ukboys

Is this the first game Combs has not played in since he initially came back. I hate to see a kid unhappy and eventually quit his team. It is always good to build relationships on teams, unfortunate that sometimes relationships falter on teams. If he is definitely done for the season, it will hurt Breathitt a great deal on the depth chart.

Walls and Pettigrew are both great talents. I would give the edge to Walls if he can lead them to a State Championship.

Good win for Hazard. Letcher could be dangerous on any given night. I wouldn't want to have to play them to advance in the tourney.

Buckhorn is a quality team. They could PCC all they want and more in the District.

I can barely pick up 97.3 down here in Lexington, but did pick it up with a little static. It sounded like there were a lot of fouls called on both teams, with neither team getting into a great flow. Stepp took it to the bobcats all night long. Fugate and Smith got into early foul trouble and had to leave early in the first half. I believe the bobcats were up 4 or 5 points when Fugate got his 3rd foul in the 2nd quarter and then a momentum shift with the bobcats going into halftime down 3. Also Hollan had to sit out much of the 3rd after getting some quick fouls. It appears that if Breathitt cannot keep Smith and Fugate on the floor they get into trouble scoring. This was a big win for JBS and just shows how wide open the 14th is.

I agree with you. He played solidly in that tourney, but as of late he is not seeing as much playing time for some reason.

I agree with you in alot of aspects, but not all. Smith definitely needs to get the ball down low more often. The Noble kid had a solid game against Lee, but night in and night out the starting lineup you mentioned, would in my opinion, give Breathitt the best chance to go far into the tourney. I mentioned this same starting lineup in another thread. A large majority of fans don't know the ins and outs of the game, but when an overwhelming majority of fans that know the game observe the same issues about who plays and who doesn't, then there may be an issue of concern. Coaches don't have to play who the fans want, but if they don't have the best lineup on the floor come season's end it will show up come regional tournament time. Hollan, Fugate, Combs, Hayes, and Smith and with a good solid rotation of Noble, Allen, and Ritchie the bobcats would be dangerous this year and effortlessly flow into next year as a favorite to win the region.

This isn't the first time I have got to watch the bobcats, I just haven't been able to catch all of the games. I also keep in touch with several people in Jackson knowledgable about basketball. I got a chance to watch the these Freshman as 8th graders down here in Lexington. I went to the state AAU tournament to catch some of the SMS games and also got a chance to watch Fugate, since they said he was probably coming to Breathitt. It was at this tournament where I realized the Fugate kid was a player. SMS also had a talented squad and competed well as a team. I have been around the game for years and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize talent.

I also was trying to figure out why he didn't get to play more down the stretch. He is a good defensive player and a strong rebounder. If the lineup I mentioned earlier was consistently in the game, I believe that Breathitt could not only play with teams, but could pull away from most teams. Knott is an ok team, but Breathitt with the talent they have, should be able to soundly beat a team of this caliber. If they want to have a chance to play down here in Lexington some lineup tweaking could be in order.

Hope to see the bobcats put the right pieces together in order to make a run come tournament time.

sounds like it would have been a good game to watch.

Fugate could develop his shot more. But, with his driving ability and ball handling skills it seems that he can get some easy shots for Hollan and dump the ball off to Smith for some easy layups. When a point guard has this kind of ability to drive it can open up easy shots for teammates.

Congrats to Hazard!!! Representing the 14th well down in Richmond!!!!

Great to see that a talented KY team can play with such a talent rich team. This should send a message about the quality of talent in the big KY.

I finally got a chance to get out of the bluegrass for the weekend and watch the bobcats. Their play was unimpressive early on. I have been talking about the young Fugate kid for Breathitt all season. I got to the game and was surprised to see that he didn't get a starting nod. Knott jumped up to an early lead and then Fugate got in the game. Breathitt seemed to play better and got right back into the game, the kid is a strong ball handler and sees the court well. He seemed like he was strong enough to make court length bullet passes. Noble is talented, but seems not to have the strength to make long passes on the fast break. When Breathitt utilizes the big Smith kid inside, gets Hollan open for jumpers, and utilizes Fugate's driving ability they are tough to beat. From watching the talent levels of these kids it seems like the best starting lineup would be Hollan, Fugate, Hayes, Combs, and Smith and having Noble, Allen, and Ritchie come off the bench. It seems with that lineup out there the bobcats would be really tough. JMO

If Breathitt plays like they did at Letcher and don't put the right lineup on the floor, they could easily get beat.

Good win for Hazard. Like to see 14th well represented.

Hazard is playing good of late. I don't know much about Somerset, but I will go with Hazard by 5.

Daniel was a talented player when he was at Owsley. I haven't had the chance to watch him since he moved, but I sure he has improved. But, unless he has improved and grown a great deal D-I might be a stretch. But, some smaller school will give him a full ride.

No one said that he could not coach, but an experienced coach with many state tournament appearances is better capable of running any team. Banks has got the bobcats in better shape and they have progressed. Last year although the bobcats were young, Hall never seemed to progressively help the young bobcats get better. This year they are older and have some super freshmen talent. Banks deserves some credit, but it is the talent on this team that has carried them thus far. I have been hearing that several players would like to see him try a little different lineup. When your veteran players want lineup changes, you should step back with an open mind and listen.

KHSAA website says that it is at JBS. It could have it wrong though, I am not for sure.

JBS got blistered by Hazard tonight in the All "A". Now Breathitt and JBS have had a poor performance apiece. It will be interesting to see how these two teams respond before they meet up in Pippa Passes in a couple of weeks.

I thought that the bulldogs might come out on top. But, I am surprised from the lack luster performance of JBS. I listened to the game on WSGS down here in Lexington and Hazard just walked all over JBS tonight.

From watching Bell County on wymtnews.com in the WYMT Classic, they are probably as athletic a team that there is in the mountains. Nice win for the bobcats, I like to see mountain schools do well.

Paintsville by 8.