[Head_Viper]

GRC went through a gauntlet in Pikeville, Lincoln County and Warren Central.  They deserve this ring for sure!

Gauntlet??

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GRC went through a gauntlet in Pikeville, Lincoln County and Warren Central.  They deserve this ring for sure!

Gauntlet??

Not having to play the 6th, 7th, 9th or 11th, to win a state title bet that doesn't happen very often. Congratulations to Clark Co. Cardinals.

I'll preface with this: George Rogers Clark looked to be one of the best teams coming into the tournament and you can't take it away from them because they beat all of the teams put in front of them and definitely deserve it, but I think Spud6 raises a really good point about the history of champions who've never had to go through the 6th, 7th, 9th, or 11th to win. I'd even throw the usually tough 2nd in there as well. 

Spud's post got me thinking: assuming you dropped the following teams in this year's draw for GRC (i.e., ignore the fact that they'd possibly be playing the same region that they came out of, and just assume that they'd be playing this year's Perry Central, Pikeville, Lincoln Co., and Warren Central teams) how far do you see each of these teams advancing?

*You'll see a trend that these were really good mountain teams who didn't get the best draw and/or didn't make deep tournament runs. Team's actual result is in parenthesis. 


1998 - 
Clay Co. (lost in 1st Round to Runner-Up Paintsville)

1999 - 
Perry Co. Central (Ben Bowling team; lost to a very strong PRP team in first round) 
Clay Co. (lost in 1st Round to Madison Central)

2000 - 
Corbin (Brock team that was very underrated; lost to Russellville by 8 in first round) 

2001 - 
South Laurel (Riley, Valentine & Sizemore team; lost to runner-up Male by 10 in quarterfinals) 

2002 - 
Ashland Blazer (Surgalski & Beach team; lost to State Champion Lexington Catholic in first round)

2003 - 
Shelby Valley (Tackett, Friend & Kiser team; lost to runner-up Ballard in first round) 

2004 - 
Wayne Co. (Bell, Sexton, Gibbons, Green team; lost to runner-up Mason Co. in first round) 
Hazard (Sizemore, Oligner, Carter, Gabbard, Combs team; won All A, lost to Perry Central in first round district upset) 

2006 - 
South Laurel (Proffitt, Allen, Hammonds team; going for repeat, lost to Runner-Up Graves Co. by 1 in OT quarterfinal) 

2008 - 
Elliott Co. (Faulkners, Knipp, Fergueson team; lost to eventual State Champion Mason Co. by 4 in first round) 

2013 - 
Knott Co. Central (Justice, Christon, Hall team; lost to eventual Runner-Up Ballard in quarterfinals)

2014 - 
Johnson Central (Gullett, Hall team; lost to eventual Runner-Up Scott Co. by 9 in quarterfinals) 
Clay Co. (McDaniel, Smith, Allen team; lost to eventual State Champion Covington Catholic by 2 in first round) 

2015 - 
Knott Co. Central (Justice, Christon, Hall team; lost to Bowling Green in first round)

2020 - 
Ashland Blazer (undefeated in regular season; COVID year)