TCR

Nicely stated! George Washington has a great program and Rick Greene is one of the most fundamentally sound coaches out there. His offenses always make excellent cuts to the basket and defensively his players are always where they need to be. They were 13-0 coming into this one with the closest game being against St. Albans, WV. They were winning by an average of around 68-39 per game. And that's really something given more the slower, controlled style of basketball that they play compared to some of the other teams. Big representation of Ashland, and Kentucky basketball tonight!

Continuing that momentum. 19.8 pounds right now and 13 total inches!

If someone were to tell you in advance that Jacob Spurlock would be Boyd County's fifth leading scorer and they would beat Ashland, would you believe it? Where Boyd has gained over the course of the season (not counting the unusually large number of injuries early in the year) is how comfortable Childers and Rardon are becoming in the offense. I felt they were key in that game. Childers had a double-double and Rardon had several big buckets for Boyd. One thing to note about Boyd is that they have improved their free throw shooting by six percent compared to last year. And the dangerous part about Childrers with him finding his spot in this offense, is that he's an excellent free throw shooter - 83%. He's slithery, hard to defend and I think that is a big part of him being able to make plays to get to the free throw line for Boyd. What's interesting is that Boyd has won three in a row at Ashland. The same thing happened two seasons ago, when Ashland would go to Boyd and pick up a nine point win in a game where they led by as much as 25. Boyd would come to Ashland and pull an 88-80 victory out over the Tomcats. Last season was a little different, but Boyd would win the first three matchups before Ashland would win in the regional final. Ashland likes to play quick, but I think at times struggled to put it together. Lately there have been a lot of possessions with a quick pass and a three instead of that signature ball movement they are known for while also not attacking the basket enough. They can shoot, but at times I don't feel they have been playing too great as of late. As for the region, nice job in the rankings DMC. I would toggle as well but think you went right putting Boyd ahead of Ashland right now. Russell is one to watch like you mentioned and Fleming ended up beating both Ashland and Boyd last season - wouldn't be surprised to see them throw a wrench into their opponent's plans at some point.

First class coach and person. Had the opportunity to work with him on a couple of games and he is lot of fun to talk football with. Great knowledge of the game and somebody that will get the best of out of his players. Wishing him all the best at Marion County!

At this point I have not looked into some of the new teams on the schedule (Although I know the reputation of schools like Lexington Catholic) but last season Ashland played Harvest Prep out of Ohio, who would be a 2A school in Kentucky that is tough. They would defeat Ashland 26-10. Had it been to a Kentucky team, that might have changed some things. That game alone did some damage to Ashland on the RPI and even if they would have won, would not have picked up as big of a boost. I am not sure of the changes that have been made to the RPI since 2020. But that year coming into the 3A state championship game Ashland and Elizabethtown had comparable schedules with a couple of exceptions. Both had a top five team in their district. E-town with Bardstown and Ashland with Russell. The rest of their districts were mostly developing programs. The difference between the two is that E-town played a 2 win 6A Central Hardin team winning 20-14, beating 8th ranked 5A team North Bullitt 55-41, then 6A Meade County 36-6. Meade County finished 4-6. Ashland had a 1 win 4A team in Bourbon County, a regional finalist 3A team in Bell County, and a Rowan County team that was 4A and made the regional finals for the first time since the early 1980's. E-town finished with a .74000 RPI rating while Ashland finished with a .65900 rating. I feel like playing up in class, in state, makes a huge difference when it comes to the RPI. It could have changed since 2020, but a lot of the grumblings I hear from programs are pertaining to out of state opponents and I anticipate that after multiple instances of having to play a road game in the playoffs due to an out of state opponent (whether that be win or loss) that is why Ashland is going with the schedule they have. Many Ironton (OH) and Ashland fans are enthusiastic about hopefully renewing their series one day, a series that was last played in 2019 where Ashland won 16-10 in overtime and didn't get much RPI help despite Ironton being a team that had only one loss in the season and made the state finals. As for the team, they have some key losses. But also some key returning players. Athleticism won't be a problem. I think the QB position will be solid with multiple players that are capable of filling in and doing a good job. They have an impressive freshman class coming up. Strader and Jennings are special, no doubt. But I think Ashland will have some solid guys that step it up and fill the roles. Adam Frame had a high level IQ defensively - that is one that will be a big loss.

