Rolls-Royce

Since when is attempting to dunk on somebody foolish? If anybody was foolish it was the CovCath player who almost ended up getting "posterized" like the little guy from poor St. Patrick's did last year when he ended up on the front page of the Ledger Sports page getting dunked on by D. Miller. Sour grapes?

Livingthedream, Do you follow big-time high school basketball? If you did you would know that the top teams in the country fly all over the place all the time to play in these tournaments, heck they are on ESPN weekly any more. There is nothing illegal, non-compliant, unethical, etc. etc. about Mason Co. or any other team going to Hawaii to play in a basketball tournament. I don't know how close to the Mason Co. situation you are but I and anyone else close to the situation can reassure you that the Mason Co. administration, AD Fred Hester, Head Coach Chris O'Hearn etc. are some of the most competent and honest people in the business. I promise you fairness and compliance is checked and double checked on any athletics business from travel, to practice time to uniforms. Instead of trying to poke holes in the Royals trip, as a fan of KY HS Basketball you should be proud that a program like Mason Co. and players like D. Miller, Chris Lofton, etc. etc. are representing your state on big stages in such a classy way. I wish them nothing but the best and hope that other teams from the 10th get such opportunities in the future.

What time are the games tonight? I thought that I read Mason Co. / Bryan Station play the 7:30 game and there was another game at 6:00. Is this correct?

Mason Co. has a very solid freshman team, the future looks bright. As a side note - Clay Boone, former Mason County player in mid-90's and son of long-time assistant coach Henry Boone is now coaching the Freshman, and by all accounts doing a great job.

Gold Sunrise, I agree that the Regional Tournament is just as important and special to every fan of their particular region. I am from NKY and from my experience, (having been to the 9th, 6th, 7th, 4th, 11th and 16th regional tournaments) the atmosphere at the 10th Region in the Fieldhouse is a notch above the rest. I am not trying to be condescending towards other regions but what you guys in the 10th have going is great and I personally hope that they don't mess with it by moving it out of the Fieldhouse.

The tenth regional tournament is widely regarded as the best in the state... From personal experience, I would have to agree. Also, it was not uncommon to have 6500+ in the Fieldhouse during the semifinals.

Professor, No offense but there is a BIG difference in the 10th region and the 14th.

Do the people in Montgomery Co. expect to hold the 10th region tournament? Surely, before they built this gym they checked with the powers-that-be to make sure the gym was large enough to host this event... can anyone confirm this? After looking at the pictures I think this debate is a moot point b/c the gym does not appear to be large enough, IMO.

Are there two levels of seats in both end zones?

4200 in official seating capacity probably adds up to much less than 4000 people actually having seats... is this enough for the most popular regional tournament in the state? Also, I don't think "standing room" should factor into the equation. As for the facility, it is very nice. It also reminds me very much of Scott Co.

Two questions: 1. What is the "official" seating capacity of this new gym in Mt. Sterling? 2. Why in the world did Montgomery County use taxpayer dollars to fund building a gym that will be only 1/4 to 1/2 full for 95% of their events? It's totally unnecessary. It is not like they have the demand for having more seats, and to top it off they have a nice/large gym already. I do understand them wanting to build a new gym. But if the gym holds 4,500 people, as reported, I think it is a crime that they were permitted to build it just so they could host the regional tourney every other year. With the amount of funds needed to build such a large facility these days I am quite certain the money could have been put to better use in that school system... teacher raises? new academic programs? more computers? As for where the 10th region should be hosted... Obviously, Mason Co. is the ideal spot where probably all but 2 or 3 schools in the region would prefer to have the tournament. However, if Montg. Co. is capable of holding the event I am pretty certain that the KHSAA will give them a shot.

Great Hire. Bracken Co. could not have gotten a better coach.

I agree, it makes me wonder too. It is kind of ironic that the Mr. Basketball in this class barely is good enough to play at some no name non-D1 school and a guy that nobody has ever heard of from Bourbon Co. signs with Detroit. Detroit is a good school, with great tradition in a good mid-major conference (much better situation here than say Morehead or Eastern). Furthermore, they have or did have Brandon Cotton on their team last year who was one of the top five players in the nation coming out of HS (who went to Mich St. and transferred halfway through freshman season). Having seen this kid play several times I am really shocked he got this offer, but good for him. I think this should be more proof to some of you guys that recruiting is far from an exact science and many guys either fall victim to or benfiet from timing, situation and other random factors.

