This one doesn't qualify as one of the greatest games by any stretch but it holds a special place in ol' papa's heart.

 

2006 quarters, Mason County vs. Apollo. Mason had already upset Clark County in the regional finals and Warren Central in the opening round of the Sweet 16. They would lose this game to Apollo, who went on to the final game that year. But a little story unfolded in the quarterfinal game that I have repeated many times.

 

About 3 or 4 minutes before halftime one of those National Guard guys started talking to my daughter. She was sitting a couple of rows in front of us with her boyfriend at the time, a basketball player from Lawrence County who had never been to Rupp Arena and was kind of google-eyed taking everything in. We didn't know what was going on. Turns out that the Guard guy took her down to the floor; she was picked as one of the fans to participate in the halftime shootout. Although her "team" didn't win and neither did Mason County, she and I can always say that she scored several baskets on the Rupp Arena floor. Memory of a lifetime.

 

Good stuff!

There was an odd trend for several years where the winner of that contest would always foreshadow the winner of the game.

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2004 quarterfinals; Mason County vs. Trinity. Mason down 6 late; hits a 3 (might have been Casey Pfeffer). Down 3 with seconds to go; everybody in Rupp Arena knew that Lofton was going to take and make a 3 unless he was fouled. That he did. Mason eventually won in triple overtime 66-59.

 

To this day no one can tell me why Lofton wasn't fouled. Now I'm not complaining, just wondering.

 

This was a game that came to my mind as I read this thread title. The shot was classic Lofton fade away and super clutch!

1967 Sweet Sixteen Championship Game CovCath vs. Earlington.....

 

Seconds left in the game, CovCath up by one, Earlington takes the ball out from under the CovCath basket, Earlington dribbles down to just a little inside the mid court line shoots and misses but the ball just barley touches the front of the rim and instead of bouncing up and away from anyone, the ball lands into the hands of a surprised Earlington player who is between two CovCath players who are afraid of fouling the player, who then puts it in for the win as the horn sounds.

 

I was only ten years old when this game was played but if I'm not mistaken my dad and I listened to this game on radio. Lots of static but was still a great game to listen to..CCH was loaded with talent..Noll, Voskuhl, VonLehman, Fritz, Topmiller, Derkson, Burger, Kreimborg were just some of the names that I remember from that era of some excellent CCH teams..It seems as though CCH was a bit "snakebitten" in the late 60s and fell just short in a few state tourneys during that period in time when they may have had the best talent in the state.

One I am surprised no one has mentioned is the 2001 State Finals between Lafayette and Male. Robert Madison led an incredible 4th quarter comeback. That was my first ever Sweet 16 game too.

 

I had that one as the #10 game in my list. It was #7 in the second tier.

The 1982 Finals between Laurel Co. and North Hardin. Game was tied late in the 4th qtr and Laurel Co was holding the ball for the last shot and turned it over with just a few seconds left. North Hardin tried a length of the court pass to 6'10 Brett Burrow. Paul Andrews leaped in front of Burrow to grab the ball then took 2 or 3 dribbles and launched a shot from the North Hardin side of halfcourt. Nothing but net as the buzzer went off and Laurel Co won the championship.

 

This may still be one of the best high school games in the history of high school finals.

Share your memory of what you would call the "Greatest Sweet 16 Game" that you have either seen or even been apart of.

 

I would say the "greatest" game I have seen was in 2010 when Warren Central played Ballard in the Quarterfinals. Warren Central was down 34-15 at halftime, after scoring 1 point in the first quarter. and came roaring back to tie the game with under 10 seconds left at 59. Player from Ballard comes down the court and hits about a 40-footer as time expired to give Ballard the W, 62-59.

 

I didnt seee it.But according to my father the greatest game was the 1978 champ game between Holmes and Shelby co.Doug Schloemer vs Charles Hurt and according to dad Holmes got robbed on a non goal tending call that would have won the game.Anyone can correct me if my facts are not right.

The 1982 Finals between Laurel Co. and North Hardin. Game was tied late in the 4th qtr and Laurel Co was holding the ball for the last shot and turned it over with just a few seconds left. North Hardin tried a length of the court pass to 6'10 Brett Burrow. Paul Andrews leaped in front of Burrow to grab the ball then took 2 or 3 dribbles and launched a shot from the North Hardin side of halfcourt. Nothing but net as the buzzer went off and Laurel Co won the championship.

 

Couldn't believe that no one had mentioned it before. Great game. Also the first time the 12th Region won the Title if memory serves. N. Hardin had Valentine and Bret Burrow but Laurel County hung tough and Paul Andrews wins the title and a schooly to UK.

