coachlee

Kunkel can impact the game from the guard position as much as Baker. It will be a tough time for Meade County because the game plan will be shutting down Baker who is very good. Cooper can play D and will not let Baker go unchecked. I predict Baker will have a good game, but he has not faced a defense like Cooper's in any recent 3rd Region games.

CJ is a great player and one game does not define a college coach's opinion of whether to keep recruiting or begin recruiting. They are going to actually want to watch a game where you are not effective (either injury related or not which is really not material anyway) to see how you react emotionally or what you do in other aspects of the game. He will be watched many times over and I am sure will continue to draw attention as he has been. If an injury caused it or not, the key factor of the victory is Cooper's play. Injuries are part of the game and I do not feel anyone is suggesting that the victory was due to a possible concussion sustained sometime in the game, but that does not change Cooper was the best team that night. Adam Kunkel in his own right established that he too can be a highly recruited guard from NKY.

Great info, love it when a mystery is unraveled.

Tony is a smart guy, you don't make announcements (public or private) if you are being hired to a "lucrative" position. You allow the program hiring you to be the first to make a public announcement. That is why so many coaches at all levels shoot down rumors only to move in the direction of the rumor shortly after the denial.

Wales has been a verbal commit to Samford since last summer. The matchup in round 1 with him and Shorty Cager will be a good one. Cager won round 1 in the New Year's Bash at Muhlenberg County with an unbelievable performance. He was on fire and Wales although solid was outplayed that day. It will be a key factor in the outcome of that tough game for both teams.

6th Region Coach of the Year- KC Goodin. KC is a really good coach, but Butler was anything but special this year. I know I may have some bias, but how could anyone beat out James Schooler at Fern Creek in the 6th? 28-2 in regular season and 33-2 now with the first ever trip to State after existing since the 1920's. First Regional Final since 1984 so it is not like this was a traditional powerhouse program. Not putting KC down with this post as he is very deserving, but isn't Coach Schooler more deserving in this special season for that program?

CVH was a mainstay for the past 4 seasons in KY basketball. Great player and always left it out on the floor. Glad to hear he played well in his final HS game. He deserved to walk out like that, but I know he would have traded it for another trip to Rupp. True team guy!

You know the team much better than I, but Aiden and AJ are not 7 footers. There should be nobody who impacts the game like a 7 footer, especially in KY where that kind of size is rare.

AK plays with no fear, you can't help but not cheer for a young man like that. Glad to see Cooper make it for the first time, love to see that happen.

It is for everyone except Cooper. The thing about sports is that when the season ends, you can always look forward to next year. Adam Kunkel will be back next year and of course CJ & Jake will be returning for CCH. Those 3 seem to be the top of the pack returning.

7 PM Tuesday @ Valley HS This is a contrast of fortunes....Doss is working on 3 Region Championships in a row while Fern Creek has never been to a 6th Region Championship game. They last played in a Regional Championship in 1983 while a member of the 7th Region and have never made it to the Sweet 16. They met in early December in a physical game at Doss which Fern Creek won by 13. Doss has a 22-10 overall record and 11-3 in regional play. Fern Creek is 32-2 overall and 15-0 in 6th Region competition. KABC POY in 6th Region was Jaylon Hall. CJ 6th Region POY was Chance Moore, both seniors. Other 1st team All-6th Region players include Anthony Wales & Ahmad Price. Stephon Franklin was All-6th Region 2nd team. Doss dispatched Iroquois, DeSales, Jeffersontown & PRP on the road to the finals. Fern Creek beat Whitefield Academy, Jeffersontown, DeSales, and Valley. The records can be thrown out of this game and just know that Doss may not be favored, but they are the back to back champions of the 6th. Fern Creek will have to take this game, it will not be handed over easily. Whoever wins this battle, they will be tested for state tournament play. Winning the 6th in 2017 will not be easy for either team.

It was weird for both teams, obviously the advantage went to FC to gain an early cushion, but as youngsters they found themselves in an unexpected situation as well which threw them off a bit too. Nobody is mentioning that Coach Schooler opted to take two starters out of the game (1 the leading scorer) to teach a life lesson. Not many coaches are going to do that in a game where the season is riding on it. It was not a off court incident or anything bad either of these kids did, but rather an attitude they displayed the previous game while on the bench. Moore sat until midway through the 2nd quarter so that impact was equally felt. Valley brought it back to 3 before FC had a strong finish to the half. It was actually about 4 minutes left in the game that FC led by 19 and simply played to run out the clock which Valley capitalized on with a big closing run. Kudos to valley for not quitting when they could have and kudos to FC to overcoming their adversity that served a life lesson for two young men that came with some risk for the coach.

