[AtlPirateFan]

A comment in the JC/Belfry thread got my wheels turning. So I went digging into some data to see what I could put together. So below is my top 10 Mountain Teams from 1989-2019. Second post is a chart of the data set for you to evaluate yourself. Hoping this generates some fun discussions/banter. Creating a new thread as not to derail the game thread even more.

CRITERIA
- Only teams in Congressional District 5 Qualify (think WYMT coverage area with a couple of counties tossed in). Roughly 45 teams all qualified. This was used because a true definition of Moutain Teams can't be agreed upon.
- Teams must still be currently playing and must have been playing all 30 years.

Top 10 1989-2019
1. Belfry
2. Bell Co.
3. Pikeville
4. Hazard
5. Corbin
6. Breathitt Co.
7. Rockcastle Co.
8. Prestonsburg
9. Johnson Central
10. Pulaski Co.
Honorable Mentions: Lawrence Co (206-135), Somerset (218-144), Painstville (211-154), Middlesboro(204-154), Martin County(formerly Sheldon Clark 176-158)

The list obviously shifts some if you cut it to only 20 years as mentioned in the original thread, Main changes would be that JC takes a big jump, while Breathitt makes a big slide. A few teams might jockey to move up a spot but those two are the main ones impacted.

OBSERVATIONS
1. Belfry and JC capitalized most on the 6 class system. As did Pulaski to some extent.
2. Breathitt's last 10 years caused a major slide to a team that dominated the 90s and were still strong in the 2000-2010 era.
3. Bell Co. and Corbin suffered from being in the Western bracket in the early to mid 2010s. Had they been in the east both may have had more playoff wins.
4. It's no suprise that deeper digging gives you a who's who of mountain coaches. Haywood, Holcomb, Hilton, Larkey, McNamee, Howard, Matney, etc.
5. Of the honorable mentions only Lawrence Co had a 100 win decade.

Note: There was a ton of data to sort through, so I apologize if I missed an obvious team who may have contended for the list. If I can find the data I would love to run this data set back to 1979, or 1969 even. Would be nice to have data to factor in district titles and regional titles as well. May see what I can do when I am bored at work.