jonathan.fraysure

My question to go along with this is, why does the shooter always (seemingly) get three free throws if the ball is well past the point of release and he's on his way down? To me, if he or she is fouled in the act of shooting, then by all means, give him three shots. But if it's well after the fact, then IMO it should be "on the floor" like any layup/jumper/runner attempt...

I second that. I thought the "alley" from Trevor was thrown too high, too far behind Darius, but his wingspan is ridiculous. He definitely brought down the "oop" with some extreme force. Other than that, I want to compliment Campbell. I don't know any way to put it except that they "played with" Mason. Not to say it translated to the scoreboard, but they kept up their gameplan -- full-court pressure on defense, high-speed offense -- until the very end. And I may get some flack for saying this, but for my money, there's not a better conditioned team I've seen this year than Campbell. There's never one player on Coach Code's team that is tugging on their shorts, even in the final minutes of the game. Like I said, that may not translate to the scoreboard against Mason, but they never stopped pushing.

Paris and CC is the opener, at 6:00. St. Pat and Paris (live on Soft96.com--cheap plug) is at approximately 7:30.

According to the Herald Leader, he dressed and warmed up, but didn't play. I don't want to assume it was because of the oustanding hearing coming up, but you never know.

My favorite gym go to and cover a game, and in some cases, just to watch a game. Bracken vs. Augusta, boys or girls, is a treat to watch in A-Town.

I wouldn't say "down to" 9 voters. It is, after all, the first poll of the year. Give it time, I would say. Nevertheless, I did appreciate the "APathy" pun!

Just thought of this...if Catholic got 7 first place votes, which makes up 70 of its 78 total, it only means a few possibilities with the other two voters. At most, one put them third while the other left them completely off; both of them put them 7th; or a combination between. That doesn't seem right to me, at all.

The first Kentucky Associated Press basketball poll is out. Here is the voting, with it looks like nine media members taking part: 1-Tie. Lexington Catholic (7 first place votes, 78 total votes) 1-Tie. Mason County (1 FPV, 78 total) 3. Scott County (65 total) 4. Bryan Station (1 FPV, 61 total) 5. Male (55) 6. Elliott County (32) 7. Jeffersontown (31) 8. Holmes (18) 9. Dunbar (13) 10. Shelby Valley (11) Also receiving votes: UHA (8) Ballard (8) Clark County (8) June Buchanan (7) Muhlenberg North (5) Shelby County (5) Henderson County (3) Eastern (3) Boone County (2) Cov Cath (2)

Last season while covering a game at St. Pat, with the Saints hosting Bracken, coaches Hinson and Fite got T'ed up within I want to say a few minutes of each other (regardless, it was in the same quarter, before the half). Coming out of the locker room, in only the way Coach Hinson can say, in response to the rule that a T'ed up coach has to sit the rest of the game... "Well, now that we've both got one, are we even? Can we stand up now?" As small a gym as the CloverDome is, he had everyone laughing, referee included.

http://www.kentucky.com/275/story/285664.html LexCath stays at one, Scott County two, Bryan Station and Mason County tied for 3rd.

Thanks Mustang. I wanted to post a link to this, but I've not yet been able to find it officially. I heard they were holding a spot open for Punk on press row for this year's Sweet 16. If it's not true, I hope there's a way to make it so. If it is, it's a great honor for a truly nice gentleman. Speaking of links, since no one has posted it: http://www.maysville-online.com/articles/2008/01/13/local_news/1712griffin.txt Mr. Hopwood wrote in there about him calling me at least once a week, which is true. And the conversation would always start by me saying, "Sports, this is Jonathan," and Punkin replying, "It is?!" Everytime, it put a smile on my face. And, ostensibly, he would be calling to make sure I got his picks column (if it was in-season), but once I would say yeah, it would quickly devolve into a 30-minute conversation about the Reds and/or UK. I could never tell which he loved more. I wish I had still been at the Ledger a little longer if for no other reason than to hear his thoughts on the Josh Hamilton trade. My bet is he would've been pretty fired up about it. Another story I love to tell is when I went to RedsFest two years ago. Chuck Hamilton at the Ledger had just written a column interviewing Tom Browning about his (then) new book. I went to get Tom's autograph, and told him I worked with Chuck, and he told me to thank him for the great column. And immediately he then asked, "Do you know Punk? How's he doing?" At the time, he was in the VA hospital in Lexington recovering from a hip injury, and I was told that the next time Punk called me, to let him know Tom Browning was asking about him. Again, thanks Mustang for bringing this back up. I hope everyone gets the chance to tell their favorite Punk stories.

That 1 point in the second quarter is a misprint in the Herald-Leader today. It was 11, the score at the half was 29-28 in favor of MC. This was a very good Centennial team, and Mason put it to them in the second half. To me, it is definitely a win to say they're back, but only in comparison to the night before against Scott County.

Legendary Maysvillian Arthur "Punk" Griffin passed away this morning. For those of you who don't know, he was scorekeeper for the Maysville Bulldogs, as well as for 39th District and 10th Region tourneys for years and years. He is a member of the region's hall of fame too. Punk just wrapped up his 51st season making college football picks -- eloquently entitled Punk's Picks -- for the Ledger Independent just before the bowl season began. You can ask anyone involved with the Reds, UK, or the most of the 10th region area for the last 50-plus years and they know who Punk is. It's a sad day for a lot of us here in Maysville. Please keep Punk's family in your prayers.

