Jumping away from all the negative subjects I would just like to ask what is the best High School Basketball game you have ever witnessed? It can be any region any Sweet 16 game......
Ill start this one off.....
2004 54th District Tournament @ Leslie Co High School Nixon Center
Hazard vs PCC
Daniel Combs for the win! IMO this is the best game ever played in the mountains
They could have sold the expo center in Pikeville out that night ..... Thousands of people probably didn't come because they knew it was gonna be so packed.
March 1990
15th Regional Tournament 1st Round
Heavy favored Pikeville vs McDowell
Pikeville led by as many as 22 points before McDowell began a historic comeback that ended on a last second Putback on a missed free throw by Stacey Hall as the buzzer goes off….
Probably the comeback KCC had against at PCC Tate Cox’ Senior year when they played region finals at Breathitt. Perry was up 5 or 7 with a few minutes to go. Stamper and Cox took over.
There was a 3 overtime regional final in the late 80's early 90's that had a game winner at the buzzer if I'm remembering correctly. It might have been at Breathitt also.
Can't remember the year but Knott Vs MC Napier in the Region championship. Went into 3 OTs I believe with Napier winning at the buzzer. Great game and atmosphere!
Chris Lofton had some amazing games in the Sweet 16. Still pisses me off UK didn't offer him a full ride.
Clay vs Ballard was the best
MC Napier Navajos , under the guidance of coach Denny Fugate, won the 14th region championship in 1982 at Breathitt Coliseum with an overtime win over Whitesburg in the first round, and double overtime win over Owsley County in the semifinals and a triple overtime win over Leslie County in the championship game.
I would surmise that those three games were the closest and down to the wire journey for any team that has ever won the 14th region title.
1998 - Scott Co. vs. Lexington Catholic (Semi)
1999 - Scott Co. vs. Paducah Tilghman (Semis, probably the most controversial)
2000 - Elizabethtown vs. Russellville (Semi)
2003 - South Laurel vs. North Laurel (at North)
2004 - Henry Clay vs. Bryan Station (at Henry Clay)
2005 - South Laurel vs. PRP (Semi)
2009 - Holmes vs. Central (Final)
2010 - Lafayette vs. Lexington Catholic (District, First Round)
2013 - Madison Central vs. Holmes (Quarters)
Pikeville vs. John Hardin in the 2018 Sweet 16. Triple OT thriller with no shortage of heroics & an upset.
That is a basically an impossible task for me to reach a definitive answer on.. lol So I will go with one of the most fun games that I witnessed sitting in the front row directly behind Allen Central High School’s bench at the 1994 All A Classic vs Elkhorn City. Was one of the more entertaining games due to 1 single factor…, (STRAIGHT UP DUEL WITH Todd Conley and Jeremy Hall) That game saw Elkhorn City actually come away with the win with a final score of 98-89. Was just a game that saw the 2 Mountain stars completely put on clinics and take over large chunks of the game individually. Todd Conley scored a game high 52 pts! But in Conley fashion he put of some high volume! Lol Finishing the game (17-36) from the floor, 7 of 16 from deep and 12-13 from the stripe. Jeremy Hall on the other hand maybe actually put on the show of all show’s that night even though coming up short for the W, and being out scored by 6pts by Conley. But it was the Rebels Jr guard and future Wisconsin Badger who entered the game still sporting a cast on his non shooting hand from a wrist injury. You talking about heroic as he mustard up 46 points on a magical “12” 3pt baskets including a 4th qtr for the ages that saw him connect on 6 of his 12 three pointers!!!! There was a run of 4-5 almost consecutively where Hall cross the timeline and give a little right handed low to the floor in and out dribble or a little shimmy and then just ride up from well beyond the line from deep and straight away! Each make, and each trip the crowd grew in a full roar that when he would pull it there would be a brief sec of silence, as ever was waiting in the wings to see if he could do it again!!! Lol
*Fun Facts- Now I’m not ? sure, but fairly certain that game saw 2 of the 15th Region’s individual All A Tournament records broken that night. Most points scored with Conley’s 52, and most 3pt fg’s made by Hall with his 12! Even crazier is the fact that the 2 players broke the record that was previously held by the other guy!!!
The other fun fact is the 2 great longtime Region coaching legends in Allen Central’s Johnny Martin who has his place in the KHSAA HOF, with over 600 career W’s, taking on friend and longtime Region legend who had much success at other stops along the way in Randy McCoy! But the fun fact is Jeremy Hall who would go on to sign and play his freshmen season of college basketball in the Big 10 for Dick Bennett and the Wisconsin Badgers! Played he did, as Hall started a good portion of the season, was a Big 10 All Freshmen 2nd Team member and for quiet a few seasons held the Badgers record for most made 3pt baskets in a season by a freshman! Anyway after several transfers and stops along the way Hall would find himself playing his final days of college basketball back home for Pikeville College and help lead them to a NAIA FINAL FOUR birth, and he was Coached and led by none other than the leader and HC for the Cougars that magical night in the All A Classic, early 1994.
2002 15th Region Semi-Finals, Paintsville vs. South Floyd
Paintsville down by 24 in the 3rd quarter. Storms back and wins on a buzzer beater by PG Adam Rice
Jan. 5, 2002: Rose Hill 68, Ashland 67, Boyd County Middle School. OJ Mayo, Arliss Beach, Mark Surgalski, Mark King, Marques Dawson among the standouts who made a major impact in the game.
Surgalski scored on a lob with two seconds left to give Ashland a 67-65 lead. Mayo lofted up a heave from beyond halfcourt at the buzzer and it dropped for the win in front of a jam-packed, overflowing crowd (5,000-plus). Rose Hill fans stormed the court. I was only nine at the time, but to this day, it is the greatest game I have ever seen. Gym was so loud, you could hardly hear the person beside you.
Really wish I could find game tape of it somewhere. It was an incredible game -- maybe the best game in the history of the 16th Region in terms of atmosphere, stakes, pre-game hype and the overall finish.
One that comes to mind was the 2015 12th region championship game between Boyle and Lincoln at Lincoln. The matchups between Hagan Tyler and Jeremiah Bell against Timmy Taylor and Jacob Conway were always battles.
Sweet 16 a couple years ago Pikeville played John Hardin and it went into triple overtime. Pikeville hit a 3 to send it into the first OT, sank 3 free throws to send it into the second, and ended up winning the game.
Scott Co. 85 Lex Cath 82 - 1998 State Semi
Estill County v. Bourbon County in either late 2010 or early 2011. 6OT's. Longest game in the state in like 50 or 60 years I believe. I think Estill won 102-99. Instant Classic.
Shelby Valley vs. Clay County for the WYMT Mountain Classic Championship!! 4 inches of snow on the ground on a freezing cold Saturday night, road conditions no where near safe to drive & a 3 hour postponement wasn't enough to stop these two teams from absolutely going to war!! Back and forth from the tip with multiple overtimes if I remember correctly!! Shelby Valley's Terry Wright took the prettiest mid court charge you'll ever see in your life!! Jeremy Akers nailing 3's with ease 12FT+ beyond the arc & Mike Riddle showed to be the best defensive player this side of Lexington that year!! Clay Co. fought their guts out & played just as hard as SV!! Both teams were very well coached!! In the end Rodney Rowe's squad made a couple more plays at the end of the game!! I know it was either 2000 or 2001, but I can't remember which one for sure. I was 12-13 & in 7th or 8th grade at the time. I just can't remember which one!!