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Hard to tell, I will say Raceland is capable of going 15-0 even with the tough schedule they have. The most important thing for Raceland, regardless of what their record is, is that they are playing the right ball at the right time. Raceland has great reason to be excited knowing they came close to a state championship last season and return a vast majority of the players from that team. Not to mention, they are getting top notch experience in scrimmages against Belfry and Wheelersburg before the season even starts. That being said, 15-0 could be a trap if they are not careful. Of course you want to win, but focusing on their development week to week is the more important aspect. Think of 2021 Belfry - 5-5 in the regular season but utilized the 0-5 start they had to win the state championship with two of those games being decided by seven points or less. I know this is cliche with some of my posts, but I always think to the wrestler Sting who said, "The only thing that's for sure with Sting is that nothing's for sure." That same quote applies to sports at this level. If Raceland were to lose, it could be for a variety of reasons. Maybe injury to a key player, sometimes the opponent comes in and plays out of their mind especially knowing they have a chance to pick up a big win against Raceland, sometimes Raceland might have a night where they just struggle. Something like the 2008 playoff game when Breathitt County pulled off a major upset 14-12 over Belfry in the state semifinal. Belfry outgained Breathitt by nearly 100 yards in that game but had 4 turnovers compared to 1 for Breathitt. One of those came early, Belfry had the ball in the redzone before fumbling and Channing Fugate would break one to put Breathitt up. If something happened to Raceland to where they would lose, I would see it being along those lines, especially like the 07 Breathitt/Belfry game. As for Raceland's success. Every school has their own unique story. For Raceland, it goes to show how their program has been tough and consistent over time despite being a smaller school. They went from a school where a deep run in the state tournament was almost unheard of, to where they were knocking on the door, to where it is now an expectation. If I am correct they got to the regional finals in 1975, but outside of that It took until 2006 for Raceland to make it back there in part due to having an opposing district in the playoffs consisting of Beechwood, Bellevue, and Newport Central Catholic. Raceland continued to knock on the door and despite struggles against Lexington Christian Academy especially in 2008, they still got back to the regional finals in 2009 with a very young team in Coach Randy Vanderhoof's last season as head coach. Fast forward to 2013 and for the first time ever Raceland would make the state tournament under T.J. Maynard. Four years later, a young team unexpectedly reached the state finals under Mike Salmons. Now, the last time Raceland came short of at least the state semifinals was 2020, a loss to eventual state championship that won its next three games by at least two scores, two of those games by a combined 63 points. Raceland has some remarkable accomplishments. When I think of Raceland, I think of this kind of toughness. One of their signature wins came in 1991 in the season opener against Ashland at Ashland. After trailing 13-0 early to the defending state champion, it looked like a scenario of "here we go again" against a team they never defeated until that night. Raceland adjusted, made some great plays including stopping an Ashland drive late in the game, and pulled off the 14-13 win. That is the signature toughness Raceland is known for. Ashland would eventually win six in a row and be up double digits on Covington Catholic in the regional final before an injury to star player Chris Hutt. So it's not like the cupboard was bare at Ashland despite losing several players from the prior season. Raceland is known for their toughness, and I expect that they will continue to claw away and be in contention to have a shot at winning 1A.

Nice observation! Coach Haywood had a unique way with his motivational techniques. One time we were on the phone (I did not play for Coach Haywood, but had life coaching from him) and he put me through this relaxation technique he knew which helped with OCD. It was something he used as part of his motivational techniques with the team. He mentioned a story about his team and how he used the technique with them to get them to focus after a game where they had several pre-snap penalties. The next game they only had one penalty. Afterward he was asked about what got the team to play so focused from one of the parents. His player chimed in, "Coach Haywood hypnotized us!" Although he did not actually use hypnosis, he had some unique motivational tools that were quite helpful with focus. Before I get into the scrimmage itself, a fun fact about it historically is that after the teams played Coach Haywood would speak to Raceland's team to encourage them before the season started. I did not see the scrimmage but am sure both teams performed nicely. Belfry will be a threat with their run game as always and with multiple components back from a Belfry team that threw for over 1,500 yards on the season, this Belfry team may air it out a little more than others have. Last season they threw 30 times against Johnson Central in a close loss, completing 22 of their passes. Based off the scrimmage it looks like they are going to continue being a strong running team. There are a lot of ways they can work offensively. With Coach Varney, there are a LOT of similarities to Coach Haywood and I see very little, if any, changes to the system coming. As somebody else mentioned, Belfry has several on staff that have been there for two plus decades (Including Coach Varney) and they work incredibly well together as a unit. Coach Varney has tremendous enthusiasm for what he does and he is a fun individual to discuss football with. The original intent of talking with him was to gather notes on the program but along with that I picked up a thing or two on the development of an offensive line that I keep in my notes to talk about on a game. He is a great coach and I feel confident will be an excellent leader for that program. It looks like Belfry got a lot accomplished against Raceland and that is certainly a plus a team with a strong defense against the power run. As for Raceland, they have a lot back from a team that was supposed to be rebuilding a bit last year but ended up making tremendous strides and getting to the state championship game. Looking at it from their end, contending with Belfry's physicality is always a good thing especially since that was a struggle last year. The plus for Raceland (And really, both teams this year) is they will not have to worry about getting a new QB fully integrated into the offense as they have quite a bit of experience coming back. Stiltner and Marushi both compliment each other nicely. With an improved passing game due to the experience, Raceland should be a tough out for anybody they play. Raceland has a nice line of coaches that have come through as well! Coach Salmons helped lead the program through a tremendous step in 2017 by leading them to the state championship game and Raceland has continued to be a threat to win it. This season the team has a lot coming back and is in a position to again make a strong run. All the best to both programs. Should be a fun season. EDIT: in one of the above paragraphs I mentioned Coach Haywood speaking to Raceland’s team after the scrimmage, historically. The thought came to mind that there was a photo and it was found from the 2022 season. This is not my photo, I did not take it but it was on Raceland’s Facebook page from the 2022 year.

