Lion Mania

Lion Mania hasn't gone anywhere. I still live in Garrard County and have a scrapbook full of F Troop and Elliott articles and pics. I have been on here reading, but not posting over the last 9 months. Little different situation as last year I was not working and attended 32 of 35 Elliott games. This year I am working 55-60 hours per week. Got to pay for the 8,000 miles of gas, hotels, popcorn, cokes, hot dogs, admission tickets from last year now. Actually started following them habitually in December 2007 at the Lexington Catholic Holiday Tournament. Success breeds success and those younger players like Timmy Knipp, Jacob Ison, and Cody Nickles are now seasoned juniors and paving their own way with a fine 11-4 record. No they are not going to be ranked in the Top 10 in the state, but they are competitive and it appears they will win well over 20 games and be a tough out for anybody in the 16th region. I think many including myself thought that something like a 15-11 record would be fine for this team. It appears they will far exceed that. My part of the answer for what it's worth!!!

First didn't read all the comments and haven't been on BGP in weeks. Met Pat Forde on a cold January night in Sandy Hook at the Penny Mart. Seemed like a nice guy and very enjoyable to be around. Certainly didn't see some of his mean spirited remarks coming. To quote a man from Galilee in the first century, "It is what comes from within that defiles a man". Kind of like a lot of our high ranking politicians we see these days!!! Didn't know much about him then and still don't now except remember him telling me he resides in Louisville. Hmmmm, maybe a clue!!!

Looking ahead we have 4 scholarships assuming Patterson goes to the NBA (Harris, Stevenson, Patterson, and open scholarship) and assuming Wall and Cousins don't leave for the NBA My bets would be on signing Knight, Lamb, and Leslie. The 4th signee could possibly come from Payne, Leonard, & Clark. A 5th or 6th signee could also come from this last group of three. I see Barnes going to Kansas. Just my roll of the dice at this early stage.

There was discussion of a game Tuesday night June 9th at first Madisonville and then Anderson County. Is there now no Tuesday night game?? Had talked with Ethan and Evan at their graduation Friday night.

I did a search this morning for "NBA Mock Drafts" and went to 4 different sites. None of them had Meeks in the Top 60 (2 rds. of draft) or even on the bubble or radar. Didn't see his name even mentioned. Saw Clark/Williams (UL), Evans (Memphis), and Curry listed in the 1st round. Even had Calathes (Florida) in the low first round or high second round, but he is going to Greece now. If thats correct, then come on back Jodie and go for a Final Four appearance.

I don't care of we only get him for one year. What a year it could be!!! Watched all the videos on this guy and he is SICK!!! He is a speed demon and magician with the ball and that explosive left hand dunk at the rim will break somebody's arm. I thought Derrick Rose was good, but to me this guy has more talent, speed, and jumping ability than Rose. He must have about a 42 inch vertical jump. Not only the length of the jump, but he explodes from point A to point B before you can even react. :dancingpa

Many thanks!!!

Does anyone know where you can find the DS All Star schedule on the web?? I tried the DS site and they still have the old information for last year under the roster and schedule. I would assume they are playing in the 15-17 May Kentucky State Championships at the KBA in Lexington?? Other than that I don't know where they are playing. Any assistance would be appreciated. Would like to see the DS 16U team as they have a loaded team full of talent. Again, thanks for any help.

Well at least the Faulkner Twins should be familiar with this situation. Small guys on a small team playing a bunch of bigger guys!!! I think Hopper and Listerman took the best 12 who could makes play and put the ball in the hole. You have to play the hand your dealt. Trying to remember the bigs who were invited (Adams, Collins, Reeves, Jones, and ??) I think many of us would have made the same decision. No use just having a bunch of big guys on the roster just to make it look more even on paper when in reality if offers no advantage.

