6 Predictions after 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 my predictions for the season ahead, based on what I saw:
- Lexington Christian may be the only Lexington team with a chance to win the 11th. This is an even more bold prediction because I didn’t even see the Eagles play Saturday. But I saw enough of the other teams to know that none of them are likely to upset powerhouse Scott County this season. Anything can happen in a one game scenario but I don’t know that anyone but LCA has the size and talent to beat Scott County in March.
- Tates Creek will triple last season’s win total. The Commodores only won 4 games all last season during a miserable year that led to the dismissal of the head coach. But this group is young and motivated and appear to have bought into the new coach and the new system. I can see Tates winning 12 or more games this season and starting to rebuild the culture. But Amari Taylor broke his wrist in the scrimmage and will miss at least a month, I would think.
- Fredrick Douglass will make the regional tournament in their inaugural season. After seeing Henry Clay, Bryan Station and Douglass all play Saturday, I think Douglass is already the best of the 3 and the gap will widen over the season. The Broncos go deep into their bench with length and athleticism and Justin Mitchell showed signs that he can be a go to scorer for Coach Kurt Young. I give them the edge over Sayre, Station and Clay at this point as the second best team in the 42nd District.
- Lexington Catholic will be the most bipolar team in the region. Senior Zan Payne is their best player and freshman Ben Johnson is their best scorer but this Catholic team showed several early signs of being able to be rattled. Their point guard play was erratic against Douglass’ pressure and even when they were pounding the offensive glass, they couldn’t finish around the rim. There will be nights when this group looks capable of winning the region and there will be nights that they lose to teams they should handle. Time will tell if they can peak in March and make a run at Rupp Arena.
- Mason County will struggle this season. Guard Leevi Dunnaway really struggled with the Lafayette pres. The team’s depth took a hit when one player moved to Cincinnati over the summer and Isaiah Garrison was kicked off the team (already). Mason will not be the traditional power that many are used to. Darius Miller and the Setty brothers aren’t walking through that door.
- JJ Reed is going to be a steal for some college. Reed showed off his versatility on Saturday against Henry Clay. JJ is big, athletic and skilled. He made several nice no-look passes throughout the game. The only thing Reed didn’t do is shoot from outside. If JJ can show he’s a reliable shooter from outside, he’ll be at a division 1 school this time next year.