Carl Spackler

I would think Josh Roberts makes the most sense. He's been on staff a long time, and applied for the job last time it was open. There would be much less of an adjustment if sometime already in the program took over. With a chance to make it back to the finals, and a lot of seniors on the team next season the safe hire might be best here.

Somerset won it this year.

My doctor was a senior guard on Somerset. When he was in college he made friends with some guys that played on that Boyle County team. He said that when they were practicing goal line defense that the coach told them that if we ran that option play to all play the quarterback, because if Stephens got the pitch that there was no way that they could stop him. Sure enough, the quarterback kept it. I thought it looked like he might have gotten in, but I was 12.

Robbie Lucas was hired as the interim head coach in 2009 at Somerset. He led the Briar Jumpers to a 14-1 record and a State Runner-Up finish. He finished with 7 Regional Titles, a State Runner-Up, and Somerset's first State Championship (of the playoff era) in 2019.

There are a few at Somerset. But 1982 tops my list. I'm not sure that they are as good as the 1984 team that was undefeated before losing to Newport Central Catholic in the semifinals. But 1982 should definitely have won the 2A Title that season. That was back in the days when only 1 team from each District (or was it Sub-Districts)made the playoffs. Somerset lost on the road at Boyle County 28-27 and didn't win the tie breaker so they didn't make the playoffs. They did, however, go on the road to Corbin the next week and beat the Redhounds 20-6. Corbin went on to win the 2A Title over Glasgow 18-6.

Congratulations Coach Young! We'll miss you on the sidelines at Somerset.

Would Coach Dew have been on a bit of a hot seat this coming season given the blowout losses to Paducah Tilghman and LCA the past 2 seasons?

Barring some unexpected last minute portal entries, a Stokes miracle, or players pulling out of the draft, UK is in deep deep trouble next season. Pope is likely finished. I like the guy, but the quotes from Freeman about wanting to play for a coach that would push him are pretty telling. It's also on him not having a GM or recruiting coordinator until a few weeks before the portal opened. Pope's running of the program has been a huge disappointment. He seems to be a solid game coach, but this job is just too big for him.

Guy Turner, a quarterback/free safety, who played for Paris last season has enrolled at Somerset. Turner threw for 1246 yards with 13 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in 12 games as a junior last season. He ran for 342 yards and 12 touchdowns. On defense he had 2 interceptions. Turner played at Boyle County his first 2 seasons. Also, Chase Crawford, returned to Somerset. He had been with the Jumpers until 8th grade when he moved to Corbin, then played for Pulaski County last season. He is also a quarterback and will be a sophomore this fall. He mainly played JV last season.

Is this the Cody Smith that played and coached at Somerset? It looks like him.

Illinois only has 3 assists on their 19 made field goals for the game.

Darius Ridener, a running back/linebacker, has enrolled at Somerset. Last season as a freshman at McCreary Central he rushed for 437 yards on 72 carries and 5 touchdowns. He also caught 20 passes for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns, and returned 2 kickoffs for touchdowns. On defense he shows to have had 22 tackles and an interception. He did pretty well against the better teams on the Raiders schedule. Against Bell County he recorded 7 catches for 56 yards and 2 touchdowns and had 54 yards rushing and a touchdown against Somerset.

And he has a name like an action movie hero.

The 2025-26 season saw a familiar face cut down the nets. Great Crossing followed up their State Title with a somewhat unexpected Regional Championship. They lose second leading scorer Travanti Cooper but bring back their leading scorer Brady Orem. As a sophomore Orem averaged 21.6 points (on 60% shooting) and 9.5 rebounds. Point guard Graham Swartz, who averaged 11.5 points per game also returns. Great Crossing should be a threat to win their 4th straight 11th Region crown. Madison Central, who had been on top of the rankings for most of the year, has to replace Mr. Basketball Jake Feldhaus, Luke Asher and Will Richardson, so they should take a step back. Same for Bryan Station who loses over 40 points per game between Taeshawn Adams and Amari Owens. Frederick Douglass loses 3 of their 4 leading scorers as well as head coach Murray Garvin. Lexington Catholic returns 4 of their 6 leading scorers from from their regional semi-final team. In addition to Frederick Douglass, there are already coaching vacancies at Lexington Christian and Scott County that could affect rosters. Do you see the regional favorite coming from the teams listed below or will someone like Tates Creek, Henry Clay or Lafayette jump into the picture?

This will be the Cardinals 4th coach in 4 seasons. With Great Crossing winning the last 3 Region 11 Championships, Scott County really needs to hit a home run here if they are to be relevant in the 11th again.

