Curt Lewis and Valley Run Past Bardstown
On Saturday night I made the trip to Bardstown to get eyes on 2018 guard Curt Lewis and check on the development of Sophomore JJ Traynor and his Bardstown teammates. Bardstown led after a quarter but eventually their shots stop falling and the Valley pressure turned the young Tigers over enough to put the game out of reach. The final score ended up looking worse than the game was but here’s what I learned from the 26 point Valley win.
1. Valley’s Curt Lewis is a no-brainer Division I kid in my opinion. I’m not sure what his recruiting looks like or what his academic situation is but I am certain that Curt Lewis can play and contribute at the Division I level next season. Lewis has a college ready body and showed the ability to score at the rim. The 6’4 wing also has a consistent 3 point shot and solid shot mechanics.
2. It’s probably now or never for Valley to win the 6th region. This Valley team would be the best team in several regions. Unfortunately they are in the always brutal 6th region with Butler and Fern Creek. They’re about to graduate 4 of their top 5 players and their JV team wasn’t very good when I watched the JV game. With Lewis graduating in May, this could be the last chance for Valley to win the 6th for a while. They square off against PRP in the opening round of district.
3. Bardstown is trending up. Coach Boo Brewer’s team is on the rise. They start 3 sophomores, a junior and a senior. One of this sophomores is 6’7 forward JJ Traynor. Traynor flashed some skills both inside the paint and out. JJ is already ranked #5 in our 2020 class rankings. As he adds muscle and works on his ballhandling he may keep trending upward. I really liked what I saw from Freshman PG Javon Smith. Smith is small but he is quick and fearless. As his body fills out, he has a chance to be an impact player in the 5th region.
4. Don’t underestimate Bardstown’s Trey Riney. When Trey was introduced to start the game, I didn’t expect him to have a monster game. Riney was 10-12 from the field and scored 25 points. Riney repeatedly made Valley forward Jerry Davis look really bad. All Trey had to do was raise his eye brows and Davis would jump to try and block him while Riney just laid it in while Davis jumped by him. The 6’2 Junior is tied for the lead in scoring for the Tigers and leads the team in rebounding. Some D3 school should take a look at him for their 2019 class.
5. Valley dominated the game with their pressure. Bardstown was able to handle the Viking press early. The Tigers carried a lead into the second quarter. Eventually, the pace of the game got to be too much for the young Bardstown backcourt. The young guards started slinging the ball all over the court. Valley capitalized with lots of easy looks in transition. In the second half, Bardstown started slinging 3s up every possession trying to catch up. Ultimately, the game devolved into a JV game as the benches finished up the game. If Valley can turn PRP over like they did Bardstown, they’ll make the 6th region tournament.