Sunday, March 6, 2022

45 Games to Go

A huge day for small schools in Western Kentucky.  In the First Region, Murray beat Tilghman and then stunned McCracken County -- in a typical First Region slowdown game -- to win the Region for the first time since 2016.  And over in the Second Region, Lyon County beat Christian County, Madisonville, and Hopkinsville -- three traditional powerhouses -- to take the Region for the first time since 1951.  It's the first time since 1998 -- when Union County won the Region -- that the Second Region hasn't gone to a team from Christian County, Henderson County, or Hopkins County.

1st Region Final (at Murray St.):
Murray 35, (10) McCracken Co. 28

2d Region Final (at Hopkinsville):
Lyon  Co. 87, Hopkinsville 69

I thought Lyon County would have a real battle at Hoptown, and in fact the Lyons led by only 47-41 at the half.  But they just kept pouring it on.  What an accomplishment!

3d Region Semi-Finals (at Owensboro Sportscenter):
McLean Co. 56, Owensboro 40
Muhlenberg Co. 53, Hancock Co. 45

According to folks on Twitter, this is the first time McLean County has reached the Regional Final.  McLean County's first graduating class was in 1973.

6th Region Semi-Finals (at Lou. Valley):
Lou. Doss 56, Evangel Christian 55
Lou. Jeffersontown 54, Lou. Pleasure Ridge Park 46

9th Region Quarter-Finals (at BB & T Arena):
(3) Cov. Catholic 49, Cooper 37
Dixie Heights 51, Newport 37
Cov. Holy Cross 80, Conner 74
Erlanger Lloyd 75, Ft. Thomas Highlands 64

13th Region Semi-Finals (at Corbin Arena):
Knox Cent. 68, S. Laurel 38
(6) N. Laurel 69, Bell Co. 40

15th Region Quarter-Finals (at Appalachian Wireless Arena):
Pike Co. Cent. 87, Betsy Layne 74
(9) Pikeville 71, Martin Co. 46

Pike County Central was formed in 1993 as a combination of Jones Creek and Mullins High Schools.

17 comments:

  1. I don't think any high school sports competition should take place on Sunday, and we have only four games today -- semi-finals in the 14th and 9th Regions.

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  2. In the 14th Region, Estill County beats Cordia 93-87.

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  3. There are reports on Twitter that John Calipari lost his white gold Rolex watch while celebrating the victory of the UK women at today's SEC Women's Championship game in Nashville. Cal has apparently offered a reward for the watch, so we'll see how that works out.

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  4. Cal says that it's his lucky watch, so now a bunch of UK fans on Twitter are watching the video from the TV broadcast to see who picked up the watch and what they did with it.

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  5. I've watched the first three NASCAR races of the year, and each one has featured a crash with less than five laps to go.

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  6. So basically, 98 percent of the race is simply maneuvering to see where you are for the three-lap sprint at the end. Ironically, this is the same model that MLB intends to implement once it reaches a new labor agreement.

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  7. Latest reports from the MLB talks are that MLB wants to ban shifts, implement a pitch clock, and make the bases larger. And, of course, let 14 teams into the playoffs, put advertising on the uniforms, and have the designated hitter in every game. I can already feel the excitement.

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    1. I will say this: It's been obvious for a long time that the folks who own baseball teams hate Major League Baseball and regard it as unwatchable. Maybe if they make some changes to it, they will like it better and they'll try harder to promote it. That's the only ground for optimism I can see here.

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    2. For the last 20 years, we fans have been trying to convince the owners that they should love MLB as much as we do. That obviously didn't work. Maybe it will work better if they have to convince us.

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    3. In other news, the ACC thinks that their fans will be well-served by playing the ACC Tournament -- the last ACC event in which Coach K will ever appear -- in the ACC hotbed of Brooklyn, New York.

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  8. Perry County Central rolls past Breathitt County 57-48. Covington Catholic pounds Erlanger Lloyd 71-52.

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  9. Now Calipari reports that UK Women's Coach Kyra Elzy found his lost watch. This is great news and probably means that UK's Men's team will win the National Championship.

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    1. This is good news, but I'm still mad at Kyra Elzy for going to Tennessee instead of WKU.

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  10. Ken Pom reports that UK has a 30.7 percent chance to win next week's SEC Tournament in Tampa. He gives Auburn a 26.1 percent chance, and he gives Tennessee a 20.3 percent chance.

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  11. Dixie Heights, which is only a few miles from the Ohio border, beats Covington Holy Cross 65-57. Dixie Heights will meet number-3 Covington Catholic in the 9th Region Final.

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  12. I was rooting for our McCracken County, of course, but I am also happy for Murray and Lyon County. And if McLean County ends up beating Owensboro and Muhlenberg County to go to state, I'm going to get myself over to Calhoun to see what's up. I thought that county was really going to flag after it lost its IGAs, but that community has really started to sprout anew. There's a new grocery and restaurant I've been meaning to try, and Halloween in Calhoun has grown to be kind of a locally famous thing.

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    1. Whenever I see "McCracken County High School," I always think "Lone Oak."

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