DCA was 0-7 on 3 pointers and had 18 turnovers. That's a recipe for disaster in a game played in the 40-50s like they like to play.

I wonder how much of the leniency was due to the fact that they are playing on college goals. They are made to take a lot more punishment than what you will find at most high schools. It seemed like they were letting the players get away with more what you see in an NCAA game than a high school game.

I really don't know what to make of this one. While not completely shocked, I was very surprised that Great Crossing was able to get by Frederick Douglass. The Broncos had been extremely hot coming into that game. The Warhawks started out 3-6 but went 20-5 the rest of the way. I would say that they are more battle-tested in the postseason, but Great Crossing has only 1 senior amongst their top 6 scorers. I think this one goes down to the wire. I'll take DCA in a mild upset 50-46.

I've been very impressed with how Great Crossing has grown as the season went along. I don't see them winning this one, but would not be completely shocked if they aren't in it the whole game with a chance to win. That being said, I'll take Frederick Douglass 72-54.

100%. Even with that, it still took a great shot by Boyle. Both teams played their tails off.

I thought once the clock got down under 30 seconds, with Somerset only having one team foul, the Jumpers would start fouling as the Rebels tried to start their offense to shorten the amount of time that they had to run a play. But I can also see why they didn't. Great season, hated to see it end.

Somerset looked like the better team for about the first 28 minutes. But Boyle made the plays down the stretch and Driver really came up big on defense even the Rebels needed it.

Lexington Catholic and Bryan Station will match up in the nightcap of the first round of the 11th Region Tournament on Wednesday night at McBrayer Arena on the EKU campus. The teams didn't meet in the regular season. Lexington Catholic comes in at 21-8 overall and 11-1 against 11th Region teams. The Defenders are 22-8, and 11-5 against 11th Region teams. In the last three weeks both teams were blown out by Frederick Douglass by 30 points and played Danville Christian Academy on the road. The Knights lost 52-50, while the Defenders won 48-45. Station has been carried by the dynamic duo of Amari Owens and Taeshawn Adams who account for 43 of the Defenders 62.9 points per game. The Knights feature a balanced attack with 4 players averaging between 9.1 and 13.4 points per game. This would appear to be a tossup. Who do you have advancing?

