Augusta vs. Walton-Verona: All “A” Classic State Tournament Preview

Augusta is preparing for their second trip to the All “A” Classic State Tournament this week.  They will play Walton-Verona tomorrow at 1:00 pm at the Corbin Arena.

View the full bracket here.

Augusta’s last trip came in 2015 when the tournament was held at the now-demolished Frankfort Civic Center.  Jason Hinson was the coach of Augusta from 2012-2015 and is in his second stint since 2020, a total of eleven seasons. 

“Everybody gets behind it here,” said Coach Hinson.  “It’s been a great thing for our school, our basketball team, and our athletic program in general.  I’ve always said these All “A” championships are hard to win, and you have to win them when you can and enjoy it.”

Augusta is traveling down to Corbin today and staying in a hotel.  Thanks to community donations, the Panthers will make the nearly three-hour trip in a charter bus.  Augusta Independent Schools will be closed on Thursday and Friday.

Their first-round opponent is the Walton-Verona Bearcats who come out of the 8th Region.  They are making their sixth appearance in the last eight years.  Mike Hester coaches them in his fifth season.

Walton-Verona comes in with a record of 14-6 and is ranked No. 6 in the 8th Region in the BluegrassPreps.com rankings.  Augusta is 12-4 and is No. 4 in the 10thRegion.com poll.

Walton-Verona is a familiar opponent for Augusta.  They faced each other on Dec. 28th in the first round of the Mason County Invitational Tournament.  The Bearcats won 74-63. 

Coach Hinson said, “We’ve been familiar with them the last couple of years.  We lost (at home) in overtime last year, and we lost to them at the MCIT.  It was a tie ballgame with four and a half minutes to go, and I think we took a one-point lead.  They’ve got two really good players with Dixon and Gutman.  They’re tough, and we know we’ve got our hands full, but I hope they feel the same way about us.”

The duo of Julian Dixon and Aaron Gutman scored 25 and 24 points that game.  The Bearcats were 8 of 18 from three. Connor Snapp led Augusta in the MCIT matchup with 23 points, and Keeton Bach added 14.  Augusta shot 1 of 13 from three.

“The way they spread you out and attack, they are a unique matchup, and they’re well-coached.  Nothing comes easy when playing them.”

Dixon, a senior, is averaging 15.5 points, and Gutman, a junior, leads the team with 21 points per game.  Dixon leads the team in rebounds with 7.1 per game, and Gutman follows with 6.2. Dixon is 6’3″ and Gutman is 6’6″.

“Dixon was a nightmare for us.  I’ve got a million notes written down on him.  Just his athleticism and the way he maneuvers around and makes them go, along with Gutman’s shooting, they’re a difficult matchup.”

Conner Snapp has led Augusta in scoring the last two times they played, but Kylan Hinson is Augusta’s leading scorer and rebounder with 19.5 and 6.4.

“Connor has started to play like a grown man, and he’s done really well.  But, you know, we don’t need Connor scoring 30.  We just need all our guys to contribute.  When our stats line up, we’re hard to beat.”

Walton-Verona cruised through the 8th Region Tournament, defeating Trimble County by 54 points, Eminence by 37, and Gallatin County by 15.  Last year’s champion, Owen County, outgrew the event and did not play in the 2024 tournament. 

Last season, Walton-Verona defeated Augusta on the road 99-94 in overtime.  Aaron Gutman scored 35 points in that game, and Julian Dixon had 31.  Now graduated Carter Krohman had 20 points.  Conner Snapp led Augusta with 32 points.

Coach Hinson said the key to winning is doing a better job offensively to get open shots, saying, “Every shot we took against them was heavily contested.”

The winner of this game will take on the winner of Lyon County and Owensboro Catholic on Friday, Jan. 26th, at 6:30 pm.  The Travis Perry-led Lyons are expected to draw a large Eastern Kentucky crowd.  Lyon County plays in the 11:30 am game right before this matchup. You can watch the game at go.prepspin.com for $14.95 for the entire day.

“We’ve got to be ready to play. We’ve got to go down there and focus and not make it a vacation but a business trip. We feel like we can compete for a region championship, and this is going to get us ready for what we need to be built in February. That’s the ultimate goal, and this is just one step toward that goal. We’ve got to continue to get better and continue to fight.”