ApolloFan98

McCracken did lose to Apollo mid season, who is a Sweet 16 team.

Even with Apollo's big run at state that year, the Covington Catholic cheering section is one thing ill always remember the most. Great stuff.

Mickey Pearson has been one of my favorite players to watch the past couple of seasons. I haven't seen most of these guys in person but I can tell you that Pearson is a player to watch. Being a West KY guy, Potter is pretty darn good as well. Hope he performs well.

I knew Owensboro was a finalist for this but had not heard a location had been settled on. The Sportscenter updates are nice. Its an old building but brand new floor and video screens have been a solid upgrade. Ive heard they have targeted the seating for upgrades as well. Although it isn't centrally located, Owensboro itself is a great spot to host, as far as hotels and food.

A lot of good players have came through the 2nd region so that's a tough question. I got to see him for the first time last week in 2nd region championship and came away very impressed. Im glad Rupp gets to see him. UHA got a pretty good draw, should be interesting to see how he responds on what could be his future home court.

@Eagle3 broke it down nicely. Ill start by saying that CovCath probably comes in as a 12-15 point favorite. What ive seen of them, they look like a machine. Apollo could come out and play its absolute best and still come up empty vs a team this talented. I think there is a decent chance this team makes a run at a state title, and im looking forward to seeing them in person. Now, onto my Eagles. As Eagle3 said, do not let their record fool you, they are better than that. This team has lost 11 games by 4 points or less this year and played a pretty solid schedule. They did knock off McCraken County in front of a massive crowd earlier in the season. They also had a layup rim off at the buzzer to beat Warren Central to start the season. They were very impressive in their 2 wins over Owensboro as well. So while on paper you may think they are the weakest team in the Sweet 16, they do have some potential. Honestly, up until about a month ago, this was a team full of attitudes and egos. They didn't seem to have a real leader. As they went into the postseason, it seemed like they were a sure one and done vs Owensboro but something just clicked with them. Since then, they haven't slowed down. They are shooting it at a rate that may be hard to maintain. Guess we'll see. As for the team, lets break em down. James Graham has been the biggest difference for this team over the past 2 weeks. He is a 6-7 shot blocking machine with a soft touch. He is also a late bloomer. He was a guard up until about 2 years ago when he hit a massive growth spurt and you can see that in his game from time to time. He dominated the middle in this area, but I expect his assignment vs CovCath to much much tougher playing a bigger guy. I will be interested to see him vs someone that big. He is prone to foul trouble and vs a bigger guy, that's probably my biggest concern. Hayden Shelton has been a stud in the postseason as well. Hes averaged around 20 a game over the past 2 weeks. Hes a pure shooting guard who can handle the ball pretty well at times. Hes been absolutely locked in lately. He opened the game with 3 straight 3 pointers in the regional title game and it really set the tone. His game gets opened up by sharpshooter Nathan Boyle. Guy is one of the best 3 point shooters ive seen at Apollo. He has the quickest release ive seen for sure. Teams around this area respect him so much, that they have been leaving Shelton open and hes been reaping the benefits. If you look at Boyle's stat sheet in region and think hes disappeared, you should watch the games. He opens a lot up for this offense. Alex Gray is the garbage man. Whatever the team asks him to do, he does it. He is a sneaky good rebounder, standing about 6-2. Tough tough kid. He was a key defender through the tourney and when the chips were down in the regional title game, he took over, scoring 9 4th quarter points. He can also bring the ball up in a pinch and he can shoot the 3. Very well rounded guy, who is a vocal leader on the floor. The PG is Angel Saldana. He came over from Puerto Rico after the earthquake. Great story and a great young man. He is as quick as any PG ive seen all season, but like Eagle3 said, he does have a tendency to play out of control from time to time. He also has a tendency to turn the ball over. Sometimes he is the press breaker and sometimes his play just breaks the team. The way he responds will be a key to see if Apollo can compete vs the best. As for the bench.....they don't go there much. Sophomore Malik Wilson has given some prime minutes on the defensive end. Very undersized but plays a lot taller than he is. Not much offensive prowess but can come in and spell someone with very effective defense. Cory Wilson is the other guy off the bench. He's a senior and can give some effective minutes when focused. Sometimes he gets caught trying to do to much, but I thought he played real big when Graham got into foul trouble vs Ohio County. To answer a few more questions from @colonel-fan, yes I do believe Apollo will continue the box and one. Of course me not being as familiar with CovCath, I could be wrong. Apollo just seems to be very comfortable in that defense and the triangle and 2. And another yes....this Apollo team is probably more talented overall than the 2006 team, but that team sure was special. The improbable run this team is on, reminds me a lot of that team. The PG of that team now sits on the bench for Apollo as an assistant coach. 1-5, this team is more talented but the do lack a real star like Tyler Brown was. Rupp Arena does strange things to teams sometimes. If Apollo can continue to shoot it as well as they have been, anything is possible. Obviously it just looks like a tough matchup for me. Apollo is playing with house money though. They were suppose to be eliminated 2 weeks ago, yet here they are. They surely have a lot of confidence, but its going to take a supreme effort to even make this a game.

