All A Classic: Thursday Evening Standouts

The Kentucky All A Classic featured the small school champion of each of the 16 regions to compete at Owensboro for the right to call themselves All A State Champions at the end of the weekend. In this article I'll break down the Thursday standouts from Brescia University.    Hazard has emerged as a one of the top teams in the state thanks to a strong core of returning production which is led by Eversole as a senior. A bigger bodied post presence, Eversole does a nice job of throwing his weight around and being physical on both ends of the court. Able to finish in the paint despite not going over length at the rim, Eversole does a nice job shielding his body from the defense and giving himself room to finish with either hand. In the fourth quarter, Eversole took his game to the next level with a couple post-up buckets, a few assists out of the post and the go-ahead bucket with 20 seconds left to push Hazard to victory.     It was a thriller back and forth and unfortunately Green County fell one point short against Hazard. Blakeman was the obvious standout for Green County as he played with a ton of confidence on both ends of the court. Knocking down a handful of shots off the catch, Blakeman made shots whenever it seemed like Hazard seemed to be pulling away. When Hazard went to a zone Blakeman did a nice job of moving without the ball to get himself open to shoot or pass through the defense and get the ball into the paint. One of the top wings in Kentucky's 2025 class, we'll see if Green County has better luck in March as they have the potential to make it to Rupp.     Clinton County is undefeated and Young is the biggest reason why individually. One of the best passers I've seen from the center position, Young can swing the ball across the court using either hand. Also a tough guy to keep off the offensive glass, Young swallowed up a few offensive rebounds to give his team extra possessions. Mix in some soft touch in the 8-12 foot range and Young is a mismatch nightmare for opposing defenses.     Coming off the bench Beaty provided instant offense with a couple catch and shoot 3-pointers, some easy buckets off turnovers and a powerful slam dunk on the fast break after jumping a passing lane. A multi-sport standout for Clinton County, Beaty provides a different level of explosiveness athletically and thrives in transition. It's a good thing Clinton County has the unselfish teammates to pass it ahead to Beaty after steals and defensive rebounds.     Danville Christian is a unique match-up for a lot of teams due to their size in the paint with two 6'10 centers in their starting lineup. Ateny was a standout on both ends as his length helped him block a few shots and also deflect passes either at the point of pass or in mid-air. Offensively, Ateny has the length to finish above smaller defenders at the rim and his long strides allow him to beat other bigs down the court. His baseline cut into a slam dunk was his most impressive offensive moment of the game. Another flash play offensively that stood out was when Ateny went big to big with the pass for an easy bucket. We'll see if teams can find more success offensively against Danville Christian, their length really bothered Elliott County on Thursday night.     While the offensive charge is usually led by star Aaon Gutman, Kerns actually tied Gutman with a team-high 21 points on Thursday on efficient shooting from the floor in Walton-Verona's dominant win over Ballard Memorial. Kerns has good positional size on the wing and can move his feet defensively to defend multiple positions on the court. Add in a few transition buckets where either Gutman or a Bearcat guard would hit Kerns on the fast break and his size + speed was an issue all night long. Even mixing in a pair of 3-pointers as well, Kerns really stood out in a big spot as Walton-Verona will look to get on a run with an experienced group of seniors.

The Kentucky All A Classic featured the small school champion of each of the 16 regions to compete at Owensboro for the right to call themselves All A State Champions at the end of the weekend. In this article I'll break down the Thursday standouts from Brescia University.