Cardsrule1972

So, is he done with basketball or where will he resurface next year?

I would guess he's not done. He plays on the Louisville Prospects AAU team and I know he is still playing with them this spring.

Barring a rout, I find December games to have minimal bearing on tournament prospects, particularly when the December game in question is the third game of the season and is decided by 3 points. Having seen North and Spencer play several times since they played in December, there is no way to use the December game as a barometer. North, in particular, is a much different team now. And yes, having seen both teams multiple times since that game, I do think North is better than Spencer. Just my opinion.

 

But "better" is based on a mythical series of games. If the two played a 7 game series, I'd give it to North. But any tournament meeting won't be a series; it's a one-and-done proposition. I definitely could see Spencer knocking off North in a tournament game and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

 

I won't argue with anyone's rankings. After all, they're just opinions - and frankly, even after the region tournament is over, many of us will be convinced that the best team didn't necessarily win. In a one-and-done environment, the reality is that the best team DOESN'T always win. Bottom-line, we can all go home at the end of the season convinced we are right and nobody can convince us otherwise...LOL.

 

And I think you may be overlooking one of the region's hottest teams, Grant County. Winners of 8 of 9 and possessing a potent offense, the Braves have earned the 32nd district's #1 seed... Not to mention Woodford County, which is a dramatically different team if Hunter Penn is back. Remember, the Jackets did something that South Oldham, Spencer County, North Oldham, Collins, Grant County, and Simon Kenton couldn't do - beat Oldham.

 

Rankings are for fun.

 

Although I maintain veto authority, and the final rankings stated above are my own, I do get input weekly from a couple of unnamed individuals who have seen most of the games I've seen. And I've been able to see a lot of key region matchups plus a number of games against good out of region teams this year. These games have really helped me to develop comparisons, not just the simple review of scores / stats.

 

- Oldham County vs. South Oldham

- Oldham County vs. North Oldham

- Oldham County vs. Spencer County

- Oldham County vs. Collins

- North Oldham vs. Spencer County

- Spencer County vs. St. X

- Spencer County vs. Warren Central

- Spencer County vs. Holmes

- Collins vs. South Oldham

- Collins vs. Simon Kenton

- Simon Kenton vs. Fern Creek

- Simon Kenton vs. Oldham County

- Grant County vs. South Oldham

- South Oldham vs. DeSales

- South Oldham vs. Warren Central

- Henry County vs. North Oldham

- Henry County vs. Collegiate

- Oldham County vs. Walton-Verona

- North Oldham vs. Anderson County

- South Oldham vs. Woodford County

- North Oldham vs. Woodford County

- Spencer County vs. Bowling Green

- South Oldham vs. Waggener

- North Oldham vs. Moore

- Oldham County vs. Beechwood

 

I do think Oldham County has clearly established themselves as the team to beat - but I also think there's enough talent in the region that Oldham better put together a very focused effort or they will get upset. There's plenty of hungry talent in the region to pull it off.

ColMike, I will have to respectfully disagree with you on your assessment of North Oldham and Spencer County. I feel the opposite in a series I think Spencer County wins that every time. Your talking about how they are playing at the moment. North Oldham beat a 8-17 Central team by two last night. In pressure big games Spencer County usually shows up. Now Spencer does play down to the level of competition as they showed last night against Shelby even without Conley. But like you said it's o.k. to have differences of opinion LOL. Also, have you found out if Caleb Hawley has left the Collins team? I know a little bit about that situation but wasn't sure if it was for sure.

Would you say Hawley’s absence had any impact on the game tonight? I know he hasn’t been scoring a lot, but he’s one of the biggest bodies for Collins and could have helped a bit against Oldham’s size. At a minimum he could have taken a foul or two from McKnight and Vail and kept them in the game longer.

I'm surprised Hawley stayed at Collins as long as he did. That kid has some real talent and like you said is 6ft5. I know about the situation a little and he deserved better than the way he was treated by Gaither.

Looks like Oldham is the team to beat going into tournament.

Cardsrule, who played good for both teams tonight

Mabrey probably had 30 and Whitlock had close to 20 for Spencer. Austin Griffen had a nice game for Shelby. Spencer County gave up a ton of layups on the inside. Not sure the name of the kid that had those inside baskets. Haven't seen box score yet.

It didn't effect seeding either way. Conley's been banged up. Giving him some rest.

Conley didn't play. They rested him but make no mistake Spencer County didn't respect their opponent tonight. Brutal game. Lucky to get the win.

The recent play of Tyson Turner tells me that Collins wins this by 10. I believe Turner had 28 last game?

