coachlee

Junior 2018 grad

Yes, Zan Payne is KP's son. He plays with a tremendous motor. Great young man and teammate also.

Great win indeed, Adam Kunkel is making a name for himself and this weekend was a great example of his ability.

Wanted to see opinions on what teams anybody has seen that are getting a dominant advantage out of their post players. I have seen dozens of games and for me it has been Covington Cath with 7 footer Jake Walters who fits the traditional big man role. But I like even more the production that Ballard is getting out of Clivonte Patterson. Ballard lacks size and has the 6'3" Patterson playing the post even though he does not fit the mold of a center or post player. He seems to have embraced the role. Clivonte is scoring many of his points near the basket and his relentless rebounding is making him a double double machine. Who you got?

Congrats Mickey, bright future for the young man with his size and shooting ability. Great to hear he is also a gentlemen off the court, love to see that as it is more important than what happens on.

Good analysis of the game. It was my first time watching South Oldham and I came away very impressed. I was surprised Fern Creek got up by 20 with about 2:00 minutes to go, but when they play like they did in the 2nd half they are very tough. They actually have 3-4 outside shooters who can hit the three ball quite regular. The difference is their ability with multiple players to score at all three levels. Few teams have that many players capable of not just hitting threes, but can drive or also hit mid-range shots. When they defend and rebound as they did in the 2nd half they become a very tough team. Griffin became one of my favorite players. He was somebody I had heard about, but he exceeded my expectations. I really like him and Young, but did feel the length and athletic bodies bothered the rest of the South Oldham team as you pointed out.

Official stats were Fern Creek- Wales 21, Price 13, Moore 11, Rogers 10 & a fifth reached double digits in Wickliffe with 10 also. South Oldham- Griffin 28 & Young 21 Fern Creek Tigers shared the ball very well in second half with 15 assists in that half alone and after being outrebounded 17-13 in first half, they ended up winning the rebound total 36-28 per Courier Journal.

Fern Creek had 4 in double figures. PG Anthony Wales led with 21, Tony Rogers 13, Ahmad Price 12, and Chance Moore with 11. I believe the only 2 in double figures for South Oldham were their big 2, Joe Griffin with 27 and Devin Young with 24. Those are not official. South Oldham was up 2 at half, but in the 3rd quarter Fern Creek took command with a 10 point lead going into the 4th. With a few minutes to go in the 4th FC was up 20 and emptied the bench. Wales was a difference maker in the 2nd half run and Moore came alive after only scoring two FTs in the 1st half. Griffin can shoot the lights out for South Oldham.

I was expecting to see more of an impact from Meyer so that could explain his off game. I know FC was not expecting to have Price play as he was very ill and missed previous day game, but after a slow first half he came on in the 2nd half. FC's PG Wales was in foul trouble early in the 1st half and again in 2nd half so his time was also limited compared to most games. DH did a good job dictating the pace and hitting shots, but in the 2nd half FC seemed to hit their stride and pull away.

Kunkel is one of the best in 2018 class, he plays with a great deal of confidence and simply is a great scorer. It is hard to stop a kid that can score from anywhere on the court. Nice win for Cooper with their other top player injured.

Final DH led at half by 3 in what was a bit of a surprise. Fern Creek led by Rogers 13 and Price & Moore with 12.

Fern Creek was without the services of Ahmad Price who will miss tomorrow as well with the doctor saying he should be able to go on Thursday. Just under the weather with an infection. Anthony Wales led with 20 and Chance Moore added 16. KCD had strong performances by the Mathis cousins with 21 from the elder JR and 18 by Solomon.

Agree, in a small state like KY where there is a small dose of elite players compared to other states both nearby & afar, the margin of error is so small. If you cannot pull all the elite players it becomes even more challenging. Most states have multiple teams across the shoe circuits, but those states are so much more dispersed with high major talent and they also have size that is missing from a small rural state like KY.

