Reality Check

Fangman should be a nice player for Beechwood in the years to come. I believe he will be a junior next year. From what I saw at the JV level nice shooter (no Larry Bird but who is!) As most kids though we will see how he adjusts to the speed of the Varsity level. Shumate will have him ready to play though.

Beechwood lost a ton from last years region team. Villa will have Bryan who can change games on his own but no one around him. Who knows with Bellevue with new coach and players. Heritage is Heritage. NCC, Dayton, and Newport should be the early favorites but as we all know that could change very easily one the season rolls around.

Pretty quiet if a coach as been hired. Has anyone else heard anything?

Beechwood loses five seniors from their team that reached the region last season. Of that five, four were starters. Three of those kids played a key role in Beechwood's success the past couple of years under Rick Shumate. (Romes, Buettel, Snyder) I do think they have a strong group returning with Nick Hall and John Pohlgeers leading the pack. Their JV team has had some success the past couple of years. Tyler Fangman has the potential to contribute on the varsity level as a junior and they had two very strong Freshman last season in Cameron Vocke and Corey Cruse. Beechwood will be young but Shumate should have enough talent to win some games next season with this group.

I agree, this should be a common occurance rather than a pleasant suprise. But unfortunately all too often there are negative experiences in such situations. Obviously this woman was so impacted by the encounter that she felt compelled to look up the name of an administrator and send them a note. I think it is a nice gesture from all involved.

This could change depending on who Highlands goes with. If they decide to hire a local head coach we could see a ripple effect of coaches moving up.

To be completely fair though Hood has yet to prove anything on the next level. The kid is a very nice prep player and had a fantastic high school career but IMO before you say he has absolutely defied this logic he will have to prove it on the next level.

Anyone have any updated information on coaches who are pursuing this position?

I would agree with this, if the Colonels can dodge injuries and health issues next year they should be back in the region. Beechwood and Holy Cross will be down compared to last year so you should see Holmes and Cov Cath out of the 35th. I don't think they will have enough to take Holmes though.

Internet reports are that Billy Donovan was spotted in Ft. Thomas! Stay tuned!

Those boys deserve to have that I hope the community can rally to help provide the rings for them. I was driving through Covington the Sunday after the State Championship and saw a young man walking down the street wearing his Championship T-Shirt and Medal. He looked very proud, I am sure they would feel the same sense of pride to have the rings that they earned.

With Code potentially out of the way, who would lead the list of candidates for the job?

Riley handles the ball as good as anyone that I have seen in the ninth. The only knock on Jamel at this point is he would need to get stronger. The same thing as Bibbins out of high school. Bibbins got much stronger while at NKU and that helped his game. With some work on getting stronger Riley could easily be a PG at the next level.

I had the pleasure of watching Brian play quite a few games and he is a tremendous athlete. Brian should thrive at Mount St. Joe. I wish him the best of luck and congratulations to the Romes family.

Who would be the leading candidates? I heard that Shumate may be leaving Beechwood.

I was watching on TV and didn't feel that he got it off. It's a shame that the backboard lights were not on. I am assuming that they are somehow tied to the shot clock? That may have helped the officials get the call right. Either way it didn't matter but I agree, I felt like it was 78 all over again.

I would say the best shot would be Highlands or Boone. Holmes just creates a match up nightmare for any team. The 9th has enjoyed watching the Johnson brothers and Pittman play but I am sure they will not be sad to watch them move on to the college level! I would say barring anything crazy the Bulldogs will make it out of the 9th next year and contend once again for a state title.

They should not change a thing, its the Kentucky State Tournament. The Greatest Show in Hoops. Everyone knows what it takes to get there, you have to be able to grind it out.

He absolutely took over that 4th quarter and overtime. The step back three was nice.

As a fan of the 9th region I really enjoyed watching the game between Clark Co. and Mason Co. Both schools brought a great group of fans and it created a "state tournament" like atmosphere which only got me even more excited for Rupp. Nice games last night. I hope that the 9th and 10th can collaborate again down the road.

West Jefferson Adair Co. Graves Co. Eastern Lexington Catholic Holmes Shelby Valley Elliott Co. Adair Co. Eastern Holmes Shelby Valley Eastern Holmes Holmes Bulldogs TP 103

We are getting closer to game time, we can finally put this argument to bed! I still think Holmes will pull it off. Just had to put it on here one more time!

I am looking forward to watching this Elliott County team at Rupp, I hope that can finish and win the 16th. Good luck Lions!

I would agree, I didn't say that I disagree with Elliot having their starters on the floor. That is a decision that has to be made at each game. I only take issue when a team A is up 25+ on team B, team B pulls their starters and team A continues to play with their starters. Thats when I take issue. But the way that I look at it, as long as you play your varsity you can't get upset for the other team playing theirs.

You also have to look at it as Ashland did not quit. Something to be said for not rolling over. Its a regional semi final, try anything you can to get the W.