Congrads to ET & EV Faulkner on both making the team. Super!!! Will see you guys at Bellarmine on Sunday June 14th!!! WAY TO GO ETHAN AND EVAN!!!!:dancingpa :ylsuper::clap:

Backcourt for 1993 State Champs Marion County was Anthony Epps and Michael Douglas who played at Kentucky State. Scott was a 6'7" forward. Doesn't change things a whole lot because Douglas could really shot the three ball and score.

Looking at the 40 selected: 6 players each from regions 7 & 11. Justified in that they are the 2 toughest regions in the state. 4 players from regions 9 and 2. Again 9th is justified although Dom Johnson even after watching Holmes 6x I'm not sure exactly who he is?? 2d region having 4 players and the 10th only has one (Middleton)?? Seven (7) regions have one player as they pick the region player of the year. Here is where I see Barrett Meyer's and Leonard Macon's slots going. There are a few players in that group I have never heard of and I follow HS Basketball fervently. Probably quality players just I haven't heard of them or seen them on the AAU circuit. Also from the 2d I had never heard of Walker from Lyon County.

I wondered how long before I saw this post and knew it would come sooner or later. Nothing against 16thBBallFan because I don't know you from Adam. Yes, Jonathan has several offers. Does a bird have wings?? After seeing him play probably 75 games and watching HS basketball for 40 years he is still one of the best shooters to ever play HS basketball in KY. I talked to numerous KY college coaches after games standing on the court (especially after 35 point games against Ballard and South Charleston) and many were salivating to get this young man, were wildly ecstatic, and would have signed him on the spot. Although as friends of the family I could come as close as anyone in answering this question, it is certainly not my place in this forum or even in a private forum (so don't PM me). IMO there is only one member on here that can or has the right to answer this if he so choses and he may chose not to for personal family reasons and we all should respect that. My last encouragement to all would be not start wild speculation and leave it alone and move on to other subjects. Jonathan is a wonderful young man. Wish him the best and leave it at that.

Two big omissions---Barrett Meyer (Franklin County) and 6'6" 240 lb. Leonard Macon (Taylor County) who is a MAN CHILD on the inside. Saw both probably 15 games this past summer on the Derek Smith All Star team and they are quality deserving players. 5 of the 8 Kentuckians on that team made the list including Ferguson, Evan/Ethan Faulkner, Clevenger, and Donovan. Richie didn't probably because he is hurt.

Yes, I watched Shae score 20 points last night in leading the North All-Stars to a 1 point win over the South All-Stars in the Appalachian All-Star game at Leslie County High School. Shae was the 4th leading scorer in the state (over 22 ppg) and wasn't one of the 40 players to get an invite for the KY All Star Teams vs. Indiana?? She has several scholarship offers on the table. Somebody missed the boat on this one!! Congrads to Shae and also Lakin who did make the list of 40 and hit the game winning shot last night with 2 seconds left.

Went to Leslie County HS last night and watched Shae Ferguson (Elliott Co.) lead the North All-Stars to a one point win over the South All-Stars with 20 points. Shae was the 4th leading girl's scorer in the state this past season (over 22ppg) and has several scholarship offers on the table and isn't on the list of 40 players with invites?? Somebody missed the boat on this one!!! Congrads to Lakin (Elliott County) who hit the game winning shot with 2 seconds last night on an assist by Shae Ferguson. Lakin is most deserving of making the list. I believe Lakin had about 14 or 16 points last night.

