The Professor

1 hour ago, Big Things Kentucky said:

Warren Central press conference 

 Unseld is an impressive coach. Really knows the game and how to prepare his team. I realize he is loaded with talent but even a fantastic team like the Dragons won’t win unless they have great coaching leadership, regardless of the amount of talent they have. 

Hazard’s loss  vs PRP in the semifinals in 1986 was some of the worst calls I’ve ever seen at the state tournament. The crowd stood and booed after the game for 20 minutes or more and unfortunately littered the floor with cups and other objects. A friend said he was listening to long time Hazard WSGS sports broadcaster Jay Lasslo’s broadcast and during a spate of calls and non calls against Hazard he said, “This is a bitter pill to swallow.” And he rarely ever made comments such as that. 

8 minutes ago, Royals and Saints Fan said:

Congrats to WC, they are a great team with an outstanding coach.  I am not a GRC fan  but the tournament set up was totally unfair to GRC.  They literally got to the locker room at 3:30 today and had to be on the court for the finals at 6:30.  Are you serious?  That is totally wrong!

I agree. I liked the Sunday format. The team who opens the tournament on Thursday, especially the late games, is at a disadvantage to the Wednesday teams. And the top bracket has an extra day of rest and in championship day Saturday the morning team has several more hours to rest. A Sunday championship takes care of those disadvantages. 

Congratulations DragonFire and the Warren Central Dragons! Clearly the best team. 

I believe Woodford County will win this one by around 8.

Sizemore can’t make a shot right at the rim. Some of these guys are going to have to help Reed out, he can’t beat GRC alone. 

Don’t  these two schools have the most appearances in the Sweet 16? 
Does anyone know how many each has? 

Great comeback by the Tomcats! That was one of the most physical games I’ve seen in a while. 

If Warren Central plays the way they did in the first half throughout the rest of the tournament just go ahead and crate the championship trophy and mail it to Bowling Green. Phenomenal play. 

ETown forced McCracken into quite a few turnovers. Their quickness bothered the Mustangs. 

Great game!! The officials ‘lettum play’ but it was consistent on both ends. 

On 3/13/2023 at 1:58 PM, theguru said:

Well, they were going to repeat regardless but that seals it. Everyone else is playing for a runner-up trophy. For the next 2 years for sure. I don’t know if any team in KHSAA girls basketball history has had a roster with four future D1 players. 

3 hours ago, brooksville said:

I still see absolutely no remorse or regret for the things he said in the phone call.  He uses scripture to say he was "persecuted."  He says he "has never played the victim," but says on his Facebook that he was "entrapped" and an "unwilling participant", then continues to explain how he was a victim.  The he talks about CLASS? All he had to say was "I messed up and I will do better."  But he couldn't even do that to get even a little ounce of respect.  It is sad because he is a great coach, but hides behind scripture to try and convince himself and others that he does things the right way.  He cheated.  He got caught.  Own it.  I cannot digest the fact he compared his situation of getting caught red handed and getting a just punishment for it to the Bible.  Some people really will sell their soul just to win.

Proverbs 28:13. 

His scripture quotes were more toward his wife’s battle with cancer this year. It’s been pretty tough on the family. She went through treatments and is doing fine the last I heard. 
 

Great choice by Montgomery County! Good luck Coach Mays going forward. 

One correction:

Ashland advanced to the semifinals of the tournament the year they lost to Highlands. They defeated Knox Central and Boyle County in the first two rounds. 

8 hours ago, Basketball Jones said:

Here is my take:

This is the second time in five years Ashland Blazer pays Third Region champion Owensboro in the first round of the tournament.  Ashland lost to Covington Catholic 76-65 in last year's first round. The Tomcats advanced to the quarterfinals the year prior, losing to eventual champion Highlands. They were 33-0 the season before that when the 2020 Sweet 16 was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. They beat Owensboro 59-50 in the first round of the 2019 tournament before getting bounced by Trinity in the quarterfinals.

 

The Tomcats feature a pair of double-digit scorers: junior Zander Carter (22.3 ppg, 6 rpg) and senior Rheyce Deboard (17.3). They represent 53.5 percent of the offense. Senior Tucker Conway is a dangerous deep shooting threat, connecting on 45.9 percent from 3-point range (72-for-157). They helped the Tomcats persevere through a head coaching change made just before the start of the season that resulted in assistant Ryan Bonner taking over the team as acting head coach on short notice. They were 7-6 after the first 13 games and 15-5 after that.

 

Owensboro was an uninspiring 10-6 on Jan. 13 because of injuries and player absences and an underwhelming 14-10 entering postseason play with a pair of losses to city rival Owensboro Catholic. The team was boosted by the addition of 6-foot-5 post player Ji Webb, who made his season debut Jan. 24. Since then, the Red Devils are 8-3 with victories over Owensboro Catholic in the district and regional finals for a 45th regional crown.

 

Webb (10.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg) ranks third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding since his addition. Kenyatta Carbon leads the team with 22.1 ppg and 7.4 rpg. He's the school's second all-time leading scorer and is within spitting distance of the leader. Owensboro shoots decently from the field (48 percent) but does not hit its free throws enough (59.1 percent)

Well done Mr Jones. 👍

This Sacred Heart team could beat some small division college teams. A majority of the team will be D1 or D2 players in the future. Sophomore Johnson could start on most D1 teams right now. Just an old man’s opinion but they sure impressed the heck out of me during the tournament. 

Ashland’s 6’10 kid rarely plays unless it’s a blowout. 
Sophomore Zander Carter is a heck of a 6’5 shooting guard. He is getting attention from D1 schools. 

What it means is the RPI is a useless ratings system if it has Manual rated higher than Sacred Heart. 

54 minutes ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

McCracken will have an uphill battle. Sacred Heart has not lost to a Kentucky opponent this season will be going for their 3rd straight title. The game tips at 7:00pm in just 4 short hours for McCracken.

That’s why I don’t like Saturday championships. One team is going to have an additional 3-4 hours rest.

I wonder if there’s a statistic of all the Saturday championship games with the number of times an upper bracket has been winner compared to the lower bracket. Not only does the upper bracket get a few hours more on Saturday, they have all of Thursday to to do the same. The teams that start on Thursday play straight through with no breaks. 

375 miles distance between these two schools! 

Bethlehem won the All A State title. They’re a very good team. McCracken County must be outstanding to beat them this badly. 

Knott Central’s Gayheart, their dynamic pg, had a cold day shooting from behind the arc. If she had shot like she did throughout the 14th regional tournament this would have been a closer game. Knott Central actually won the second half. 

What’s the latest news on the merger of Christian County and Hopkinsville? I haven’t heard it mentioned in a while. I heard the new school name might be Hopkinsville-Christian Academy and the  enrollment around 2,400. With those type numbers this new school would dominate the second region in most sports imo. Particularly basketball. 

Sacred Heart looks like a college team. I don’t see anyone coming within 20 points of them in this tournament. And the scary thing is they only have one senior.