Fern Creek had four in double figures again...Anthony Wales 17, Ahmad Price 14, Clint Wickliffe 14, & Tony Rogers 12. Fern Creek had a 18 point lead with 2:30 to go and Valley made one last furious comeback getting it below 10 before they ran out of time.

If I am not mistaken Jaxon Burgess was the leading scorer in the 6th region at about 19 PPG, so he is really good. Last night he was on another level playing like his HS career was on the line. He had 27 so he was +8 above his average for the night. Fern Creek's leading scorer, Chance Moore, who averages 17 had an off scoring night with only 6 so he was a -11. This was a 20 point swing when the respective leading scorers were either really on or the other just had one of those nights. DeSales has a class program and that team came out ready to play. FC initially did not have that edge defensively and when they realized that DeSales came ready to win they had to turn it around which to their credit they did. It was a great game for the fans, very exciting.

DeSales came out on fire, Jaxon Burgess in particular as he scored 15 in 1st half. Fern Creek came back to take a 1 point lead at half. 2nd half Fern Creek got the lead into double digits but had to finish it out by making free throws to win by 14. Jaxon Burgess finished his career with DeSales by scoring 27. Great effort by Jaxon. Fern Creek Junior Class put 4 in double figures with Clint Wickliffe leading with 17. Anthony Wales had 15, Ahmad Price & Tony Rogers with 14 each. Junior PG Anthony Wales crossed the 1,000 point mark with his 15. Not an easy task playing in the 6th or 7th region where few get early playing time at the better public schools. Ahmad Price is closing in as well.

The 6th region has had many say that the depth of good teams this year has made it one of the best regions in all the state this year. When teams like Bullitt East, Butler, Fairdale, and even Iroquois fail to make the regional championships it highlights just how good the Top 10-12 teams really are. All of those aforementioned teams have good victories this past season, but failed to punch their ticket to the 6th regionals. But 8 did and here is the preview for each. All 1st seeds receive the advantage of home games and playing two seeds. In order of the draw: Valley at Southern- Southern has been on a roll in the end of the season and Valley has briefly struggled. Southern has not played the toughest of schedules, but that has been the knock on Valley also. It is a great match-up and of all the one seeds, this has the potential for a two seed advancing. The winner plays Fern Creek/DeSales winner on Friday at 6 out in the Valley gym where all semi-finals & finals for both the 6th & 7th are held. Will Valley make it back to their home gym, the prediction here is they will. DeSales at Fern Creek- On paper the Tigers should advance as they are the highest ranked team with only 2 losses on the season. They play at home where they are very good in the win column the past several seasons. But this is playoffs and records are thrown out. DeSales will be coming to advance, and the coaching staff will be prepared. However, Fern Creek does have some revenge going into the game as they were put out of the Regionals two years ago by DeSales when some of their leading players were finishing their freshmen campaign. Prediction here goes with Fern Creek to move on to the semi-finals. Jeffersontown at Doss-- To state the obvious is to acknowledge the back to back defending champions of the 6th make Doss a very solid choice to repeat. They are tourney experienced and in their first game they face a team that has not been to the regional event in several years. Could JTown pull off the upset? This is a game that could come down to the wire, but the prediction here is Doss will advance to play the PRP/Moore winner on Friday at 7:30. Moore at PRP- PRP has the advantage of not only playing at home, but they have the experience edge with their coaching staff being very accomplished in post season play. Moore won their district last year and lost to Fern Creek at home. Can they turn this 2 seed pairing with PRP into an upset to advance to play again on Friday? The prediction is that PRP moves on for another rematch with Doss. Semi-Final Predictions Valley vs Fern Creek- Winner Fern Creek Doss vs PRP- Winner Doss

This is very true, and the thing about the 6th in particular this season is it is not senior dominated. Many teams have a nucleus of younger players that contribute. Add in the fact that the 6th traditionally has many athletic teams & players. It is not like all the athletes are at Fern Creek. In basketball when teams are matched athletically then usually the team with the best basketball talent wins. But in any single game if the better team has trouble getting shots to fall and the underdog has shots falling then anything can happen.