My heart goes out to the family of Philip Haywood, as well as to the coaches, teachers, players, and the entire community at Belfry. Although I’ve only been to Belfry a handful of times and never played a down for the Pirates, it was truly an honor to call him my coach for the past 12 months as I hired him to be my life coach. I usually avoid sharing my struggles on socila media, but my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder has worsened significantly, and I sought great guidance to achieve my lofty goals. When his wife, Linda, posted about his availability, I jumped at the opportunity. I plan to write more about my experience in the coming week. A couple of weeks ago, we had an incredible conversation over the phone where I asked him countless questions about football, discussing several of his teams from Belfry. Coach Haywood was a Godly, Christ-honoring man, and I will always treasure the time we spent getting to know each other. The people who truly make a difference are those who go above and beyond. Despite his busy schedule, Coach Haywood exceeded our contract, regularly reaching out via text, email, and phone calls. I’m debating what to share about the lessons he taught me this year; so many areas of my life matured, and it’s hard to pinpoint where to start. The bottom line is that he just knew what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. When times got tough, his sessions felt like calling a timeout when the opposing team started to make a run in a game. He helped me make the adjustments needed to get back on track. If I had to identify the biggest area of growth, it would be learning to appreciate what I have, rather than taking it for granted in pursuit of my ambitions. Our last brief conversation was Friday night, where we scheduled our call intended for the next evening. I’m paraphrasing, but his last words to me were something like, “It seems like you’re starting off in all the right directions this year,” particularly regarding my commitment to my exercise program and stating that I would drop 100 lbs. this year. I was like a kid and couldn't wait to let him know of my progress. These are two separate messages from him, the last one coming from our final exchange via text. I only worked with Coach Haywood over the past year with our appointments over the phone and the text and e-mail conversations we had. I have no ties to Belfry, I have never played football for him. I could only imagine what it would have been like to have the experience playing football or getting to coach alongside him being a part of his talented staff, many of whom have coached together for a number of years. Despite only closely knowing him that one year, I feel like I am writing about someone that I have known since birth. This man went above and beyond and his friendship will always be cherished.

Thank you for the kind words @DevilMayCare. Great write-up! Rowan certainly shaking things up and now that everybody's healthy Boyd County looks to be hitting their stride. Ashland picked up a big win against Chapmanville, WV last night who is just three seasons removed from a state championship and if they can keep their core of freshmen together, could go on a serious run.

TheDeuce said it nicely. I do think this could also be Coach Cronin's odd way to try to motivate. This happened in 2012 with Pat Knight at Lamar. After one of his games near the end of the season Coach Knight practically threw his team under the bus, calling that group of seniors the word group of kids he ever coached. The team would respond by winning their conference tournament and making it to the NCAA's. There are some differences in the way they did it as I don't think Coach Knight mentioned anything pertaining to his staff. It will be interesting to see the overall impact of this.

Congratulations to Great Crossing! Cathedral is a good team that has three losses against teams with a combined record of 30-15 that have played tough schedules. Way to represent the state!

Win wth Wynn! Congratulation to SK on the hire and best wishes to Coach Wynn and the program for success. Having seen Coach Wynn's teams at Mason County a few times, I'm excited for SK. His style of play at Mason County was a nice fit for that program and it will likely be a great fit for SK. I don't know if he has ties to David Buchanan, but his teams reminded me a lot of Coach Buchanan's teams in the 2000's (The team I played for in high school played against Coach Buchanan's teams) both from a discipline perspective and the style of play they have. I think SK fans will especially enjoy the structure of the offense as it's exciting to watch. Wynn is a skilled motivator and will generate a lot of enthusiasm!