Tonight's Collins-Oldham County game will solidify the rankings going into districts. Both teams should win out after tonight's game, so the winner should finish the season #1, loser #2. South Oldham and Spencer County should win out from here, so I think the regular season ends with South Oldham in #3 and Spencer in #4. Simon Kenton could pick up a loss as its season wraps up; North Oldham could pick up a couple.

 

Looking at the Spencer County and North Oldham comparison, their common opponent record (with no Powell for North) is about even. Both lost to Oldham County by similar amounts. Both beat Anderson County (North Oldham by 42; Spencer by 3 in 2OT). Spencer beat Woodford County; North Oldham lost to Woodford (not sure if Penn played in either of those games). Spencer lost to South Oldham; North beat South Oldham.

 

Simon Kenton does not play Spencer County or North Oldham this year.

Spencer County is just coming out of several weeks of poor play. I'm just saying head to head when they played North Oldham earlier in the year it was dead even and that was when Powell was playing. I don't know how you can eliminate their best player and still think that North Oldham is better. I'm not going by common opponents and how they did because that doesn't always tell the full story. Some teams matchup better against certain teams. Anyway, Tyson Turner's play of late makes Collins the favorite in my eyes. Tonight will be interesting.

As things wind down this would be my top 6 heading into the end of the year.

1.Collins

2.Oldham County

3.South Oldham

4.Spencer County

5.Simon Kenton

6.North Oldham

In that order. Collins gets the nod over Oldham because of the emergence of Turner.

It's all about match ups. I think Spencer County is a tough matchup for Simon Kenton and Spencer County had a chance to tie North Oldham at the buzzer with a missed three. That was at North Oldham when they had Powell. I just don't see how North Oldham can be ranked above Spencer County without Powell.

Taking everything into consideration that's how I see it.

Mabry’s only points of the game?! Game winner?! Wow!

Honestly, with so few possessions there wasn't going to be alot of points scored.

Spencer County Scoring:

Sam Conley 15

Jake Whitlock 15

Lucas Hornback 7

Bryce Roark 5

Jason Nichols 4

Gage Mabrey 3 (game winner)

What's the seeding in the 30th? With 5 teams I would assume MLC gets the first round bye.

Collins is the one seed.

Spencer is the two.

Woodford is the three.

Anderson is the four.

Shelby is the five.

Anderson and Shelby winner will play Collins while Spencer and Woodford will play the other semifinal.

So now Spencer will play Woodford in first round of districts?

If they beat Shelby County. That game will be up for grabs too. Woodford will have a key starter back. Would rather play them than Collins though.

Anderson doesn’t hold the ball. They are just patient and work for their best shot. May make 10-15 passes to break down a defense, even man to man.

 

This was an intense game, well played by both teams. Whitlock was clutch for Spencer. I was surprised that towards end of the third, Spencer had momentum and tempo in their favor and chose to slow the game down.

You are correct they just keep running that offense. It seems like forever. I was impressed to see high school level kids able to stay that focused under intense pressure.

A simple man to man defense would keep a team from holding the ball...

I guess it's not that simple considering Anderson took two of the better teams in the region down the wire. When two teams are basically playing for their playoff lives you can throw everything out the window. I give Anderson County huge props. They did everything they could to win that game and Spencer had to give everything to win. Really nothing negative to say. It was a great game.

Oddly enough I did too. Saying crazy things doesn’t make them true.

I'll try to post play on here tomorrow if I can figure it out. We'll let people decide. I try not to say too many crazy things. LOL.

Gotta love the zone defense vs a hold the ball offense. This is why a shot clock would be great.

Man, that style is not fun to watch. That coach does an excellent job with what he has. It works for them. Collins better not get down by much when they play. It could be some serious pressure.

I know you’re a Dad and fan but if the roles were reversed I would say it was a foul. That’s an easy one.

Actually have friends from Anderson and they agreed probably a no call. No contact whatsoever. Just watched it again.

One of the better played high school games I've seen. Intensity level off the charts. Both teams knew what was at stake, playing Collins in first round of district tournament. Collins will have their hands full with the District Tournament being played at Anderson County.

Spencer played from a few down most of the game. Anderson County just held the ball which works very well for them. The third quarter was where Spencer finally got lead with 8 straight points by Whitlock. First overtime Spencer had first possession and missed then Anderson ran the last four minutes down and took last second three

Second overtime Spencer got down 6 and then came storming back. At 1.2 seconds Spencer threw ball in to Mabrey who stroked a 3 at buzzer. Spencer won by 3.

Spencer County hits three at buzzer by Mabrey to win. Hell of a game.

Tied up one minute

This game is insane. Haymaker after haymaker. Anderson up one with 1:32. Loser knows they got to play Collins. Atmosphere is great.

37-37

Double overtime.