Adrian Woj Burner

And here we go…. thoughts?

If I were to guess, BGP will be rolling loud after it is announced...

From Woodford County: Obviously we have Jasper Johnson, one of the better players in the tournament. He is a very highly recruited sophomore. Outside of him, this team is loaded with athletes. John McCrear, a 6'9 big man committed to Morehead State for basketball. He tore his ACL over the summer so he is still limited, and it yet to start a game. He can make a huge impact on the game with his rebounding and shot-blocking abilities. Outside of him they have a kid commited to West Virginia to play football, and another football recruit that I was told had offers from West Virginia, Louisville, and Kentucky. Sophomore guard Santonio Wade is one of the best on-ball defenders that I have seen. He is lighting quick, and doesn't slow down much in a game even when he is handling the ball. He can get past almost any defender, and had a few huge games to get them into the state tournament.

Woodford County vs. Jeffersontown (KHSAA Boys' Sweet 16®) By: Adrian Woj Burner These two teams have not met in over a decade, their last matchup coming in December of 2012. This is only one of two matchups ever, the other coming in late December of 2004. In the two games, Jeffersontown has won both. Season Review Woodford County This team has been struggling with injuries all season. It all started with John McCrear tearing his ACL in the summer (he is just not back in the lineup), and then Jasper Johnson with a few games missed due to several minor injuries. It seems that they became fully healthy at the right time and found their groove. They played a very tough schedule, but Johnson did not play in many of their matchups against some of the best competition in the state. They were not favorites to win the region going into it, but with an upset in the semi-finals against North Oldham they were able to take care of business and get their first 8th Region Championship since joining the region in 2019. They are led by sophomore stand-out Jasper Johnson. He is currently ranked top-20 in the nation for his class and has offers from many powerhouses in Division 1 basketball programs. On the year he is averaging 20.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, shooting 78% from the line, 38.3% from 3, and 50.8% from the field. Following him is Makhi Smith averaging 12.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, and is shooting an impressive 61.9% from the field. The team averages 63.2 ppg and gives up an average of 55.5 ppg. Jeffersontown I have not had the chance to see this squad at all this year, but I look forward to seeing what they offer. If you do not know, I cover the 8th Region, so I am not completely informed on other teams such as this. I do have some knowledge, and in my eyes, I did not expect the winner of the 8th to be playing this team. They have some powerhouses in their region such as Evangel Christian, DeSales, PRP, Western, and many more. However, they found a way to get it done and are traveling to Rupp Arena this week. When looking at this group’s stats on the year, they seemed to be very spread out. They only have two players scoring in double-figures but have 4 other guys that are sitting above 9 ppg. The Chargers are led by sophomore Camron McDaniels, scoring 12.1 ppg, grabbing 5.3 rpg, shooting 41.9% from 3, and 50.8% from the field. Junior Lukus McDaniels (his brother maybe?) is right behind him in all statistics, scoring 10.5 ppg, grabbing 5.4 rpg, and is shooting 50% from the field. On the year, the team scored 67.1 ppg, and gave up 62.1 ppg. Post-Season The post-season for these two teams were very battle-hardened. Both in loaded regions full of talented and highly capable teams, they were not necessarily “expected” to win their regions. However, due to a couple upsets they were both able to get the opportunity of matching up at Rupp Arena Wednesday morning. Woodford County The 8th Region Champions played in the hardest district in the region, so they were not even close to guarantee an appearance in the regional tournament. Thanks to a win over Anderson County, they clinched that bid. The Yellow Jackets went on to defeat Collins in the 30th District Championship. In the first round of regions, they faced Owen County, squeezing one out after trailing by 15 in the 3rd quarter. They then went on to face #3 in the state, North Oldham. Woodford County dominated them from the tip, winning by 20 points. The 8th Region Championship game was a rematch of the 30th District Championship, and it ended with another Woodford County win. The Yellow Jacket’s defense was their bread and butter for the postseason. Since District Tournament play, they are only allowing 36.4 ppg, 19 less than their season average. While doing this, they are still putting up 51.8 ppg. They were led in the postseason by Jasper Johnson, scoring 17.4 ppg. Santonio Wade was behind him scoring 13.6 ppg. Jeffersontown As mentioned before, the Chargers were not necessarily expected to come out of the 6th Region as champions. They started their post-season journey with a win over Bullitt East to clinch a regional appearance, and then went on to defeat Fern Creek in overtime to win the 24th District. In the regional quarterfinals, they defeated Moore in blowout fashion. Their semifinal matchup was against Butler, where Jtown squeezed out a close one. They went on to defeat DeSales in a 1-point game to win the 6th Region Championship. Jeffersontown also improved their defense in the postseason, only giving up 50 ppg, 12 less than their season average. They were led in the post-season by Brandon Gatewood, who scored 11.4 ppg. Following him was Camron McDaniels, scoring 11 ppg. This should be a fun matchup, with me not seeing Jeffersontown yet this year I am not 100% sure exactly what to expect. I do know, if the same Woodford County team that showed up the last 2 nights of the regional tournament shows up this week, then they will be a very hard out this year in the state tournament!

