The Professor

Lee County’s 6’5 center has missed the last few games due to an ankle sprain and they have a guard who started last year who isn’t due back until January because of a knee injury. A healthy Lee County is a pretty solid team. Not saying they would have defeated OBI with those guys but it certainly improves their chances.

UK hasn’t played well but if they could make free throws, not all of them but better than so far today, they would actually be leading. Oscar has missed 4 or 5 himself.

UCLA’s big fellow clearly walked when he scored his last basket that Wheeler was called for a flop. Replay showed it plain as day. TV guy going on about how good his foot work is. Lol, well I suppose so if that’s not called.

Holding Conway to 3 points is not easy to do. He will usually have that many, or more, 3’s in a game.

Wolfe County had a sizable lead at one time in the game and Breathitt County charged back to win this big district game in Campton. These two schools have developed a great rivalry since Wolfe moved into the 55th district in 2006.

Lee County broke open a close game in the 4th quarter with a scoring blitz of 3 pointers and won a district game in Booneville. The Bobcats were led in scoring by Zach Watterson with 28 points and Trent Combs with 27. The Owls were led in scoring by Seth Schott with 21 and Andrew Terry with 16.

Owsley County goes to 2-0 in district play with an 82-31 victory over traditional rival Lee County in Booneville.

Hazard has a center named Smith that I don’t remember from last year. He must have improved greatly over the summer because he was a load for Perry to handle tonight. He must have had at least 20 points and close to 10 rebounds. I think he was like 9/10 from the free throw line.

Knott Central has one of the youngest teams they’ve had in a long time but Letcher Central looked very good in this game. I believe they are in the discussion for regional title contender along with Perry Central, Hazard and Breathitt County. The championship will almost certainly be one of those four.

Ashland opened in man defense and Boyd was finding ways to score early on but then the Tomcats switched to zone and it totally baffled the Lions. Ashland slowly increased the lead to where it was 22 in the 4th quarter and Coach Bonner put his subs in the game. The subs were running’ and gunnin’ as if they were behind 10 points, lol, and Boyd was able to cut into the lead.

When will Lee County get their starting guard Jack Fox back from injury? He is a 2 year starter and hasn’t played so far this season. His return will be a big plus for the Bobcats.

I’m a little surprised by this score, particularly with the game in Beattyville. Lee County has played very good basketball so far this year and Watterson has been been scoring some big numbers. I wonder if Lee County had all their players. Maybe Powell County is better than was expected by many.

I think your last sentence is the answer.

Usually if Sheppard is held to 14 points he makes up for it in bunches with assists. He is great at finding the open man and if a crafty passer.

Owsley County won an important district game at Estill County, which are important for post season tournament seeding purposes, with a final score of 72-56. The Lady Owls were led in scoring by junior guard Carly Smith with 23, with 13/14 coming from the free throw line. Freshman guard Addison Terry totaled 22 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard Layah Lynch was also in double figures with 13 points. Sophomore guard Jayci Long led Estill County with 20 points.

The Lady Owls get the 56th district win at Estill in the first game of the round robin format for post season seeding.

It’s not unexpected that the Engineers could win this game but the margin of victory does surprise me.

Owsley County seemed to have this game under control in Barbourville with double digit leads, as much as 16 a few times, before Knox Central mounted a comeback in the second half. The Lady Owls didn’t help their cause by making entirely too many unforced turnovers, particularly late in the 3rd quarter and early in the 4th. Hanging on to a 65-64 lead with a little over 2 minutes remaining Owsley missed the front end of a bonus and Knox quickly moved downcourt and scored to take the lead and convert a free throw to lead 67-65. Owsley made a bonus pair of free throws to tie at 67. Owsley then got the ball back and was fouled and went to the line to have a chance at going up 2 within the last minute of the game. But Owsley’s player didn’t get the opportunity to shoot her bonus free throw. The ref blew his whistle and called her for a violation for placing the toe of her shoe slightly across the free throw line before the attempt. She didn’t have it across the line as she was ready to shoot, only moved it across and then back behind the line before she prepared to shoot. I have never seen that called before. I’ve seen it called if the foot is on the line or across it while the shot is being taken, but not if it’s done before the shot attempt. I suppose it’s a rule but it’s rare to see it whistled. Regardless it gave the ball back to Knox and they scored to go up 69-67. And finally won 71-69. It was a very tough road loss but will only help the young Lady Owls in the future tournament games in February. Owsley County had four players in double figures led by junior guard Carly Smith’s 20. Knox Central’s sophomore Halle Collins scored 36, 21 in the second half, and was named Player of the Game by local broadcast guys.

Tenacious mountain style defense. 😁

I don’t know much about Jefferson County schools with me being from eastern Kentucky, but do you think Jefferson’s Open Enrollment policy siphons off some of Valley’s middle school talent to other schools in the county? I spoke with a Louisville guy at the state tournament one year and he said that was a big problem in the county with some school sustaining the level of play to be competitive.

Good job ASB.

I don’t see anyone standing in the way of Sacred Heart winning the championship again this year, not with the talent they have, particularly Johnson.

Owsley County placed four girls in double figures to outlast the Lady Bulldogs in Hazard. Carly Smith led the Lady Owls with 21 points, Addison Terry had 19, Macey Brown 16 and Layah Lynch 13. Shelby Murray had 5 points and Kenzie Grubb had 3. Hazard was led by Abby Maggard’s 23 points and Ally Hall with 21. The pair combined for seven of Hazard’s eight 3 pointers in the game.

Breathitt County had a big win over Lexington Catholic at Martin County in a scrimmage last week. Came from behind and won by 1, 63-62. 6’7 senior Christian Collins scored 33, No small feat going up against the big center of Knights, I believe listed 6’11-7’0 by most publications. New coach BB King is requiring Collins to play inside where he is more effective much more than he did last year. I think the Bobcats have the number 1 spot until someone proves they aren’t, and that will be difficult to do imo.

I believe Breathitt County is an easy choice for number 1 with what they have returning. Austin Sperry will lead the guard attack. The 6’2 sophomore is already getting looks from D1 schools. Senior Luke Bellamy, a very good long range shooter will be an impact player. 6’7 senior Christian Collins and 6’5 senior Bryce Hoskins will provide size and interior strength. Collins is also a threat from the 3 arc. Andrew Combs, senior forward, will round out the starting 5. Combs is the only non-starter from last year’s team but saw quite an amount of court time and does have experience. He is also a good outside scorer. Breathitt County was runner-up to Pikeville in last year’s All A Classic state tournament at EKU. They defeated an excellent Lyon County team on their way to the finals in that tournament. If Coach King can get the Bobcats to play solid defense to go with their already good offensive strength this team will be difficult to beat. Perry Central is hosting the tournament this year and that’s an advantage to play in a familiar practice and game environment, but I believe when the 14th region championship trophy is hosted next March the Bobcats will claim their first title in 27 years. I have Perry Central rated 2nd , Letcher Central 3rd, Hazard 4th and a tossup at 5th between Estill County and Wolfe County. It feels strange not having traditional region power Knott Central in the top 5 but with graduations and transfers their roster will be very young and inexperienced this season.