Just to point out what a great season Elliott County had. 2 of their 3 losses were to #22 Holmes (35-2) and #35 Cedar Hill (34-4) with both losses by 10 points. Not bad when your losses are to Top 50 nationally ranked teams!!The other loss was to Shelby Valley who they beat in the quarter-finals of the Sweet Sixteen and finished the year at 32-3.:clap:

I have been watching HS Basketball since 1969 when Central with Ron King and Otto Petty beat Ohio County in the final. During those 40 years the Elliott County Lions of 2006-2009 have been my favorite and most fun team to watch. After driving 8,000 miles this year to watch 33 Elliott games and watching nearly 50 Elliott games the past two years it has been the most enjoyable basketball of my life. I have a scrapbook full of the national and local news articles and will ask that they bury it with me in my coffin. This team will remain in my heart forever and the memories will never go away!!! Thanks to Ethan, Evan, Ferg, Jon, Chris, Jared, and Timmy on making dreams come true for thousands!!! You are champions and overcomers!!! Here are some four year accomplishments: 1) Four year record of 106-22. Broke their own school record of 26 wins by finishing 2009 with 32 wins against only 3 losses. 2) Won four straight district titles, appeared in 4 straight region finals, and won 3 straight region finals. 3) Ferg becomes the 5th in all time KY HS Career scoring finishing with 3,377 points 4) Ethan, Evan, and Ferg score somewhere close or around 8,000 points during a career that spans back to their 8th grade year. 5) Ferg becomes the all time 16th region tournament career scoring leader 6) Ethan Faulkner wins 3 straight 16th Region MVP awards and is on the 2009 All State Tournament team 7) Ferg is the only freshman to win 16th Region Tournament MVP and also makes the 2007 All State Tournament team as a sophomore Quite an accomplishment for a HS with a little over 300 students, and a county with less than 7,000 where the largest town is only 700. To the Elliott County Team: Thanks for the most incredible ride of my life!!!

I think they will see a different Elliott team this time around. They saw pretty much the same one that Shelby Valley saw the first time around. I think this time around they will see the one Ballard and Mason saw in late Feb. If they do then no 18 point lead in the 2d quarter this time. Probably no lead at all this time!!!

I talked with some who wished he would coach at Hickman County. That is in the far western corner of the state. It has a nice & catchy ring to it. Hicks at Hickman.:ohbrother:

I almost forgot the defense also. He was named EKC defensive player of the year and also won the 16th Region Tournament top defensive player award. Add to that three straight 16th Region Tournament MVP awards and a triple double in every region tournament game. In fact, both Faulkners are like those bees that keep swarming around your head on a hot summer day. You swat at them to get away, never hit them, and they never go away. They just really get on your nerves.

Wow. 5 hours later and I saw no posts on this thread. I think at this point we all are saying to heck with the polls and lets just play ball. Elliott is one here, five in cantrall, five in the last BGP Poll (of the 16 remaining teams). Just a few more days and we will all be experts and have a perfect poll. I say--Let's play ball!!:idunno:

Ethan and Justice are hands down the best PGs in the tournament. Ethan is a triple threat with points, assists, and rebounds. He orchestrates the offense like a coach on the floor. He makes good decisions with the ball. I think the folks in Rupp will come away impressed with his overall game and especially his rebounding. One of the best 6'1" rebounding guards I have seen. He is relentless & amazing in getting the ball in among the tall timber on the inside. Wouldn't surprise me if he had a 20 point game with 12 rebounds and 12 assist.

An honor for small class A school Elliott to have someone on the All-State Team. Not only one player, but they have 3 players listed among the names. Congrads to Jonathan Ferguson (FERG) on making the 1st team and Ethan Faulkner (ET) on making the second team. Also, Timmy Knipp made honorable mention. Congrads to T. Knipp. Was surprised that Evan Faulkner was not listed among the honorable mention names. He has signed a scholarship with D-1 Radford who by the way made the big dance winning both the regular season and tournament Big South crowns.:ylsuper:

I will be sitting in my same seats I've had since 1999 along with a friend. Will be there from Wednesday morning through the championship game. Only deviation is that during the Elliott County games I will slip down to their section to be with my high five group. See Joe B. every year. Want to check him out early and make sure he has his Elliott attire on!!! Many Elliott fans will have the black T-shirt with Elliott County Basketball and the huge Lion on the front and the quote by Joe B. on the back, "The sum of the parts exceeds the individual, Joe B. Hall."