It is never ending with this guy man. I love his aggression and heart out on the field, but he seems to have some serious issues off the field. We forgot to mention the surveillance camera released earlier in his career of him hitting a woman. Hate to lose him, but you have to cut him for all of these things building up on his record. Also, it would save Cincy a lot of money.

The only one that I can really think of would be Woodford County over North Oldham. But in all honesty, if Woodford was fully healthy all year then they would be right beside North Oldham in pre-tournament favorites. The only reason I would consider this an upset is because North Oldham was ranked #3 in the state, and looked like sure favorites heading into the week.

8th Region Tournament All-Tournament Team: Dylan Hammonds (Grant County) Teagan Moore (Owen County) Max Green (Oldham County) Andrew Brinker (Gallatin County) Dallas Roberts (North Oldham) Jack Fischer (North Oldham) Travis Krohman (Simon Kenton) Gabe Dynes (Simon Kenton) Isiah Cochran (Collins) Quintin Simmons (Collins) Kenyon Goodin (Collins) Makhi Smith (Woodford County) Aden Nelson (Woodford County) John McCrear (Woodford County) Santonio Waide (Woodford County) TOURNAMENT MVP: Jasper Johnson (Woodford County)

The Sweet 16 is set! Boy are those last 4 games of the first round LOADED with talent.

Some stats from tonight: Collins: Kenyon Goodin: 8 pts | 5 reb | 4/16 fg Isiah Cochran: 7 pts | 1 reb | 2/8 fg | 3/3 ft Quintin Simmons: 2 pts | 4 reb | 0/8 fg | 2/2 ft Kiya Ledford: 2 pts | 2 reb | 1/4 fg Darius Evans: 2 pts | 1/1 fg Team: 8/42 (19%) fg | 0/12 3p | 5/5 ft | 15 reb | 6 to Woodford County: Jasper Johnson: 17 pts | 10 reb | 5/11 fg | 6/7 ft Santonio Wade: 13 pts | 4 reb | 4/9 fg | 4/4 ft Makhi Smith: 8 pts | 7 reb | 4/5 fg Aden Nelson: 2 pts | 3 reb | 1/2 fg Ethan Johnson: 2 pts | 3 reb | 0/1 fg | 2/2 ft Carson Probst: 2 pts | 1 reb | 1/1 fg Team: 15/33 (45%) fg | 2/10 (20%) 3p | 12/17 (71%) ft | 32 reb | 12 to Some things that stick out to me: 8/42 from the field for Collins. Their recipe this season has been consistency, and boy did they miss that tonight. There was flat out no one that could hit a shot tonight, and it was majorly due to Woodford's smothering defense. They also were 0/12 from behind the arc. You are not going to win many, if any games with these shooting stats. Another thing that surprised me was just 6 turnovers. That is a great number to be at as a team, but with no shots going in you still aren't going to win. The last stat, rebounding. Woodford County had double the rebounds they did, which is not a recipe to win the game. Woodford County was not great offensively, but made up for it on the other end of the court. They had a mediocre night from the field, a pretty bad night from 3, but still won in dominating fashion. They shot well from the free throw line, and rebounded the heck out of the ball. The only bad stat really for WC was their turnovers. Rarely do you see a team double the others number of turnovers and still win, let alone blow them out.

