OldhamOldie

Why do they continue to play the 9th Region in a place that is not ideal for the crowds if that is the case? I have never been in the arena at NKU, but I heard it's too big for most high school games.

The 9th Region struggles with crowds? That is too bad. The Oldham County schools draw well with loud support, and I know Owen County brings their entire population to many of the games. One of my buddies up north said the 9th Region folks have made a big mistake using the huge arena for their regional tournament. He said they even play the girls games in a 9,000 seat venue. That is sad. I always liked seeing the 9th Region at Holmes, Conner, and Campbell County when I was in high school in the 1970s. Great atmospheres for those games. He said even some of the early-round boys games in the NKU arena are less than half full. That is too bad.

If I recall right, there were three state football classes, and one Louisville city class as well. The Louisville classification champ played the statewide champ for the big-school football championship in those days. It was a strange setup, to say the least. Kentucky has a great basketball state playoff system, the best in the country. The football playoff system, though, is another story. I know that's for another thread!

Is this correct? $5.00 to park for high school games?

It is the truth. The ironic part is people around the state were concerned about the public schools in Louisville and their enrollments at that time. The dominant basketball programs were Male, Central, Shawnee, and Seneca. St. Xavier and Trinity were non-factors in basketball at that time. Ballard had a good program, but until busing was implemented, Male, Central and Shawnee were the state's most dominating basketball programs. Edmonson County's title halted the classification talk. If Shawnee had won the state in 1976, which many believed they would, I do think we would have a two-class system in Kentucky today. I recall the "big-school" proponents who wanted all the AAA and AAAA football programs in one basketball class, and the rest in the other basketball class. Glad it did not happen!

They had great players in that era before mandated busing killed the programs. Male with Griffith and Turner, Central with King, Miller, Johnson, and Shawnee had some of the best athletes ever, including Durand Macklin, who went on to play at LSU and led the Tigers to the Final Four. Louisville high school basketball in the late 60s and early 70s was just outstanding, and it was all the city schools.

I could not make this game tonight. Did Dunaway get a bunch of open looks? Did Anderson double down at Williams? Saw he still scored his 32.

I missed by two points! I said 71-54 this afternoon in the prediction thread! No joking! I just noticed!

Or maybe Alex Gilbert, also an Indiana State guy.

Channel 19! I grew up in the area and remember the Kool Ghoul and Scream-In Theater on Channel 19! Had Larry Smith and his puppets on that channel, used to show Shock-It-To-Me science fiction movies, too! I loved Channel 19! Speed Racer and Prince Planet cartoons in the afternoon after school as well.

Not a good sign for Newport if that is correct. I hope they can pull together by the time district play begins. I go back to the days of Bob Vanderpool as the head coach, always loved competing against his Newport teams in the mid 1970s. Bob's teams always were tough to beat, never easy to defeat them in the old 'Cats Den. That gym was great to play in!

This is correct. Six of the seven previous champions (Male in 70, 71, 75), Central (69, 74), Shawnee (73) were large city schools from Louisville. As I recall, people began wondering if anyone in the rest of the state stood any chance with the Louisville city schools. That made the Edmonson County feat so remarkable as it happened just as classification was being discussed.

I was thinking he's around 6-6. Also stood next to him, he's two inches shorter than me. I was 6-8 until my back started its old-age curvature. HAHA

I think Anderson can stay with them for a while. Anderson County's inside players are going to have to build a wall around Williams and contain him to do so. Anderson already has a big win this season over South Oldham, so they are capable.

The awards ceremony in this 1976 video at the end is priceless! Edmonson County is cutting down the nets while the awards are being given out. Great stuff!

I will say Owen County 71-54. Carson Williams with 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, 2 or 3 crowd-pleasing dunks!

I will admit I had never heard of Edmonson County prior to this Sweet 16. What a fantastic story for a small school like this to come from nowhere to win the state and stop a lot of the classification talk that was stirring in 1976. Many were complaining that the Louisville city schools (Shawnee, Male, Central, Seneca) had too big of an advantage because of their large enrollments at the time. Edmonson County took care of that myth with a title.

Just look at old Freedom Hall in that video from 1976. I love the uniforms for the teams as well. Louisville Male was upset at Ballard in the regional, so no Darrell Griffith or Bobby Turner in the Sweet 16 that year.

Here is video from the 1976 state title.

Great article on the 1976 Edmonson County team that stunned the commonwealth with their state championship. Edmonson County?s 40th anniversary of Cinderella title | Kentucky High School Athletic Association

Mike Dunaway is a good player, no question. I like the 8th Region's draw as well. Stay away from the 7th Region's representative until the finals. Good draw indeed for the 8th Region.

I can assure everyone that Carson Williams' college head coach will not ignore him when walking past, unlike Bobby Knight did to Larry Bird. Just saying.

And that was after he grew two inches and put on 40 pounds from his senior year at Springs Valley High School! He was 6-8, 185 pounds or so, and he looked like a skinny JV player. But he could play! See below from Seth Davis on Larry at IU as a freshman. The start of classes only intensified Larry Bird’s feelings of isolation. Here he was, a poor, sheltered, intensely introverted teenager who had barely set foot outside his hometown of fewer than three thousand people, and he was stuck without any friends on a campus of more than thirty thousand undergraduates. He couldn’t get over the fact that he had to walk several miles just to get to class. And, as he often said half-jokingly, “I ain’t no genius in school.” If he thought he might get some emotional support from the coaches, that notion was quickly dispelled as well. One night, while walking down the street with Jan Condra, who had also enrolled at Indiana, at Larry’s behest, and her sister, Larry looked up and saw Knight walking toward them. He stiffened and readied himself to speak to his head coach for the first time since arriving on campus. Knight walked toward Bird; Bird said hello — and Knight blew by without saying a word. “Larry didn’t say anything, but I could tell with his demeanor that his feelings were hurt,” Condra says. “Larry was used to people being a lot nicer to him. He didn’t like Coach Knight’s personality.” Bobby Knight would later regret treating Larry Bird so coldly. “Larry Bird is one of my great mistakes,” he said. “I was negligent in realizing what Bird needed at that time in his life.” Seth Davis on Larry Bird and Bobby Knight - Inside the Hall | Indiana Hoosiers Basketball News, Recruiting and Analysis

And, Carson is too young to even know who Larry Bird was. Larry retired from the NBA before Carson was even born. It would be like asking someone from my era about George Mikan. We heard of him, but never saw him play.

Carson Williams actually jumps much higher than Larry Bird ever thought of jumping. Larry played high school in an era when you were not allowed to dunk. Not that you probably would remember, but I thought I should note it. If you had seen Larry Bird's physical build as a high school senior, you would have laughed if anyone had told you he would eventually be an NBA Hall of Famer. And since most on here don't want to admit this, Bobby Knight recruited Larry but had Benson, May, Wilkerson, Abernathy, etc., all slated to play ahead of Larry. Luckily, Larry skipped town and ended up at Indiana State.