I went and watched this. Great scrimmage! Always enjoy when Jackson comes to town. Before the analysis, a fun fact: Andy Hall, the Head Coach of Jackson, is the son of former Ashland football coach Larry Hall and Larry still helps him out on the sidelines. Larry has a great coaching background, being an assistant on Wheelersburg's 1989 state championship team and coaching at Ashland from 1999 - 2002, winning a district championship in 2002. They are having a lot of success at jackson, with Andy Hall having been the head coach since 2009. Over the past four seasons alone they have picked up 39 wins. For me personally, I am equally excited to see both Coach Halls (Who I don't get to see regularly) as I am the scrimmage. Great guys. Each team had the ball for ten plays at a time for three series before the JV teams took the field. 1st Series Jackson opened up with the football and got a fantastic drive off. QB Bodhi Wolford is committed to play football at Bryant, broke a long run and made an excellent read on play action, setting Jackson up on the goal line where they ran it in after five plays. Jackson's line looked physical, getting an excellent push up front. Ashland adjusted and their defense held the next five plays. Ashland came out on their offensive series with freshman Tanner Stutler at quarterback. Probably to get him acclimated to the high school level. Ashland mostly utilized the running game and although they didn't rip off a huge run, they had a consistent drive getting around five yards per carry. Stutler made a nice throw and on another play ran it, not forcing it into the defense when there was nobody open. He would run it for a nice gain. Ashland has an excellent stable of runningbacks this year both from the sense of how they can run the ball and their ability to catch out of the backfield. 2nd Series Jackson did score, but Ashland's defense stood strong for eight plays before Jackson completed a deep pass. Wolford is a clean, accurate passer who hits his teammates in stride and he couldn't have thrown a better ball while the receiver displayed great awareness and positioned himself nicely. Jackson got down to about the two yard line, running it in the next play. Ashland sent a lot of pressure at Jackson, and at times their line did a really good job picking it up. On others, Ashland sent guys from the outside, one more man than Jackson could block, and they were able to get to the quarterback. Ashland had Justin Hughes at quarterback in this series, with Hughes having recently joined from the basketball team. Hughes, like Stutler who is a hard worker and a nice athlete, is a sophomore himself and still getting acclimated to this level of play. Ashland continued sticking with their run game and getting consistent yardage. At about the 40 yard line they ran a play action pass, with Hughes hitting Mason Wolfe with no one around him in the end zone on a busted coverage from Jackson. Ashland moved the ball on the remaining plays, with Hughes having a solid run on the last play. 3rd Series Jackson connected on a deep ball early in the series, scoring again. They moved the ball a little bit here and there, one play that impressed me was when Ashland sent some pressure and it looked like Wolford would be sacked. He didn't panic, rolled out a little bit, and hit his receiver in stride for a first down. Later in the drive Jackson subbed out at QB. Ashland utilized both Stutler and Hughes. Stutler threw more on this set and made some nice reads. Hughes came in and did the same including another touchdown pass with Mason Wolfe making an incredible play off of a curl route to break free. Whether it's Hughes or Stutler, I think either one will become a nice player at QB as the season goes along. Both made solid reads in the scrimmage. JV Teams The varsity teams shook hands and then the JVs took the field. Both JVs had a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm as the game was a defensive slugfest. Both teams made some hard hits and gave up little, but Ashland did get a score later in the JV scrimmage. The discipline both teams showed, defensively especially, was impressive. Overall, a good scrimmage and I think Jackson will again be in contention in their class as they usually are. Having a player the caliber of Wolford in the backfield is always a plus and he is far from the only threat they have offensively. Their line showed good form and discipline and I thought they did a nice job defensively, you see some busted plays from time to time in scrimmages but they had only one. Ashland has some nice runners and this was an excellent experience for Stutler and Hughes at QB. Jackson had a solid defense and they both were patient, didn't force anything and when the opening was there they took it. Ashland has a lot of depth with runners. The defense had a slow start but in typical Ashland fashion as the scrimmage went along they did a nice job pursuing the football and flowing side to side. I am sure both teams will find value in this and will continue to build off of it.

Cam Davis is expected to be a prominent figure in the 4A landscape this season. As noted by DMC, he remains an underrated talent. Throughout his career, Davis has returned multiple kickoffs for touchdowns and came remarkably close last season to achieving ten rushing and ten receiving touchdowns, needing just one rushing and two receiving touchdowns to reach that milestone. He has been a strong defender as well, snagging six interceptions last season. This is all despite an injury late in the season that slowed him down. Davis is an exceptionally challenging athlete to defend, thanks to his breakaway speed and sharp instincts. His versatility allows him to be effectively utilized both as a runner and a receiver. He demonstrates a keen ability to read the play and strategically sets up his blocks, making him a valuable asset to any offensive scheme.