I think we should make this a weekly tradition for you Mack! "Just your weekly reminder that this was indeed an upset" LOL.

I just hope that the same defense shows up that we have seen the last 2 nights. Neither team has even scored 30 points ?

@Runcible Owl just saw your comment in the update thread. Was down in Henry County with NO phone service LOL!

Just like their semi-final matchup against North Oldham, wow. Those are the only words that can really describe that performance. One of the best defensive games that I have ever seen put together. Woodford County outscored Collins 34-9 in the second half. Put Woodford County on state championship watch, they are on a mission!

South Oldham is getting better each year recently. Don’t sleep on them as well. I’d believe the 29th will be WIDE open next year.

I like that, however they are losing a ton to graduation this off-season. We have seen Levitch’s mastermind work for the last few years, but I think getting this squad next season to the regional tournament will be his hardest challenge yet.

??

Collins would disagree with that statement last night. Defeated Simon Kenton 2 times in a row this season before their matchup, where they won yet again. All 3 games were close throughout.

WOW, this is not a good look for Highlands athletic department. Has there been a statement of some sort released by anyone in the situation? If all is true, the football coach should be fired immediately! 2-sport athletes in high school normally pan out best in college, it has been proven many times. To add onto that, rooting against another sports team within your own school that you coach at is also NOT GOOD!

Welcome to BGP Max!

Region Tournament Results: (So far) Quarterfinals: Newport vs Beechwood Newport wins! (74-46) LLoyd vs Conner Lloyd wins! (56-53) CovCath vs St. Henry CovCath wins! (66-55) Cooper vs Highlands Cooper wins! (68-62) Semifinals: Newport vs Lloyd Newport wins! (49-42) Cooper vs CovCath Cooper wins! (57-54) Championship Matchup/Preview (At Truist Arena) Championship: Newport vs Cooper 3/7, at 7:00 pm Will Pouncey be healthy enough to play? Can the Jags pull off another upset? Will Newports athleticism be too much to handle? Will Sullivan coach his team to the Sweet 16? All I know is anything can happen come tournament time, and it should be a great game! WHO YOU GOT? Let me know in the comments. My prediction is Newport….

And then there were 2… This one should not disappoint. We have a rematch of the 30th District Championship on our hands, and they have played each other both in the 2 matchups they have had this season. When: Tuesday March 7, 7:00 PM Where: Henry County High School History These are 2 completely different takes, and somewhat newcomers to the region. Collins was established as a school in 2010 and has been dominant in the region since. In their 13 years they have been in the regional tournament every single year, winning 15 games. They have won 3 regional titles and are looking for their 4th this year. Woodford County is the newest team in the region, this being just their 4th season since moving over. Since they have joined, both them and Collins have dominated the 30th District. WC has missed the region just once and have won 2 district titles in these 4 years. This will be their second consecutive regional championship game. These two teams have met up twice this season, both games going to Woodford County. However, they have been nothing short of great games. The Yellow Jackets won the first game 62-56, and the second 52-49. Woodford County The reigning 30th District Champions are coming into the game on a heater. They are currently on a 6-game win streak. In their last 3 games they have defeated Collins, Owen County who has the player of the year, and North Oldham the #3 team in the state. Jasper Johnson, a top-15 player in the nation for the current sophomore class has been relentless. The performance he put on tonight was like no other, just lights out from all 3 levels on the floor. Johnson also has a great supporting cast, with D1 basketball commit John McCrear coming off the bench due to his ACL tear in the summer, and 2 other athletes going D1 for football. This team is flying around everywhere on defense and is a scary sight when you see them in transition. I look for them to push the pace in this game, and let Johnson get hot early. Collins While Woodford County has the better athletes, Collins has the brains. This team is coached by the best coach in the region Chris Gaither. He has the same formula every year, stifling defense and consistent offense. That consistency on offense showed tonight, being very patient against Simon Kenton’s 2-3 zone and getting great looks, converting on a ton of these great looks. The Titans have a great group of players, including a small group I refer to as the big 3. Kenyon Goodin, Isiah Cochran, and Quintin Simmons are by far the 3 standouts on this squad. All 3 are capable of scoring 20+ on any given night. I would imagine that Collins will try to control the tempo of this game. They love a slower-paced game, completely opposite of Woodford County. If they can control the tempo and play their style of basketball I like their chances.

