2017-18 Season Preview: 8th Region
October 15th is a holiday in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. High school basketball season is officially underway in the Bluegrass state. The excitement that comes with a new season will soon be replaced by the grind of the season but every school in the state starts the season with the same goal. Everyone wants to get to Rupp Arena in March. In our season preview series, we break down the favorites to make it to the KHSAA state tournament out of each region. Our previews continue with the eighth region, where the region is wide open.
Contender: South Oldham (26-6 last season, graduated 6 seniors)
Best Case Scenario: Senior Devin Young and Sophomore Luke Morrison combine to be the highest scoring duo in the region. The supporting cast combines to replace the production lost to the graduation of Jo Griffin. They peak in March and make the trip to Rupp Arena, where they win a game or two.
Worst Case Scenario: Losing Griffin (now a walk-on at Louisville) is too much to bear for the Dragons. They cannot duplicate his production and defenses key on Young, causing him to struggle more than his junior campaign. South Oldham advances to the region but falls in the opening round of play.
Contender: Walton-Verona (26-7 last season, 2 seniors graduated)
Best Case Scenario: Dieonte Miles makes the leap for Coach Brannen in his junior season. Behind his dominance and a great supporting cast (including transfer Brennan Stanley), the Bearcats win the All A state, the 8th region and make a run at Rupp. Miles is the best player in the region and Brannen is named Coach of the Year.
Worst Case Scenario: Walton-Verona doesn’t have the depth to compete with the best in the region. Miles can’t stay out of foul trouble and the advantages he provides are negated by him always being on the bench. The Bearcats are knocked out of the All A state tournament early and fall in the district tournament to Simon Kenton.
Contender: Oldham County (26-6 last season, graduated 5 seniors)
Best Case Scenario: The Colonels return 2 of their top 3 scorers in seniors Jackson Gibson and Zach Larimore. Those two combine with one of the biggest groups of returning players in the 8th region to win both their district and regional titles and advance to Rupp Arena in March.
Worst Case Scenario: While they win 25 games again, these Colonels don’t have the firepower to win the region. They lose the district title game to rival South Oldham and eventually fall in the regional tournament opening round.
Contender: Anderson County (21-12 last season, graduated two seniors)
Best Case Scenario: Cobe Penny is the best player in the region by a wide margin and Coach Glen Drury takes his team to Rupp Arena. Powered by 4 of their top 5 scorers returning, these Bearcats avenge their 1 point loss in last season’s regional championship game and head to the state tournament.
Worst Case Scenario: Anderson is still really good. But so is everyone else in the region. The regional tournament is won by the team peaking in March and unfortunately that’s not Anderson County. They fall in the regional.
Defending Champion and Contender: Collins (24-13 last season, graduated 5 seniors)
Best Case Scenario: Although they lost a ton to graduation, the 2017-18 version of the Titans is led by a very strong sophomore class that matures quickly. Coach Chris Gaither leads his young team back to Rupp Arena after they play their best basketball in March.
Worst Case Scenario: The inexperience of the Titans shows all season long as they suffer double digit losses before falling in a very tough district tournament. Last season the Titans lost the district and still made the Elite 8 at state.