Lion Mania

Clark is really young with the heart and soul of the team sophomores. Their ranking in BGP at #16 is about right. They will move up as those sophomores get closer to being juniors. The pre-season hype that had them at #4 or #5 was a little too much to expect so quick. They may sneak back into the Top 10, but not until mid-Feb or so. Comparitive scores for those who like them. They don't really mean alot to be honest, but a few weeks ago Elliott beat GRC by 21 and tonight Scott beats them by 20. Kinda things that makes one go hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

Well I haven't made a comment on this thread. Was waiting for everyone else to get through. Kind of like the chow line in the Army!!! After 144 posts just about everything has been said and then some. Score speaks for itself. If Ferg played 28 or 29 minutes no doubt he would have had 55 points or more. T. Knipp is the key and right now the key is working in the lock. Back to back career high nights for the young man with 31 pts. If he keeps putting up anything remotely close to these numbers than Elliott becomes more dangerous as the year progresses and his level of play goes up for the young sophomore. He has more room for growth and improvement than any other player in my opinion. Ferg and the twins are constant, sterling, and we all know what we are going to get from them, but T. Knipp's maturity and growth as a young player is what makes Elliott an even better team. Now for Boyd and you would have to have been at the game to understand my compliments about them. First of all they were not scared and did not back down. They showed the ability to knock down open threes and shot them with confidence. They are much better than what I anticipated for having not won a game. May sound crazy by the 65 pt. win, but again you would have had to be at the game to understand what I'm saying. The next five or six games will be Elliott's chance to silence some of the naysayers (for a short while). I personally believe they can play with the national powers at the Beach. We will certainly find out in the next 8-10 days. Myrtle Beach has 3 teams ranked in the USA Today Super 25 in St. Patrick's (NJ), Wheeling (GA), and Arlington Country Day (FL). Paterson Catholic (NJ) was ranked #28 by ESPN and Boy's Girl's of NY #46 by ESPN. At last count there were about 35 either D-1 signees or players being courted by D-1 schools in this tournament. It is rated one of the top two or three tournaments nationally every year. Only one team from KY gets an invite each year. Who's who of college coaches are at this event and Michael Jordan has a habit of coming to this tourney.

It adds a little more perspective, but the math against comparative opponents just doesn't work in HS or College basketball anymore unless you are trying to use it to your advantage or make your opinion/prediction stick. But, thanks for the info as I didn't know West played an out of state team.

Just for the record and without disclosing private information: Racer4life like me is not from Elliott, but quite a distance away. I reside in the 12th region and yes I have seen Elliott and most of the top teams in the state. He has seen a lot of Elliott games and comes to many games despite being a fan of his own team. After playing basketball for 8 years including a final HS game with 29 (when we didn't have 3 pointers) and watching HS B-Ball for over 40 years, 12 straight years of never missing a state tournament game, and as a complete outsider 125 miles from Elliott County, here is the bottom line. ELLIOTT COUNTY BELONGS IN ANY DISCUSSION AS A TOP STATE TEAM AND IS A THREAT (WHICH IS THE WORD THAT SCARES THE NAYSAYERS) TO WIN THE WHOLE SHOOTING MATCH IN MARCH. JUST AS MUCH A THREAT AS SCOTT COUNTY, HOLMES, J-TOWN, MANUAL, BRYAN STATION, SHELBY VALLEY, AND SEVERAL OTHER POSSIBLE TEAMS. But, since we really won't know until March we will just have all this doubt & continued verbage until then that time comes.

