Regular season basketball is always puctuated by key matchups and this one was no exception.  This early season game pitted two of the very best teams in the state and was played December 14th as part of the Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Holiday Classic at the Bank of Kentucky Center on the campus of Northern Kentucky University.

Holmes utilized an excellent defensive effort and the torrid outside shooting of JaMel Riley to lead the Bulldogs to defeat Scott County 70-65.  Holmes raced out to a 34-17 lead in the second quarter and held off a late rally by Scott County to earn the victory.  Scott County's 6-8 Sr. Richie Phares got in early foul trouble and only played 17:20 minutes and scored three points before fouling out.

Holmes shot 50% from the field including nine of 19 from beyond the arc.  The Bulldogs connected on 13  of 21 free throws, pulled down 34 rebounds and scored 18 points off 17 Scott County turnovers.  Scott County shot 41.4% from the field including three of 16 from beyond the arc.  The Cardinals connected on 14 of 19 free throws, grabbed 32 rebounds and scored 25 points off 22 Holmes turnovers.

JaMel Riley led Holmes with 20 points including five of six from beyond the arc.  Elijah Pittman added 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Jeremiah Johnson chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds.  Ricardo Johnson recorded 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

Ge-Lawn Guyn led Scott County with 29 points and kept Scott County in the game.  Guyn was 13 of 19 from the field including three of five from beyond the arc.  6-3 Fr. Tamron Manning added 12 points.  Chad Jackson chipped in with 10 points and Dakotah Euton recorded nine points and 11 rebounds.

Scott County  12 17 16 20 - 65

Holmes           24 17 12 17 - 70

Scott County (65)  Euton 9, Phares 3, Guyn 29, Jackson 10, 

                              Flannery 2, Manning 12.

Holmes          (70)  R. Johnson 10, Jeremiah 12, Pittman 15, 

                              D. Johnson 6, Riley 20, Housley 5, Arnold 2.

A special thanks to the Scott County Stats Crew for providing the statistics for this game.

So, what does this really mean, especially this early in the season?  It just shows that there are some worthy contenders for the state title this year which should make for an interesting season.  Some thought that it would be a cakewalk  to the title for Scott County.  However many including veteran Scott County  coach Billy Hicks knows it is not that simple in the state of Kentucky and that there are several teams capable of beating you on a given night. Scott County jumps back in the fire tonight as they face Clark County at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington in a televised game.

Back to Holmes, this team is long, athletic,  can play defense and when they shoot like tonight are extremely difficult to defeat.  There is no reason to believe that this team will not have a great year and it is quite possible all title considerations must go through Northern Kentucky.