KY_Wildcats

Oldham led 34-32 at the half, and Cal was up 6 end of the 3rd. It was a VERY competitive game until mid 4th. Oldham was led unofficially by soph Kye Bowen 24 pts and Fr Matt Withrow 17pts. Cal just has too much size and experience and they just wore Oldham down. Oldham just lacks good decisions making ability when they get down a few buckets, and need a couple stops and big plays. Having watched these boys all year is frustrating because they have been in most games in the end of the 3rd against ranked teams. They typically end up wilting in the 4th once a team starts pulling away. Oldham frustrated Cal with their zones and mixing defenses up. JJ Washington whom I know well ( great kid btw), ended up methodically getting bucket after bucket in the 4th qtr. He is just a very good player. The football kid in the middle, I cannot recall his name, but he is a 5 star football recruit and goes about 6-5 250lbs was just too much for Oldham down low. He and Boogie Clark a 4 star player who goes about 6-7 just played high low against Oldham and wore them down inside. Oldham county is just about two players and a little seasoning away from being a very good basketball team. Until that changes they will fall short against the really good teams they play.

Male has inner turmoil happening. Not sure the reason, just know its happening.

I agree. Seneca flat gets in your face and makes you play 94 feet. very impressive win.

He is VERY good. But Willis had him out on a island guarding Siakum (sp?) Very easy for me to say, but I would have over extended my perimeter defense and funneled everything into Big Mason making South score over him. Watch him against St X the night before. He controlled that game inside. Hes only 14... 14 and he gets tired. He was tired and take nothing away from South they are a very good team.

North over plays the perimeter against South and forces them to back door cut and drive which they are not wanting to do. They literally take the number of possessions away from South.. IF you can do that you make South very pedestrian. Not a ton teams have the personnel and coaching to be able to do that to South. I think North does. I think North beats South 8 out of 10 times they play them just due to style. Just my opinion and I am wrong 50% of the time.. lol

Its an impressive win no matter how you look at it. Huge over look game for Ballard after beating X but I take nothing away from South Oldham. Very impressive win.

I could see South going after Burns when Simpson retires. Simpson has been saying for years he was retiring, but I think he will soon. I have zero inside intel, only the fact that I have seen South Oldham freshman play a couple times. Freshman can grow and get better, but there does not seem to be alot of varsity level talent on that freshman team. I can't see him sticking around much longer.

well Ballard I thought was a year away but they are not

I saw him his soph year at the KOB. I loved how he played the game. He always had a smile on his face while he was destroying the other team. He is kind of slight and it will be interesting to see if he can gain enough weight to make an impact his first year, or will it take him a couple years in the college weight room.

That is kind of funny and oh so true! ha

With the 3 ball anything is possible. Some teams don't match up well with others. I watched the Ryle game against Oldham at Xavier. Oldham is very young and very inexperienced. They led Ryle at the half by employing a zone and Ryle bricked three after three. Ryle`s size and strength eventually wore Oldham down and Ryle won by 10. Ryle apparently shoots very poorly from 3, a good zone by a better more athletic team than Oldham will give Ryle fits. Give them credit they know what they need to do to win and they do it!

You know I didn't think about the expense. Every school is going to have to buy those, and nothing is cheap these days.

I agree. A very good source said that he was there and BC took the air out of the ball. Styles make fights as they say!

North Bullitt losing to Whitfield is a direct reflection on North playing a super soft schedule. No offense to Whitfield as I saw them this summer, and they are serious about competing. They don't have the talent that North has though.

Ryle does not shoot the 3 ball very well. I think this will hurt them in the end.

From what I hear the KHSAA has approved the shot clock. I saw it in action at the LIT, and in the two games that I saw (Oldham co and North Oldham, and Web Dubois and Butler) it did not factor at all. In fact; I don't think I saw one possession that the clock created a rushed shot. All four teams played at a high pace anyway. I guess a team that wants to ball control and take the air out of it this could effect them quite negatively. I remember my junior year in high school we were playing a top ten ranked Fairdale and we attempted to ball control. It worked for about 3 quarters as we kept it pretty close. I think they ended up getting some steals in the 4th and beating us something like 42-29 or something close to that score. They would have beaten us by 25-30 points had we not slowed the game down. I do distinctly remember not feeling good about it, and in some ways feeling like we weren't being pure to the game in some ways. I watched Anderson county live once and once by stream. They do to some extent ball control, but they run these really good horn sets and just work the ball around til they get the shot they want. They do full court press some and trapped in the half court some. I actually really enjoyed watching them play. I didn't feel they were trying to "cheat the game" if you will but rather not take any bad possessions. The shot clock will certainly though effect them. I actually thought they kind of captured the lost art of making each play count. This opposed to some of the high ball screen action, rip through get to the rim or hook pass to the wing for a 3. If you watch any AAU ball or alot of high school ball this is primarily what you see these days. Some good, and some just sloppy garbage. The game evolves weather we like it or not. I am all for it evolving ( though most AAU Ball lacks fundamentals but that's for another post) I am just very interested in your all`s opinion of it, and how you think it will positively or negatively effect the game in Kentucky.

