ARC

I agree- the real problem is that he doesn't go 'one on one' and shoot more. They could probably have won if he had.

Coach Wright has his Bobcats playing tough defense, only allowing 39 pts vs Owsley and only 41 the following night against a tough Buckhorn team. That is the lowest score for either of these teams this year. The Leisegang twins have really stepped up their defensive games of late. BTW, Lee County scored 60 and 64 in these games. I don't think that the back-to-back games are a fluke. They didn't play this solid kind of defense a single game before the Owsley 'All A' game, they were winning by just playing mediocre defense and outscoring their opponents. Coach Wright has fashioned a formidable team, and I think that they now see their potential if they play solid D.

I'm not really sure that Rich was Lee's big man last year. One thing is sure- Rich stays around the post almost the entire game. It is the most physical spot on the floor from start to finish and not many want to do it. I commend him for staying in there.

As far as predicting this game, the tempo may tell the tale. A slower pace may favor Lee and run & gun may favor Buckhorn. Lee's best game is probably fast paced, but they are not as consistent. I'm hoping that Buckhorn is not as versatile as Lee- I haven't saw them play much this year so I really don't know. But I am picking Lee to win this one by 9.

I think that it was Jackson COUNTY not Jackson City. So I guess that Jackson County must have a huge freshmen class.

CONGRATULATIONS TO COACH WRIGHT IN HAVING HIS TEAM READY TO PLAY AT BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR ! I'm just curious...why? A quote from a while back from a Clay County fan:

Both he allaclassic.org website AND the 14th Region program lists the SHERMAN NEACE ATHLETIC CENTER as the site of the 14th region semifinals and finals. This is at the old M.C. Napier gym in Hazard. There are some around who contine to insist that the games will be played at the Whitaker Athletic Center at Delcie Combs. There is a recent post on this forum that the games will be played at Knott Central. DOES ANYONE KNOW FOR SURE WHERE THE GAMES WILL BE PLAYED? It would be pretty simple for the allaclassic website to update the location shown IF it has been changed.

The 14th is a wild region! Any 14th team besides Riverside has a decent chance of beating any other team in the 14th. More upsets in this region this season than any that I can remember.

The Owls sure surprised a lot of people (including me) with this big upset. It sounded on the radio like the Reed kid really stepped up. Great win Owls!

Lee JV won in OT. Lee varsity lost in OT.

I think that the home court is a 5 to 10 point advantage. Wouldn't most teams prefer to play at home? At some schools the clock-keeper can be worth 3 or 4 points alone.

Lee Co JV is almost all freshmen. They are up and down but have beat some decent teams this year including Knott JV (in ot). Powell has a strong JV but they are all juniors. In fact, I think that on the entire high school team there are only 2 sophomores and the rest are juniors- the juniors have to play jv because there are really no younger players. One of the sophomores starts varsity. I would think that Hazard would have a tough JV and also Perry Central.

Lee Co has a group of juniors who are all way above average. Fetters, Brandenburg, J. and D. Leisegang (twins) and L. Johnson. I think that a couple of years ago Trey Congleton was at Lee Co.

Jackson did have problems getting shots to fall, especially Howard. His pull-up jumpers were just off target. Poorest shooting performance that I've saw from him. I think that he is a great kid all around but maybe the 9 day lay off for JCS contributed to their play. I also think that Lee did a really good job contesting those easy shots. Howard would elevate and there was almost always a hand right there- maybe he isn't used to having people jump with him. In fact, Fetters from Lee jumps as well as anyone around and just may be the most under-rated player in this region. Great defender, quick, good shooter and shot blocker and rebounds well too.

Should be a good game but I think that JBS may be too much for the Owls and predict a lopsided win for JBS--- 25+. The Owls have improved but are still weak inside.

I agree with Flash. Of the original SMS 8th grade group that won the KBA state tournament, I think that all remain except for 1. (I haven't saw C. Jackson with his 8th grade teammates, and come to think of it I don't think that I've saw O. Marshall either) These were big strong fast kids compared to most 8th grade teams, but they haven't grown much since. Now they are average size, average strength, average speed kids compared to most high school teams- Plus they came into this season lacking varsity experience. After they gain some experience I think that they will be very competitive.

I agree with Flash, and will also say that the same thing is happening with Breathitt's present 8th grade team. An entire group held back and they are winning most of their games, if not the middle school state tournament. Lots of teams have 1 or 2 hold-backs, SMS has somewhere between 5 and 10. That can be good, but when it so seriously depletes the 7th and 9th grades then there will be some adjustment problems on down the road. Breathitt's current sophomore class was very similar; 5 - 10 holdbacks in the 8th grade, not much strength on either their 7th or 9th at that time. Now they don't get the experienced 'help' from the jr class and most of next years incoming freshmen won't get very much experience for 2 years at the varsity level. Having said all of that, when either of these two classes are seniors they will be very competitive if they hang in there until their time. If Breathitt's program had been really weak last year and these kids had started and played more varsity minutes then they would probably make a strong run for 2 or 3 years.

I agree with you. A lot of teams would have struggled with Powell's defense that night, including Knott Central. Lee only hit three '3s' and they did have too many turnovers, but otherwise an average game. It should be a good game. Is Dials really out for good?

Both teams rely heavily in outside shooting but Powell plays much better defense. I'd say Powell by 15.

Was Neeley shooting a low percentage or not getting as many shots as "pre-Smith"? How did Congleton do?

Powell hit 8 threes, Lee hit 3. Powell did a good job on defending the post when they made their run. Lee showed guts to pack it in and switched up their defense to get into overtime. In the OT all that Powell could do to stop Rich was foul. Game over. Caleb Fetters had a tremendous game at both ends of the floor, slicing through the Powell defenders for easy baskets several key times.

Did all of the Owls play? Are any of them injured? Did Neeley and Smith play together or did they 'take turns'? In all fairness, Estill has the potential to beat any team in the region on a given night.

This is really a surprise! I haven't saw Jenkins play but in their season-opener I thought that LCC looked very tough against Lee Co. In fact, I have been thinking that LCC may have been the toughest opponent that Lee has faced this year. Now I wonder if LCC's first game performance vs Lee may have been a fluke. Not taking anything away from Jenkins....this is a huge win for them....bigger than JBS winning over PCC. I bet it will be a great game between LCC and JBS on Feb 3!

ttt

Always harder to win on the road. I figure that Powell will shoot 8-12 more free throws than Lee because of it. Lee Co has won all 5 of their home games this year, and is 7 of 10 on the road. Powell is 2 for 7 on their home floor, and have won 2 of 6 of their away games. Powell is 0 for 3 vs 14th region teams this year. (Estill, Lee, Jackson City) I still figure Lee by 13 but I don't think that it will be an easy game.