Thank you!! Ive put a lot of work and time into them and im really glad someone actually reads and enjoys it! Been a fun season! Dave couldnt have said it better. To broadcast EVERY 9th district and Girls/Boys 3rd Region game has been a blessing(and a lot of hard/fun work). It really is an honor to get to know all of these kids, parents and coaches. So many great people in our region. I never would have guessed anyone would care about my opinion on high school sports around Owensboro 5-6 years ago. Its been a heck of a ride.

Pearson is the man. I got to see him vs Apollo last year and i called his game vs Daviess County this year. He hit a 1 handed 3 to take the game into overtime. I think he finished with 40 and 15 in that game. He's a great player and will put on a show at Rupp.

Apollo it is! They played about as well as they could have in the first half and was able to keep Catholic at bay during some big second half runs. Seems like there have been different people step up every game thru the tournament. Alex Gray was that guy tonight. He played great defense on Luke Hayden and also came up with some big big buckets when Catholic put the pressure on. Hayden Shelton was big time again, knocking down 3 1st quarter 3's to set the tone. When Angel Saldana is hitting mid range jumpers, you know its probably going to be Apollo's night offensively(his game is running the offense and getting to the rim). He hit 3 in the first half. Overall, I think the better team won the game. I know its tough to say that when a team is 1-4 against another, but the only thing that matters is how you're playing at the end. Apollo just had the look after they beat Owensboro, and they carried that over into regional tournament play. Im happy for Coach Barker. The way he used the box and one during the run really took away what opposing teams want to do. Outside Ohio County, it worked very well. Twice on Hayden and once on Matthews, it was a big reason why Apollo is going to Rupp.

The table is set for showdown #5 between Apollo and Owensboro Catholic. The Aces took down the Mustangs a lot easier than I was expecting, as Muhlenberg just did not play well at all. Far to many turnovers to pull the upset for them. Ohio looked pretty good early on, shooting well and getting James Graham in foul trouble, but you kind of knew when Apollo led at halftime even after not playing well and Ohio County playing very well, that they were probably going to be ok. Graham has been a monster in the postseason and continued that tonight. Even through the foul trouble, he still went 8-8 from the field. Ohio County fought hard and really kept it close with great shooting from beyond the arc. They have a decent core of young guys and will be back. Tuesday nights game should be a classic. Catholic has beaten Apollo 4 times, but 2 of those Apollo let slip away with a last second shot. Both teams are playing at their peak right now and the Sportscenter should be packed. I could see it going either way but Apollo just has that look of a championship team.

Game 1 saw Muhlenberg dominate Grayson. The game was never in doubt and the Stangs looked pretty locked in to me. Nice team effort with solid contributions from their young guys. The way Cath/Breck started, I thought it favored Breck. I think Breck executed coach Critchelow’s gameplan well and they worked it for a 7 point lead in the 2nd quarter. Tim Riley takes a timeout and the entire game turns. That is the 3rd game in a row that I have seen that happen. 2 6-0 runs out of timeouts where they trailed and a 12-2 run out of this one. It really came down to Catholic simply hitting big shots and Breck being unable to. McFarland, Ballard and Reid all hit shots in that 2nd quarter that ended up deciding the game. They coasted home after that. Much like Apollo, Catholic is looking tough. And it’s real hard to bet against Tim Riley at this point. Saturday’s games should be good ones.

This same defense has worked very well against the best teams in the region. If they can run it on Lance Lewis and still not get beat by Douglas and Gardner... I don’t see that hindering them a ton going forward. I do however think that Ohio County could be a tougher matchup for them just due to their big physical guards in Parker and Sandefur. I also think Simmons can at least somewhat match Graham. If Ohio can hit some 3’s they will make it a tough game. They just can’t play with as many errors as they did last night.