I was at the Henderson/Highlands game in 99 and when Lorenzen threw the ball almost full court everybody in the Henderson student section thought it was going in. Great game. All three of Henderson's games were great that year. I especially remember the Muhlenberg North game, not only because it was a great game but also because during the game Ballard's team came walking through and we were all in awe of how big they were. We didn't give our guys a chance but we should have won that game as well and probably the state championship because Scott County was banged up. Overall having been to the state tournament every year since then, that was the best Sweet Sixteen I've been to.

 

I remember Lorenzen's heave as time ran out. Man, as a kid, I was heart-broken when Highlands got beat out early. If I remember correctly, they only had 3 kids score in that game (Lorenzen, Smith, Messmer). Also agree that all of Henderson County's games were good that year.

 

I'm with you on the '99 being a personal favorite too. Lots of great games, good players, and drama (still remember Paducah Tilghman getting stuck-- some of the loudest booing I've heard in Rupp). Lots of star power in that tournament.

 

Going by region, here's some of the talent I remember (feel free to add/correct if you remember more):

 

George Wilson (???) and Brett Jones (think he played golf in college but was a lethal shooter and has some FT records) from Paducah Tilghman,

Tim Barnes from Henderson County (Iowa St),

Patrick Sparks from Muhlenburg North (UK),

Jarius Sykes (Louisville) from North Hardin,

Duane King, Keith(?) Paschall, and another good guard from PRP (one of those guards played pro overseas if I'm not mistaken),

Brandon Bender (Louisiville), Adam Chiles (UK), & Mac Wilkinson (???, I'm thinking he was related to Felton Spencer) from Ballard,

Rick Jones (Vanderbilt), Scott Hundley (Vanderbilt), AW Hamilton (Marshall) from Scott County,

Jared Lorenzen (UK Football), Derek Smith (UK Football) from Highlands,

Marquis Estill (UK), Keneal Jenkins (???), from Madison Central,

Steven Asher (Georgetown College) from Clay County,

Ben Bowling (Tulane) (& I’m thinking they had another kid that played D1 football) from PCC,

Zornes from Boyd Co. (???).

 

In all, the tourney had 3 players who ended up at UK (Sparks, Estill, Chiles), two that went to Louisville (Sykes and Bender), two at Vanderbilt (Jones and Hundley), then a player going to Iowa State, Marshall, and Tulane. That’s 7 players at fairly large schools, 6 of which were in BCS conferences. Not too shabby, especially considering that I didn't know where some of the PRP guys and a few of the others ended up.

 

What are some other years where the talent level would match this one?

Good call... I read it wrong... Was that the same year?

 

I forgot about this one! Spillman got the steal and the bucket that they thought was for the win and celebrated while Walt Allen ran the court and make the layup at the buzzer! Great game!

 

The PRP / Ballard game was 2005 (the same year that South beat PRP in the Semis). I remember the PRP/Ballard game being really high scoring, and toward the end, Crutcher and one of Ballard's better players (I'm thinking Ravon Lee) were battling in the post and I think that both fouled out on a double foul. In the second OT, Spillman drove, jump-stopped, and put it in as time expired. Still remember the next day, the Lexington Herald Leader had the headline "3.... 2.... JaJuan!" PRP had some battles in that tournament. Pendleton County, Ballard, then South Laurel.

I didnt seee it.But according to my father the greatest game was the 1978 champ game between Holmes and Shelby co.Doug Schloemer vs Charles Hurt and according to dad Holmes got robbed on a non goal tending call that would have won the game.Anyone can correct me if my facts are not right.

 

Your facts are correct. There was a picture in the Courier Journal the next day showing Charles hand in the cylinder at the same time the ball was coming through it.

Holmes 1980 Quarters: Holmes 97 Ashland 92. Back and forth high scoring affair. Late into the night on Friday. Holmes was spent and got throttled the next day by eventual champ Owensboro. Wish the new format was in place then. Holmes got back to their rooms about 2am and had to play again at 11:30. Dicky Beal's senior season. This was back in the day when kids could shoot as evidenced by the score without the 3-point line.

One that hasn't been mentioned is from Christian Co. run in 2011. The Lexington Catholic game on Friday. Catholic had them down 11 at halftime and what Hickey did in the second half of that game was amazing. Looked like a one man lay up line.

 

Watching Anthony Hickey play that whole tournament is my overall favorite Sweet 16 moment. There was no question who the best player in the state was after that tournament. What did he have, 10 steals against Shelby Valley?

Scott County-Mason County in the 2004 semis.