We've hit double digits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11.0 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A lot in the EKY have had questions on the Larry Conley Classic at Ashland, and while the early games were cancelled the schedule will still remain as follows. Posted on the Ashland Tomcat basketball page. "Tomorrow's Larry Conley Classic at Ashland Blazer is now limited to three games due to inclement weather. Ashland Kittens JV vs Raceland JV 4:00 Ashland Kittens vs Raceland 5:30 Ashland Tomcats vs Huntington Expresssion Prep 7:00 We will do everything possible to make sure we can host this event! If there are any changes we will be sure to notify through social media." Coverage for the two varsity games will be provided by My Town TV on YouTube, Facebook, Roku, Apple TV, or the My Town App. They are all free on any platform.

Big, big win for Rowan County. Fleming County has been playing great basketball, prior to this game they had some impressive performances (One of them being a win over Highlands) and the combined record of the three prior teams that beat them is 30-8 - each team with 10 wins apiece right now. Rowan County hit ten three pointers and had such evenly distributed scoring - 16, 12, 12, 12, and 8 were the numbers of the 5 leading scorers. When the numbers for Fleming County come out I am curious to look at how they performed from a shooting perspective. On a side note, this game is another example to show how score comparison doesn't usually work. Comparing each team's games against Greenup County: Fleming County: 70-38 win Rowan County: 61-56 win

To be mentioned as a contender in any class is an honor, but especially this loaded 4A class it's an honor for Boyle County and it's going to be even more loaded with the addition of Highlands. I have a tough time believing Boyle fall from that contender spot and even though they lost some top notch athletes, they have a couple key athletes returning (as mentioned above) that are serious difference makers. This is a familiar situation for Boyle County. The 2022 team stepped on the field without some key players from the prior year including Jagger Gillis at QB, (2,551 passing yards and 30 pass TD, 560 rushing with 15 rush TD, and a defensive TD), lost their top three receivers who combined for 116 receptions, 1,863 yards and 25 touchdowns, and played without two of their five leading tacklers (with the third hurt much of 2022) from the prior year. A program like Boyle reloads and I am sure they will be in contention in a strong 4A class. I believe out of the programs that have pulled off a 4-peat or more, Boyle County is the only one that has done it twice.

Wins: 7.6 pounds down Winter jacket fit today which I did not expect this soon.

Excellent breakdown @DevilMayCare! And I agree with you on Fleming County. Buddy ball is fun to watch and Bradley Robinson seems so comfortable and is thriving in the system. They defeated both Ashland and Boyd County last season and I'm sure they'll be a threat to both again. Russell is another interesting one to highlight. Lewis County is an excellent win for them. It seems like their chemistry is starting to come around and that will certainly make things interesting. The 63rd is one tough district. Lewis County went 1/23 from downtown in that game. Coming into it they were only shooting 25% from three point range. I anticipate that will be a target of their practices in the coming weeks. Even though they have struggled shooting, I feel like their shooters have the potential to be threats from the outside. Raceland, Elliott, having nice years and now Morgan County starting to get things figured out with their young team. Lots of excitement!

It's a coincidence everything came together close to the new year, but I have said publicly to mark it down - 100+ pounds to come off this year. We are going to win, and we are going to win big. Five days in and I'm down 4.4 already which is nice considering I haven't done my first full workout yet. No major changes to my plan, just my mindset and a boatload of accountability measures.

Congratulations to Covington Catholic. Big win against Lloyd Memorial who has a nice team. It's a positive for Covington Catholic when they can still pull off a win when a player the caliber of Walker goes off like he did (14/16 from the field, not to mention a double-double machine) and also for Lloyd Memorial in the sense of how they handled the hostile environment at Covington Catholic. They started the game on a nice run and quieted the crowd quick. Although Covington Catholic would get going, I thought they came in and did a good job setting the tone early. A couple of things improve for them, which I'm sure they'll be working on, Lloyd Memorial could have emerged victorious and I know Covington Catholic will be looking to continue to make strides as well. Two great teams and it should be a thrilling tournament for the 9th region this year.