Don't know whether I am or not?? Most of us, including myself, have never seen South Charleston play. #1 in any state can't be too bad?? They were 25-2 last year and lost in the state 3A Championship game last year. They have 4 starters returning including leading scorer 6'3" Aaron Dobson who is a candidate for their equivalent of Mr. Basketball. All the starters are just coming off a December 6th 3A State Football Championship win over George Washington so that tells me they have some athletes of magnitude. They have probably 10 days of practice together; one game under their belt a 84-64 win last night over Huntington. Only have the Logan WVA vs. Scott County pre-season game to try to base anything on. Logan WVA is pre-season #5 in 3A. Scott County beat them by 10 (without Phares), but got beat by 2 points in the 2d half. Logan being a more rural smaller school (just moved up from 2A this season) is probably not as athletic as S. Charleston. Logan had a nice team, but would probably be ranked around 25-35 in the state of Kentucky. Just taking a stab and betting that South Charleston would be a Top 20 team in KY, but probably not Top 10. Certainly won't know enough until about 9:15PM on Saturday night in Paris to make a judgment. If Elliott shoots a low percentage, S. Charleston shoots well, then yes a Top 20 team could beat them by 8-12 points or beat anybody else for that matter. Elliott though is playing well with 6 straight wins (including GRC & Madisonville) and show no signs of horrible shooting like the Rose Hill and at Mason lost last year. BOTTOM LINE--Haven't seen S. Charleston and therefore don't know what Elliott is up against......................................

Since Elliott doesn't play anybody and when they do they get beat I will go with South Charleston 86 Elliott County 78. South Charleston is not a very good team or the margin would be greater.

Game is on for tonight. Got word from 2 of the player's parents about 45 minutes ago.

Congrads to the Lady Lions on 3 straight wins after an opening loss at Lexington Christian which is one of the top teams in the state. These girl's will make some noise in the All A and also the region. The Ferguson girl's are putting up some big numbers and just like the Ferguson on the boy's team they can really shot and score. They may even surprise everybody and win 20 games this year. Saw them against Morgan County and THEY CAN FLAT OUT PLAY. They can probably give the boy's team a better game than some of the region opponents. GO LADY LIONS!!! Another set of Lions in Sandy Hook wants everyone to know they can roar also.

The most exciting part of this 130 mile trip for me will be my first time seeing Boyd County's Gym and saying I have been there and done that. Also comparing the popcorn with the other locations. If the popcorn passes the test I may come back sometime in the future. In all seriousness, Boyd has got trounced by some pretty average teams. Unfortunately they will not be playing an average team which spells real trouble for them on Tuesday night. These games are starting to feel like re-runs and I for one will be glad when the competition gets tougher. Its coming pretty quick with South Charleston WVA, East Carter, and then Cedar Hills, Texas.

Elliott County may not win any tournaments, but they have already won one category. Some of the longest threads in the history of BGP. It wears one out to read all this and then try to figure out the bottom line. Makes scrambled eggs out of the brain. Reminds me of the old analogy: Why do atheists fight so hard against something they say don't exists??

Good win for the Royals. I still like GRC, but the gap is closing from what it was a few weeks ago. Looks like Mason will be right there looking to re-capture their 10th Region title. I hope they continue to do well and only have a few losses when they come to Sandy Hook on 10 Feb. Will make for a very hyped and interesting game if they are on a win streak and only have a handful of losses when they play Elliott in about 8 weeks.

We will see what we can do to arrange some of those "beat somebody games in March". And when we do afterwards I hope it is so quiet you can hear a pin drop from 500 feet away!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Empty/Blank replies or no replies will be soothing to the mind for a change and peaceful to the soul!!!!!!!!!

Shelby Valley and Bryan Station are both sending out strong messages across the state. Both are playing like Top 5 teams right now. Shelby Valley and Elliott may have a possible meeting in Richmond later in January?? Sounds like it would be a good matchup. Hazard and Bardstown probably have something to say on the matter also.

