hoops_fan

The matchup I'm dying to see is Simon Kenton vs Spencer County. I want to see the top two sophomores in the region go at it. Niece vs Conley. Niece being the best scorer in the region vs Conley who is an elite athletic defender and also a good scorer. Hopefully that will happen down the road.

Do they play each other?

Was this game ever close? What did Niece do? I keep hearing about Miller and Harding... anything on McGuire?

The game was never close. Newport controlled the game and outplayed SK from the tip.

Final

SK will likely win their own tournament. Smart move heading down to LexCath next week... should see some more challenges there.

South Laurel is a top 20 team

Will it be the same times for Saturday ?

I think games are 45 minutes earlier on Saturday

Final

SK struggked to get quality wins last year? Didn't they beat Cooper last year?

Cooper and Campbell Co

Edit

Thanks!! I must've mis-read the roster on KHSAA.org. SK didn't send me any info this year, which is kind of unusual...

 

 

CM

Great write up and looking forward to the season.

This is going to be a REALLY interesting year....I worked twice as hard on this preview as last year's....

- 15 coaches responded to my emails last year; only 11 did this year. That made it difficult to get a lot of the info I had last year. There's probably a few errors in my preview as a result. (But hey, wasn't it last year that the Cat's Pause did an entire 8th region preview with players included that had graduated??)

- part of the reason more did not respond was probably due to the fact they were new coaches, and ultra-busy trying to get their new teams in shape....

- the newness of several coaches also inserts a real element of uncertainty of what will happen with some teams.

- lots of the best players graduated. Don't get me wrong; lots of the best players graduate every year (seniors tend to be the better players overall, LOL), but it seems that a greater % of the best talent is gone. Could be my imagination; I didn't list all last year's top players and count the graduates or anything. We have some undeniably great underclassmen coming up - Niece, Conley, McKnight, Vail, Morrison, etc. - but youth also creates some uncertainties.

- Several teams are facing absolutely brutal December schedules; the rankings could - and probably will - swing greatly from pre-season to mid-season to the end of the season as these younger teams mature against top-flight opponents.

 

Top to bottom, is the 8th as good as last year? Not sure - yet. But I am quite certain that this will be a wildly entertaining season.

 

 

CM

Jon Hensley for SK is a junior

Is anybody there early watching for updates?

I hear Jon Sargent is back playing this year. If true he should definitely be starting.

I hadn’t heard that. If true then I would agree.

I liked it better when the 32nd District teams would play each other twice.

I agree. Why don’t they?

This year's roster hasn't been posted yet, and without knowing for certain who all will still be suiting up, here are the Sophomores and Juniors from last season's team....

 

Blaine Walters G, Sr

Josh Baker F, G - Sr

Jaidon David G - Sr

Caleb Hampton F, G - Sr

Ty Houston G - Sr

Kameron Moore F, G - Sr

Alex Oilier G - Sr

 

Kevin Centers G - Jr

Zac Jennings F - Jr

Jacob Liechty G - Jr

Gavin Pearson G, - Jr

Jaxon Rollins G, Jr

Michael Spencer F, Jr

 

It's also safe to say that there will be handful of new Sophomores this year from last season's Freshman team filling out the squad.

 

This is so incomplete and speculative at best, but hopefully helpful to some degree as a starting point.

Did Michael Spencer hold back at some point? He was a Sophomore at Cov Cath 2 years ago right?

Scott went 4-0 this week

Not surprised there. Scott should have a good team.

Any results or standouts?

I guess will find out next season!

I am a SK fan so barking up the wrong tree.

I just don’t see the point of your argument.

SK didn’t do anything in the 8th region either, WV beat them twice. Hard to really argue that. This is for next year.

WV will be taller than last year, SK will be shorter.

I am thinking 6'10 Miles would have scored more than 7.1 ppg if he had played for Walton-Verona the whole season. I would think he should be a favorite for player of the year next year in the 8th, hopefully his rehab is coming along nicely and he hits the floor soon.

I agree on both points.

With their losses will they have the guard play to facilitate to him as a big man?

There were a lot of standout seniors in the region this year. It doesn’t necessarily mean a down year for the region, just new players stepping up across the board.

Anybody have any commentary on the game besides Coach Jones doing a good job? What strategies did he employ for the win? Was SK in foul trouble etc.?

 

Saw this score this morning and was bewildered. SK in region now for something like 15 years and still hasn't won a region. So much for the easier path to Sweet 16 after getting moved to the 8th.

Shift really happened in the 3rd with 3 SK starters had 3 fouls each. That is with GC took the most advantage and gained a lead. 3 starts in foul trouble and without Robinson. GC took full advantage.

Great defensive game by both teams. Clinkenbeard did a great job on Kelch in the post.

It was a defensive game, the refs let them play and neither team backed down. Hard fought game by both sides. Good luck to both in regionals.

But Stanley ended up with the two that made the difference!

Definitely game up big when it counted