02-02-2008, 03:07 PM
It's obvious to me that Allen Central and Prestonsburg have distanced themselves from Betsy Layne and South Floyd in the 58th District. However, some would say Allen Central is above and beyond them all. I have to disagree. Prestonsburg is in control of the 58th District because they play both Allen Central and Betsy Layne at home next week. If the Blackcats win out, which they are extremely capable of doing, they come out as the 58th District's #1 seed and basically get a free ride to the Expo Center with South Floyd waiting as the #4 seed. The return of Jared Newman seems to have slowed the Bobcats down some and makes me question his true value to Betsy Layne as he has yet to notch a double digit scoring or rebounding game. Yes, he probably doesn't have his feet under him yet but he has such an immense size advantage over everyone in the district and in the region, with the exception of Adams from Pikeville, so that shouldn't make a difference. The addition of Aaron Crum to the Runnin' Rebels has been critical to the success of Allen Central. He brought a 3 point game with him to a team that would have had none of the sort without him and he's the reason why Allen Central has had as much success as they have had. The incredible point guard play of Alex Hammonds hasn't hindered the Rebs either. As for the Blackcats, they need to abandon their live and die by the 3 mentality and run more offenses through Nathaniel Stephens as he proved last night that he can put the Blackcats on his back and carry them to victory. Don't completely abandon the 3 ball because Lord knows that they have some phenomenal 3 point shooters on that team but just don't rely on it so much. My opinion, Prestonsburg wins the conference title and gets the #1 seed but Allen Central wins the 58th district title on their home floor.