one with out a doubt would be MADISONVILLE NORTH HOPKINS from 87-89 when travis ford played for them..every year they would blow teams out in ky and play in the big tourments against teams ranked in the country, like st.louis,miami senior,gulfport miss with chris jasckson,and some other good teams only losing to miami senior,then come state get beat the 2nd round every year,usaully lose to a team they beat by 20-30 in the reg season,there avg player was 6'4 those years..
I say some of the Harlan teams from 93-94 or 94-95, were pretty good to not win a title!! JMO
Clark Co in the early 70 Gay Cosby Newell Hopewell
Belfry 90-92. If Jim Dotson would not have went down with an ACL injury the last year I am a firm believer they would have been state champs.
Here are a few:
1998 Lexington Catholic. Ranked #3 in the nation. Upset in semifinals by Scott co.
1999 Scott County. #6 in the nation. Beat 8 state champions. Won the most prestigious tournament in USA (City of Palms), beaten by Ballard in state finals.
2000 Ballard. Ranked in top 10 in nation. Also won the City of Palms. Didn't make it out the region.
2001 Male. Ranked nationally. Upset by Lexington Layfayette in Sweet 16.
2007 Ballard. One of the all time great teams in Ky. Had the misfortune of having this great team the same year as the 2007 Scott Co team.
University Heights 1996 - Lamont Barnes (Temple), Isaiah Victor (Tennessee), Harold Swanagan (Notre Dame), and Andre Buckner (Duke). Won the Belk Beach Ball Classic (Myrtle Beach) and was ranked nationally. Lost in the 1st game of the District Tournament!!!
That UHA team was another great one.
Memorial Gym #5 Wrote:I say some of the Harlan teams from 93-94 or 94-95, were pretty good to not win a title!! JMO
My thoughts exactly. :thumpsup:
They did win back to back Class A State Championships these 2 years, but...
What about the 94' Allen Central team who lost to eventual state champs Fairdale, a game in which they were in and could have eaisly won had Jermey Hall not been injured. I think they had a team that could have won it that year.
Jermey Hall,Thomas Jenkins,Phillip Patton,Jayson Martin, were 4 of the 5 starters I can't remember the 5th at this point but they were tough.
J. R. VanHoose Wrote:University Heights 1996 - Lamont Barnes (Temple), Isaiah Victor (Tennessee), Harold Swanagan (Notre Dame), and Andre Buckner (Duke). Won the Belk Beach Ball Classic (Myrtle Beach) and was ranked nationally. Lost in the 1st game of the District Tournament!!!
Another good one!! those guys were tough, without question!! :Thumbs:
Dunbar's back to back Championship games in 1993 and 1994, these teams were tough, with Mills and Burton!! Thought they would have won at least one of those titles, even though they lost to great teams(Marion Co. in 93 and Fairdale in 94)!!
Clay Co. in 1992, lost Lex. Cath in Semi-final, who lost to eventual state champ University Heights!! Even though both of those teams were great, with Bobby Keith running the show and Shannon Hoskins, Mark Smith, Robert Marcum, Todd Pridemore, Mark Messer, James Downey(had bad knee injury that hurt him from playing, he tried, but just couldn't go!! He was a tough kid!!), and Chris McKissic played some but was only a soph., I think!! I thought this team was good enough to win for sure, IMO. I know in the first round they played Ballard who had DeJuan Wheat and he was awseome, the game went into OT, maybe 2OT, not sure. this was one of the greatest games I ever watched, among many others at the Sweet 16!!
1956 Wayland Wasps. King Kelly Coleman led that team and they are still quite a story here in the mountains. The 68 Clark County team was a good one also.
J. R. VanHoose Wrote:University Heights 1996 - Lamont Barnes (Temple), Isaiah Victor (Tennessee), Harold Swanagan (Notre Dame), and Andre Buckner (Duke). Won the Belk Beach Ball Classic (Myrtle Beach) and was ranked nationally. Lost in the 1st game of the District Tournament!!!
I wonder who won it that year? I think someone had 28 points and 22 rebounds in the semifinal game. I could be off a little on those stats. By the way, congrats.
Hazard Bulldogs 1985-86!! They at least should have played Pulaski Co. for the title that year!! JMO
Warriors23RJ Wrote:What about the 94' Allen Central team who lost to eventual state champs Fairdale, a game in which they were in and could have eaisly won had Jermey Hall not been injured. I think they had a team that could have won it that year.
Jermey Hall,Thomas Jenkins,Phillip Patton,Jayson Martin, were 4 of the 5 starters I can't remember the 5th at this point but they were tough.
Kevin Martin was the other starter I'm pretty sure.