Thank you for the kind words @Purple88! It really is! This is an opportunity for Rowan County to challenge themselves and take the program to another level. To illustrate how deep this district is, although Covington Catholic won handily in their first round game last season they beat a Boyd County team that as a 4 seed was in the top 15 in 4A. Boyd was less than half a field away from winning against 3A power Bell County, beat the East Carter team that was an OT from the state semifinals in 2023 by three touchdowns, beat Mason County who had a good showing as they would later defeat Greenup County (who beat Boyd) in the first round of the playoffs, Lawrence who was in and out of the 3A top 10 and then gave 1A powerhouse Pikeville a tough game late in the season.

Kelly Ford is a highly underrated coach and an excellent motivator who is always looking for ways to take his team to the next level. In 2020 he led the team to the regional finals for the first time since the early 1980's, defeating a Boyd County team that they were underdogs against after Boyd hit their stride defeating Covington Holmes by a score of 55-14. Holmes defeated Boyd County by double digits earlier in the season. Rowan County would defeat Boyd 18-6 but would forfeit what would have been a difficult game with Boyle County due to COVID running rampant at the time. The injury bug has hit Rowan at important times in recent years. They may have had a shot to make it back to the regional finals in 2021 - but Cole Wallace, a talented runningback who bulldozed his way for nearly 2,000 yards, was out in their first round playoff game against Harrison County, a team Rowan defeated pretty handily when he was healthy as he ran for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns. Harrison County had a nice team, but Cole Wallace would have made a big difference in that game as Rowan was the top seed in their district. Population-wise, Rowan County experienced significant growth in the 1960's, and has been consistent growing by 1,000 - 2,000 people per year since the 1970's. Part of the problem last season was their tough schedule. They were 2-2, putting up a fight against a solid East Carter team, an East Carter team that reached the state semifinals in 2021 and was an overtime away from returning the prior year. Throw in a much stronger district than in recent years and four opponents in their last six games (Mason County, Ashland, Johnson Central, and West Carter) that all have at least a state semifinal appearance in this decade so far. Then Boyd County who in 2022 had their best season in two decades under Evan Ferguson and has consistently been a threat under him and Greenup County, who in 2022, reached the regional final for the first time in fifteen years. Ashland, Boyd County, and Greenup County all had generational quarterbacks in LaBryant Strader, Rhett Holbrook, and Tyson Sammons and Johnson Central had an amazing talent in Zack McCoart who averaged nearly twelve yards per carry. Then you factor a key injury - I'm not saying it would have made a major difference in some of those tough games - but losing starter Matthew Hamilton who was poised for a good season, completing 70% of his passes and throwing for six touchdowns with only one interception in his first three and a half games. He started the season nicely and losing him to injury was tough. The injury bug has hit them pretty hard the past two years, I believe when they played at Ashland in 2023 they started four freshman on one side of the ball that game, a couple on the offensive line due to the amount of injuries they had. There are some key returning players. Matthew Hamilton was only a sophomore and being healthy, would make a much bigger impact. Taner Woodman stepped in at QB after the injury to Hamilton with his first three games against Mason County, Ashland, and Johnson Central. He is a tough, gritty runner and plays aggressive. As the season went along he made some big strides, throwing 59% in his last two games and I think there will be a key role for him in Rowan's offense. JT Judd is a solid runner as is Cameron Cross who likely will catch a few passes as well. If I remember right they had a young offensive line too. As a whole, Rowan has been fairly young these past couple of seasons. Defensively, losing Will Richardson will really hurt. You're talking about 19 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and 5 forced fumbles in 10 games. They do have some solid guys returning though. I think if they can find ways to force more turnovers, they can give themselves more opportunities in games. Rowan County was last in the district in turnovers forced and toward the bottom of 4A in that category. That, along with improvement in their rushing defense, will help take them to the next level. All in all, I would never count out a team coached by Kelly Ford. I mentioned that Ashland game in 2023. It is not often that a 48-0 game will stand out to somebody, especially remembering the losing team but that one does to me. Rowan County came to Ashland with several key injuries and even healthy would have been underdogs with such a young team. They would come out in a different alignment, slowly churning their way to two first downs - taking six minutes off the clock in doing so. They came in with some trick plays, tried to catch Ashland off guard and did everything in their power to try to win that ball game. Ashland would go ahead by multiple scores in the second quarter and put it out of reach later on, but I will certainly remember the effort and grit that Rowan County team showed. That game meant something to them - and that determination is the typical mentality there. It will be difficult for them (And the other four teams) in what is one of the most balanced districts top to bottom, but I think as long as they stay healthy and this young group continues to develop then they will be a problem for their opponents. The district has grown significantly harder to win with the recent additions of Ashland, Greenup County, and Johnson Central.