Unless you battle week in and week out in the EYBL, you really have no clue how competitive you need to be to do what was done those first two years. It helped to have some good big men during that time in Ray Spalding, Drew McDonald, and Justin Johnson who all are playing well at the next level. The talent of the big men and depth with size is what separates EYBL programs. You have to be able to match that and in KY we typically lack an abundance of bigs. Factually you are a bit off...3rd year team was 3-13 for a .187 winning percentage and last year the 16U team was 2-7 in EYBL tournaments for a .222 winning percentage. Neither were obviously competitive enough, but the 16U team last year played 7 EYBL teams that made the 16U Peach Jam and only lost one game by double digits. They were the best 16U team in KY and as an example finished 2nd at the prestigious Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions only losing in the finals to another EYBL team, E1T1. But in the EYBL it was different and the competition does bring a benefit even if the record does not show it. The kids who go through that and were coached by the Travelers staff produce on the court either in High School or in College. Their track record with kids playing in that program is outstanding because those young men have faced the best and step their game up as they pass through. Hats off to Coach Mahorn and his staff, they have nothing to hang their heads about, they improved players every step of the way.

I don't disagree with what you are saying, but there is a bigger problem if a kid is going on BGP to see what people are saying about them. The worst thing a player can do is follow the sport boards to see what is being said about them. They should never in my opinion be on these type boards. This is for fans and they do sometimes post in appropriate comments, but players should stay off a board as it provides zero value.

Fern Creek could make a case for toughest schedule with only a single loss to #1 Trinity...they have played- #1 Trinity (twice with a split) #5 Christian County #6 Ballard #11 Doss #15 Franklin-Simpson 6 out of their first 10 games have been against Top 15 ranked teams with an early January game also scheduled against Hopkinsville.

It is hard to score 67 when you scrimmage your JV team. Way to go Peyton, great performance.

Agree to an extent as I do believe they are a great shooting team...but who is their best win??? Anderson County perhaps, but they have not played an extremely challenging schedule to date. To be in the Top 10 I believe you need to beat teams in or near the Top 10. Next week they will be in their Holiday Tournament that has Fern Creek participating which would give them a match-up of a team in the Top 10 so we shall see soon if they play each other.

Appreciate that Rr....this was a tough week to actually rank the teams because of so many unique results which in some cases are contradicting. I feel it shows that the challenge coaching HS age kids is getting consistency from your team. The team that can do that with the most amount of talent should come out on top obviously. It is way too early to suggest Fern Creek can sustain the clear leader role for the entire season, but they passed the test so far. The first week in January they play both Butler and Bullitt East which are tough 6th region tests. I agree with HoopJunkie on his comments about the Top 5, but #6 & #7 DeSales & PRP are very capable of putting a solid run together to challenge for the top. Even Jtown & Moore could surprise people and make a run. I believe those 9 are a cut above the rest and form a deep 6th region that may be the strongest in the state in terms of their best 7 teams. If PRP is indeed the 7th best team, not many regions can match their 7th best team with PRP.

