Adrian Woj Burner

Is the rest of the states' HS basketball drama this insane? Or are NKY parents/fans/parents/coaches/dogs/cats/etc. just this wild?

Predictions North Oldham vs. Gallatin County North Oldham by double digits, but it could be closer than some would imagine. If the senior-led wildcats can hit some shots, they can make this a ballgame, but they must be disciplined with the ball. The Mustangs are very disciplined and are known for forcing other teams into mistakes. Anderson County vs. Walton-Verona Wow, talk about the definition of polar opposites. This matchup is intriguing, but give me Walton in a low-scoring tight contest. I think this game could go either way, but the Bearcats have by far the best player on the court, normally resulting in that team prevailing in March. Anderson will always slow the game down, which could throw WV off their rhythm, but I don't know if they have the scorers to keep up with Walton. Simon Kenton vs. South Oldham Ugh, this is a tough one. A game so good I already made an entire post for it, but I am stuck between the two. I think Simon Kenton is the better team, resulting in them being my pick for this game by a very small margin. However, I would not be surprised if the Dragons of South Oldham move on. Spencer County vs Henry County Henry County last played in the regional tournament in 2021, losing to North Oldham by 4 points. Playing on your home court is, without a doubt an advantage, and I expect this fanbase to pack The Roy. These two matched up just a few weeks ago, with Spencer County winning by 17. I will take them again, but I expect this one to be much closer than the last.

South Oldham & Simon Kenton is one of the most anticipated first-round matchups that I can remember in a long time. The Dragons, extremely hungry and looking for redemption of their district loss last week to North Oldham, a team full of seniors that are fighting each night for their basketball career. Also, a veteran coach with possibly his last chance at a regional title. Potentially even he is fighting each night for one more game in his career? Simon Kenton, the largest school in the 8th that has been mocked continuously for never being able to win the big one. Coach Steiner has spent too long fighting for one appearance at Rupp Arena. Coming up just short last year after leading by double digits in the championship game, there is no doubt this team is dying for another shot in that championship game. These are the two most tenured coaches in the region, 8 to 9 players on the court will be seniors, and both teams with great postseason experience. There is no doubt that we are in for a good one next Tuesday. Not to mention, the winner has a great chance at that championship game on the 18th.

Unsure, but if you plan to do that, I would get there very early.

SK wins, but it will be closer than the last meeting.

Bryant showed some amazing stretches in the games taht I watched. Obviously as an eight grader he had some rough patches, but he is a raw scorer. He reminds me of a Kevin Durant style player.

Or maybe even Baylor Nolin?

As mentioned by others, it happens. Especially in that district. They had good teams, but how many times have they lost to a team they were more talented than?

Sears is good, but not there yet. Give him a year or two.

Now, two years in a row, Collins misses the regional tournament. These last two years are also the only missed regional tournaments in school history. By far the roughest stretch in Gaither's career at Collins, but I expect this young group to continue improving.

Your argument has no true context. You are jargling a bunch of losses and trying to blend them. I can't keep up with what you're saying due to you bouncing off so many different years. The truth of the matter is that Spencer County is competitive year in and year out with teams that many don't see as a threat, in a school district without a rich basketball history, and a high school with just over 900 students. Let's compare this to Woodford County, which has one of (if not) the most talented rosters in the region year in and year out. They have over 1200 students in their school and go outside of that to fill their roster by grabbing transfers each year. For the simple debate of coaching, I believe every unbiased soul that follows this region is taking Burns 100 times before Brown is even considered.

You have no idea what you are talking about. They graduated their three best players last May, and their juniors last year were small pieces on the regional championship team last year. Your uneducated bias toward Brown is very obvious, but everyone from the outside looking in has the exact opposite opinion on the situation than you do.

Your point? If we are bringing up 6 years meaning when some of them were 8th graders, I would expect the poor kids to perform a little better during the regular season rather than the postseason.

People FROM Spencer County, maybe. One or two accounts (they are hard to forget) were constant with this, correct. Outside of that, I don't know that anyone really even considered it. Players like Dayvion Mcknight, Dionte Miles, Justin Powell, and others were talks of the region at the time. Go look at my recent post in this thread with that state semi-final team, NOTHING on any of those Bears teams compete with almost every player on the WOFO rotation. They had an entire starting 5 of D1 athletes.

Jasper Johnson: 5-star committed to UK BB Aden Nelson: WR for West Virginia University Layton Starks: OLB for Ball State John McCrear: Murray State BB Santonio Wade: PG for Prolific Prep (Jalen Green went to school here) Makhi Smith: 3-star WR with offers from UK and UofL Carson Probst: Committed to Centre BB

Not once did Burns have anyone close to being considered the best player in the region during that stretch. How many college athletes have been on these recent basketball teams in Woodford County? You have had Jasper Johnson (the best player in the region at the time), and this year was Boone who I and many others would say is the most skilled player in the region. Looking at that state semi-final team I am very confident that close to 50% of the coaches in the 8th region would have been in that exact same spot with that team. Burns has developed all of his talent and teams in-house, he doesn't magically get these "transfers" year in and year out that bless him with one of the most skilled teams in the region.

He had three studs last year and finished his season in Rupp Arena.

Well, let's bounce back. I now would not be surprised at a North Oldham vs South Oldham championship game. That being said, Spencer County, Walton-Verona, and Simon Kenton are all capable of making it and winning it. Could this be Trent Steiner's year to finally climb over that hump and make an appearance at Rupp?

Who says they are even in the 8th region??

No need to call me out lol.... looks like it is either North's or South's to lose now.

Read the thread next time ?‍♂️

Bracket buster…

Picking a 4 seed in March Madness as a champion before the Round of 64 is risky proposition as well, but 90% of Kentucky is going to do just that.

The next couple weeks will be fun to say the least.... predictions below. 29th: North defeats South 30th: Woodford defeats Collins 31st: Henry defeats Gallatin 32nd: Simon Kenton defeats Walton 8th Region Tournament: South Oldham vs Woodford County, Woodford County is back to full strength and wins it all.

POTY felt like a race between Boone and Gutman, and appeared Gutman had a huge lead. Miles (great player), decided to come in and win it over both of them! These lists are never perfect, but the top 4-5 teams only having one player each leaves me speechless. A few shocking names on the list, and (if in order) same names are really surprising in regard to being really high or really low. Personally, Levitch or Burns are getting my vote over both coaches. We knew going into the year that SK and South would be two of the toughest outs in the region. North and Spencer were kind of wildcards, and both extremely over exceeded expectations.