King James

12:00 - Johnson Central vs Henry Clay 1:45- Madison Central vs Trinity 3:30 - Bullitt East vs Knott County 5:15 - Sheldon Clark vs Knott County (girls) 7:00 - Shelby Valley vs Tug Valley 8:45 - Sheldon Clark vs Betsy Layne

Be careful who you believe with that story...

Not sure what will come of it, but Kasongo has spent alot of time this weekend around the Pikeville program. Eligibility questions are sure to follow him wherever he goes. Pikeville has had issues with recruiting recently, so it is a little surprising they may be headed down this road again so soon...

I do know that Brandon Bender has beeen selling Kasongo on the Scott County idea. Not sure of Randy McCoy's influence, but he has made it clear that he will do everything he can to keep Kasongo from getting eligible elsewhere...

Tony Messer.... And yes, he is a good player. He will likely be on the football field for a while though if Belfry has another extended playoff run...

No, Johnson Central is the favorite as they return the entire team from last season's regional championship team...

I understand that Perry Central, Harlan County, Betsy Layne, and of course Pikeville are in the field. Not sure of the others...

Belter checks in at around 6'11"" and about 225 lbs. He has good instincts offensively and passes the ball well. His mobility has improved as he has added strength, but adding more strength would definitely be a plus defensively and on the post...

Guard play will again be a major question mark for Shelby Valley. Junior big man Cody Belter returns, along with talented sophomore Dalton Richardson. Sophomore forward Andrew Newsome is another returning starter. Depth is a question mark for the young squad, but being a contender in the 15th is not out of the question...

From the 15th it will be either Johnson Central or East Ridge. The player to look out for from JC would be Shane Hall. He is listed as a 6'8" sophomore and has received interest from a few D1 schools. From East Ridge the top player is probably 6'8" junior Ray Kasongo. He has also received some D1 interest, along with sophomore PG Tony Wolter. Actually, it was reported that Tom Crean from Indiana, along with assistants from a few other D1 schools including Tennessee are in attendance tonight for the regional championship...

This is being reported on another site as well...

I'm not sure we have heard the end of this though...

Not true.

This is not a true statement. I hate to be the guy that says I have a source and not name it, but Brandon Bender is most definitely involved with this. Not sure what impact that will have on their eligibility though...

I'm by no means an expert on the KHSAA eligibility rules, so is it unusual for players to get eligible by having a change in address even though their family did not make the move with them?

Anthony, are you at liberty to identify the individual that "placed" the players at their respective schools?

You mean Dalton Richardson from Shelby Valley.

Cameron Justice-Knott County Central

The overall record between the two teams is 14-10 Pikeville. East Ridge was successful in its first 3 seasons as a school, but since then has lost 14 of 17 to Pikeville. So its more than the last couple of years... it goes back to the 05/06 season. So I guess its safe to say East Ridge dominated Pikeville for its first three seasons, but has been dominated by Pikeville for the past six... advantage Pikeville...

East Ridge is not an overly attractive program for most coaches/players due to its poor location and the fact that it is the 3rd best program in a three team district. East Ridge did seem to be on the upswing with some young talent led by Justice, but his transfer sets that back quite a bit. Coaches have not lasted long at ER and that has not been good for consistency within the program. I'm not sure Lemaster will be a long term solution either because if he is successful he will look to move to a better program, and if he is not successful he won't be able to keep the job.

This score doesn't come as a surprise. Shelby Valley lost the top eight players from last year, and this team wasn't expected to be here. Good defense and timely shooting got them through the 15th region tournament, but you don't see pressure like this in the 15th. Hopefully a more competitive Shelby Valley will return to Rupp in the future... An 83-40 loss isn't a good thing, but for this team this season has to be considered a huge success...

Playing for the state tournament starts with district and region, so every team in the state gets to play for the state championship trophy...

I'm a Shelby Valley fan, but realistically this is a very tough game for them. Turnovers have been a major problem for this team and Christian County is capable of really taking advantage of that. SV starts an 8th grader at PG and he hasn't seen the type of pressure Christian County is sure to apply. SV lost the top 8 players from last season so none of these kids have seen any time against this type of team. Hopefully it isn't as lopsided as I'm afraid it may be...

And Shelby Valley will be the worst team in the Sweet 16, but for this season just making it there is a HUGE accomplishment. After graduating everything, this year's team surprised everyone in making it back to Rupp. I'm sure they will struggle mightly at Rupp and people will say "How did this team win a regional tournament?', but we will still be very happy with how things turned out...

SV earned the title last year, plain and simple. They pretty much dominated everyone they played, including Ballard. It definitely won't happen this year, but they have showed so much heart just to make it back there. Within 2 years, they could be a dominant team again with all the young talent they have.