Wow, I wasn't going to be suprised if Woodford County suck away with the upset, but I sure did not expect it to be by this amount. As mentioned earlier in the thread Woodford County controlled the game from the tip, holding North Oldham to just 2 points in the first 12 minutes of the game. The last 4 minutes of the first half North Oldham found their stride a little bit, and after a Dallas Roberts 3 they started to find some rhythm scoring 9 points. They went into the half with just 11, I would assume this is the lowest-scoring half they had all season. I had said in a thread before that Jasper Johnson was the best player in the region, and after tonight I see no argument. He was spectacular from the tip, hitting 2 early threes to get the Yellow Jacket offense rolling early. After that, he never slowed down. His finishing around the rim was something that I have never seen before, I do not believe he missed a shot inside the 3-point line. Another huge player for WC tonight was sophomore guard Santonio Wade. He had the role of guarding North Oldham guard Dallas Roberts, and did not back down from the challenge. Wade was in Roberts face from the jump, and never slowed down or backed off of him for the entire 32 minutes of the basketball game. They now advance to the regional championship game for the 2nd time this season, and I am sure they will be highly motivated for an appearance at Rupp Arena. It seemed that North Oldham just could not buy a bucket. They never found a groove on offense, and had a horrendous shooting night. After getting themselves in a deep hole quickly, they made it hard on themselves to come back against such a talented team. There was really no play on their team that stood out, as they all had really bad nights. In the end, a great career for all of the seniors from NO, and I'd imagine they will have a slight rebuilding year next season.

This game did not disappoint! Tremendous effort from both teams, and what a great performance from senior guard Kenyon Goodin! Collins started off from the tip being consistent on offense, and never really stopped for the majority of the game. Like I said before, Goodin was lights out all game. I do not remember very many times where he missed a jump shot, he even banked one in from deep. There 2 other stars (Quinton Simmons and Isiah Cochran) both had great games. Cochran set the tone on the first posession of the game going right at 7'3 Gabe Dynes in the paint, where he scored right over him. I think that Collins did a great job on Dynes, attacking him on the offensive side, and being very rough on him defensively. Simon Kenton's offensive woes continued tonight, and it is what got them down at the beginning of the game. Collins was very aggressive on defense, and it caused many problems for the 'Neers. Travis Krohman seemed to have a slow start, but early in the 3rd quarter he found his groove and got them back into a tight contest. Dynes was beat up on all night long, and actually handled it better than I expected him too. By far the series of the game was Goodin from Collins hitting a 3-pointer with just a few seconds left in the 1st half, and Simon Kenton pushing it down the floor and finding Dynes for a 2-handed dunk right before the buzzer sounded. As @ColonelMike mentioned before, the way the game was officiated would be a huge factor in both contests. I feel that the way it was called favored Collins more than it did Simon Kenton. Not because they were not fair, but they never called very many touchy fouls and let them play for the majority. Had they called these, this game might have panned out differently. With all of this being said, Coach Gaither with a tremendous coaching performance to get him back in the championship game with the possibily of winning his 4th regional title. Coach Steiner for Simon Kenton falls short yet again, and we will go another year of him not making it to Rupp Arena despite them being the largest school in the region. This is not due to lack of chances, they have been in the 8th Region Tournament 16 times since joining the 8th in 2005.

This game should come down to Woodford's motivation on defense. If it is the same team for the first 3 quarters against Owen County I like North Oldham by double digits. If it is the 4th quarter WC team then I am really not sure...

The simple question in this is will SK be able to score the ball? If they can find some scoring, I don't think you can count them out. While saying that, I think Collins by 5ish.