deceivingly slow

The tall, dark haired ref...right? If anyone saw the first half of the Paintsville v. Holmes game, then you know he totally and unnecessarily took control of that half and made some questionable calls. Finals game. From my perspective, Miller was definitely protected. Him catching the ball on the block and drop stepping to the basket got fouls called on Holmes on more than a couple of occasions. Coming from someone that was fortunate enough to see every game of the tournament, I can't recall a foul being called on that type of move with that kind of contact the entire tournament...until the finals when Miller touched the ball.

Couldn't agree more!! If it weren't for the efforts and vision of this person, Walton is a perennial door mat. Walton will soon begin reaping some major benefits stemming from the system this person has established.

Are you including Walton in that mix?

I heard Ryle's job may be opening up. Any truth to that?

How about the new Cooper HS?

I wasn't able to get to the game, but the word I got was that McFarland had a mismatch on offense and could've scored much more. Problem being it wasn't recognized and others were shooting, albeit open looks, when they shouldn't have been shooting. An effective coaching strategy would've been to spread the floor and give McFarland the ball. Again, just what I heard...someone confirm or deny.

I'm not convinced Dixie has more talent than Boone. Boone was pretty sloppy, though. Could've been a major blowout but, for some reason, the choice was made to sit Dixie's big guy for a lot of the game (he was not in foul trouble). This allowed Earls to do the bulk of the scoring. Too bad Rod Snapp doesn't have control.

Here's my take. If we're gonna look at total talent pool though, here's what you get with '81 (and I may have some of these wrong and/or missed some): Dixon (SK) - EKU McKinley (SK) - UK Turney (CC) - Marshall, then Houston Rockets - 7th round Moeves (Boone) - Berea Coffman (Boone) - Cumberland, then Tenessee Tech (I think) Smith (Boone) - Berea (I think) Thomas (Connor) - Cumberland Rhomes (CC) - Thomas More Robinson (Connor) - Hardin Simmons Anderson (Walton) - school in Mississippi Burns (Walton) - NKU Martin (Walton) - Berea Fisher (Highlands) - Thomas More

Newport also had Mitch Mays didn't they? New Cath had Redman that year. Cov Cath had Rhomes along with Turney. All in all, the Connor team from '81 still stands out a bit. They beat SK twice that year I beleive. They had Uhlman, Pitzer at guards and Jim Robinson was their 6'5" center that could jump out of the gym. Again, '81 from top to bottom was the best year the 9th Region has seen.

Who was with Beal at Holmes his senior year? That was a good team! I remember him hammering a dunk at Boone.

Had to guard Wimzie a few times in the old Tichenor winter league. Not too much fun. He was one of those guys you hoped you didn't have to guard or have him guard you.

As a whole, arguably the best year for the 9th region was '81. Look at the big guys that year: Burns at Walton - 6'8"; Dixon at SK - 6'6"or7"; Turney at Cov Cath - 6'7"; and Coffman at Boone was 6'7". And all these guys could play! 33rd district peaked that year with SK, Walton, Boone, Connor and Dixie (didn't they have Pike and another big guy). Don't forget what Boone had that year. Front line of 6'5" Dave Moeves (1st team all region); 6'7" Ben Coffman and 6'4 or 5' Mark Smith (1st team all region the following year).