rerun

I can't see Russell losing this one. Paintsville is confident, heading in the right direction, and playing at home so it's a close for a while but in the end the Devils pull away and win 20-7.

Ashland is susceptible to ground and pound. Play ball control and this one is close, get cute and and then it gets ugly. The Bulldogs milked every second of the play clock every time it was running, this frustrated Ashland. I would do the same if I were a young underdog team. Also, if you can't kick it to the endzone, then kick it out of bounds and give them the 35. Do all this and you still lose, but it's respectable and your young team can gain some confidence.

Ashland may be in the unfamiliar role of sneaking up on some teams early in the season. The Rams are in the unfamiliar role of being the favorite this time around. Although the starting teams are close in talent and athletic ability the Tomcats are deeper with athletes on the bench which allows them to pull away down the stretch. These two teams are definitely close enough that a turnover or a special teams play could allow either team to win and maybe convincingly.

Friend told me Blazer beat Spring Valley in the first game today 90-something to 40-something. There were games at Blazer and at the middle school. Not sure who was playing but when I was driving home from work the middle school parking lot was packed.

Coach Conley is on my Top Ten list of human beings that I have met in my lifetime. I was blessed to know him and got to work with him for seven years. He expected a lot, but he gave a lot. Legendary just doesn't do him justice. He was my boss, my hero, my mentor, and my friend...but above all he was my brother in Christ. Miss you coach.

There was no one more rooted in Greenup County than Nathan Sutton. Yet he was one and done. The facilities are great and the history is there. But...other than a season here or there they have been a non-factor since the Randy Ward days. I would love nothing more than to see the Musketeers back in the mix. It's a great place to watch a ball game and we need another strong eastern Kentucky program. I don't know the inner-workings and I don't pretend to have a solution but something has been amiss....for decades.

Russell played well and the things that needed to happen happened to pull off the upset. I haven’t seen any game stats but Ashland’s overall shooting percentage had to be one of their poorest performances to date, especially through the third quarter. The high zone played by Russell was effective and the Kittens did little to expose the inherent weaknesses of extending the zone that high. Both teams have a bright future and moral victories mean little the morning after but the Russell girls truly left it all on the floor and should be proud. Best of luck to the Kittens moving forward.

Admittedly I don’t watch a lot of girls basketball but this was one of the best high school games I’ve watched in a long time, boys or girls. Congrats to the Kittens for a win over a current state champion and top program within their division in Ohio.

Ashland hasn’t had much luck with 15th Region teams this year so I didn’t expect this. Tough to get off the bus and win in Inez. Congrats!

Ashland and Boyd still leading the pack. East Carter has silently "snuck up" on me. Nice to see the Raiders making some noise but I still have Russell as the three by virtue of their early season blowout of the Raiders. But the Raiders are definitely off and running after their rough start. It will be interesting to see the Russell/EC rematch right before district play.

Great man and a great family. One of the best to ever put on the stripes. Prayers for the family. Here is a link to a nice story by Mark Maynard. https://markmywords2.com/2026/01/31/legend-perfectly-describes-bob-kouns/

Teams at the top get a lot of attention as well they should and the responsible parties ranking them seem to do their homework....but the middle to the end of the Top 25 is a crap shoot with little thought going into what they're throwing out there. Case in point, in my area Ashland has beaten Boyd County twice and is ranked behind them in all but one of these. Don't get me wrong, Boyd is deserving and could very well beat the Tomcats on down the road but they haven't yet and they've had two chances. Russell fresh off a January 23rd loss to Lewis County is ranked ahead of Ashland on the KHSAA rankings. I have been a huge fan of coach Cooksey at Russell and I mean no disrespect, but Ashland or Boyd would be a 20 point favorite on any given night versus the Red Devils. Ashland has laid an egg or two but a couple of their losses came with two starters out and they quickly avenged (convincingly) one of those a few weeks later when everyone was healthy. I've said many times on here rankings mean nothing and I'm sure coach Bonner appreciates the disrespect for locker room motivation, but if you're going to print it do your homework.

The Tomcats have played a lot of zone so far this season and it looked like a large percentage of Boyd County’s prep time was spent on zone. Ashland’s man to man this game was next level. They did lose some concentration down the stretch but for the most part looked mid season form. Boyd, on the other hand looked confused and frustrated and a lot like a team that hadn’t practiced together much at all. Maybe they listened to all the chatter just a little too much? A reality check was in order and they got one. I got a feeling tonight will serve to focus them. Ashland battled foul trouble and missed a lot of gimme shots but made up for it with rebounding and intensity and hitting some three’s.

I feel this will be a totally different game with the lead going back and forth between the two. Should be a classic. I'm going with the Rams at home.

Opening weekend. Completely inclusive, every single program is excited. The previous year's work is coming to fruition and everyone is happy. At that moment "Life is Good" for everyone. It's either uphill or downhill from there depending on how good your team is. But week one is good for all of us. The post season is great...for some of us.

Not going to the game but just drove by the stadium to feel the vibe. It’s all Russell tonight.

Don't know much about Covington Catholic past looking at their schedule and listening to their fans. The bus ride is a tough one and JC is hard to beat in "Matneyville". Pulling for Johnson Central but I'm kind of thinking the Cov Cath faithful may be right. CC 28 JC 21

Ashland doesn't have size up front. They are solid, tough as nails, and quick...but they are almost always out sized on both sides of the ball. It's no secret, they struggle with ground and pound teams and if that's what Highlands does then it's going to be a long night. Ashland had no answer for Johnson Central and I would expect similar results here. But....Ashland has plenty of athletes so if you try to get fancy they can make you pay and you'll keep them in the game. Stick to the basics, go up a few scores, force Ashland into passing and out of their comfort zone and the game goes sideways for the Tomcats. I'm guessing Highlands by four or five scores assuming they run the ball at least 70% of the time.

The young men from Greenup will play with pride but this will be a typical first round game. Greenup's best effort against a step up in talent was against Ashland who had four turnovers but still managed a comfortable win. Ashland is not Highlands this year. Their only game against a team at the same level as Highlands was Johnson Central which was a blowout. This one gets ugly quick.

The Independent says Davis has been day to day this week. If he plays and is near 100% then Catholic wins by a couple scores. If he doesn’t play the Tomcats will look like a fish out of water just like last week and lose by four or five scores. Ashland doesn’t have the horses up front to be one dimensional and unfortunately their passing game hasn’t materialized. They can beat their neighbors with the run game but need more balance on offense to compete with the likes of Johnson Central and Lexington Catholic.

Boy was my coin wrong. Definitely not a coin toss game. Congratulations to the Red Devils!

Yes, Bell County was a quality loss. I was trying to correlate the teams by common opponents and Hazard was the only thread I could find. In general though, especially relative to Pikeville, both KCD and Campbellsville play a less challenging schedule.

My gut feeling going into this one is that if one of these two teams doesn't separate themselves in this game the 1A champion comes from the east. Raceland and Pikeville are battle tested. The only connection between those two teams and Campbellsville is Hazard. Campbellsville struggled to beat the Bulldogs but Raceland beat them convincingly. I know we're treading on thin ice with just the one common opponent but Raceland and Pikeville have played a much more challenging schedule which gives us a better feel for who they are. Pikeville plays Hazard this week so maybe we'll know a little more after Friday night. But hey, Sayre proved last year you can play a relatively weak schedule and still win a championship so take by "gut feeling" with a grain of salt. Good luck to both teams in this high profile matchup.

If Yoak is not playing I'm getting a new coin and tossing again.

History says the Red Devils but I'm thinking the Raiders come rolling into Henry R. with pillaging on their minds. This should be an instant classic. They have both beat their common opponents with similar scores making it very hard for someone who has only seen Russell twice (once live) and East Carter zero times. So, I tossed a coin and East Carter won, I guess I'm rolling with the Raiders.