Big career night for Timmy with 31 points on 6-9 shooting from trey land. Missed his first three treys and then proceeded to hit six in a row. Also had another rim rattling jam (#4 this season), bunch of rebounds & blocks, and a bunch of let me get rid of this hot potato down low and throw it back outside. Ferg is right on track putting up 30ppg through the first three games. Ethan & Evan causing all kinds of problems out front with relentless pressure, forcing turnovers and then running out for easy baskets. Yes, for all you "Elliott don't play anybody folks", they did not beat a Top 25 team, but they took care of business which is what good teams are suppose to do. It gets a little tougher after Boyd on Tuesday with South Charleston, WVA, then East Carter, then Cedar Hills, Texas in Myrtle Beach. After Myrtle Beach the naysayers should have something to talk about or if Elliott overachieves for some strange reason then probably nothing to say at all. Any way I looked in the crystal ball and saw Elliott moving toward Rupp Arena and a matchup everyone has been waiting for. It was against one of those really good teams. Couldn't make out the name on the jerseys though And couldn't even tell what the date was. Guess we'll just have to wait until March to see who it is.

How many did Mosley get?? He had 36, 26, and 38 in the first three games.

Way to go Lady Lions!! Big time win. Elliott moves to 2-1 on the season with big game tomorrow at East Carter. Those Ferguson girls can GET UR DUN.

Yes--Elliott missed more free throws than I have seen in a while. This was unusual as they were among the state leader's last year in FT%. They also did not shoot well beyond the arc, but probably had a decent shooting percentage because of high % shots on garbage points, hustle points, rebounds, and shots inside 10 ft. But there shooting percentage from 18 ft. out was not very good.

Elliott 108 Lewis 56 And I am driving 2.5 hrs. to see this?? Having my head examined tomorrow??It is only because of words like loyal, love, and dedication.

Nice looking sophomore who must be about 6'5". Probably had 10 pts. and 6 rebounds or so.

They seed 1-4 based on the district records. Projection--Elliott will play Morgan and East vs. West at East Carter.

Who?? Riley?? Holmes has several on the 2010 list which is where their firepower comes from.....

Cooter--I hear you. I was obviously putting the positive spin on it. Really didn't want to get into the negative because I agree with what you are saying. A bunch of people could have got hurt real bad last night was my fear. Timmy was doing good up until this game and got back into his silly freshman and sophomore fouls and only played about 10 minutes and then eventually fouled out with 1:30 left in the third quarter. Being young he got caught up in the frenzy and the foul marathon that was going on. After the first quarter I was beginning to think that West didn't care if the whole starting line-up fouled out along with several Elliott players. Maybe the philosophy was our second team can catch and pass your second team??

Wow--3 hour ride back and trying to get out in a snow blizzard was fun. Cars all along the side of the road along 7 and 519. Had my SUV locked in 4 wheel drive at 25MPH until I got 40 miles and I-64 and it cleared up completely with just a little rain in Morehead. Now the game. West came in with the mentality that we are going to rough them up and be the intimadator vs. the intimadated. No easy layups as they would take you to a slam fest into the wall. It was a chaotic mess the first few minutes of the game with what I thought was going to be a brawl. Referees had to stop the game and talk to both teams in a love huddle. Now the positive for West. They are much better than last year's team and took the fight right to Elliott. They also shot the three ball real well. That is the best I have seen a 16th region team play the Lion's over the last 2 years. My hats off to West for taking the fight to our guys. They did not back down. Lions did lead by 29 when the starters went out with 3 minutes left in the game. But it was a long hard hill to get that kind of lead and in fact seemed a little closer than the score actually was. Postive for Elliott--they kept their composure and returned the hard play with more hard determined play of their own. Ferg had 35 points on hustle and determination. If his three ball was going he would have had 45 points. Probably shot 3-10 from trey land which is good, but not for Ferg.

I'm not sure if he is a senior, but saw him several times in Summer AAU Ball. He got 38 in the OT win over Male. He is small and very quick. Has a funny looking unorthodox shot, but you can't argue with the results as they go in and from all over the court including beyond the 3 pt. line. And he is not bashful about shooting the ball. He never met a shot he wasn't interested in.

Oldham and Shelby seem to have this region championship thing down. Hope CJ, Jacob, and the Anderson crew reverses that trend this year. Anderson actually went undefeated in the region (regular season) last year and then lost to Gallatin in the region after defeating them in regular season. I think with the year of added experience they can make it to Rupp this season.