[bball_fan]

Just to clear a couple things up to keep people from arguing...

Johnson Central got beat out of the state tournament last year by Southern from Pulaski County, and I believe it was in the Sweet 16 at state, not the elite 8...that part is all I'm not sure about. Last year at Betsy Layne's tournament, Southern was the only team to beat them as well. Shane Hall did not play at the Betsy Layne tournament during the late games. Johnson Central beat Betsy Layne twice last year in the Betsy Layne tournament but Dylan Hamilton sprained his ankle early in game one. Also, Lex Cath's grade school team is a AAU team...there is no Lex Cath grade school team, which means they may not be the best judge against other schools.

As for other tournaments last year from state, I believe Virgie finished third in the 7th grade tournament, Betsy Layne was beat out early after Case sprained his ankle and could not play is what I was informed last year. In the 8th grade tournament, Betsy Layne finished third and only lost to the State Champion by 2 points.

However, there will be a lot more talented teams in this region then people are giving credit too (Adams, Allen Central, Johns Creek) and Pikeville just to name a few)! No team in this region this year is head and shoulders above everyone else, nor is there a small group of teams that are better then others.

Point being made, last year means nothing now...stars graduate, role players move on and new pieces have to be found. Teams around here return a lot, but they have to have people pick up the slack too in order to pick up what was lost.