courtside

NKY Elite 15U went 4-1 on the weekend with wins coming against Hoops 4 Health (IL) and Team UP (TN) in pool play. They beat Louisville Lightning by 8 in the first round of the Gold Bracket before falling to Legit (IN) in the semifinals. They finished with a third place win over Cincinnati Bulldogs. Austin Crawford (Bracken County) and JC Hawkins (Simon Kenton) looked to be doing a lot of the scoring. Cole Hegyi (Campbell Co) Cooper Scherr (Ryle) and Aaron O'Hara (Ryle) get after it on the defensive end. NKY Elite is now 10-1 on this young AAU season. They will play next weekend in Cincinnati at the AAU Super Regional.

NKY Elite was the 15U Gold Bracket Winners with a 49-46 win over Ohio Unity in the finals. Beat a really good Hoop Dreams team in the first round 72-65 and won their first pool game on a buzzer beater by Sean McNeil to beat Cincinnati Lakers. Roster for this past weekend included Austin Crawford (Bracken), Luke Moeves (NCC), JC Hawkins (SK), Sean McNeil (Cooper), Cooper Scherr (Ryle), Cole Hegyi (Campbell), Noah McCubbin (Gallatin), Clark Willhoite (Carroll), Tyrion Fox (Mason), and Mason Gambrel (Conner)

Incoming freshman to watch: Austin Crawford (Bracken County) Luke Moeves (Newport Central Catholic) - Both of these guys really played well this Spring

To elaborate, Nick Jackson had 28 points 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the final four. Then followed that up with a double double performance in the finals with 18 points and 10 rebounds. The kid is about 6'5 with ball handling skills that allow him to play on the perimeter when a bigger defender is on him, but also has the size and strength to go score on the block when defended by someone smaller than him. If Nick can keep his head right, he will be a force in the 10th region the next two years.

Being told that the Bombers had an incredible run to finish as the Silver Division Champions. They were able to receive contributions from every player present (Cody Monson - SK, injured) and Nick Jackson was a mismatch all weekend. The 8th, 9th, and 10th region should take notice to these guys.

Brackets are now posted as well.

Schedule is posted.

It looks like Hamm will face some of his former players this weekend back at MidAmerica. He will be coaching Shining Star Sports- Downs 16U group as Downs is on vacation. If the schedule on the site is correct then they will face off Saturday afternoon.

Mason County begged GRC to switch benches but GRC refused. I agree what the kids did were wrong if all accusations are true, but GRC made the decision to sit there as previously stated

District will be held at Bracken County

Sewell as the third best player in his region? Some say he might be the best player in the state.

Bracken beating Mason will be a tough one

Shining stars 15U is also playing in the "Best of the Midwest" and are 3-1 with an elite 8 game tonight at 8:15 in the gold bracket.

Shining Stars 15 and 16u both went 0-2

Now that Zollo reopened his recruitment, who are the front runners for him?

Black is probably about 6'2 and not sure on the weight. Looked a little heavy last year.

Definitely agree that Justin should have seen the court more often as well as Bradley. I think you will be surprised with how Brad plays and look for him to remain the 5th starter.

Bradley Lang will start over Tyler Black. Lang is better than a lot of people give him credit for and I look for him and Justin Lang to surprise some people. Black will be a major contributor for the Royals but will not start, not this year.

To my knowledge, he played with groin issues similar to what Jodie Meeks had

Everyone has injuries throughout the course of the season. Middleton battled an ankle injury all season, Downing sat out a couple of games with a foot injury, and Hamm played on one leg the entire season. With that said GRC's injuries may have been more serious, but the point being is that everyone battles injuries.

Mason did not look very good at all

Tim Sullivan

GRC will have to get the ball up the floor to the big guys for them to be successful. Lack of a PG will haunt them in the end. High school basketball is controlled by good guards. Stenzel will help some, but I don't see Humphrey playing him at PG that often.

Gilbert will be a solid pg, but best in the state is a stretch IMO. Also, I agree with FANOFTHE11th, Vance Hall needs to start getting some recognition, he just might be the best PG in the state. Very good.

The fact is Mason won and in my eyes will win the 10th again this year.