tskelfly

With all this back and forth it seems every kid should want to come to Oldham County for education and oh by the way pretty good basketball programs across the boards. Looking forward to the games tonight and next week.

Fern Creek looked good in the second half. The quickness of Wales to penetrate opened up the corners for the three and in the third quarter FC started making those shots while South could not buy a basket the first 4 minutes. The second quarter South was able to limit FC tone shot and played the same type game that FC did in the second half - Griffin penetrating or pulling up for his shot or finding Young for the three. The athleticism of FC wore down South in second half and Griffin left all he had but some of the other shooters could not get away from their defenders to get an open look - Hoover and Franklin were marginalized for most of the game. I did not think FC was a good shooting team watching the first half but they came out the second half and changed that perspective. Very nice team. South can take away some positives and has some areas to work on as they move into a tough week with Collins, OC and SK games - all 8th Region contenders.

Congrats to Coach Reed on a great year with South Oldham. Program is moving forward each year and look forward to seeing where next year takes the Dragons.

That would be a good match up. If all holds true to form South, Fern Creek, Dixie heights and North should advance. I think Henry is still suspended for North Oldham. The athleticism of Fern Creek will bother the three shooters for South and maybe too much if South does not get clean looks.

South will admit that they live and die by the three and yes when they are hot they can play with most teams. Bad nights are going to be an "L" like last years AC game at AC and in the Elite 8 game last year in Rupp. The thing that makes them tough is they have so many options to go to find that hot hand - Franklin, Young, Hoover, Beyerly -to go along with Griffin and his 20 ppg. From what I have heard Penney had a good game but did not have much support. I am not sure the box score but putting Hicks on him - a longer player with some quickness - may have limited his production. Now we will see how South handles the upcoming matches with OC, Collins and SK. Going to be a fun year in the 8th.

AC at South Thursday will be interesting. AC needs to bounce back in the region from the Oldham loss and South needs to take advantage of some big games being played at home (AC, SK, North Oldham). If South can limit Penney to a good game and keep the tempo up and score in the 80s South may have too many shooters to defend.

The nice thing about South is from night to night you never know who will have the hot hand - Young, Franklin, Hoover - all capable of 20+ to go along with Joe Griffin's 20+, throw in Beyerly who can get hot from outside and the Freshman Morrison who has been money from the foul line and you have a tough task to game plan defensively. Will be interesting to see how they play defense against Penney on Thursday night.

South continues to push the tempo. They have a mentality of trading a 2 for a 3 and you look up and they have made a 6-10 point swing. The up tempo sets up their trapping defense and they get some easy buckets of the steals and at times will pass the easy 2 for a shot at the three to push the lead out even further. Griffin is looking very good and as improved his outside shooting to go along with his defense, rebounding and a really impressive mid-range game. That makes him a serious threat against anyone in the region. He will need to get some rest periods as the season goes on to keep him fresh for the tournaments. Between Hoover, Young, Franklin and the freshman Morrison South as options to find the hot hand to take any pressure off Griffin if a team tries to lock him down. Grant Co seems to be a better team than score suggest and missed lots of shots that would have made the game a little closer. If South finds some help for Beyerly on the inside defense they are going to be a very tough out come March. Interested to see what they do with SK and their size.

My comments were in no way meant to diminish the success of the program or the young men on the team. It was just an honest observation of an area that I feel can use improvement to get to the final price. My kids go to South and we are supporters of the entire athletic programs. I think most people on this site who comment on South Oldham football have been positive and your unwarranted response to one observation must have hit a nerve somewhere. I have been around football probably far longer than you having played on 3 state championship teams under Hall of Fame Coach Marshall Patterson and coached semi pro in Japan and high school in Alabama in my spare time I think I know something about football. Your insinuation that everyone on this site are just a bunch of good ole boys sitting in the local diner is far from accurate. I think the experience and intellect of the site is very insightful. Again I believe everyone has congratulated South on a record setting season for the program and for the team members and want to see the success continue into the future.

Yes South has some young talent but they have opted to try and win shoot outs the last few years and cannot always count on the offense to outscore the opponent. They have to relook their defensive philosophy and scheme if they hope to continue to drive deep into the playoffs. A great season for South no doubt and good luck to Pulaski against a power house BG.

I ws not at the game but if Cooper Cantrell was kicking than yes he is a senior. I think he will be playing soccer at the next level.

Joe Griffin looked good for South running the show. Not a pure point guard like Grant Williams from last years team but penetrates well and has a really good mid-range game. South was missing their best outside shooter but still managed to make quite a few threes. Their defense intensity at the end of each quarter is what really allowed them to win the quarters. Waiting for a few kids to finish up with football which will give them more depth off the bench. Male had lots of turnovers due to pressure defense. Played well when they got into an offensive scheme.