The players have changed their mentality and bought in to the TEAM mentality. Coach Barker has always been a phenomenal coach. He took McLean County to levels they had rarely reached. I just think that sometimes his old school style doesn’t mesh with the kids today. His defensive strategy over the last couple weeks has really been impressive. As far as being spot on, there’s a ways to go and no one knows how this thing will turn out. I’ve watched a lot of games over the years and Apollo just has that look. We’ll see if they can finish it out.

With night 1 in the books, I wont say I was surprised at the results, but they got my attention for sure. Apollo looks like a team that has turned the corner. They really put it on Meade County in the middle part of the game, as James Graham and Hayden Shelton took over. Graham is a force in the middle and has become one of the best players in the region. His shot blocking is unbelieveable. He finished 2 boards shy of a triple double with 16/8/10 blocks. Shelton took advantage of all the attention the Waves showed to Boyle, leading Apollo with 23. Once again it was Steve Barker's box and one defense that hurt Meade. Gray harassed Matthews all night long and I felt like he really frustrated him, holding him to 0 points in the first half, and only 7 in the 2nd. Coach Barker told me after the game that the team spent 2 days preparing for Matthews, which tells you how good of a player he is. Hats off to Meade on a solid season. In the second game, Edmonson was 1 shot away from shocking Ohio County. While the game was nip and tuck, it was not well played. Ohio made several errors and just didn't shoot it very well. They survived a last second heave to win it by 1. Credit Edmonson for bringing the fight to the Eagles all game long. They erased an 8 point deficit in about a minute to tie the game with 30 seconds but they had no answer for John Parker the entire game. Parker was able to draw a foul with 5 seconds left, making 1 of 2. Edmonson couldn't find the basket in the scramble and Ohio held on. This will set up an Apollo/Ohio County rematch. In the regular season, Ohio defeated Apollo in a close one at home. It feels like Ohio will need to be much better on Saturday to match the red hot Apollo Eagles.

I think Apollo or Catholic could compete vs the 9th on a given night but they would be double digit under dogs vs CovCath or Cooper. I do remember a double digit underdog Apollo team in 2006 knock off CovCath in round 1 too. It’s the Madness. You just never know.