Week 3 is a bit late to press to capture the final games of some of the tournaments held recently. No 6th region team remains undefeated, but Fern Creek still remains on top after an impressive showing at the KOB. Valley moves up to the #2 ranking after continuing their winning ways. 1) Fern Creek (9-1)- The Tigers were the only team in the 6th yet to lose when the week started, but the Tigers went 4-1 with their lone loss to Trinity who avenged losing to Fern Creek a week earlier. After beating Male before the KOB, the Tigers went 3-1 with wins over highly ranked teams Christian County, Franklin-Simpson, and Ballard in addition to the 3 point loss to Trinity. Moore, Wales, and Price all led the team in scoring during different games this past week. It is hard to prepare for the Tigers when they have multiple weapons. 2) Valley (7-1)- The Vikings jumped ahead of Butler after wins over Holy Cross and Iroquois. The Iroquois game was much closer for the Vikings than what was expected as they won 80-77, but Iroquois is much better this season. The Vikings also get scoring from multiple sources including George, Wilson, & Lewis to name a few. 3) Butler (7-2)- Butler started out winning 5 in a row before losing two straight and now has turned it around with two additional wins over Bardstown and an AL team. Butler does have a 4 point loss to Doss that makes it hard to have them ranked higher than Doss, but their body of work is worthy. Marcus Montgomery leads the team in scoring. 4) Doss (5-4)- Despite 4 losses, the Doss team has only a single 6th region loss and that is to Fern Creek. They have wins over Butler, Southern, and Western. The other 3 losses were to good teams, Lexington Catholic, Bowling Green, and Christian County. Stephon Franklin and Jaylon Hall lead in scoring. 5) Bullitt East (7-3)- The BE team started slow, but they have quietly won 5 in a row starting with a win at PRP. The last three victories are over Waggener, Lafayette, and DeSales. The win over DeSales was 81-54 and with that convincing win the Chargers deserve to be back in the Top 5. Jared Osborne, Connor Green, and Luke Ezell lead in scoring for the Chargers. 6) DeSales (7-2)- DeSales was poised to be much higher ranked until they dropped their last game against Bullitt East by a score of 81-54. That loss and the margin is hard to overlook even though DeSales had won 6 games in a row before that loss. Jaxon Burgess and Austin Black lead the Colts in scoring. 7) PRP (4-3)- The Panthers started out 3-0 before losing 3 in a row to Butler, Bullitt East, and Central before winning against a GA team in a TN Holiday event. The Panthers have Gerald Gray back in action the last two games who should help the team get back on the winning track. 8) Jeffersontown (5-3)- The Chargers stay in the 8th spot after going 2-1 this past week. They lost to Spencer County and beat Newport in their most recent game. 9) Moore (5-3)- Moore started out slow losing their first 3 games, but have since won 5 games in a row. They have a 1-1 6th region record, so the Mustangs are not well tested so far. Antwan Hurt and Ramon Collins lead the Mustangs in scoring. 10) Western (3-4)- Western cannot rise after getting beat by 20 by DeSales. Those are the type games Western must win and they simply fail to do so often. They did beat Louisville Collegiate before losing to Rockcastle County. 11) Fairdale (4-5)- Fairdale could rise when they benefit from the tough teams they lost to this week at the KOB where they are the host school. They lost to Cooper, North Hardin, and Franklin-Simpson. 12) Holy Cross (5-3)- 3 wins in a row after losing to Valley. Valley game was 54-68 and they rebounded with win over North Bullitt. 13) Iroquois (3-6)- 2 wins in a row before dropping three but their games are so much more competitive than last season. They came within 3 of upsetting #2 Valley 77-80. 14) Southern (3-4)- After losing their first 4, Southern has won 3 straight including a win over Bullitt Central 106-67 15) North Bullitt (3-6)- 4 losses in a row after their victory over rival Bullitt Central 59-41. 16) Bullitt Central (4-5)- After 5 consecutive losses they have won 3 in a row against lesser competition, including a win over Beth Haven 70-57. 17) Beth Haven (6-3)- Only region win is against Evangel Christian. 18) Evangel Christian (3-5)- Looking for a 6th region win. January 12th is the game versus Whitefield Academy that may determine who stays out of last place. 19) Whitefield Academy (1-4)- Like Evangel, their only 6th region win may be when they play on January 12th.

Final per KOB website Interesting battle between two coaches with a great deal of respect for each other. I know Coach Schooler views Coach Renner as a mentor. Lot's of emotion when student versus teacher takes place on the sideline. Not sure on Ballard final stats, but FC had three in double figures...Price had 32, Moore 21, and Wales 15. Price & Moore each had 10+ rebounds as well. Good showing at the KOB for Fern Creek with wins over Christian County, Franklin-Simpson, and Ballard with only a 3 point loss to what could be eventual champion Trinity.

Not many can put their head down and go to the rim like he does and Fern Creek could have done better for sure keeping him from shooting 32 free throws. My point is not whether he was impressive. I just do not see how the other guy was a better player tonight without anything impressive on the stat sheet. At least Tavin went to the line 32 times and pulled 12 rebounds down so he gets the nod for best FS player tonight for my vote.

Chance Moore goes for 29 pts, 9 rebounds, + 4 assists followed by Anthony Wales with 16 points + 4 assists, and Ahmad Price 16 points. FC created 18 turnovers, but had 20 of their own in a game which started fast and finished with a fast pace.

Disagree Deuce...numbers do not bear that out at all. Radcliffe was 4/11 from field and 1/2 from FT for 10 pts. He had 4 reb and 4 assists, but also 7 turnovers. Tavin was only 5/18 from field, but he was 26/32 from the FT line. He went to the line 32 times and made 26 to score 37 points. He also had 12 rebounds with 3 assists, but did have 6 turnovers. That is unbelievable to go to the line 32 times in a game. Fern Creek had nobody to stop him getting to the line.

King is good no doubt, but when he returns his minutes take somebody else off the floor and move David Johnson away from the ball. Kids are playing good and show great chemistry which an adjustment will need to occur. Szabo will get it together, but it won't be immediate from game 1. That said, he makes them better with another ball handler.