The District Tournaments are in the books, and the regional tournament matchups are set. Everything largely went chalk in the districts with a couple of upsets in the quarterfinal rounds in 2 of the districts. Lafayette/Tates Creek turned out to be a great game in the semifinals of the 43rd District with the Commodores surviving. That set up what turned out to be a double overtime game between Lexington Catholic and Tates Creek for the 2nd time this season. The eagerly anticipated 3rd matchup between Frederick Douglass and Bryan Station largely fizzled with the Broncos rolling over the Defenders. Speaking of eagerly anticipated matchups, the regional draw should pit Frederick Douglass and Madison Central against each other in the semifinals. That's a matchup that would be worth of a State Final, not a regional semifinal. Should be a great regional tournament at EKU. 41st District There wasn't a lot of drama, nor any upsets in the 41st. Save Great Crossing, and Frankfort Christian Academy, none of the teams in teams in the district even approached a .500 record this season. FCA's record was largely due to playing a very weak schedule as they try to build their program, so the Warhawks were the only team to find much success in the regular season. In the quarterfinal game Western Hills faced Frankfort Christian and came away with an 83-69 win for only their 5th win of the season. That win set up a matchup with Great Crossing in the semifinals. The Wolverines were simply no match for Great Crossing who cruised to an 89-40 win. Aslam Ismail led the team in scoring with 21 points on 10 out of 12 shooting from the floor. Brady Orem added 19, and Travanti Cooper 13 as 10 players got in the scoring column for the Warhawks. In the other semifinal matchup Franklin County and Frankfort matched up for the 3rd time this season. The Flyers had won both of the previous matchups by double figures, and this one would be no different as Franklin County came out on top 65-47. That set up a matchup between Great Crossing and Franklin County in the finals. Although this matchup would be closer than the 30 point blowout by Great Crossing in the teams last matchup on February 6th, it would still be a solid win for the Warhawks 56-43. 42nd District The 42nd District Tournament was played at Bryan Station. Though all of the final margins were at least 10 points, it did produce an upset. Sayre, who had finished the regular season at 11-19, and had been beaten by Scott County in their previous 2 meetings by 31 and 12 points, sprung a 58-48 upset on the Cardinals. Scott County, who had won only 6 games a season ago, saw a marked improvement in Sean Woods first season as coach, finishing with a 14-14 record. The win over Scott County earned the Spartans a matchup with Frederick Douglass in the semifinals. Sayre had been able to keep things competitive against the Broncos in their first 2 meetings, but that was not the case this time. Behind 17 points from DeMarcus Surratt Freddy D blew away Sayre 65-36 to move on to the finals. The other semifinal was between Henry Clay and Bryan Station, in what was viewed as one of the better semifinal games in the state. The 2 teams had split their meetings in the regular season with Bryan Station winning by 8 at home, and Henry Clay getting a 3 point overtime win in the rematch. The Defenders, playing at home, were just too much for the Blue Devils in the rubber match of the series for this season. Led by Taeshawn Adams, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Amari Owens, who had 21 points, the Defenders punched their ticket to the finals 62-48. Jackson Stephan concluded his stellar career for Henry Clay with 24 points and 6 rebounds in the loss. The finals looked to be another classic matchup between 2 of the state's best teams in Frederick Douglass and Bryan Station. It did not, however, end up being another classic, as Frederick Douglass simply dominated the Defenders 66-36. Dakari Talbert led a trio of Broncos in double figures with 21 points, Wade Thurman added 14, and DeMarcus Surratt finished with 12. 43rd District The 43rd District Tournament was held at Lafayette and produced a minor upset, and a couple of close games. Paul Laurence Dunbar, who had lost their previous 2 games to Lexington Christian Academy, was able to win their quarterfinal matchup over the Eagles 63-47 to move on to the semifinals. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, it was Lexington Catholic who was waiting for them in the semifinals. Catholic had won the previous 2 matchups between the teams in blowout fashion (75-48 on December 12th and 72-44 on February 18th). This matchup went exactly like the first 2 as the Knights won going away 77-50. The other semifinal featured Tates Creek and Lafayette. The 2 teams had split their regular season matchups with each team winning at home. The Generals had the home court advantage in the third matchup, but it was the Commodores that came out on top in a close one, 65-62. That set up a matchup between Lexington Catholic and Tates Creek in the finals. The previous 2 games between the Commodores and Knights were both won by the Knights 60-53, and 68-65 in double overtime. The third matchup would produce another double overtime thriller, and it was again the Knights that would come out on top 68-60. Max Meagher put up a 20 point, 20 rebound line for Catholic in the win. 44th District The 44th District Tournament was held at Eastern Kentucky, the site of the 11th Region Tournament. Madison Central was the overwhelming favorite to win the district, and that is exactly how things worked out. The only drama involved who would join them in advancing to the region. The 44th District is the only district in the state to still use a blind draw to determine the matchups. That resulted in Madison Southern and Madison Central facing off in the semifinals for the 2nd consecutive season, and one of the small schools (Berea or Model) advancing to the region. As expected Madison Central was able to breeze by Madison Southern in their semifinal 87-44. Eleven different players scored for the Indians in the blowout, led by Luke Asher with 24 points. Jake Feldhaus put up another double/double in the win with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Grayson Burton added 12 points. The other semifinal saw Model complete a season sweep of Berea 49-43. Riley Mollette was the key in the Patriots win with 21 points and 9 rebounds. That set up a Model/Madison Central matchup in the finals, and it went about how you would expect. The Indians simply destroyed Model 94-43. Eleven of the Twelve players that got in the game for Central scored in this one, led by Will Richardson's 21 points and Jake Feldhaus 20 points and 12 rebounds. 11th Region Tournament Preview The 11th Region Tournament will take place at McBrayer Arena on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. That is a departure from the past few seasons where the first round games were held at the exact same time at the home of the District Champions. The tournament will tip off on Wednesday night with what figures to be a mismatch between Model, and the defending 11th Region, and Sweet Sixteen Champion Great Crossing. Anything other than an easy win for the Warhawks will be a surprise. The nightcap, however, figures to be an intense matchup between the 3rd and 4th ranked teams in the region: Bryan Station and Lexington Catholic. The teams did not meet in the regular season, and are both 7-3 in their last 10 games. This one looks to be a toss-up. Thursday night will open up with what figures to be a blowout with 12-20 Franklin County facing off with the hottest team in the region in Frederick Douglass. The final game of the opening round features the regional favorite, Madison Central taking on Tates Creek. The Indians would figure to be a big favorite in this matchup, but Tates Creek averages taking 30 three point shots a game. If they are hitting, they could make this one closer than anticipated. The second round will be played on Saturday and should have 2 great matchups if things go as expected. The Great Crossing vs the winner of the Bryan Station/Lexington Catholic game should be a good one. The nightcap, however, is the one that will have everyone's attention as Frederick Douglass and Madison Central would face off for the 3rd time this season. The Indians have come out on top in the first 2 meetings, but the Broncos are playing extremely well right now. One of the best teams in the state will be going home before the regional finals. The finals will be played on Monday