They could lose all THREE! lol Its a mixed bag. I saw Anderson and Walton and they have big strong kids and both are well coached. Oldham will have to play very well to beat them. They play three in three days South Oldham, Walton and Anderson in 3 days time. Renner could have helped himself out a bit. lol

I do want to point out, while Oldham county is super young and just some games have looked awful. They have played #8 North Oldham twice ( 12 pt loss which was closer and a 38 point butt kicking), #11 Lou Ballard ( a 22 point competitive loss)#23 Highlands twice (11 pt loss and a 25 pt butt kicking) , and they scrimmaged J-town to a 6 point loss, as well as playing Lou Trinity ( who is down but still would do very well in the 8th region). They beat Owen County by 30 plus, and I was at that game. Oldham had JV guys in the whole 4th quarter. Who you play matters. I can't make a solid case that Oldham deserves to be better than 11th because with their youth sometimes they look like a middle school team. But when they are healthy and hitting shots they are a nice young team. I am being a bit of a homer here, and they could certainly lose to Anderson and Walton Verona or even Collins. But I don't know how you can put Collins ahead of them with their record, or Owen directly right behind them. They also own a 16 point Spencer county win and a large margin win over Henry County early in the season. They have lost Jacobi Roberts off the team since that gave them athleticism they can't replace now. Also Henry County was really banged up, and missing a couple key guys. I would take Spencer in a rematch ( over Oldham) and probably Henry as well, but they could on a good night beat both of those teams again. Please don't take this as criticism. I love your rankings and I think you do a fantastic job. I just think had Oldham scheduled softly they would have a really nice record right now. Coach Renner is trying to build toughness for the future on a super young, not overly athletically skilled team. Their margin for error is slim. They are 10-11 but you take away playing those top 20 teams, and they would have a much better record against teams they belong on the floor with.

I don't think Henry has the speed to take anything away from North , South or Woodford. I actually like Anderson, if they get you in their game they can cause issues. I saw Henry once live in person when they had injuries, and once via stream. I just don't see them being able to defend the top teams in the Region.

You do a terrific job of predicting and rating. Its just so difficult to predict with differing teams how they match up with each other. So many factors, what kids are mad at their girlfriends, or sick , or battling nagging injuries night to night etc. I always look at who is the team that has the most things to take away. If you take the perimeter away from North, they will back door cut you the death. If you take their inside away, they will hit you with 20 3`s. If you throw doubles at Rondo he either splits it, or their other guards eat you alive. Levich has answers and a lot of them. Woodford beating Mad central was big, but I saw Mad central early in the year, and I am not impressed with their guard play. They are solid, but not the kind of guards that can win a state championship imo. Woodford has athletes, but I still like North out of the 8th. we will see?

Fr Matt Withrow led with 19 pts and 4 rebounds. Soph Kye Bowen had 19 pts and 6 assists, and Frosh Ty Bryant chipped in 17 pts to go with 5 boards, and 3 blocks for a win over a struggling 5th region team.

Oldham went 18-38 from 3 led by Freshman Matt Withrow`s 21 pts and 6 rebounds, soph Ky Bowen with 15 and Cooper Collins off the bench hit 5 3`s for 15 points to beat an over matched Highlands Latin Team. I was at the game, and Highlands just doesn't have any public school level basketball players.

You could be right. Its going to take a team that can things away from North to beat them. South doesn't guard well, but they can shoot it from 4 spots very well. If South shoots well it can be close. If not North could run them out of the gym.

North by 8.

Mason Grivna shuts down the lane, allowing front end pressure. He has such a knack for blocking shots and he is mobile to be so young. This is a future NBA player, or at minimal Power 4 player and euro pro. Cole Edelin can shoot it from anywhere, and Baron Clay is the ultimate team guy willing to do whatever to make his team win. Jaden Culver has a great mid range pull up and is streaky from 3.They bring shooters with some length and speed off the bench. Coach Willis doesn't draw up a bunch of stuff or X and O you to death, but he does a great job of putting his guys in space and allowing them the freedom to do what they do best. Styles make fights and Ballard can play and beat anyone in the 7th Region. Personally I like X and Male a bit more, with even Seneca as a dark horse to upset a team or two in the 7th. Without Mason I think Ballard struggles to guard, with Mason they are really good.