katonic

In the 16th, Raceland has got a beautiful gym. 15th, Paintsville is always tough place to play. Toughest place I ever played was Rowan Co., odd to say, they had a good team and a big gym. The place was packed.

As a fan of the 16th, East is the only team that will challenge Elliott. On a given night, they can beat them. The Barnhill kid is legit, and he has some help. I know it is under Baker's gut that East probably had the best team in their history last year since 86 and they lost to Elliott 4 times. I got a kick out of Baker's comment about Elliott being their biggest rival. East has always been the biggest school in the 62nd and their natural rival is West. Charles had a lot of good talent come through that school. He loved to beat up on West, Elliott, Lewis in the old days. His son seems to be a good coach but East has an advantage number wise and will continue to have.

Nice write up for EC by the Independent. These kids deserve it, you can't teach what desire brings and they obviously have it. I can remember back to the Rocky Adkins, Joe Salyers days at Sandy Hook. They were very good but as much as Rocky loves to talk about it, that team had a complex with some of the "bigger" names on the schedule. There have been some other very good teams at Elliott that couldn't get over the hump. Stanley Dixon played on a helluva team, Bob Rice, who is regarded as the best that ever played at Sandy Hook, and Orb Bowling were ranked #1 in the state at one time. Lately, the John Holbrook led team of the late 80s was very good. All of them didn't have the mental toughness that it takes. For a small school to accomplish what these kids have is almost unthinkable. Hats off to them.

I don't believe Mays requested that at all, I'm not sure where you heard that. Why would he duck the preseason #1 in a scrimmage? Scrimmages are for improving and showing weaknesses to work on. Mays has had a lot said of him over the years, but avoiding competition isn't one of them.

IMO Euton will be eligible, there is absolutely no way that the state can justify his transfer not being legit. His dad lost his job due to Woolpert closing, he is free to move to any school he wants. His dad made some statements that "we looked around and Scott Co. had the best facilities and program and we thought that was best". The state board tried to crack the whip and will and should lose. Jackson might have it a little tougher but probably should win his appeal too. He grew up in Lexington and his mother decided to take him back to that area. Hicks is an excellent coach and takes advantage of what his geographical location and local industry means to the school.

Clay Co. made it to two state finals with six players, winning one (Ritchie Farmer teams). Elliott will be fine with six. Mays doesn't seem to like to sub anyway. Someone mentioned the Hall kid from Fairview, he is outstanding. Also, Greenup Co. has been way down, within two years that is going to change. They have a tremendous amount of young talent.

Just wondering.. has anyone ever gone undefeated in the 16th region?

After watching Elliott Co. play several times over the last few years, I've seen some things I would disagree with in the coaching staff. However, the constant gripping about getting beat 30+ by other team's fans is not the fault of the Elliott players or the coaches. These kids play very hard, enjoy the game, and conduct theirselves as well or better than I did at that age. Sports resembles life in a lot of ways, you either get better or your pushed to the side. Elliott has been pushed to the side over the years, these kids have gotten better. From what I've saw, Elliott has basically eight players. I think they have three very good subs in Maynard, Morgan & Centers. If I was coach, I would substitute more often during the first three quarters than the current staff does. IMO those three deserve more time than they get. That however is a coaching decision. Do you pull kids though because they are beating another team, I wasn't taught that. You deserve what you work for and I think the starting five have all worked very hard. Now when it comes to the benefit of the team, such as a tournament, there is no doubt the head coach should sub more than he does. Elliott plays a very aggressive style and it takes a toll, even when your 16 or 17. I'm old enough to remember the great Clay Co. teams led by Ritchie Farmer, they basically played seven kids. They didn't press like Elliott, but IMO where more talented and beat most teams about the same as what everybody is seeing this year with Elliott. If you remember, it took a great team led by a great player to beat them in a rematch Farmer's senior year (Allan Houston) Lou. Ballard. The 16th region is going to have to get tougher, because it sure isn't EC's fault everybody is getting beat by 30. They have earned it.

I've saw East play several times and they are a solid point guard away from being a really good team. Elliott Co. destroyed them with pressure and I would say Henderson did the same. The kids they have running the point are combo guard - forwards IMO.