Memorial Gym #5 Wrote:Hazard Bulldogs 1985-86!! They at least should have played Pulaski Co. for the title that year!! JMO
If this is the team that had carl Wallace, Willie Combs, Terry North, Napier, and Leveridge I agree. They were a tremendous group and should have won.
There was also a MC Napier team around this time that had Clade Cooper(??), Darwin Whitaker, Eddie Carroll, Gary Baker, Mike Smith, Jeff Smith that went to the final four and lost a heartbreaker as well.
Both teams should have advanced to title....JMO
Memorial Gym #5 Wrote:I say some of the Harlan teams from 93-94 or 94-95, were pretty good to not win a title!! JMO
Harlan won state in 93.
cj2561 Wrote:Harlan won state in 93.
They might have won All "A" State in 93, but thought that was the year Dilce Combs won the All "A" state title. Marion Co. beat Dunbar in the 1993 state championship. Marion Co. had Anthony Epps and Elton Scott. If I am not mistaken, Harlan's only state title was in 1944.
brain cramp Wrote:If this is the team that had carl Wallace, Willie Combs, Terry North, Napier, and Leveridge I agree. They were a tremendous group and should have won.
There was also a MC Napier team around this time that had Clade Cooper(??), Darwin Whitaker, Eddie Carroll, Gary Baker, Mike Smith, Jeff Smith that went to the final four and lost a heartbreaker as well.
Both teams should have advanced to title....JMO
Yes, that was the Hazard team with Carl Wallace, Terry North, Willie Combs, Greg Napier, Todd Blanton, Keith Deaton, and Dwayne Cornett. Jim Leveridge did not play in the state tourney with this team, but do remember him playing for Hazard, but can't remember the year!! M.C. Napier's great team that played well in state was I believe in 1984, not sure but think that was the year. Anyway they were a tough team and should have played for the title!! :rockon:
OldTymer Wrote:Kevin Martin was the other starter I'm pretty sure.
I think it was Steve Turner.
2003-2004 mason county. chris lofton lead team, had some other good players on that team as well. can't think of their names right off the bat, but some of them went on to play at the next level. they were 33-3 that year, lofton had an amazing season.
Maybe not the best team, but the University Heights team with Shelvin Mack and Scotty Hopson coached by Randy McCoy stands out in my mind. Although, there were some other great teams and players in the state that year.
1936 Benham Tigers. Benham was the #1 team in the state throughout the year. The Tigers were not allowed to play in the regional tournament because Harlan County was quarantined due to a flu epidemic. Benham had beaten Corbin soundly during the regular season. Corbin won the regional tournament and went on to win the state championship, though Benham clearly had the better team. Benham's best player was Spyder Thurmond, who later became a great coach at Clay County.
itzAmazing Wrote:Maybe not the best team, but the University Heights team with Shelvin Mack and Scotty Hopson coached by Randy McCoy stands out in my mind. Although, there were some other great teams and players in the state that year.
Shelvin Mack played for Bryan Station. You may be talking about Edmonson who played for St Johns. Anyway, this UHA team was not a great team. I watched them play several times throughout the year. Though they were very talented they played very uninspired.
neverguesswhoiam Wrote:2003-2004 mason county. chris lofton lead team, had some other good players on that team as well. can't think of their names right off the bat, but some of them went on to play at the next level. they were 33-3 that year, lofton had an amazing season.
That was a great team. One of the better games I have seen in the Sweet 16 was when they beat Scott County in overtime in the simi-finals. They just ran up on a buzz saw in Warren Central in the finals. Sometimes it happens.
rojas Wrote:Shelvin Mack played for Bryan Station. You may be talking about Edmonson who played for St Johns. Anyway, this UHA team was not a great team. I watched them play several times throughout the year. Though they were very talented they played very uninspired.
My bad, I got Mack mixed up in there somehow. Anyhow, UHA was very talented that season, regardless, but I agree with what you said, that they did not play inspired ball.
I always thought the Paintsville team of 97 and 98 failed to live up to expectations after winning in 96 but that was a dominant run. John Plephrey's Paintsville team in 87 was a good team but ran into Allan Houston and Ballard.
harlan won the all a state in 1994 but not the big state, that was won by fairdale, their 3rd in 5 years. Harlan beat Caverna in the semi's and UHA in the finals of the all a that yr.
Harlan was also state champions in 1995 of the All A, but Breck County won sweet 16
Dilce Combs won it in 1993, also beating Caverna in the semi's and fulton county in the finals who had beaten harlan in the semis
1978 Holmes High School led by Mr. Basketball Doug Schloemer
In the state Finals his layup would have won the game, but future UK star Charles Hurt swooped in to block it. The play later was shown in photos to be goal-tending. The bulldogs had one stolen from them.