Interesting to see how each coach handles the game. Balance between getting/staying healthy, getting back ups ready with more playing time but also going into playoffs with positive momentum. May be more important for South to stay undefeated for the mental aspect to keep believing they are an elite team in 5A. A coach really has to understand the psyche of his team at this time of year.

I also think that Owen County may be better than most are giving them credit for

Do not overlook Devon Young from South. Depending on the role that Griffin plays may open up Young to be the big scorer this year

Boone will need to exploit the weaknesses in South defense - getting outside with speed and throwing the ball against the inside coverage. They will also need to put pressure on Zaubi to get him off rhythm. If south can establish the veer inside and open up the passing lanes for Drew then it will be a long night for Boone.

35-7 South. If North offense cannot sustain any drives to give heir defense a break the running game for South will wear them down and then it will open up more space for Zaubi to throw.

It has been a rough start for Gamsky at North and it gets worse next week with a game at South. Will the parent mafia allow him a few years to build his program? From the discussion this summer he might be one and done if the parents and administration follow suit.

Anderson scored on a couple of long passes due to a lack of discipline in the South secondary. AC was able to move the ball beer in second half with some underneath routes and some counter runs. AC guards were tipping off the pull and I am not sure if South picked up on it or not. South D line seemed tired in later stages since most were playing both ways - depth on line will be an issue for South. Zaubi had a sub par game missing open receivers and a bad read throwing into coverage for an interception. Running game looked good with a Freshman leading the way. Good to get the first win and allow coaches to take a good look at the film to make improvements going forward. I expect Zaubi to play much better going forward but defense will be the area that South will need to work on - pass coverage and closing down the 7 gap. Once the defense gets up to par with the offense South could be a threat again in 5A. A disturbing aspect was the unsportsmanlike penalties on AC especially a very late hit to the back of the legs of the starting Mike this after another late hit in the back. I understand youthful exuberance but those hits were way beyond playing hard and the hit on the Mike seemed like an intentional effort to hurt the kid. Lets hope I am wrong on that one.

The last few victories for AC over South the AC QB was able to exploit the weak LB pass coverage and throw the ball around the field. without the QB back, AC may not be able to attack South the same way so I expect South to take the opener at home.

Congrats on the new scoreboard. Take it from someone who messed it up during a South Oldham varsity game - get training and use a spotter to keep the substitutions right. Have fun!!

I failed to mention the kicking of Cooper Cantrell. Every kick off was a touchback and from the extra points it looks like his field goal distant will be easily 40-45 yards out giving South another weapon.

South looked good against an overmatched HC. Offense was very efficient running power and isolation from different sets. Passing was limited to short but effective routes - Zaubi had 3 TD hook ups and Lightfoot threw them down to the goal line. Offense played lot of younger players in back up roles providing depth in the skilled positions. O-line will need to stay healthy for them to reach their potential. Defense was solid but gave up the edge a few times. They will need to work on the motion on the edge to make sure they can get it set and turn the play back in. DBs were not tested but moved to the ball well. If defense can step up the speed it will be another good year for South. Next week against Anderson should be a god early test if Anderson was able to replace Gillis to throw the ball around the field.

Is KY Premier a sponsored or independent team? I am not sure if Kentucky has any UA sponsored programs or the And 1 sponsored league. It seems it would be good to get as much national exposure for the players from Kentucky. Is there any data on how many DII, DIII and NAIA scouts/coaches attend the non-sponsored tournaments like the Adidas Invitational in Indy or the Sate AAU? Curious to see if the money the families put out for non-sponsored teams are worth the exposure investment or just a good way to let their sons and daughters play the sport the enjoy.

What ever happened to playing high school sports for school pride and love of the game. We have turned KY high school basketball into an individual business. All this transferring from school to school to get better exposure and build super teams defeats the purpose of the joy you get rom beating your rival and feeling good about it the next day at school. I do not know how many of these kids could have any loyalty or pride in a school they just started at. Someone needs to reevaluate the transfer rules in this state. You live in a school district and if your family moves then great but to move around from relative to relative or getting someone to sponsor you seems a little too much. Coming from Alabama where high school football is a greater part of a community than basketball here, I never saw this type of action by kids. It was the exception if a player changed schools not the excepted norm. Kids took pride in playing for their schools even if they were not the super stars or even on a state champion contender. Lets get the AAU mentality out of high school basketball and get back to what high school sports should be - having fun, enjoying the game and having school spirit. The great players will shine in any situation. This is a naïve position I am sure but one I believe in. Sports becomes a business soon enough when the few get to the college level - lets don't let the business infiltrate the high school level.