I've been surprised by the fall of Cooper. Obviously them losing their top 2 scorers (Held/Mitchell) we could assume a long year for the Jaguars, but they might not win a game...
Very well could be! Looking at the Bracket we should see a ton of quality match ups later in the tournament...
Ryle/Male vs Boyd Co
Mercy vs. Lincoln Co./ Butler
Ryle sweeps Highlands and Conner because they are the better team. Pretty simple. The depth argument is a moot point because every team in the 9th is really 6-7 deep tops when a game gets hairy.
I think Coach Richey is a good coach but she has never won the Region, and does not look to have the horses to do it this year either. Coaches don't play the game... BUT whether you like Ryle's coach or not they have 3 District Titles, and a Region Title in her 4 years. (Doesn't sound like inexperience)
You are splitting hairs with arguing the definition of two very similar words, but I agree December wins don't mean much.
I personally don't think any teams in the 9th are very deep this year so unfair to use that argument against Ryle, unless you are talking about the state tournament.
I saw a lot of hype around Highlands in the rankings thread... "Highlands is loaded this year and has a great chance to upset the Raiders. Walz is an experienced coach and that will be enough to give the Bluebirds the chance to win they need."
Didn't make it to the game but looks like Ryle won handily.. any opinions? Looks like we will know more about Ryle later this week when they head to LexCath tourney.