They lost 4 starters off that runnerup team last year. They have a 6-10 kid named Carter McMasters back who is being recruited by the usual suspects. I don't believe they are near the team they were last year.

Its a cliche but it works " thats the best 0-4 team I've seen". Christian Co. was a very capable opponent. I've seen EC play three times this year and this is the first game I've seen them winded. I know they had to play Bath Co. Fri. night and it showed. I thought Ferguson was outstanding as well as Ev. Faulkner. Et. Faulkner is relied on to bring the ball up against pressure and CC turned on the heat in the 2nd half. The Morgan kid came in and made some very good plays, needs to play more IMO. It was a good game and EC fans should be commended on the crowd they brought, large and vocal. There have been some posts about EC bench, IMO its not as deep as people think. CC really tried to wear them down and it almost worked. Its a tough call, the Morgan kid is very capable and there are others. I know there were a lot of people in the gym impressed (non EC fans) with the teams effort and talent level against a very good team. I stayed and watched some of the Columbus GA & Cin LaSalle game, the kid from LaSalle is something. He is the best high school player I've seen in a while. Wow. Two very good and big teams. That was a great bunch of games I saw, hats off to Kentucky Bank & Bourbon Co. HS. There were some big "names" in the crowd. Eddie Ford "Travis's Dad", Reggie Hanson among others. I was disappointed with Rose Hill in the 2nd half, Moses from Henry Clay absolutely dominated. Jackson was off and I thought they struggled, Euton played solid, but Rose Hill is too two dimensional. I thought Henry Clay was a really good team. In summary, very impressed as usual with EC effort but they wore down and lost their legs in the 2nd half. They do rely on the 3 alot and against good teams that can get you beat. CC got back in the game in the 2nd half when EC went cold. That could be a problem in tournament games if the bench doesn't come through. Or the coach doesn't decide to play them, either or. I thought Ferguson played a really really good game, let the game come to him, really stood out on the floor against some good players. He hit a big three that probably saved EC in the 4th Qtr.

I watched the first three games yesterday. It will be very tough to beat EC. Raceland came out hot & hotter and they were down by halftime. My hat is off to their team, very hard working, they did force a lot of shots. Sometimes in basketball a superior team gets beat because they're outplayed, I don't think that will happen with them. I couldn't stay around and watch the East game, but they're athletic enough to give EC a run on a good night. To beat EC - It will be tough. Unbelievable competitors for high school kids. Hope Et. Faulkner gets in foul trouble. In a small way I think they lose a little when he is out. Ferguson is a tremendous one on one player, but he forces shots. He isn't the only one, but he is a strong kid and tends to look for his shot more. Try to limit they're offensive rebounds, they are not big but those kids know bball and understand where a ball is going to come off at. They are very very quick, tremendous on ball defense. They can & do get beat off the dribble though. I enjoy watching them because they compete and compete well, athletically they are underrated. In a nutshell, a team is going to have to have a very smart & capable PG with a couple of tall athletic kids in the middle. Absolute pleasure to watch, well worth the money.

I would put him in the 6'6" range. He was the tallest kid on the floor and MC had a good sized kid as well. Yes he is a freshman.

Thanks, EC is an entertaining team to watch. Relentless comes to mind. If work allows, I'm going to try to make the Elliott-Mason Co. game.

I was at the game and frankly it was over by halftime. I think EC had an 18 point lead and you had the feeling it was going to get worse. Morgan had a lot of trouble with Elliott's quickness, not to mention everything they threw up went in. Ethan Faulkner and Ferguson both had an excellent first game. Somebody said Et. Faulkner had 20+, I would be surprised if he didn't have 30+. If the Knipp kid works hard, he will be a major college player, no doubt about it. Smooth as silk, has got great timing on shots altered & blocked and is very long. This team doesn't need him to score just be an inside presense. He picked up a couple of quick fouls but still had a solid game. I think Morgan's coach had the idea to play the uptempo game with EC, you have to have the firepower to match them. It will take a team with a good PG and a couple of athletic bigs in the middle to give them a run. Ashland & East come to mind, should be much better games.