[Head_Viper]

Pikeville's 2022 sweet 16 played out similar to their 1999 sweet 16 appearance...though I do believe this year's team was definitely better. 

In 1999 they also beat another mountain team in the 1st round, Boyd County, and then in the 2nd round they lost to Ballard if my memory is right...and I believe Ballard went on to win the state championship.

You are exactly right. The KET documentary that follows Ballard that season shows Renner laying into his team for fighting with one another out on the court and Pikeville being so close at the half. That was the year that Scott Co. beat Paducah Tilghman in a semifinal that had fans irate over some questionable calls. Ballard narrowly beat Henderson Co. (who'd knocked off Jared Lorenzen, Derek Smith, and Highlands in the first round) in the other semi. Most pro-"Louisville school" crowd I'd seen when the Bruins took the floor for the final. 

Overall that was one of the more memorable tournaments I'd seen. The Madison Central (Estill, Jenkins, Fritz, Campbell) vs. Scott County semi had a big fight feel and was one of the most attended sessions in tournament history. Tilghman and PRP was the other game in that session.

One of the stronger fields I can remember honestly. Probably leaving a few out, but other than those I've already mentioned, Scott Co. had Rick Jones (Vandy), Scott Hundley (Vanderbilt), and AW Hamilton (Wake Forest/Marshall), PRP had King (Penn), Paschall (Murray St.), Griffith (Florida A&M), and Blake Downing (Georgetown College); Ballard had Brandon Bender (Louisville), Adam Chiles (Kentucky), and others I'm sure I'm leaving out. North Hardin had Jarius Sykes (Louisville); Boyd County had Tyler Zornes (Florida Atlantic); Henderson County had Tim Barnes (Iowa State), Perry County Central had Ben Bowling (Tulane) and Muhlenburg North had Patrick Sparks (WKU/Kentucky). Tilghman's George Wilson went on to play football at Arkansas and for the Tennessee Titans and Brett Jones was Kentucky's Mr. Golf and played at Louisville.

There are a lot of Power 5 players in that field and probably one of the strongest fields top to bottom that you'll see. Three players who were recruited by or went on to play at Kentucky or Louisville (Bowling and Sykes) didn't make it out of the first round, and two more (Estill and Sparks) didn't make it past Friday.