Bluegrassrivals

Wanting to know who are the best 8th grade players around? We are looking for possible 2 spots on the 8th Grade Kentucky Elite Kings travel team.

Floyd: Tyler Daniels and Dylan Hamilton
Pike: Dylan Meade and Cody Belter

Hunter hall Cody sexton and Sam robinson from letcher county

Not exactly what your wanting, but it should be a big help but if I had to pick a 12 man all star team out of pike county, these would be the 12 I'd pick...

starters
c - cody belter (dorton)
f - andrew newsome (virgie)
g - owen caudill (dorton)
g - dylan meade (mullins)
g - cameron justice (feds creek)

bench
g/f - dalton richardson (virgie)
c - ethan blankenship (johns creek)
g - johnny miller (feds creek)
f - austin kidd (pikeville)
f - marcus johnson (mullins)
g - trinity ? (belfry)
g - damon adkins (mullins)

a few others you could consider would be...

hamilton (pikeville)
ray (mullins)
lucas (dorton)
fields (elkhorn)
bowling (virgie)

Bball fan,how could you put meade or caudill over dalton richardson?i have seen these boys play sevral times and richardson should def.be there starting.it would be a toss up with caudill and justice.

matthew barger fron knox central

bball_fan Wrote:Not exactly what your wanting, but it should be a big help but if I had to pick a 12 man all star team out of pike county, these would be the 12 I'd pick...

starters
c - cody belter (dorton)
f - andrew newsome (virgie)
g - owen caudill (dorton)
g - dylan meade (mullins)
g - cameron justice (feds creek)

bench
g/f - dalton richardson (virgie)
c - ethan blankenship (johns creek)
g - johnny miller (feds creek)
f - austin kidd (pikeville)
f - marcus johnson (mullins)
g - trinity ? (belfry)
g - damon adkins (mullins)

a few others you could consider would be...

hamilton (pikeville)
ray (mullins)
lucas (dorton)
fields (elkhorn)
bowling (virgie)

bbfan, I disagree with the bottom half. Kidd, Johnson, Blankeship, Trinity, Hamilton, Ray, and Adkins are not in the same class as Lucas, Bowling, and Fields. There you have two of the best point guards in the county and possibly the best 3 point shooter in the county. You have 4 players from Mullins on this list. No offense to any players but Meade is the the only player from Mullins worthy of being on the list and he is not in the top five. Just my Opinion.

You have your opinions guys on these players and I have my opinions. Nobody is going to agree on this but thats the beauty of having a opinion. As for Marcus Johnson not being one of the top 12 players in the county, the boy is averaging a double double and 3 blocks a game this year through 26 games, and plays the center for us but is not even 6 foot tall. If the boy was 6'2 or 6'3 like other centers in this county were, he would be the best player in the county.

I think the Mcpeek kid from JCMS has alot of talent..He's always on the ball great defense and offense player..He's someone to watch out for..

Im sorry but i do think theres alot of the JCMS players that def..should be on there...Those boys run circles around alot of the players mention on the list..so thats just my thoughts...

Has Mullins defeated Fedscreek, Virgie, or Dorton this year? Clearly the Southern Conference is far superior in talent in my opionion and therefore I would list only a few players in top 12 from the Northern conference. But like bbfan said, no way to get everyone to agree on this. Good luck to all teams.

We haven't played Virgie, so its hard for either team to get a win when you haven't played. We tried to schedule Virgie before the season started but we could not find a open date that we could play between our schedule and theirs. As for Feds Creek and Dorton, no we have no beaten either of them but I believe we beat ourselves against both of them. Against Dorton we lost by one point but was ice cold from the free throw line. Against Feds Creek, we forced a few bad shots and did not shoot well from the line either. I'm not saying we are better then these teams or worse then these teams but people from Feds Creek have got on here and defended how talented our boys from Mullins are. Yes we threw up a big goose egg against Feds Creek at the Elkhorn tournament but last I checked so did Virgie when they played Dorton at home. The fact is these four teams can beat each other on any given night when they come to play, when they do not come to play, they can get spanked by 20 points. As for the players, its pretty clear you are from the Virgie and Dorton area, which means you would think those boys are better then some of the other players in the county. No one can argue that because everyone tends to favor the schools and players that are close to there hearts. Of course I'm going to lean more toward players from Mullins because I see them everyday and I see the potential and the talent they do have. What I can say though with good certainty is that most people will agree with is this county is loaded and most every school has a player or two at least that could make a all star. As for the people I listed for my starting lineup and my bench players, they all are very talented players but remember I said this is my all star team and you have to have players with certain roles.

Yes, you could easily start Dalton Richardson over any player in the county because he is in a very elite group of about 4 or 5 players, the others being Meade from Mullins, Caudill from Dorton, Belter from Dorton and Justice from Feds Creek. But if you are picking a all star team then one thing you must have is a spark off the bench, which he or Caudill either one could provide.

Cameron Justice I believe is the best player in the county at attacking the basket and running a team. He is tall, quick and very athletic which makes him very hard to guard man to man.

Dylan Meade is one of the best shots I have ever seen when he gets going in a rhythm. If you step out on him and try to put a hand in his face, he can drive past you and finish at the goal. He has as good of ball handling skills as anyone in the county too!

You would have to be crazy not to start Belter at the center position because of his size but also his skill. You can run any kind of defense you want in grade school ball and leave him in the paint and very few will attack the goal with ease. I placed Andrew Newsome in my starting line because of his size and skill as well! Think about how tough a lineup would be that has this size and skill on the post but the shot of Meade outside and the driving abilities of Justice, Caudill and Richardson???

