Ole Kentuckian

I tell you, this is the deepest this region has been (in good teams & talented players) as I can remember in a long time. And dang, a bunch of them will be bringing back most of their players next season and all but one will have the incentive of coming up short to drive them to improve their games during the off-season. The 12th ought to have four teams in the top twenty next season.

Well shoot, I've been saying all year that Southwestern was being overlooked or downplayed by everyone else in the region (except me). I could not understand why nobody would give them the respect they deserve. They have an excellent point guard, a big, strong inside man and a DI recruit who can play in or out plus other talent. Wayne County has beaten them three times, but every time Wayne has had to bring their best. We'll see if they can do it one more time.

Sometimes players just aren't as focused as they should be for a particular game for whatever reason. Players like Tyler are always a factor even if they're 'off' because they demand their opponent's attention and usually their best defender, series of defenders or even double & triple teaming. How much a player who is 'off' hurts his team depends on how well he adapts his game and brings his teammates into the game by giving them the opportunities that all the extra attention to him brings about. Sometimes you gotta give the rock up and let your teammate get the job done.

Wayne held him to 11 points the last time they played. I don't think they figure he'll bring anything but his A game tomorrow night. But the team that scores the most points wins and it doesn't matter who scores them. Stearns and Blevins also scored below their usual averages in that game, so the question is - which TEAM will score more than their opponent. Boyle has limited their opponents to 58.8 PPG, Wayne has limited theirs to 60.6 PPG. But Wayne has averaged 80.8 PPG to Boyle's 64.9 PPG. We'll see what transpires.

Excellent point. It is often the case that one team's or player's "off game" can just as much be a result of the other team's efforts. Judging which (the team or player having the "off game" or the team or player possibly causing them to have an off game) is very much in the eye of the beholder.

The semis and finals both should be jam-packed, but first we have the little matter of two first round games to be played tonight, Boyle vs. West Jessamine and Wayne vs. Casey. I'd say that those four Coaches :down: are spending most of their time worrying about those games right now . But I do agree, the potential for a rocking gym :taz: exists for both Monday and Tuesday. All of the schools most likely to be participating in those games will bring huge numbers of fans :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap: which will make for a great atmosphere and create memories for lots of people for years to come.

Neat!!! And it illustrates my comment that the trophies weren't standardized back then. Quite a difference in the two styles from the '51 Runners-up to the '52 Championship trophy. And that Cuba was State Runners-up in '51 and State Champions in '52 makes what they accomplished even greater and more significant. Must have been a very, very special group of players, coach and program to have achieved that level of success for two consecutive seasons. The results speak for themselves.

tcjktb nailed it and gets the credit - he provided the school name then it was no problem to go over to the KHSAA web site and review the list of past State Champions from there. Nice job of putting the photo on here and retelling the story. Our history matters.

If so, then it would be the State Championship trophy of 1952.

Well, it is at least a half a century old (probably 60-70 years old or older) and is missing the figurine from the base section, but past that I wouldn't have a clue. It doesn't resemble any of the district, region or state trophies I'm familiar with, but then they didn't become standardized (from year to year) until mid-century or so.

Southwestern has some strong offensive players (as in size AND skills) for which very few teams in the Region have an answer for other than to force them out of their game as much as is possible and to simply overwhelm them with relentless effort (offensive & defensive) of your own. PC was very young & inexperienced this season and is building towards the future, but then there are a unusually large number of good teams in the 12th this season that will be returning most, if not all of their better players so all who wish to contend for the title next season will have to up their games considerably because the path back to Rupp will only get more difficult. Who ever wins tonight, the semi-finals Monday night will feature four of the strongest teams the 12th has had in a single season in quite some time.

Regarding that East Jessamine's two starting guards did not play in last night's game - 1. It is a shame that their teammates, coaches, classmates, school & fans were let down by this occurrence at such a horrific time. Your team is playing in the post-season to reach some of the goals all teams have at the beginning of each season and this takes place. 2. From what I have previously seen the fact that there might be discipline problems is not a shock. The shame is that the situation was not addressed sufficiently prior to this late in the season. My heart goes out to all of the East Jessamine supporters. Hopefully this is a step towards building a stronger program in the upcoming season. Players need to be made to understand what is expected of them and if they're unable to learn & adjust to what is expected of them, they should move on to other activities - hopefully something in which they don't leave their teammates feeling let down and betrayed. Like a great many of the teams in the 12th Region, the Jaguars return all of their players so their future could be extremely bright if issues such as this are addressed in full. Congratulations to the Patriots on their win. It should be an outstanding semi-final contest between they and Southwestern Monday night.