Congratulations on becoming a grandparent! That is a special moment. I still have fond memories going to my Grandfather's house as a child and helping him with his garden. Definitely a special moment for you and one that you will treasure and I offer my highest congratulations. On this end, there are several different ones that come to mind but none as touching as the one TilghmanPride brought up. Mine would probably trace back to college and something taught by one of my professors, Dr. Virgil Davis at Ashland Community & Technical College. Professor Davis was one of the most popular professors on campus. I had him for my two required psychology courses in the spring and fall of 2007. While I certainly learned a few things from his lessons, one time I went to his office and we talked for about an hour. I was still undecided in terms of my direction at the time. Dr. Davis told me how growing up, he wanted to (1) be a professor, (2) counsel people, and (3) run a karate studio. He told me how he was often told in school not to pursue multiple careers and to stick to just one thing. For some reason, that was the part of the conversation that stuck in my mind but never thought would come into play as my goal later on would be to graduate and become a CPA. Fast forward to 2017, and the opportunity came up to call games for a semi-pro football team which I found interesting. I enjoyed it, that and hosting an interview show that we had, but even then I shied away from doing things like editing videos which I never thought would be my cup of tea Later on that would change. I would get more and more involved and now, I would say that I broadcast probably 150 games per year total if I had to guess. Mostly basketball, but some football and volleyball and the occasional game involving soccer or baseball. Working in public accounting is my main career. But as often as I broadcast or do interviews, it sure feels like a second career. For every game, it probably takes the same amount of time for preparation. And editing interview videos can take quite a bit of time. But there been some neat experiences with exciting games and some of the guests like professional wrestler Tito Santana, Maryland women's basketball coach Brenda Frese, or Liberty University basketball coach Ritchie McKay that I have had the opportunity to interview. Other than the numbers aspect in sports that come up, the two careers area totally different from each other and even in some ways will clash such as this time of the year when I am deep in tax season in tournament time. I often think back to that conversation Dr. Davis and I had. Never did I think it would eventually apply to me.

Nice! Congratulations! Rock solid NAIA program and one that I am quite familiar with. There are some hidden gems in basketball all throughout WV (Outside of WVU and Marshall) and WVU Tech is one of them. You have two programs (West Liberty, Fairmont State) that have combined for three appearances in the NCAA Division II championship game over the last decade. It was eventual NBA champion Joe Mazzulla who coached Fairmont State for two seasons and I will mention him and the ties to somebody at WVU Tech later on. With the women's side, Glenville State is just three years removed from a national championshp under Kim Caldwell, who is now the head coach at Tennessee. Bryan Poore at West Virginia State led the transition to Division II, with over 400 wins under his belt and some tournament apperances. Earl Lloyd played there in the 1940's and won a CIAA national championship with an undefeated season, later going on to be a key player with Dolph Schayes, Red Kerr and company as the Syracuse Nationals (Now the Philadelphia 76ers) won an NBA title in 1955. Chuck Cooper played a short time at WV State before going to Duquesne and ended up later playing for Red Auerbach before he won all his championships. Trayten is heading to an area that is highly underrated and tradition-rich in terms of the quality of basketball programs and having announced in that area, I am excited for him. To talk a little bit about WVU Tech. They were coached for nearly two decades by Bob Williams, who picked up over 400 wins and led the program to a high national ranking almost every year. Williams, along with top notch assistant Bob Lake now coach the postgraduate program at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia and have sent players to college basketball programs at all different levels. Under Williams' watch, Fork Union Military Academy has been competing at a high level and WVU Tech hasn't dropped off since his departure in 2019 when his last team was ranked as high as #3 in the country. First came James Long, former Bob Huggins player and assistant who kept them in contention for two seasons and then their current head coach, George Wilmore, was once an assistant at Fairmont State, including being a part of their 34-4 team that reached the NCAA Division II Finals in 2017. After that season, Wilmore had to chance to coach with Joe Mazzulla who spent two years there. As to Coach Wilmore's time coaching WVU Tech, the team had 18 wins last year and 16 wins this year. Those numbers aren't bad but he has had to do without at times in that span. This year especially that would have likely been 20+ wins, easily, had Braden Chapman been on the court for the second half of the season. He averages right around 21 points per game and is a great defender, averaging close to 3 steals per game. The style of game Woods has, mirrors Chapman in some aspects and I think he will be a good fit for that program and the style of play that Coach Wilmore has. Woods is extremely efficient. He has been close, and I mean awful close, to being a 50/40/90 player the past two seasons and has played at Rupp Arena once in that span. He had a fantastic career at Perry County Central and I am sure he will continue that success and will have some great opportunities at WVU Tech. Congratulations, God bless and all the best to the young man.

I think at the end of the day with both teams having played through a gauntlet, aside from the test of will power and depth it will come down to whichever team establishes their brand of basketball. I think it will be more important for Bowling Green to get clicking from three in this one. Should Great Crossing employ a similar type gameplan to what Ashland and others have trying to shut down the three and taking the chance with being beat off the dribble, given how Great Crossing plays it may be harder for Bowling Green to get their signature drives off, just given the tenacity and quickness of a couple of the defenders on Great Crossing. The more they can try to lure Moreno out of the paint, I think the better. Ball movement will be essential. I wouldn't put anything past this Bowling Green team or really any team coached by Sherrill. That man flat out knows how to motivate, is a great strategist, and always has his teams playing good ball at the right time - especially in the 4th which is not an easy region. If I'm in the ball park I believe over the last 21 or so years, it's only been Bowling Green or Warren Central that has emerged from that region with Greenwood sprinkled in a time or two. Which makes it even harder, with all three being in the same district - I think Greenwood was in the top fifteen a couple of seasons ago and missed the regional tournament. I'll mention a fun fact on each program, and both revolve around EKU. For Bowling Green, Turner Buttry currently plays for EKU and in 2021 had the opportunity to be a part of a Bowling Green team that went 24-3, reaching the Elite Eight. Turner went on to EKU, recently finishing his junior season. He continues his disciplined three points shooting with a 39% career percentage and is heavily relied on for his trusted free throw shooting. Buttry, who shot 93% at Bowling Green, hit a whooping 61 of his 63 free throws for EKU this season including breaking the program record for consecutive free throws made over the course of a season. As for Great Crossing, their defense in this tournament has been top notch. Would not be surprised at all to see them go to Moreno early and often to get him some looks around the basket, or run through Dawson. I think it will be important to get them off on the right foot in this game. This is a tough program with those two and while those they are talked about a lot and for good reason, I think their supporting cast is very impressive and can do some damage. I think in this particular game, Gage Richardson is one that can provide the shooting spark from outside and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some looks. Brady Orem had a nice game against Montgomery County. It's likely knowing Dawson and Moreno are likely going to get theirs, but the dangerous part about Great Crossing is there is always that other person that can step it up and provide points, like Orem against Montgomery County today. Bowling Green came through big in a couple of OT games, but even with Great Crossing's dominance so far in this tournament they sure had a tough battle in the 11th, winning the last two games in their region by a combined five points - so they have been heavily tested as well. For Great Crossing, A fun fact on Malachi Moreno. His brother, Michael, was also a star player that in contention for Mr. Basketball. Standing at 6'7, he went on to star at EKU and scored over 1,600 points for his collegiate career. Part of his reason for attending EKU was to be closer to Malachi so he could still cheer him on as he played. Should be a great game between two gritty basketball teams with plenty of thrilling moments!

