[nekysportsfan]

I'm not understanding all the hype for Paintsville this year. Paintsville hasn't come close to Raceland in recent history. I do think this year's Raceland team will not be quite as good as last year's team primarily due to the loss of Messer, a player that other team's had to key on. You just don't replace his athleticism. However, is that drop off enough to allow Paintsville to contend with them? I don't think so. Paintsville lost two pretty good athletes as well in Belcher and Hendricks. IMO, Raceland is still the overwhelming favorite in the east. The only reason they didn't make it to BG last year was that Williamsburg had a senior heavy great team.