First off, if I were a Raceland fan losing hope, remember - it's a process. Many schools in Kentucky would love to be in your position. A lot of kids would be deeply honored to have the opportunity to play in the state final, on UK's field. I may have mentioned this in another thread, but this is not the only school that has been to the state finals four times in a matter of eight seasons and lost all four. Boone County made the state finals four times from 1987 - 1994, losing in all four appearances, two of them in a close battle. Raceland has an amazing story with their football program and this has to be taken as part of the process. Remember - it took until 2006 for Raceland to reach the regional final for the first time where they would lose to Newport Central Catholic. They lost by 19, but led by double digits early. Two years later when they reappeared in that same game, they would lead 20-3 against Lexington Christian who they defeated in the regular season, only to give up 24 points in a row to lose. They would still make it back the next year with a young team, losing again, this time big, to Lexington Christian. But the regional finals became more familiar territory for the Rams. Fast forward to 2013. Raceland emerges victorious in the regional finals under T.J. Maynard and reaches the state semifinal for the first time ever. Mike Salmons took over the next year and he would lead them to the state semis again. Both times were large losses to Williamsburg. Then in 2017, a young Raceland team surprised many by reaching the state finals. Raceland struggled against a tough Beechwood team that they were big underdogs against, but they had the opportunity to reach Kroger Field for the first time ever. Two seasons ago Raceland made it back but lost to Pikeville, last year a couple big plays Pikeville made hurt them and they struggled to convert in Pikeville Territory but they were more competitive, and this year they were knocking on the door and fell short. A loss like this can sometimes be what ignites a team to come back and play out of their minds. I'm sure this loss will sting with the returning players, and Raceland sure has a lot of them coming back. They have to focus on working hard in the offseason. Coach Roy Williams of UNC basketball would sometimes leave a note for his players in their locker room asking if they did what it took that day to win a national championship. That's the mentality Raceland has to attack their weight sessions and practices with. "Did we do today what it takes to win it all in December?" This has to be frustrating for Raceland fans, but it comes down to two parts. First, appreciating the opportunity that the school has had that hundreds of schools would jump on if they could. Second, continuing to grow as they have. Every step has been one step closer. And you see these success stories now - it wasn't always easy. Philip Haywood is known as the all-time winningest coach in Kentucky and an eight-time state champion, but he would reach the state finals in the 1980's twice and lose both times, back to back. It wouldn't be until 2003 when he returned and won it all for the first time and even then, his 2011 and 2012 teams were just a notch away from winning two more. Bob Sphire, who is now keeping Highlands in contention for the title, helped ignite the football program at Lexington Catholic in 1991 and it would take him 14 years to win his first state championship. This may not, and it may be the year for Raceland. I do think with the pieces of the puzzle coming back and the renewed determination, that they will contend for the title again.

Wow, nice game for Southern Cal and no doubt about it a huge win. Read that the ratings for this game were through the roof! @Tranquility Base I'll be the first to say I just caught bits and pieces, but completely agree about Watkins and Strong. Especially Sarah Strong. Many draft projections show that if underclassmen were eligible for the WNBA draft, Strong would likely be the #1 pick. She is about everything you could want in a basketball player. She scores, she rebounds, it's tough to double her because of her court vision, she can block shots, and off the rebound she can get the ball downcourt quickly. She is a special player and is gifted in just about all aspects of the game while also having the mind of a polished leader.

Congratulations to St. X, way to represent the state!

Based on the numbers it does look like Kentucky would be projected to win, but in the 2016 season a 5-5 Ohio State team came in (That wouldn't make the NCAA tournament) and controlled the tempo against Kentucky, holding them 12 points below their season average. They came in struggling from behind the arc and shot around 33% as a team, but against Kentucky they would go 9/18 from downtown and that especially hurt Kentucky early as they got behind. It didn't help UK that outside of Jamal Murray, the rest of UK's team went 12/40 from the field for 30%. Similar scenario in 2016 - Ohio State came off of a 20 point loss against UConn where they trailed by 21 at halftime and UConn coasted, then the next game defeated Northern Illinois. Of course these are different teams and different times. But sometimes history can repeat itself. That being said, I expect Ohio State to go full throttle to try to pull this one out but Coach Pope to keep this Kentucky team fully focused in this battle. This Kentucky team so far has shown a lot of poise and maturity and despite not being together long have gelled quite nicely.