As for my bench, I think the reason I picked them is pretty clear. Ethan Blankenship is 6'7 and has some really good skills as well. As he gets older and coaches get to work with him more and more, he will be dominate inside because he has the bulk that Belter lacks. Austin Kidd is a very fundamentally sound player to bring off a bench. He has good skills around the basket and is a very solid player. Marcus Johnson is pure athleticism! He can jump as high as anyone in the county, which is why he is such a good defense player. Where he does not get credit is his knowledge of the game. He leads our team in charges taken this year and really uses he strength, which is unmatched and should be since his father is a personal trainer, to his advantage.

For my back court bench, I would take Johnny Miller for a number of reasons. He is a really good ball handler, he is really quick and plays good defense but most of all, he is a really good shooter. Him, Meade and Bowling are the best shooters in the county, and you need a offensive spark off the bench that can shoot a team out of a game. Trinity from Belfry is a very strong player with good ball handling skills. He runs the court very well and can really attack the basket when the court is spread out. This is the exact same reason I would put Damon Adkins on the team! And yes you can make the very same argument for Jesse Lucas. None of these three point guards are any better then the others! Having any of them coming off the bench is helpful.

You got to remember, this thread was created so someone could build a AAU team. All I have done is offer my opinion on some players they might be interested in. Yes I can go on about a bunch more like Gaige Ray, Mason Bowling, Michael Fields and the Hamilton kid from Pikeville. The fact is you could pick 20 kids from this county and make a all star team from any combination of them! So why are we on here arguing so much about it! Nobody is going to agree perfectly, but at least now you know why I say these players exactly! And I understand all of your arguments for players you have said. We just have a lot to choose from this year!

I was wondering about Ethan Blankenship. I need to know what grade he is in and if he will be a grade exception.

Also, if anyone knows how to reach Richie Farmer we are looking at picking his son up.

Ethan Blankenship is a 6'7 true 7th grader at Johns Creek. He has a bulky body but he athletically built too. On the offensive end, he needs a little work on his aggressiveness but he has a nice 5 to 8 foot jumper. Under the goal, his size alone is enough to help him get ease offensive boards and put backs. He never moves to a part of the court on the offensive end either that would take him out of the play. He could use a few more post up moves but that will come with time. His coronation is a lot better then you would expect for a kid who grew up as fast as he has. On defense, he tends to jump and try to block shots as most 7th graders will do which can get him in foul trouble. When he learns to stay on the ground and keep his hands straight up, you won't be able to go inside on him that much at all, if at all. Also, he is a little too hard on himself, when he learns to forget a missed shot or foul quickly, he will become twice the player he is.

If you would like a look at him, Johns Creek and Mullins play this coming Thursday @ Johns Creek, weather permitting.

Just to add, I was told today that Belfry's center Barnes has recovered from surgery and is playing again. If that is true, you could easily consider him one of the top centers in Pike County. Yes he is a little heavy set but he is about 6'3 and as quick as any other center in the county. Very physical player too, but thats part of the DNA for boys from Belfry.

SPORTS FANN Wrote:Bball fan,how could you put meade or caudill over dalton richardson?i have seen these boys play sevral times and richardson should def.be there starting.it would be a toss up with caudill and justice.

HOLD UP!!!!! I have watched richardson play twice against feds creek and he has not impressed me one bit. Not to Belittle anybody but that one player from Virgie was better than richardson he had about 6 or 7 threes. The Center (not Newsome) is the one that hurt Feds Creek he had like 17 points.

Will Belfry be at the state tournament this coming weekend at KBA?

Well Simon Christion is a 7th grader but he starts on a jv high school team and is very good big guy in the post

theVILLE Wrote:Well Simon Christion is a 7th grader but he starts on a jv high school team and is very good big guy in the post

Simon is a very good player. What I like most about him is his versatility. He can play inside or out--whatever the team needs. I have been really impressed with him the 3 times we have played this season. He is also a pretty good ballhandler and a great passer. Seems like a very respectful kid as well.

Simon is just in the 7th grade though.

any thoughts on matthew ison from paintsville?????

You need to take a look at Trevor Sherman from JCMS he is 6'2" 165 lbs very ahtletic, has great ball handling skills, can dunk the ball, shooting, best aggresive defense on the team.

Foster Porter from lexington gets my vote as the best point guard in the state.

DortonWildcat5 Wrote:Simon is a very good player. What I like most about him is his versatility. He can play inside or out--whatever the team needs. I have been really impressed with him the 3 times we have played this season. He is also a pretty good ballhandler and a great passer. Seems like a very respectful kid as well.

Simon is just in the 7th grade though.

right he is just in the 7th...but he plays very smart and can handle ball, and is a big kid

bball_fan Wrote:Not exactly what your wanting, but it should be a big help but if I had to pick a 12 man all star team out of pike county, these would be the 12 I'd pick...

starters
c - cody belter (dorton)
f - andrew newsome (virgie)
g - owen caudill (dorton)
g - dylan meade (mullins)
g - cameron justice (feds creek)

bench
g/f - dalton richardson (virgie)
c - ethan blankenship (johns creek)
g - johnny miller (feds creek)
f - austin kidd (pikeville)
f - marcus johnson (mullins)
g - trinity ? (belfry)
g - damon adkins (mullins)

a few others you could consider would be...

hamilton (pikeville)
ray (mullins)
lucas (dorton)
fields (elkhorn)
bowling (virgie)

you know all the greats are not from the same area are they?

THis Year, I saw a boy from Frakes, A small area in Bell county, small school, and this kid was amazing, he had 34 of his 38 teams points in a loss, but according to some of the kids when they played them @ frakes he had almost 40, hes about 6'1, and can do it all, would love to know what his name is.