1. Owensboro Catholic Aces (21-9, 17-3) - The Aces roll into the 3rd region tourney with the golden horseshoe. In the first round district game against Daviess County, they used a furious 4th quarter rally and last second put back by JD Marshall to eliminate the Panthers. They erased an 11 point 2nd half deficit in the win. In the district title game, they trailed Apollo by 7 late in the 4th, but rallied to cut the lead to 3. Luke Hayden nailed a contested 40 footer as time expired to push the game into overtime where Catholic would hold on to win. Coach Tim Riley and the Aces come into the Sportscenter as the top team left standing in the region. 2. Meade County Greenwaves (16-6, 8-4) - Meade County comes into the tournament red hot, winning 6 of their last 7 games. They had an impressive win against a good Central Hardin team late in the regular season, then dominated the 11th district, knocking off Breck County by 10. The Waves are the defending region champs and have been to the title game in each of Coach Tripure's first 3 seasons. They probably got the toughest draw of any district champion however, as they take on red hot Apollo. 3. Ohio County Eagles (15-13, 12-5) - The Eagles defeated Muhlenberg County in impressive fashion to win the 10th district title. In their elimination game earlier last week, they knocked off upset minded Mclean County 62-49. Forwards John Parker and Logan Sandefur give the Eagles a chance to beat anyone on any night. Throw in great shooters like Dylan Decker and Trey Lewis and the Eagles could be a dangerous team with Tony Hopper leading the charge. 4. Apollo Eagles (13-15, 8-9) - Pure talent alone, Apollo is probably the best or second best team left standing in the region. 11 of Apollo's 15 losses have come by 4 points or less. They were a prayer away from beating Owensboro Catholic in the district championship. Back on Tuesday night, they upset the #1 Owensboro Red Devils in dramatic fashion. If Apollo can avoid foul trouble and can continue to play loose, they are going to be a very tough out. Big man James Graham has been the difference. He has improved all season, and has become the best big man in the region. It also gives Apollo a high percentage go-to guy late in games. If they can somehow keep momentum from a great 9th district tournament run, Apollo has a great shot of getting to Rupp. 5. Muhlenberg County Mustangs (11-15, 7-5) - The Mustangs had a bit of a let down in the 10th district championship game on Thursday. Coming off a bye, they never captured the energy that Ohio County was able to come out with. Will Nofsinger is the top scorer in the region and gives the Stangs a chance to make a run. The supporting cast however, is very young. It will be interesting to see how the Mustangs react to the regional tournament environment. 6. Breck County Tigers (15-12, 12-9) - Breck County had a very up and down regular season and that trend seemed to continue in the 11th district tournament. They knocked off a dangerous Hancock County team to keep their season alive in the district's first round. They could not sustain that momentum into the championship, losing to Meade by 10. The Tigers have Kobe Poole to lean on, but will have to find him some help in a very tough first round match-up with Owensboro Catholic. 7. Grayson County Cougars (13-16, 9-10) - The Cougars were the team left standing with the trophy in the wild 12th district tournament. They survived a tough game against rival Butler County in the first round and went on to blow out Edmonson for the title. The Cougars believe they are back where they belong, as they dominated this district for a long time. Former player, now coach Travis Johnston is looking to start his legacy at the school. They will be leaning on Bailey Logsdon moving forward. 8. Edmonson County Wildcats (10-21, 7-10) - The Cats continued their dominance over the Trinity Raiders this season with an upset win at the new Barn back last Monday night. That win puts them in the tournament. They were defeated soundly in the district title game by Grayson County. Edmonson will look to be the Cinderella of the 3rd region tournament, as they have nothing to lose. Logan Lindsey is the leading scorer at 11.4 points per game. FIRST ROUND GAMES & PREDICTIONS Meade vs Apollo - This should be the marquee game of the 1st round. These two teams did not meet in the regular season. While Apollo probably has more talent in their first 6-7 guys, Meade knows how to win and that is an area Apollo has struggled with all season. The Eagles will present a mismatch with James Graham in the middle. This game will come down to who can control the tempo. Whoever does that should win. PREDICTION: Apollo by 6 Ohio vs Edmonson - The Eagles come in with a lot of confidence. Look for big games by John Parker and Logan Sandefur. Tony Hopper is a surgeon this time of year and I expect that to continue on Wednesday night. PREDICTION: Ohio Co by 12 Grayson vs Muhlenberg - This is the the matchup that probably has the highest upset potential. Muhlenberg beat Grayson by 16 way back in the 2nd game of the season. If Nofsinger struggles to shoot, the Stangs could be in trouble, but i dont expect that to happen 2 games in a row. The Mustangs have played a TOUGH regular season schedule and this should be the time that pays off. PREDICTION: Muhlenberg by 5 Owensboro Catholic vs Breckenridge County - The Aces come into this game as an overwhelming favorite, but keep your eye on this one. They have played down to competition at times this season and have periods where they struggle to score. Kobe Poole can score with the best of them. The Tigers will have to take care of the ball if they want to have any shot. I have to think that Tim Riley will do his best to take away things that Poole likes to do. PREDICTION: Owensboro Catholic by 10. 3rd Region Championship Prediction: Apollo over Owensboro Catholic - Ill go homer with the prediction and take the Eagles to win it all. I think the 9th district has been the best all season, and Apollo is battle tested. If they bring the same mentality to the Sportscenter as they brought in the district title game last week, they are going to be hard to beat. The Aces would have to defeat them for 5th time (2 by last second shots), and that will be a tough task. TOP PLAYERS TO WATCH AT THE SPORTSCENTER: 1. Will Nofsinger - Muhlenberg County (24ppg) - Nofsinger can score it better than anyone in the region. He is the type of player that can make everyone around him dangerous and that could be a recipe for an upset run to a regional title. 2. Aiden Matthews - Meade County (19.8 points/7.4 rebounds) - Matthews is the best player in the 3rd region that no one knows about. Playing in Meade County can sometimes do that to guys(being that its so far away from most region schools). Matthews can do it all and could be a big reason that Waves return to Rupp for the 2nd straight year. 3. Luke Hayden - Owensboro Catholic (11ppg) - While Hayden has admitiedly had a down season this year, he has also battled though very tough injuries. In the past 4 games he has gone over 20 points and looks to have a refreshed bounce to his step. If Catholic wins their 2nd regional title in 3 years, he will be a big big reason why. 4. Kobe Poole - Breck County (23.5ppg) - Poole knows how to score. Much like Nofsinger, when he gets going, he makes everyone around him better. He could be a key in pulling off a major first round upset vs Owensboro Catholic. 5. Nathan Boyle - Apollo (15.8ppg) - Boyle had a fantastic 9th district tournament and is probably one of the most underrated players in the region, by the fans at least. Coach Tim Riley called Boyle the best shooter in the region and a guy you must account for. Boyle has been attacking the rim a lot lately and has really improved his rebounding as well. 6. James Graham - Apollo - Graham has steadily improved his game throughout the season. Coming into the season he didnt have much of any varsity experience. He is a late bloomer who is blooming at the right time for Apollo. Graham is easily the best shot blocker in the region and protects the rim as well as anyone. 7 & 8. Logan Sandefur & John Parker - Ohio County - Both guys have a very similar game. Sandefur is probably a little better shooter and Parker is probably a little better down low, but both guys can beat you. They are a very good comination for Tony Hopper. 9.JD Marshall - Owensboro Catholic (12ppg/6rpg) - Marshall was the hero against Daviess County, with the go ahead rebound and putback with 1.5 seconds to go. Outside James Graham from Apollo, there really isnt a guy in the region who should be able to handle him on the block. 10. Chezney Weick - Meade County (10.6ppg/6rpg) - What I like about Weick is, he has been there before. He was a huge factor in last years regional title game. He is a scraper down low and can hit the mid range jumper. He should present some problems to teams with his physicality.