HC was able to get some turnovers but also outrebounded Russell on the boards by 8. HC has a nice team with multiple players that can carry the scoring load. Good team for Russell to play. The experience will be valuable to this team that has experienced players in Kennedy Darnell and Gabby Oborne along with the lone senior, Bethany Allen, but also a 7th grader, two eighth graders, and a freshman that have seen the court quite a bit. Given that Russell lost around 68% of its key scoring, they have had some players do a good job stepping it up when you think about who they lost. Bella Quinn having graduated and she is now starting for the NCAA Division II Kutztown Golden Bears as a freshman and for the first time since the 2018 season Russell has somebody other than Shaelyn Steele running the point (Shaelyn has earned the opportunity to see the court some at Penn State) while also losing strong rebounders in Hannah Sanders and Courtney Fitzpatrick. This young team is in a pretty good spot right now. They'll take some hits early on but look to be on a good track to be a problem for anybody they face by the end of the season. Mandy Layne has had at least 20 wins in each season since her first regional title in 2016 (including the COVID season) and at least 26 wins in five of those years. This is a good team for Russell to play, the 9th region is tough. Five 20+ win teams last year and the champion, Cooper, gave Sacred Heart a good run in the final four. HC is a double overtime away against Highlands from being undefeated and I'm sure they'll be in contention when the playoffs roll around.

Dang, I thought we were going to take that one. Congratulations to Woodford County. Boone got hot in the second half which was a nice boost for Woodford, but honestly I felt Woodford County did an excellent job giving themselves opportunity after opportunity on the glass. It's not unusual at all for Ashland to be undersized against their opponent and sometimes even come out ahead in the rebounding department but Woodford County did an excellent job being disciplined on that end. Ashland has had some wild games in this event, having also participated in the 2021-2022 season. That year Ashland had two games, back to back against Lyon County and Louisville Male, both of which they trailed by the exact same score - 36-18 in the first half. Ashland came back and beat a Lyon County team that had much of the core of their state championship team two years later. Then they would play Male, this time with an injured Cole Villers. Trailed 36-18, came back and took a 9 point lead in the second half. Male had Kaleb Glenn who is performing quite nicely for Florida Atlantic and made the plays they needed to come back and win. Then this year. Ashland led by 8 in the second half, Woodford did what they needed to win. Both teams looked good. It's good to see Braxton Jennings have a nice game, he was missing in the early part of the season and hopefully Ashland will be able to have Cam Davis back soon at the point. Both Jennings and Carter can run it fine, but they are even more effective on the wings and like I mentioned in a prior thread, not having to do double duty. This is not the first time these two schools, despite the decent distance between them (around 2 hours) have played a great OT game. Back in the Buddy Biggs era at Ashland in 2011 the two schools met. Woodford actually led by five with around a minute to go and Ashland would go on to win in overtime. Like this one, it was a dandy. All the best to Woodford County. They're good as it is and I'm sure if Boone has that kind of a game and they continue to rebound like they did it'll pay off. Always enjoyed the battles against them in football, as there a couple classics in that sport as well. I still remember their final four run in the state basketball tournament two years ago. A good run and their crowd size was humongous.

That says a lot. The 2022 year was when Biggs' system started to kick in as the year before Fleming struggled. That team would get 20 wins, but lost to Rowan County in the first round of a tough district as the lowest ranked team in the RPI was Menifee County who was 17-14 and per that system ranked eighth in the region. The 61st was stacked that season. Mason County went 21-12, a good record especially considering the quality of their schedule. They would emerge as the district champion and I'll admit that big of a loss surprised me considering Fleming County defeated them earlier in the season.