Thank you for all the research and well thought-out facts of this venue change. You know what they say about opinions (and people around here have a lot to say about differing opinions), but it's hard to argue with fact.

http://www.maysville-online.com/articles/2008/01/09/sports/250elliott.txt Elliott Co. 25 17 20 21 --83 Fleming Co. 18 15 13 12 --58 EC: Ferguson 10 5-5 27, Ethan Faulkner 9 5-7 23, Knipp 4 0-0 8, Evan Faulkner 5 1-2 13, Maynard 4 0-0 10, Center 1 0-0 2, Totals 33 11-14 83. FC: Gray 7 1-2 16, Jackson 2 0-0 4, Newsom 5 1-2 12, Fraser 3 1-2 8, Dugan 2 0-0 4, Jolly 3 3-4 9, Clark 2 0-0 5, Totals 24 6-10 58. Three-pointers: EC 6 (Ferguson 2, Evan Faulkner 2, Maynard 2), FC 4 (Gray, Newsom, Fraser, Clark). Records: Elliott County 12-1, Fleming County 9-6.

This is fantastic! Totally agree with the top 5. All I'd add to the next cut would be Shooty Staggs of Augusta.

Litkenhous (1/8)....................Cantrall (1/7) 1. LexCath 101.2......................1. Mason Co. 86.4 2. Mason Co. 98.8....................2. LexCath 86.0 3. Elliott Co. 97.2.....................3. Scott Co. 85.5 4. Bryan Station 97.0................4. Bryan Station 84.2 5. Scott Co. 96.0.....................4. J-Town 84.2 6. Male 93.9............................6. Elliott Co. 83.8 7. J-Town 92.9........................7. Male 83.4 8. Dunbar 90.1.........................8. Ballard 83.1 9. Ballard 89.1..........................9. Holmes 81.8 10. CovCath 88.7.....................10. CovCath 81.3 11. JBS 88.5............................11. DeSales 80.4 12. Madison Central 87.8...........11. Shelby Valley 80.4 13. Holmes 87.4.......................13. Dunbar 79.7 14. Shelby Valley 86.8...............14. Eastern 78.9 15. DeSales 86.1......................14. PRP 78.9 16. PRP 85.2............................16. Adair Co. 78.8 17. Paintsville 85.1....................17. JBS 78.7 18. Shelby Co. 84.6...................18. Madison Central 78.3 19. Eastern 84.4.......................19. Muhlenberg No. 77.8 20. Muhlenburg No. 84.0.............20. Lincoln Co. 77.5

I wanted to do a comparison on the Cantrall thread for both of these newspaper ratings, and happened upon the new ratings today. No story as of yet to accompany it. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080108/SPORTS05/801080506/1031 1.Lexington Catholic (12-2) 101.2 2.Mason County (13-2) 98.8 3.Elliott County (11-1) 97.2 4.Bryan Station (13-1) 97.0 5.Scott County (8-7) 96.0 6.Male (11-1) 93.9 7.Jeffersontown (13-2) 92.9 8.Paul Dunbar (12-2) 90.1 9.Ballard (7-2) 89.1 10.Covington Catholic (11-2) 88.7 11.June Buchanan (9-3) 88.5 12.Madison Central (8-5) 87.8 13.Holmes (11-1) 87.4 14.Shelby Valley (10-2) 86.8 15.DeSales (10-3) 86.1 16.PRP (13-2) 85.2 17.Paintsville (10-2) 85.1 18.Shelby County (10-1) 84.6 19.Eastern (12-1) 84.4 20.Muhlenberg North (12-2) 84.0

Yes, he started along with Case, Thomas, Reitz and Snider. Franklin had 10 points.

Best. Post. Ever.

I think you have to make St. Pat the favorite. They're 11-3 and have beat all of the teams (BB, Deming, Augusta) mentioned here. The closest game they had, Brossart, was an off-night for Hinson's boys shooting, but to me, they showed a lot to make that major comeback. Their game tonight against Montgomery County could show how far they've come as a team and it can only help them to play "up" against a higher-caliber opponent.

This statement was made only to get a rise out of people. There is NO ONE in the state that can contain Darius. You may have used a different verb if you really feel Henderson is a great defender. Slow would be an option. Contain is ridiculous.

I guess when I think of NKy, I think of closer to Cincy, but I can't disagree with two of the three above (never been to Henry Co.). The Fieldhouse is an amazing facility, but only when it's packed or the crowd is hot. If it's a small, quieter crowd, it can be too big, if that makes sense. That being said, region tournament there is unmatched. I second the nomination for Augusta. By far my favorite gym to watch or cover games. A really good setting crowdwise, and you're right, the brightness is unmatched. Makes for good picture-taking as well. If you've not been, I highly recommend when the boys are playing either Bracken County or St. Patrick for a great atmosphere.

Jordan Smart, Taylor Stewart, Vee Sanford and Nathan Novosel of LexCath; Darius Miller, Trevor Setty, Russ Middleton and Ehtan King of Mason County; Jonathan Ferguson, Ethan Faulkner and Evan Faulkner of Elliott County; Landon Slone of Paintsville; Clark Stepp of June Buchanan; Michael Grimes and Mitch Shover of Covington Catholic; Ryan Young of Lincoln County. Smart and Stewart were named co-MVP's.

I think this is very reminiscent of the local scene, in recent years, that is. Augusta, St. Pat and Deming can beat each other on any given night. I'd have to wait to see what part of the roller coaster ride Augusta is on before I said a favorite.