fireman

How big is the Slone kid? Does he have the athleticism to play at D1 school?

If I were an AD and the Coach did not express an interest in going to the state tounament I would probably be looking for another guy to run the program. If my Coach had no interest in seeing some of the most successful coaches, players and programs in the state and what they are doing to be successful then I probably would feel he should be doing something other than running our high school program. I know many schools face budget problems but I would certainly encourage the school or boosters to help fund at least part of the cost.

Hazard did a great job on the boards today and made plays when they had to. Hope to be seeing them playing on Saturday. As far as South Laurel goes you know the old saying in high school basketball "if your last game of the season has to be a loss then let that loss happen in Rupp at the state tournament" Congrads to both of these teams

Don't you think that any kid with Hopson size and athleticism would be a great high school scorer even if he couldn't shot one into a washtub. I have only had the chance to see him a couple of times and he shot the ball fairly well; appeared to be a man among boys and did not appear to play hard every play because he really didn't have to. I hope Billy G gets the opportunity to see if he can motivate him to play 100% on both ends on every play. Then again maybe playing with D1 athletes and competing for playing time will do the trick. The thing that seperates him from about every high school kid I have seen in Ky. this year is that he has the ability to choose how good he wants to be. 99.9% of kids who play don't have that choice.

Does UK have a commitment from a big kid yet?

I agree that Lex Catholic has that great defensive intensity and ability to guard inside and out like the 2005 South Laurel team. South was a group of high school kids that were bigger than some D1 schools and most NAIA college teams with great skills. Stated 4 kids between 6'4" and 6'8" and all well over 200 lbs. Then came of the bench with 6'8" Smith kid inside and Gross kid at guard who had great quickness with freaky defensive skills and intensity. They would pressure the heck out of ya outside and they were so big and physical inside ya couldn't score around the basket.

Good point, it is unfortunate that many kids would probably like to get in a program where they just have the opportunity to play. A lot of kids that play 7 or 8 on one team may fit in as a starter or get more playing time not only because of the number of skilled players in a program but different styles of play. Just don't know how KHSAA could apply the rules.

Even thogh McCreary got upset in the District Coach Jones did an excellant job with his team this year. I saw MC play a couple times this year and back in the summer. I realize Watts is an extremely athletic kid with skills but he is only a 10th grader. The rest of his team are a nice group of role players and no disrepect intended but by no means a group that I would expect to dominate in that region. I agree it probably could have helped his chances in the post season if he had beefed up his schedule a little and taken a few more regular season loses. The fact is though Jones did win 24 games and I think kept his kids playing well for their ability thoughout most of the year. I know he got upset but if he squeezes by that first bad tounament game he very well was in as good a position to win the Region as anyone. I would not argue some other Coaches in the 12th did not deserve COY but I just don't really think any Coach deserved it any more than Jones.

Does Lynn Camp return all of their starters? It seems to me I can't remember them ever having the number of kids with size and athleticism they had this year.

Didn't realize Pineville lost 4 starters. At a small school like Pineville even with the return of a player the quality of James Strange Coach Strange will have his work cut out for himself to make them competitive next year. I did not see their JV or freshman teams. Do they have any young kids that may mature enough over the summer to step in and be effective varsity players next year?

Does North have a big kid who might step in to play the post next year either off this years bench or off this years young kids?

As Corbin returns all their starter and most of their bench from a team that has finished runnerup the last two region 13 tournaments they will obviously start out as the frontrunner next year. Clay Co. lost their PG(Smith) and SG/F(Hobbs) but return a host of kids that played a lot and Coach Spurlock either started or played 3 or 4 Fresman substantial minutes all season. The freshman team won the 13th region 9th grade tournament and probably the best 9th grade team at Clay for several years. After winning the 2007 13th Regional tournament Coach Wrights' South team won the 2008 13th Region with 4 new starters along with big kid(St John). South will return three starters including St John; a deep bench and a very talented group of freshman that won well over 20 games including the Bell County JV. tournament. Even though Knox Central lost some seniors Coach Elam still has the core of the team returning which includes Miller which could arguably be the best inside/out player in the region. Coach Strange at Pineville will loose his big kid (Day) but returns his son and the rest of the squad that won the 13th All A. I would also expect the consolidation the Harlan Co schools to produce a pretty competitive squad. Should be fun to see how 2008/2009 season unfolds.