Kids demeanors on the floor rarely change from year to year. Miller is a quiet, repectful kid, just like Lofton... I really don't see him ever being a guy who shows a ton of emotion of the floor, it simply is not part of his personality and he shouldn't try to be someone he is not. IMO, he could afford to be a little more assertive offensively, but I am pretty sure he will next year. O'Hearn is a smart coach too, I am sure he will set up on offensive system that will highlight Miller more this year and do all he can to encourage him to do more on the offensive end.

Stripes, Lofton was an all-american last year if you missed that. He played on a team that had far better success than Kentucky last season and he is quickly becoming a legend in not only Tennessee basketball but in Kentucky as well. He would have easily been the best player on UK's team (and 95% of the teams in the country) last year.... so your inference that UK didn't really miss anything on Lofton is ridiculous. As for Miller, he is a Stud. Just because some geek doesn't have him in their top 50 list does not mean he can't play. I can tell you unequivocally he is twice the player right now that Adam Williams is, and somehow AW was good enough to get a scholarship to UK.

Who will replace Massey? I look for the girls coach to slide over and take over the boys.

Selecting a team "representative of the state" is ridiculous. You reward the best players, period. Why should a kid from Lexington or Louisville get punished or discriminated against so token players are added to the list.

Lofton is probably not the best ever, but he certainly is worthy of being discussed. Three state tournament appearances, a runner-up and a state title to cap off a tremendous HS career. Don't forget, by the time he leave UT he will more than likely be a 3 time All-American. I

This year's state tournament was bad for a lot of reasons. 1. Talent Level Was WAAAAY down 2. Style of Play (Very low scoring teams...i.e Appollo and their stall ball) 3. Scott Co. (the most talented team in state) was not there 4. Appollo was painful to watch and they somehow kept winning 5. No great storylines 6. Not as many close games 7. No "must see" players (i.e. Farmer, Vanhoose, Rick Jones, Lofton, etc. All this, plus prices of tickets, parking, etc. made it a waste for many people who are not diehard KY basketball fans and simply want to be entertained. But, I am confident that the tournament will be back to its old tricks very soon. Don't give up on the State Tournament yet.

I agree. If every team took the same 'gameplan' into Rupp Arena that Apollo did then the "Greatest Show in Hoops" would quickly become the "World's Largest Napping Session". I applaud their coach for somehow being able to motivate his kids to play this way. If I were a player, I would be ticked off if my coach was so unconfident in my abilities that is game plan was to get an early lead and then take the air out of the ball. I can only imagine what he told his kids at halftime. Probably something to the effect of "OK guys, we have them just where we want them. 8 point lead. Now lets go out there and rebound, walk the ball up the floor and hold it for two minutes. YEAH. Let's go"..... As a player this is exactly how I want to play the game. I don't care how much any of you want to argue about them winning the game is all that matters. I agree with you. BUT, let's hope in the future more coaches don't take this strategy with them to Rupp Arena or it would certainly ruin the tournament and cause attendance to die.

Apollo is not a fun team to watch. Anyone who says otherwise must be a fan of the team and not a fan of basketball. I agree, they did what they had to do to win and that is all that matters. Mason Co. was too young and without a key player, too much to overcome tonight.

This game showed me that a shot clock is needed in Kentucky HS basketball. I know it will never happen. The logistics and funds to pull this off would probably be too much. But the way Apollo played tonight truly was Bush League. Hats off to the Apollo coach and players for getting the win. They deserved it and Mason Co. certainly did not play well. But winning at the cost of holding the ball for at least 1 min everytime down the floor and holding it for 2-3 minute stretches at several points in the game is not the way to play this game.

Forty Mom, Nothing is going to come back and "haunt" me. I have followed the tenth region for many years and I know what the PC crowds were likely before the past three years. PC does have the second best fan following of any school in the region. I would not argue that. Even when they return back to being very average again they will still have great crowds. With that said, they will not pack the place like they have the past two years. There is no way. That is not a negative reflection on PC, that is just human nature. People are more likely to follow a winner than a sorry team. NO SCHOOL is immune to this tendency.

Lets not mention Knowles and Lofton in the same discussion. But Knowles is a great player and I would think he has a great chance to put up some big numbers and get a lot of recognition next year. All-State, Kentucky All-Stars, etc.

Champ, He has gotten several all-american awards over the last few days. I think maybe he was second team on the AP and Sporting News. The most important one though, is the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coach's) All-American team. It is voted on by the coaches and usually carries the most weight. That was the one I was talking about.