7 Takeaways from the Fayette County Hoop-O-Rama
This past Saturday, Dunbar hosted a full day of scrimmages featuring all of the Fayette County public schools and Lexington Catholic in action. Each game was played regulation length and the referees had quick whistles so it made for a long day of games. There were some quality games and impressive individual performances. Here are some of the impressions left by the day’s events:
- Tates Creek has really improved. Coach Jarrod Gay took over for the Commodores back in April. I was in attendance for a couple of games this summer and the tail end of their game Saturday against Frankfort where the referee’s ineptitude cost the young Commodores the game. When his team looked ready to breakdown after the disappointing finish, he called them together and coached them up before shaking hands with their opponents. Tates is probably a year away from competing in the district but they could surprise some people this year.
- Fredrick Douglass will be very entertaining to watch. Coach Kurt Young has a lot of talent and only one senior on the roster. They play fast and borderline wild. But they’re also capable of making big runs like the one that got them back in the game against Lexington Catholic. I can see some high scoring games in their future this season.
- Bryan Station’s Senior guards are legit. Station blew out Whitley County. Seniors Terrance Clayton-Murphy and Eric Boone are quite the dynamic duo. They are capable of pressuring the ball for the length of the court and are at their best out in transition. They will be fun to track this season.
- Lafayette will live and die with the 3 ball. With senior Eric Powell and sophomore Ray Surratt putting up several long range shots, Lafayette is going to be more reliant on outside scoring than usual. The Generals beat Mason County in a tight game but all their offense came from Mason’s inability to handle the 2-2-1 zone press. If Lafayette can’t turn teams over and score in transition, they’ll need to make more perimeter shots to succeed in the 11th.
- Henry Clay is very balanced. The Henry Clay squad I saw on Saturday has perhaps the least raw talent that I’ve seen on a Blue Devil team in several years but they are very balanced and play super hard. They blew a late lead against Paducah Tilghman and lost on a late 3 Saturday, but I expect them to compete with the best teams in the region on a nightly basis.
- Paducah Tilghman has the potential to make it to Rupp Arena. For most of their game against Henry Clay, the Blue Tornadoes were lifeless. Like they never got off the bus after it arrived in Lexington. Then they came to life in the 4th quarter. If they can play with that energy level for 32 minutes, they can quite possibly win the first region. If they try to coast on talent alone, they may not even survive the opening round of the regional tournament.
- Zan Payne was the best player in the event. Recently featured as one of the kids who needs more love from colleges, the Lexington Catholic senior was scoring at all 3 levels and playing with high energy before getting pulled from the game due to a scuffle with some of the Douglass kids. The talent level in Lexington is down right now but Zan could hold his own anywhere in the state.