Friday, March 17, 2017

Kentucky High-school Boys' Basketball, Eight Teams Left


Hundredth Sweet 16 quarterfinals today ...

Noon Eastern, Scott County Cardinals (32-5) vs. Bowling Green Purples (34-2)


1:30 p.m., Taylor Mill Scott Eagles (23-12) vs. Hazard Perry County Central Commodores (29-7)


6:30 p.m., Shelbyville Martha Layne Collins Titans (25-12) vs. Union Cooper Jaguars (30-4)


8 p.m., Louisville Ballard Bruins (30-6) vs. Louisville Fern Creek Tigers (35-2)

24 comments:

  1. OK, first game today is No. 1 in the state, Scott County, vs. No. 2, Bowling Green. The teams have totaled seven losses so far this season, but each has lost only once to another Kentucky team--ScottCo at Lexington Catholic and BG to Covington Catholic, both games back in December.

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  2. Scott County High was formed in 1955, the product of consolidation of Great Crossings, Oxford, Sadieville and Stamping Ground high schools. The Cardinals made their first boys' Sweet Sixteen in 1983, and this is now their 15th appearance. Scott County won the 1998 and 2007 state championships.

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  3. Bowling Green High opened in 1908. The Purples advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 1925, and this is their 17th try at a state championship. Bowling Green has never won it all.

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    1. Regardless of what you might've heard on some podcast.

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  4. I'm listening to today's game on Bowling Green's Sporting Times Broadcast Network. It's 19-16, Purples, after one quarter.

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  5. Per fantastic Wikipedia, while Kentucky and U.S. population grew decade by decade, Scott County over the course of the first half of the 20th century actually declined—from 18,076 in 1900, to 16,956 in 1910, to 15,318 in 1920, to 14,400 in 1930 and 14,314 in 1940. The 1940s was the first decade that Scott County’s population grew since the 1890s, but, even then, it reached only 15,141 by 1950—still more than 16 percent smaller than it was at the turn of the century.

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  6. Planning for Interstate 75 began in the 1950s, and it included a stretch to follow the route of U.S. 25, which runs through Georgetown and intersects U.S. 62 and U.S. 460. Wikipedia: "On December 21, 1977, I-75 was completed from Tampa to Sault Ste. Marie with its final segment opening between northern Marietta, Georgia, and Cartersville, Georgia."

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  7. The other giant things that happened to Scott County are Toyota, which began production in Georgetown in 1988, and Lexington/Fayette County, which is where eastern Kentucky moved starting about 1950.

    In 1950, Fayette was Kentucky's third-largest county, behind only Jefferson and Kenton. But at 98,506 people, it wasn't just a whole bunch bigger than Harlan (71,753) or Pike (81,186) counties.

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  8. But over the next 20 years, while Harlan and Pike shrunk to 37k and 61k, respectively, Fayette had exploded to 174k. That growth has continued fairly steadily—by 17 percent to 204,165 in 1980, by 10 percent to 225,366 in 1990, by 16 percent to 260,512 in 2000 and by 13.5 percent in 295,803 in 2010.

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  9. Bowling Green has led the entire way of this game, but Scott County is within 50-49 in the opening moments of the fourth quarter.

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  10. Say you were a Heath kid who went off to UK in 1986 and you had a classmate who went to Georgetown College, and you occasionally zipped the 15 miles north to exchange TDK mix tapes with her, you probably felt like you were driving out into the country. Today, the Lexington-to-Georgetown run is starting to feel like the Arlington-to-Burke sprawl of northern Virginia or Raleigh-to-Apex sprawl in North Carolina—just one Rooms To Go and Applebee’s after another.

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  11. So, here's what I-75+Lexington+Toyota=, in terms of Scott County's population over the last 60-or-so years:

    -- 1960, 15,376
    -- 1970, 17,948
    -- 1980, 21,813
    -- 1990, 23,867
    -- 2000, 33,061
    -- 2010, 47,173
    -- estimated 2015, 52,420

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  12. Jason Frakes‏ @kyhighs
    Bowling Green 57, Scott County 53, 2:39 left. Cardinals 2 for 8 from field in fourth quarter.
    12:18 PM - 17 Mar 2017

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  13. Impressive how the Purples have steadied themselves in this fourth quarter ... 61-53 with 1:18 to go ... Scott County coach Billy Hicks calls timeout ...

    Jason Frakes‏ @kyhighs
    Bowling Green has been ousted from Sweet 16 last three years by eventual champion - CovCath (2014), Owensboro (2015), Paul Dunbar (2016).
    12:21 PM - 17 Mar 2017

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  14. Wow! ... No. 2 Bowling Green just blows No. 1 Scott County away in the final minutes ... scores last 11 points ... finishes 20 of 23 from the foul line ...

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  15. Seven teams left: Bowling Green Purples 68, Scott County Cardinals 53.

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  16. Six: Taylor Mill Scott Eagles 74, Hazard Perry County Central Commodores 52.

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  17. 3:08 to play in the first quarter: Cooper 12, Collins 2.

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  18. Friday-night finals:

    -- Cooper 58, Collins 33
    -- Fern Creek 55, Ballard 52

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