They really peaked in the middle of the season. Around mid-late January I honestly thought they were going to roll the entire region. It wasn’t until Apollo beat them in that last regular season district matchup that they looked beatable. It seemed like they peaked midseason but still looked like the best team by quite a bit to me. They just got caught up vs a rival who had nothing to lose and didn’t get any help from the officials either.

Going back 20-30 years I would just guess the best regular season team in the 3rd Region has probably advanced to Rupp around 40-50% of the time. And a lot of those would be caused by first round district upsets. It’s legit madness in the 3rd.

Na I was referring to the last shot of the game just before Boyle was fouled with 1.5. Shelton missed the FT, OHS got out in transition and still didn’t finish it.

Great game from start to finish. Back and forth first half with neither team pushing to over a 5 point lead. 2nd half opened all Daviess County. Jay Owen took over and powered the Panthers to an 11 point lead with just over a minute left in the 3rd. That’s when Tim Riley took over the game. He adjusted to a half court trapping defense and the Aces would eventually battle the game even late. DC had the ball with the game tied near the final minute and tried to hold for the last shot but they couldn’t handle Catholic’s ball pressure and turned it over. In turn, they allowed Catholic to hold the ball for the final shot which was missed by Gabe McFarland. JD Marshall was there for the offensive board and put it back in with the foul with 1.5 left. Marshall sank the FT and DC threw a long in bounds pass out of bounds to end it. Now for the 2nd year in a row, the #3 and #4 seeds will advance to the region. Hats off to Coach Riley on a great adjustment that completely changed the game.

Rough move for Apollo up to 6A. First thought for my area is that Owensboro went from a tough district to a cakewalk outside Graves. Ohio, Grayson and Muhlenberg are all running clock type games for them. No matter how you slice it, I just hate the watered down 6 class system. I liked it much better at 4 but would even be willing to meet in the middle with 5.

The charge called against Douglas vs Gray toward the end was absolutely not a charge. Should have been a no call IMO. I cant remember what point the game was at there but it was a rough call. I thought the moving screen they called on Creamer was pretty rough as well.

While the 10th and 11th districts weren't as tough to call, I was dead wrong in the 12th. I really felt like Trinity would use its home court advantage to roll into the Sportscenter, but Edmonson had their number all year. As for Grayson, nice win tonight over Butler County. They will be coming into the Sportscenter next week with some momentum.

Im going to be honest, I did not see this one coming. While I thought Apollo would make Owensboro sweat, I did not think they would get the win on the road. Owensboro seemed to tighten up a couple of times in the game and it cost them. The game wasn't officiated very well for the Devils either, but its hard to make that excuse when you have the chances OHS had in the final 90 seconds. I said before the game, its these types of Apollo teams that usually end up making a run to Rupp. The ones you don't see coming. They've got a long ways to go, but tonight was a big step in that direction.

Coming in Apollo was 12-14 with 10 losses coming by 4 points or less. Seems like they haven't got a ton of breaks this year. For some reason though, the seem to match up well against Owensboro. They came out and fell down 9-0 in the first couple of minutes and it looked like they were completely overmatched, but they settled in and made some adjustments and grinded it out. Owensboro had some rough calls in the game, IMO. Overall I felt like the game was pretty poorly officiated, with the Devils getting the short end of a lot of them. Even with that, they have the ball, up 4 with under 2 minutes and couldn't finish. They missed big FT's and a 2 footer that would have given them the lead back in the final seconds. Apollo simply made more plays in the last minute than Owensboro. Much like last season in the 3rd, the player of the year and the best team in the regular season are now 1 and done in the postseason.