I see the seasons as going from pre-season anticipation to early season excitement. Of course, everyone seems to host a Christmas, or “Holiday” Tournament. The Holiday Tournaments now span pre and post Christmas varieties. Once the teams get through December and the early season excitement it comes time for the January doldrums. Practicing for two hours every day and giving up weekends to spend with your teammates.
January usually is the season of streaks; teams seem to struggle at times while at other times, they look like they could be dancing at Rupp or Diddle. Then comes February, that season of building for the crescendo of tourney time. It seems to me like teams either start their post season dreams or they have players who are more interested in getting to their spring sport.
With the hoop season now outlined, here are some ramblings about the Pioneer Hoop teams. I’m kind of liking how the Neer teams are shaping up going into tourney week.
Lady Pioneers
The girls’ team would have a decent Christmas season and start the year off with a nice streak of wins against some teams who likely will have limited tourney success. Then they hit the teeth of their schedule with several games against teams ranked in the Top 20 of just about everyone’s poll. The young Jeff Stowers’ team had little success through a streak of four straight losses during this tough part of their schedule. Then the Neers started digging out with some character and a mild upset over Conner followed up with a win over Top 20 New Cath in impressive fashion. Their win streak now stands at their longest of the season at 7 games. Heading into the post season, I like their chances to make some decent noise in the 32nd and 8th Region tourneys. Their first game in District play will be against the 3rd seeded Grant County Lady Braves. The game will be on the Lady Braves’ home floor with a crowd that will likely be one of the largest partisan crowds the Neers will see this season; I expect a Pioneer win with a good effort from Grant. Although SK handled Grant County with ease during the season, there were some times during those contests that the Braves did play with the Neers. If SK comes out on top, I look for them to play the defending Regional and District Champ Walton Verona Bearcats. Coach Stowers tells his teams all season long that the regular season consists of scrimmages and that the real season starts now. He will often change things up going into tourney time whether it is new offense or some new wrinkles to his defense.
If the girls make it to the Region, the teams in the 8th Region are strongest since SK joined the region during the 2005-06 season. While the Neers may be an underdog with this year’s competition, I can guarantee you that nobody wants to play SK in the tourney. Their defense makes them dangerous and if they are hitting outside shots, look out. The 8th Region tourney for the girls will be played at Anderson County where the Bearcats are currently the highest ranked team in the Region. Big congrats to Hannah Stephenson and her 5 years with Coach Stowers. Friday night was Hannah’s senior night and I’m not sure I’ve seen a player appreciate their career more than Hannah. Nice job.
Boys’ Team
Trent Steiner’s team enters the post season as possibly one of the hottest teams in the Commonwealth right now. After getting robbed of an opportunity of playing Top 10 Henry Clay to overtime, the Neers haven’t lost. They have had nice wins against the best team in the 10th Region in Clark County and pulled off a nice win versus Cov Cath on Senior Night at the Joe. Stiener’s bunch hasn’t really turned in what I consider a sub-par outing since they played South Oldham on the road in early January. The junior laden team has really played strong defense throughout the season but the thing that really seems to be catapulting the boys into the post season is their offense. Every player in the rotation has been a threat to score. Cody Chambers presence on offense has him looking very strong to lead the team to a successful campaign. Add some high scoring games by Riley Barnes and Andrew Sampson and it gives the opposition a challenge on who they are going to focus any type of defensive concentration. A big challenge for SK at the onset of the season was their vertical size. Without giving the boys too big of a pat on the back, they box out and fight for loose balls better than any SK teams in recent memory. Although giving up size, they have often been on the winning margin of the rebounding wars. I look for SK to win the 32nd District in a tough final against Walton Verona.
Look for SK to make another appearance in the 8th Region Tourney at historic Henry County High School. The 8th Region Tourney is all about getting hot and I like SK’s chances although you would have to give the current edge to Oldham County with an impressive 24-5 record. Although SK stands at 20-7, the schedule Steiner threw at his boys was a challenging one which will only help them if they get to Roy Winchester Fieldhouse. Chambers has been an unbelievable force lately. Although SK gets little attention in the 8th and 9th Regions, Chambers is playing as good anyone. He is a threat to drive or nail long treys. He has been a fun player to watch over the last 5 years and I look for Chambers to end his high school career on a strong note. SK played at the Roy last week which was a good move as the Neers have always seemed to struggle shooting there. Once they got some shots under them, they started hitting which will hopefully help their confidence come regional time.
Best of Luck and Hard Play to both teams! Make sure you get out and support the Pioneers in the best of sports season, basketball tourney time. The boys will get things started tomorrow night at 7:00 versus the Demons of W-town while the girls play Grant at 7:00 on Tuesday.
Seniors Hannah Stephenson and Cody Chambers lead the Pioneer Hoop Teams into the post season.