Nicely said, and to have to win back to back games in overtime like that against proven opponents shows the level of grit this team has. It will be an exciting game against South Oldham. I almost want to ice down and get some rest after just thinking about having to play two games in one day in that gauntlet of opponents. Bowling Green is so balanced and that is another thing I will add to what I noted from today's game. They can come at you from a lot of angles and it's hard to defend. Ashland had a good strategy, I thought, going against the Purples trying to seal off the three. It's hard to tell what would be the best approach, from an opposing perspective. If you try to stop the drive or go to a zone, Idlett can get loose with his near-60% shooting from downtown. If you try to defend them by cutting off the three, they have the quickness to beat almost anybody off the dribble and as a defense, you almost have to take your chances on something. They have a football-type physicality defensively and definitely can push their opponents back into setting their offense. After seeing the official numbers, Ashland had 14 turnovers. I am unsure if Ashland had a game this season where they had more - with the way this group has controlled the ball this season, I doubt it. Will be interesting to see what the rest of this tournament has in store. So far, it has been absolutely wild with so many tight games!

I had a feeling that, regardless of how it turned out for Bowling Green, Deuce Bailey was going to be a major factor and it seems like he was the X factor in this one. Basketball aside, this is an athlete who has won multiple state championships playing quarterback in football and although the sport is different, the tenacity and resilience showcase themselves here along with the experience of playing at that high of a level. Turnovers I knew would be a big factor as well, as something had to give - either Ashland's strong ball control would come through or Bowling Green's scrappy defense would force turnovers, and it ended up being the latter. Good win for Bowling Green and I'm sure they'll be in contention to continue what has been a nice run. Some tough losses for Ashland at Rupp, but at this level and the high caliber of competition it almost always comes down to the end of regulation, or further. It mirrors the loss to Lyon County last season where Ashland led 41-34 late and Lyon closed out on an 11-2 run. This time Bowling Green closed out on an 8-2 run in regulation, also forcing multiple turnovers late in the game. Also mirrors the Covington Catholic game from 2022 where Ashland had a double digit lead in the first half before a three pointer by Covington Catholic at the halftime buzzer changed the complexion of the game. I thought Idlett's three pointer near the end of the first half was a BIG jolt of momentum for Bowling Green, similar to James Wilson's was for Covington Catholic in 2022 when they trailed by double digits against Ashland. Idlett made some big plays for Bowling Green but that one I thought swung some serious momentum their way. Zander Carter finishes his career with over 3,000 points and one of the all-time great 16th region players with a high level play and leadership that will continue at Liberty University. Tyson LaLonde also made some huge plays for Ashland over the years and his top notch academic and athletic background will continue at Shawnee State. Preston Hoskins has been successful both on and off the court with his leadership and his shooting was big this year for the Tomcats, showcasing the next-level potential he has. Three great seniors that have a lot to be proud of. All the best to Bowling Green the best of the way. I'm sure their strong leadership, with six seniors, and resilience (Gutting out two tough games in overtime in the tournament) will be a plus for them moving ahead.