6 in double figures for the Tigers...Tony Rogers 16, Ahmad Price 15, Anthony Wales 12, Chance Moore 11, Smooth Jones 10, & Darion Childress 10.

Final Not much in doubt from the tip as the Tigers had 4 in double figures. Chance Moore led with 21 followed by Anthony Wales 14, Clint Wickliffe 14, and Ahmad Price 11. Bullitt East is playing JTown in later game which should turn into a championship game with BE and FC on Friday.

The regular season is completed and now the real fun starts. Teams are all 0-0 and elimination games can cause teams to fight like their season is on the line which it is except for District Championship games. This upcoming week is District week in the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, & 24th where host schools like Fairdale, DeSales, North Bullitt, & Bullitt East all are hoping they will be able to leverage their home courts to advance to the Regionals which are held at Valley High School for both the 6th & 7th Regions. After an undefeated regular season Fern Creek is getting most of the attention as the likely favorite to advance on to Rupp, but first they must likely face Bullitt East in what should be a great 24th District Championship game. In the rankings this week the teams 1-4 will be my picks for winning their Districts and teams 5-8 will be my picks to also advance as their districts runner-ups. This week rankings.... 1) Fern Creek (28-2)- It has been a long time since Fern Creek entered the Post-Season with a favorite tag, but they do so in 2017. There are so many weapons and the way they share the ball when they are playing well is a simple but effective measure of utilizing the deep bench they possess. First they must get past Bullitt East in the 24th district championship and that is no easy task when BE is playing at home and playing well. 2-4) Other projected District Winners are Doss (18-10) in the 22nd, Valley (20-7) in the 21st, & Moore (19-10) in the 23rd. Let us not forget that Doss is the back to back champion in the 6th that whoever wins must go through. Doss will not go away quietly, they will be ready to compete and it starts by winning the 22nd. Valley went undefeated in district play but will need to get by PRP in the 21st and Fairdale as the host school may have something to say about it as well. Moore is listed here not because they are a Top 4 team, but they should win their district due to the 23rd simply not being very strong. 5-8) Bullitt East (20-8) in the 24th, PRP (15-10) in the 21st, & DeSales (17-11) in the 22nd, and Southern (15-12) in the 23rd. Bullitt East would be in the 2 or 3 spot in the rankings, but since they are in the 24th with Fern Creek they sit atop of the expected #2 seeds. PRP may be able to knock off the Vikings in the 21st District final, but first they have a tough game against a strong finishing Fairdale who is the host for the 21st district games. PRP gets the nod here, but don't be surprised if Fairdale pulls the upset. DeSales and Butler meet to see who gets to be play Doss in the 22nd championship game. Butler could win that game, but DeSales being the host school should win and then will try to do the same to Doss. Southern should meet Moore for the final game in the 23rd and could pull off the upset to be the 4th #1 seed based on Moore's final game where they lost badly to Fern Creek. Best of the Rest capable of an upset 9) Butler (16-11) 10) Fairdale (13-16) 11) Iroquois (14-16) Likely have a single game left 12) Western (9-14) 13) Jeffersontown (9-18) 14) Holy Cross (14-14) 15) Bullitt Central (9-17) 16) North Bullitt (7-22) 17) Beth Haven (12-15) 18) Whitefield Academy (6-19) 19) Evangel Christian (6-21)

Adam is with Zack up in NKY with the 22 Vision & JJ Reed with Team Ramey also on the Adidas Gold Circuit. I have not heard about any others finalizing a decision.

If fortunate to make it, it would also be Fern Creek's first trip.

Final 3 Tigers in double figures in the blow out. Anthony Wales with 29, Chance Moore with 16, and Ahmad Price with 11. Tigers finish the season at 28-2 and 11-0 in the 6th region games.

I believe the key is Reed, if he gets rolling he is very capable of being a difference maker with his size & speed. It will help getting to Rupp, but Reed has played in the Spring and Summer in front of many college coaches with many showing significant interest. He has much upside that has not been realized. Coaches like that potential.

Agree, it was something that came out of the locker room but needs to stay there till season end.