I agree Corbin should be the early favorite in the 13th since they are returning all their starters and most of bench. Don't think I would go so far as to place them as heavy favorite in class by themselves and put all of the rest of the region in a fight for 2nd. In fact I believe that was the same thoughts most people expressed at the beginning of this year since Corbins' 2007 Regional Runnerup team returned almost their entire sguad.

This is good matchup. Except for St. John(6'8") Hazard has a little more size. Both teams are athletic and like to take the ball inside as much as possible. Hazard probably likes to run a little more and South is a little more patient. Both teams have good depth off the bench but South probably uses theirs more consistently and gets a little more contribution in numbers. Hazard on the other hand again can bring a little more size off the bench and not drop off inside. Both Coach Wright and Coach Holland and their staffs s are experienced; been to state tounament multiple times and do an excellent job with their teams. Should be a great game!!!!!!

Kind of interesting how these guys pick'em. Most people picked Corbin over South in the Regional Final even though South had a lopsided victory in the last regular season meeting at Corbin and won soundly in the District Final. I just read a note from a Hazard fan how thankful he was South beat Corbin in the Regional final because Corbin would give Hazard a better game. Just seems a little unusual that someone would rather play South than a team that South has beaten the last 3 meeting.

I think Clay underestimated South as a team. Coach Burchell said on WYMT after the Middlesboro game if you stop Wombles you stop South. Wombles got in some foul trouble & Clay did a pretty good job on her but South controlled the game from the start. Little Dean girl had great shooting game and caused multiple turnovers with her quickness. Sizemore, point guard, played entire game,handled ball. controlled tempo on offense and on defense cut down on Clays' guards penetation into the lane. Justice scored some timely points from 3 and the freethrow line. Even though Jackson and Phillips scored some Justice and Davis knocked and banged with them all day. South also got some great minutes off the bench from their two freshman Burchett and Johnson. Good Luck Cards

:banana::ylsuper: This game will be played on KC home floor. Other than a bad lose at North Laurel KC has played well as of late including a good win over South Laurel at South. Even though Coach Elam has KC peaking I would still give the edge to the Redhounds in a close one.

Does any active Basketball Coach in Kentucky have more trips to the State Tournament than Roscoe Denny?

Clark is a good shooter with good offensive skills and I for one would be thrilled to see an Eastern Ky Kid do well at a high D-1 school. Clark playing for his uncle like his uncle Ervin playing for his brother has been put in sitution to put up big numbers on offense. His uncle Ervin struggled while playing against the athletic kids in the OVC when he was at mid-major Eastern Ky. University before transferring to Alice Lloyd. I do think Clark like his Uncle Ervin is a D-1 shooter and he appears a little quicker. I just don't know if he has the athleticism or the rest of the game to succeed at a high D-1 like a UK/UT/UF or the like. I do hope he gets the D-1 offer and that he does do well at that level.

Are the two freshman starters at Tates Creek big kids?

Do any of the freshman at Mason Co. start or get a lot of minutes on the varsity?

I agree that South will not beat Jackson by 20 as this is a Senior loaded Jackson Co team and the best group I have seen at J.C. in a while. Even though Souths' post kid is taller and a wide body in his own right the Brumback boy at JC probably has an advantage because other than having good skills he is so athletic and physically strong. JC has a quality guard and a swing forward with the experience to match up well with South. Even though JC has good depth and they play a lot of kids I think beyond these first three kids for JC South probably has a little advantage.

I did not see the 49th championship game but sure sounds like Coach Bowling and his North team really rose to the challenge considering they had been beaten so soundly by Clay earlier in the season.