So it was a myth that my Neers were the first ever 9th region champ.

 

I've been a believer of this myth all the way up until today. :idunno:

I don't believe any of the schools mentioned in post no. 14 exist anymore, most of them victims of consolidation. Flaget is the exception there; it was a Catholic high school in the western part of Louisville that produced athletes like Paul Hornung and Howard Schnellenberger. It closed in 1974.

 

Several of those teams have had books written about them. Also, Mike Embry's book, March Madness (published in 1985), provides a year-by-year review of the Kentucky Sweet Sixteen tournament through 1984.

Schools like Heath, Sharpe, Brewers, Cuba, Corinth, Flaget, Midway, Hazel Green, Hindman, Carr Creek, and Inez all intrigue me, and mostly because I don’t know much about them, and wonder if any of them are still in operation.

 

Outside of Inez winning twice, all of these other teams won once.

 

I did read a book entitled “When Cuba conquered Kentucky” all about the 1st Region small school team the Cuba Cubs who against all odds won the 1952 Sweet 16.

 

I find a certain charm in these schools that I know nothing about, and feel like there must be some interesting stories about them, and considering that they likely weren’t powerhouses, perhaps good Cinderella stories too.

 

I recently chatted briefly with an older man with dementia, and his wife at an eye doctor’s office in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio who were originally from Eastern Kentucky where they met in high school at Carr Creek where she was a cheerleader, and he kept repeating that they won the Sweet 16 in ‘56, and while some might’ve passed him off as an older man who had lost it, I was moved by his passion about it, and while he wasn’t really capable of telling me anything else tangible regarding it, I wanted so bad to hear more. His wife was with it enough to fill in some gaps, but I kept thinking that of all people for this man to bump into, and especially in Cincinnati where they could care less about Kentucky High School Basketball, he found a guy in me that really cared. You could see his eyes light up that I did care. It was really touching, and it’s stories like this about small schools from small towns who do the unthinkable and ultimately win it all that really intrigue and move me.

 

Would love to hear anything that anyone knows about any of these teams, or any team that you’d like to reminisce out.

 

I know a little about the Corinth Braves who won the state in 1930. After a second place finish in 1929, they sealed the deal the next year. After the state they went to the national tournament in Chicago. They placed third in it. This was with out a doubt the all time high point for this little farming community. My mom used to tell me about how my Grandpa would ride a mule to town the morning after these games to get the scoop on how the boys done. When the small town schools consolidated to form Grant Co. High in 1954-55 they honored Corinth by choosing the Braves as their school name.