Nice read @DragonFire! This should be an excellent matchup. Ashland had a great performance against Calloway County with multiple players that took over for stretches in the game and Bowling Green looked impressive scrapping it out against an Adair County team that made the Elite Eight last season and exhibits a lot of toughness. Interesting breakdown on the history of the series between the schools as I felt (despite the distance) they would have played more often. I was at the game they played in the 2020-2021 season and enjoyed the experience at Bowling Green. Later on I would get to know Turner Buttry, who was on that team, and interviewed him multiple times. He is Christian with high character and has represented the school nicely at EKU. I think this is one of those games were "something has to give." It was mentioned that Bowling Green forces a lot of turnovers and that they do, but Ashland is also a team that does a great job taking care of the basketball. For example, in their district championship game against a tough Boyd County team, they only had three turnovers and although I am unsure of their average they have several games this year where they have done a great job with the basketball. I have seen games where they will go a full half and only have one turnover. It will be interesting how that factors in with the matchup. Then Ashland shoots the three ball at a high clip, but Bowling Green has the athleticism and ability to disrupt players with great shooting patterns. I think both teams have strong leadership. Bowling Green has six seniors (All of whom are the top scorers on the team) and Ashland has three that are important to their success. Zander Carter has made tremendous strides over the course of his career at Ashland and is a great leader, both from a verbal perspective and how he strives to be trusted with the ball late in games. Around him are players like Drew Smith, Tyson LaLonde, Preston Hoskins, Caleb Clarke, players that are capable of going off for 20+ in a game. Drew Smith would score 36 against Chapmanville, WV who reached their state tournament. Defensively Ashland has can cause problems with players like Carter and Neel that are quick and can disrupt. I have hardly seen Bowling Green this year. But I sure do remember two of their players, Deuce Bailey and M.J. Wardlow. Great athletes, first off. The deal between the two schools in that 2020 - 2021 season was Ashland making the trip to Bowling Green to play and then Bowling Green being a part of the Ashland Invitational Tournament the next season. In that event I remember the gutsy play of those two in a win over eventual Elite Eight team Pikeville. Bowling Green had the ball with a chance to score for the game winner. Pikeville played great defense forcing Turner Buttry out for a 25+ foot contested three. It would go off the left side of the rim and looked to go out of bounds - UNTIL Deuce Bailey sprinted to the corner, threw the ball off of a Pikeville player, giving Bowling Green an extra possession. M.J. Wardlow would then hit the game winning three pointer at the buzzer. To make those kind of plays at such a young age told me a lot about them. They didn't just step up when needed, they embraced the opportunity, which is typically not, understandably, seen out of players in their younger years. I'm sure that toughness and grit will be a factor for Bowling Green. Actually a fun quick story from that AIT, Ashland just introduced electric scooters downtown and the Bowling Green players were having a blast on them. I think we still have film of that somewhere. It was a fun experience. Onto the coaching. It was long expected that Ryan Bonner would one day step into the shoes of the head coach at Ashland, but he ended up stepping in earlier than expected two seasons ago. Coach Bonner would have the "interim" tag removed from his head coaching position after leading Ashland to the Elite Eight in his first year and then the following season he would lead them back to Rupp as Ashland fought eventual champion Lyon County to a tight battle. This year he hopes to achieve his first Final Four. When Coach Bonner stepped into that role my first thought was that, regardless of how he did, he would not be outworked by anybody. He puts so much dedication into that position and I am glad to see him having success. Coach Sherrill won a state championship in 2017 and always has a strong team at Bowling Green. I didn't just get to meet him, I saw the end of one of his practices when he was motivating the team when they were in the AIT. Great guy and he definitely connects with his players and knows how to get them to buy in. That team had two seniors and no juniors and I watched as he instilled confidence and trust in them when they played Should be a fun, entertaining matchup between two schools that have been strong representatives for their regions.

Congratulations to Ashland on a big win and to Calloway County on their successful season. These two schools have a little bit of a history, more than one will think given their distances with nearly 400 miles of separation. Calloway County came to Ashland in 2021 as a part of the Ashland Invitational Tournament that season and actually ended up playing Ashland that year in the tournament. Like they showed last night and throughout the season, Calloway County has a fantastic program and is a great representative of the 1st region both on and off the court. With Ashland it felt like a different player had a stretch where they took over. First it was Drew Smith, who I believe had 10 of Ashland's first 14. Then Preston Hoskins got hot from downtown. Then in the second half Zander Carter stepped it up. A neat fact about Carter, is his first big breakout game as a Tomcat came in Rupp Arena in 2021 against Boyle County when he scored 18 points and had 5 assists, going 4-5 from downtown. He has grown into a strong, confident leader and last night his maturity showed. That happened at Bardstown earlier this season, when a tight game was opened up after Zander stepped it up in the fourth. He has a knack for doing that and last night did so on the biggest stage in a tight game against a 30+ win team and the Kentucky 2A State Champion. Big, big win for Ashland and it should be another exciting matchup coming up with Bowling Green.

Congratulations! Seems like he has a great background and will be a nice fit for the position.