Gotta go w/Lincoln unless East Jess catches fire offensively and/or creates a lot of Patriot turnovers (unlikely).

Despite Williamsburg's upset of Knox Central I still have to go with Clay County, but considering that it is being played on a neutral court and Clay may still take W-burg lightly I don't think Clay will run over them like some might think.

That's one very active big man. I've been impressed by what I've seen of him and it is no wonder he averages almost 18 rebounds a game. He's big, athletic and HUSTLES - a hard combination to stop. Hard to believe that a team he plays on is already out of the running.

I don't bet in any case, but I'd be afraid to touch this one. Boyle definitely has the better track record, but West Jess has the potential & shooters so I'm going to sit on the fence and see how it comes out.

Southwestern is the real deal right now and PC is building towards the future. I'm afraid it won't be close assuming SW shows up ready to play (they didn't last year and paid the piper).

Like PurplePride92, I too appreciate knowing of the late personnel change (unusual or rare this late in the season) because as you point out it definitely could have made a major impact in the outcome of this game. It raises Williamsburg's hopes as a late Cinderella possibility for the 13th and dashes the dreams of Knox Central's fans who had high hopes for a team that had established a solid base of work (wins over Regional favorites Clay County, Bell County, Corbin & South Laurel) this season.

Still a LOT OF TIME.

That's a lot of time with only a two-possession difference in the score. Thanks for keeping updated Professor!

So since 1993: Laurel County + South Laurel + North Laurel had (thru 2004-05 season): (3) 12th Region Championships (4) 12th Region Runners-Up Pulaski County + Southwestern had: (1) 12th Region Championship (5) 12th Region Runners-Up Wayne County had: (7) 12th Region Championships (1) 12th Region Runner-Up And Wayne County did it with anywhere from 64.1% to 50.2% as many students than any of the four "split schools", much less Laurel County & Pulaski County BEFORE they split when they were among the largest high schools in the state. Prior to when either Laurel & Pulaski split each had close to 3X as many students as Wayne did. Average Enrollment for 2011-12 & 2012-13: North Laurel................. 1,393.0 South Laurel................. 1,285.0 Southwestern............... 1,194.0 Pulaski County.............. 1,091.5 *Wayne County............... 700.5 *Does not include Monticello enrollment numbers because they weren’t merged until the 2013-14 school year.

What follows is the average enrollment of the current 12th Region schools for the two years preceding this year (Wayne County & Monticello have been added together for purposes of this list): North Laurel................. 1,393.0 13th Region South Laurel................. 1,285.0 13th Region Southwestern................ 1,194.0 #1 Lincoln County............... 1,101.0 #2 Pulaski County............... 1,091.5 #3 West Jessamine............. 1,090.5 #4 East Jessamine.............. 1,060.0 #5 Wayne County.................. 949.0 #6 Mercer County.................. 914.5 #7 Boyle County.................... 857.5 #8 Rockcastle County............. 832.5 #9 McCreary Central.............. 786.5 #10 Garrard County................ 705.5 #11 Casey County.................. 674.5 #12 Danville.......................... 539.0 #13 Somerset........................ 482.5 #14 Burgin............................ 127.0 #16 Ky School for the Deaf........ 44.5 #17 As you can see, the “splitting” of the merged Laurel County and Pulaski County school systems hardly placed a hardship on any of them in regards to keeping numbers that would allow them to maintaining an edge competitively in either the 12th or 13th Region.

I don't have time right now, but when I do I will give numbers, but you can pretty well assume that the schools that merged and then split STILL have larger high schools than all the other schools in the region. I would guess that North Laurel, South Laurel, Pulaski County & Southwestern are among the biggest high schools in Region 12. And "keeping the same name"? That's a bit of a stretch. Did the school district remain the same? No, in fact EVERYTHING changes except for the name, mascot & school colors. There is one superintendent & school board for both schools - then each school has their own gym, coach, staff and student body.

Fantastic! You and those who responded to your inquiries (who often seem far & few between) deserve kudos for having done this work. Just think, if someone doesn't do this, then how much history might we have lost that could never be uncovered again? Thank you for all of your efforts from all of us who love the game.

Maybe there just aren't enough subscribers to the Herald-Leader in NKY, you think? :eyeonyou: