I have ever experienced at a sporting event. But Trinity had the composure to win the game in overtime 67-62. Jacob King and Gabe Schmitt led the Rocks with 19 points apiece. Last year saw Ballard return to the winner's circle, 57-41. It was a terrific performance by Ballard, who was led by Clivonte Patterson's 16 points. So what will happen tonight? I have thought for most of this season that Ballard was the only team that had a shot at beating Trinity. And they certainly do have a shot - a good shot, actually. If they played ten times, I think Ballard would win 3-4 times. Ballard will play killer defense; the key likely will be Ballard's shooting percentage. Ballard has shot under 40% from the field in each of its five losses this season. The good news for the Bruins is that they have shot over 50% from the field in each of their post-season games this season. The other key, I believe, will be whether Trinity can stay out of foul trouble. With the emotion this game will bring, it is easy to conceive how some players may be a little overly aggressive. But at the end of the day, I think Trinity and its outstanding talent will prevail. My prediction: Trinity 62 Ballard 56.

Trinity and Ballard played in the Seventh Region semi-final last year. Trinity was 29-3 and had beaten St. X 67-38 in its previous game. Ballard was 26-6 and had beaten Central 87-53 in its previous game. Going into Monday night's game, Trinity is 29-3 and beat St. X 62-41 in its previous game. Ballard is 27-6 and beat Central 92-54 in its previous game. Ballard won that game last year 57-41. It did so even though it hit only 1 of the 12 3-point shots it took. The key? Trinity shot 36% from the field. Jay Scrubb, David Johnson and Justin Powell combined for only 12 points in that game. I expect Ballard to play tenacious defense again, but suspect the Trinity triumvirate to be more productive offensively. And perhaps the key will be Stan Turnier, who has had some really nice games for Trinity this year. We must wait until Monday to see how it will play out.