Regardless of his coaching ability (Which I will go into my experience with on that end) I can confidently state that Belfry will have a top notch human being in the position who will lead these young men in the right direction in life and that is what is most important. What I will say in terms of him as a coach, first off I have a lot of confidence in him from a leadership and knowledge standpoint and will throw in more observations based off of the couple of times I have worked with him. We had a great conversation on the phone one week when I was scheduled to broadcast a game of his. I played on the offensive line in high school and am familiar with that and he gave me a couple of notes about Belfry's system and how they play that was helpful to the broadcast. With a coach, what separates the good from the great when it comes to X's and O's is "Coach X sure knows a lot about football!" versus "I sure did learn a lot about football from Coach X!" There are masterminds on offense, defense, and special teams that struggle to communicate. Coach Varney explained to me the process of Belfry's offensive line and how they gel over the course of the season and I can say "I sure did learn a lot about football from Coach Varney." Although defense was his specialty and we had a good conversation about that too, he had a thorough way he broke things down and there are plenty of line coaches who are very knowledgeable that I have been fortunate to interact with, but that part of our conversation stood out to me and I think that communication skill will help him the position. Second, Belfry has a unique way they handle certain situations. What I mean by that, prior to that game - which was a mud fest - I observed the whole staff walking around the field which is common to check for certain spots. But this wasn't the typical "step in a few spots and check," I don't think I would be exaggerating to say that they covered a majority of the spots on the field and maybe even all of it. I was setting up myself and did not see it all but they methodically stepped one foot in front of the other with precision. I have had my share of mud fests over the years but have not seen a staff handle it in the manner that Belfry's did. I found it to be interesting and they might know a thing or two with eight state championships. Third, he is very well liked in the community and there are a number of coaches on Belfry's staff who have been there for 10+ years so he is starting in familiar territory. I do not know the entire staff, or many of the coaches actually (I have only called a couple of football games and a soccer game for the school) but I do remember learning that they have several who are familiar with the program, know the system, and are highly comfortable working with Coach Varney. That will go a long way - it's not a situation where he's coming in to a new town or having to pick up the strengths and weaknesses of a new staff of coaches along with a new group of players. From my broadcasting experience, I could tell he went the extra mile to get to know his players. For example, last season when I called an NCAA Division II game there was a Belfry player, Ethan Wolford, who played on the line for Charleston, WV. He started and their team won the Mountain East Conference that season. I reached out to Coach Varney prior to that game and he provided some helpful information to bring up which enhanced the broadcast. Ethan was only a sophomore and starting an a high level NCAA Division II program. Lastly, I reached out to him when I told him that I hired Philip Haywood as my life coach last year and told him how excited I was. We had a great discussion about that and he was also encouraging throughout that journey. I will talk about this in a project I plan to release later on, but last year I found out one of my great mentors at the office I work at passed away. After gathering myself I called Coach Haywood and little did I know he was getting ready for a passing scrimmage. He still took the time to help me and I had to get stable enough to call a boatload of games at an NCAA basketball event over the next two weekends. He guided me through that situation and I am confident stating Coach Varney would go to that same length if I had reached out to him on it. When that nice article @Watusi shared quoted him saying that developing players with "great charater and high morals" was first before winning championships, that is an area he talked about long before taking the head coaching position. He is a kind man and again, I have not played a single down of football for Belfry but based on the multiple times we have talked and what I have seen from him, I think Belfry is getting an excellent human being as their head coach and one that I think, although it's the secondary goal (which is a good thing!) has the capability to win and win a lot.

It is Matt Varney. I'm sure he will do an outstanding job and he is a fantastic human being that the players will take to.

As DMC mentioned, Belfry plans to make the announcement this afternoon at 1:00 PM. My lean is that it will be Coach Matt Varney. Whoever they hire, however, I'm sure will be the right fit and ready to take it on. I extend my heart and best wishes to the Belfry community for continued success, on and off the field.

Way to go Cam!!!!!!!!!!

A wonderful tribute to Coach Haywood by two of the best! "If you needed him, and he could help somebody, he's dropping what he's got going on to talk." That couldn't be more true and here is a story I would like to share on that. I plan to dive deeper into this in a project, but it was a Thursday afternoon, I was off work and making a quick drop by the office to print off some stat sheets for three full days worth of calling basketball games. It was going to be a long trip for back to back weekends. I pulled into the office and received a text message that one of the leaders at the office passed away during the day which was totally unexpected. Although he was diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year, I felt optimistic because it was caught early but also know that he had a couple of stays in the hospital prior to when that happened so it may have spread more rapidly than initially thought. If you go to the weight loss thread in the BGP Break Room you'll see some of my background on that end. At the time I dropped 33 pounds, I felt unstoppable and working with Philip had me going in the best route that I had ever gone. I have perfectionst personality and if I had one item in a meal that was off plan, I would get frustrated and fall back. Philip taught me how to overcome that. We had a great conversation that week, maybe even the night before. When I found that out about my work teammate, I didn't waste any time going back out to eat and gorging. I was close with this leader. When I first started at this place in 2012 he was one of the, if not the key person that was a mentor to me and we would go to lunch a lot, usually celebrating events like birthdays and such. Once I gathered myself I called Philip that evening on the way up to the basketball event. The memory is a blur somewhat but he had a passing scrimmage coming up shortly. It was in the summer. Philip dropped what he was doing and was able to help me get re-focused on the trip and, most importantly, being there for this coworker's family. My eating habits worsened for some time although we would work on that more down the line, but on the trip I was able to keep focused and ended up broadcasting the games, even 11 on one of the days and was able to make some contacts at the event. Part of what was so inspiring from that talk with Philip was just the gesture that he took, with how busy he was. I'm looking back at one of the e-mails right now (Albeit over my exercise program) where he closed saying, "You can do this. Get a plan together. I'm in your corner." Those last four words especially, when he said it, he meant it.

I remember him primarily from Boyd County, in 2002 he led them to what would be their last 8 win season until Evan Ferguson would lead them back there in 2022. The next year they had a tough start but pulled a massive upset of Bell County in the first round of the playoffs as a 4 seed, at Bell when they had Shawn Robbins and company. Bell would make the state semis the next year losing 15-10 to Highlands and look in the record books state-wide and you will see Shawn Robbins' name pop up a few times. He had five total seasons at Boyd, the last three he had some solid, competitive but injury-prone teams. That was the last time, until the Evan Ferguson hire, that Boyd County was competitive with rival Ashland in football. Dane would go on to become the first ever head coach at Kentucky Christian University for their football team, helping to get that program off the mat. I don't know a whole lot about him as the time he was in the area was long before I got into broadcasting, but what I can get on here and confidently say is that he is very well liked. The players at Boyd highly liked and respected him, the coaching staff at Ashland liked and respected him and I would say they are not the only opponents that did. Dane Damron has meant a lot to football throughout Eastern Kentucky and I am excited to see what he will bring to Paris.

