Kentucky Sweet 16: Friday Evening Standouts

The Kentucky Sweet 16 played their quarterfinal games on Friday with split sessions in the morning and evening, in this article I'll break down my standouts from the action that took place on Friday evening where Montgomery County and Great Crossing advanced to the state semifinals.    One of the most skilled scoring guards in Kentucky, Reed had an excellent offensive performance to lead his team to a win in what was a thrilling contest. I thought Reed did an excellent job of stopping on a dime and knocking down shots off the dribble. Tough to stay in front of, Reed drew nine fouls and helped seal the game at the foul line. Active defensively as well, Reed got five steals and played all 32 minutes. Earning his first college offer from Kentucky Christian postgame, Reed has completely changed the trajectory of Montgomery County since being eligible and has them two wins away from lifting the state title trophy.     I was impressed with Fawns perimeter shooting ability playing under the bright lights at Rupp Arena. A lot of times players will revert to standing behind the college 3-point line when they play at big gyms with no backdrop but Fawns was shooting the ball with confidence off the catch and connected on a game-high five triples. Hoping to see Fawns stay healthy this summer and get the ball rolling on his recruitment as it's tough to find guys with his height, frame and shooting ability.     The next step has been taken by Davidson who is now one of the best players in Kentucky regardless of class. 36 points on Thursday, 41 points on Friday, Davidson put on a show for North Laurel. As a 3-point shooter, Davidson is firing with confidence and hit a couple contested looks. As a ball handler Davidson has shown the ability to attack going either direction and once he gets downhill, is hard to force him to turn and change directions. I've also been impressed with Davidson's confidence at the rim trying to dunk on opponents and finish through contact. Everything I've wanted to see Davidson improve on from the summer playing 16 U he has and should be one of the hottest prospects in the Midwest this summer if he continues this level of play.     One of the top playoff performers in Kentucky the past two years, Dawson flat out gets it done in March. Whether it's a buzzer-beater or diving on the floor for a loose ball, Dawson helps you win. On Friday he stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Dawson did a nice job letting offense come to him as he scored off BLOB plays, cuts and offensive rebounds. The type of performance that will translate to the college level, I expect Dawson to earn minutes sooner rather than later.     On a night where Cooper only had two players (Brown and [player_tooltip player_id='2357590' first='Andy' last='Johnson']) score more than 3 points, offensively it was a struggle all game to consistently find points. I was impressed with the resiliency that they showed all game as the physicality of Cooper gave Great Crossing trouble to score on the other end as well. Brown is a SEMO football commit and physically gives teams a lot of trouble with his strength and quick twitch athleticism. A confident scorer as well, Brown took and made some tough shots to keep Cooper alive for a majority of the game. Impressive run for a senior laden group at Cooper who will now rely on guys like Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2241685' first='Roman' last='Combs'] to take the leadership role next season.

The Kentucky Sweet 16 played their quarterfinal games on Friday with split sessions in the morning and evening, in this article I'll break down my standouts from the action that took place on Friday evening where Montgomery County and Great Crossing advanced to the state semifinals.