[mountain hoops guru]

I've already heard mentioned the old adage "It's hard to beat a team three times".... That myth has been busted in the 56th! Lee beat Powell the third time last Tuesday and Estill beat Owsley the third time on Wednesday. In fact, Lee beat Powell worse the third time.....

In spite of Lee never really having a 'good' game this season, they are 6-0 in the district and have only lost to three 14th region teams (one in OT). 8 of Lee's 11 losses have been to out-of-region teams.

1st of all the old adage doesn't come into play when the teams can't play. Everyone knows that Owsley and Powell didn't have a chance to win so the 3rd time thing didn't even matter. Now when you have 2 teams that are as even as these two are, then you may have to play harder to beat that team the 3rd time.

And as for having only 3 losses to 14th region opponents, they didn't beat anyone other than the 55th or 56th teams. When they played out of those districts they got beat! So don't be comparing wins and losses if you don't play the better teams. The best teams in the region are 53rd and 54th district teams 99% of the time, I guess I wouldn't schedule many of them either.:Clap:

[southpaw]

Estill. Home court

[LOOKAYANNER]

1st of all the old adage doesn't come into play when the teams can't play. Everyone knows that Owsley and Powell didn't have a chance to win so the 3rd time thing didn't even matter. Now when you have 2 teams that are as even as these two are, then you may have to play harder to beat that team the 3rd time.

And as for having only 3 losses to 14th region opponents, they didn't beat anyone other than the 55th or 56th teams. When they played out of those districts they got beat! So don't be comparing wins and losses if you don't play the better teams. The best teams in the region are 53rd and 54th district teams 99% of the time, I guess I wouldn't schedule many of them either.:Clap:

That may change in the near future though. The schools in the 53rd and 54th are losing enrollment while Powell and Estill are growing. Both have over 700 student and getting bigger every year. The only schools in the region bigger are PCC and LCC. I know we're talking basketball here, but Estill won the baseball title last year. Powell won it year before last. Estill's girls have won the softball all 3 years they been in the region. It's just as matter of time this happens in basketball as well.

[ARC]

1st of all the old adage doesn't come into play when the teams can't play. Everyone knows that Owsley and Powell didn't have a chance to win so the 3rd time thing didn't even matter. Now when you have 2 teams that are as even as these two are, then you may have to play harder to beat that team the 3rd time.

And as for having only 3 losses to 14th region opponents, they didn't beat anyone other than the 55th or 56th teams. When they played out of those districts they got beat! So don't be comparing wins and losses if you don't play the better teams. The best teams in the region are 53rd and 54th district teams 99% of the time, I guess I wouldn't schedule many of them either.:Clap:

LEE CO +
Has won 8 of last 10 games.
Is 12W - 3L vs 14th Region opponents
Is 2W - 0L vs Estill Co this season
Has no injured players
Beat Powell by 23 pts (1), 22 pts (2), 28 pts (3)


ESTILL CO
Has won 5 of last 10 games.
Is 9W - 6L vs 14th Region opponents.
Is 3W - 2L since Roberts was injured in the Johnson Central game.
The two wins were against Western Hills in OT and Owsley (close game).
Beat Owsley by 28 pts (1), 24 pts (2), 13 pts (3)

It just appears that Estill is playing 'down' the last few games. Lee is playing at least equal or better the last few games. Anyalysis only goes so far, anything can happen on the court.

IMO, the key to Estill's game is Wiseman. I wonder if he would have played at all vs Owsley if it hadn't of been close? Is he 100% for tonight? Estill really only has two players who regularly score in double figures - Hoover and Cack. Can either of the two afford a bad game and still pull off the win?

IMO, the key to Lee's game is Pittman. Estill's interior D is no better than Owsleys. Lee's 5 starters have all scored in double figures several times this season. Lee can have a couple of players have an off night and they should be ok because the others have a good chance of having good games.

Good luck to both teams tonight and in the Region.

[LOOKAYANNER]

Estill will have a difficult time stopping Lee in the paint. And if Pittman plays like he's capable he will be hard to shoot over when Estill gets the ball inside. If Estill is not connecting on the outside shots, they are in trouble. Lee's best bet is to zone them and see what happenens. Hoover and Cackling can't hit everything, and other than those two there's not many options for Estill.

Now, if Lee plays mostly man defense, well, I'd say Estill's coach will have a big smile on his face.

[Playboy5]

Lee is the better team and has proved that they can win playing @ Estill. They take the 56th IMO! Best of Luck to both!

[ARC]

That may change in the near future though. The schools in the 53rd and 54th are losing enrollment while Powell and Estill are growing. Both have over 700 student and getting bigger every year. The only schools in the region bigger are PCC and LCC. I know we're talking basketball here, but Estill won the baseball title last year. Powell won it year before last. Estill's girls have won the softball all 3 years they been in the region. It's just as matter of time this happens in basketball as well.

Of course the biggest schools should win every sport every year, but it rarely happens. Lee and Owsley have half the enrollment of Estill and Powell, but are normally competitive in basketball. Looking at enrollment only, how much larger does a school have to be in order to dominate in high school athletics? It must be more than double.

As for Lee's schedule, Lee was scheduled to play Franklin and Hazard. And Cordia as well. Franklin and Cordia were cancelled due to weather early in the season. Hazard cancelled due to their winning the All A. I'm sure that Coach Wright didn't refuse to schedule LCC or KCC - we also didn't schedule Jenkins. Probably just logistics - neither team wanted to drive to the other end of the region or wouldn't do a 'home-away' scenario over the next two seasons.