Kenleigh Woods (Committed to EKU) was out today with illness and her presence was missed on the court. For Ashland, that hurt a lot but the team put up an impressive fight especially after they were blown out by Portsmouth early in the year although they were missing Kenleigh for that game as well (knee injury) and Gabby Karle. Ashland jumped out to an 11-2 lead and Portsmouth kept creeping back, cutting the lead to one at halftime. They would jump ahead for good in the third, but Ashland continued fighting, cutting the lead to 32-30 at the end of it. Ashland is gritty - this is a team with many returning players from the group that shocked #2 ranked George Rogers Clark last season and also missed Kenleigh Woods in that game to injury. For the fourth, you have to feel good if you're Portsmouth. Daysha Reid and Hayven Carter both stepped it up big for the Lady Trojans in the fourth quarter. Both are terrific players, but they hardly had to rely on their star, #1 Sienna Allen who has a lot of college looks - and for good reason. She hit some big shots early to help get Portsmouth back in the game in what was a physical, defensive battle. Portsmouth is coached by Amy Hughes and one of the assistants is her Father, Mike. Amy played for UConn's 34-4 team in 1996 under Geno Auriemma and eventually would come a little closer to home, playing at Xavier in the Atlantic 10. She does a great job with her rotations and has a team with a great mix of speed, strength, and length. I don't know Ohio basketball or many of the teams, but they resemble the type of team that would be in contention to win their division's state title.

Not sure how the game went as a whole, but a major improvement for Elliott County from two seasons ago when the score was 96-43. They are 13-6 right now and three more wins will double their win total from the last two seasons combined. Greg Adkins has done one of his best coaching jobs with this team, and he has done some great ones. This year they still looked to be a year away from shining again. The hottest team in the 16th right now is Boyd County. They have ripped off nine in a row, including against rival Ashland and 15th region power Pikeville. Seven of these nine wins, including the Ashland win, have been away from home. Jacob Spurlock is playing like his usual impressive self and Childers and Rardon look so much more comfortable in the flow of the offense. Both are dangerous players. In six of these wins it's worth nothing that at least four players had double digits for Boyd County. They are coming along at the right time.

Ashland came up big despite a lot going wrong tonight. Preston Hoskins hit some huge three pointers to keep the team in the game. A lot of easy missed shots, and the team (minus Hoskins) mostly struggled shooting the ball from three until late. At times Zander Carter single-handedly kept them in it. Huntington High controlled the pace from start to finish. They wanted to have controlled posessions, and occasionally make the runout for the score. They are QUICK getting down the court but had trouble navigating after Ashland switched to a 2-3 zone. They ran some clock off and shortened the game, but for the most part would settle for an outside shot against the zone. That being said, they moved the ball side to side and didn't just throw something up, a major improvement that has been made from weeks ago. Major cap tip to Huntington High for their fight. Not just tonight, all season this team has been tough as nails with the injuries they had to endure. Tayveon Wilson has been out with a foot injury and he is a big, physical player on the interior that can cause a lot of problems. Tayveon, a four-sport athlete, is committed to play football at Clemson. Tristan Hornbuckle and Avonte Crawford have endured injuries and at times the team has been short-handed. One of their struggles early on was with ball movement but tonight they did a good job working it side to side. I'm sure Ashland provided some looks that they will see from teams down the road.

Thank you for the kind words DMC! It was an interesting game. Ashland would jolt out to a 29-14 lead while Russell would go on a 10-2 run - but then Ashland would respond with a 7-0 run to end the first half and a 16-0 run to start the third quarter. This was a game where Ashland had everything in sync, while Russell on the other hand had an off night. They had a couple of wide open lay ups missed and in the first half only had something like five turnovers, which is really good especially against this Kitten defense that puts a lot of pressure on opponents. Woods hit five three pointers - I cannot see any drop off in her game. What an incredible comeback. Troxler for Ashland has so much length and at times caused heavy pressure, forcing a turnover. She may have had one steal, but the amount of pressure and disruption she caused defensively will never show up on a stat sheet. She did a great job. Russell had some bright spots. This is a very, very young team and out of all of the nice coaching jobs Mandy Layne has done, this is right up there with her best. They'll learn a lot from this game, away from the ball in particular. Running up to help teammates that are pressured, boxing out, they'll see the film and grow in some spots. Stacy Davis has done an incredible job as well, especially dealing with the injury situation the way she has. Ashland has a tough rematch with Portsmouth coming up and Russell defends their 63rd district winning streak against Raceland Friday night. I'm sure both teams will grow from this contest.

Big win for Raceland. Corey Allison has done a great job coaching Greenup County and his team has made significant strides late in the season. The first season he started 3-12 but finished 8-6 (Including a win on the road at 26 game winner Russell) with the second starting 7-9 and finishing 11-6 with a district championship. They are much better than their record indicates and like DMC mentioned, they made a comeback down 13 - multiple times they have done that this year and I believe it was Wheelersburg, OH they were down 17 against and came back to win the game. Thacker with yet another impressive game and Raceland has played some nice basketball. I think their last trip to the region was 2021, and I'm sure they have a lot of desire to get back. The 63rd is tough and it could be any combination of the four teams that will be competing in Morehead. It will definitely be an interesting tournament at the end of the year. Raceland has a nice team with some speed or they can grind it out. I'm sure they'll be a tough out for anybody they come across as they can beat teams in a lot of different ways.