[Van Hagar]

I had a quote in a story from Bobby Keith on the 1978 Cawood upset:

What happened next is now defined as the greatest upset in 13th Region history as Pineville, with a record of 9-13 and no starters above 6-foot tall, shocked the Trojans 71-64 in a first-round game at Middlesboro. Clay County went on to defeat Cumberland in the finals and then broke a long losing streak in the state tournament. Legendary coach Bobby Keith told me years later it was the biggest upset in his memory.
“I remember being at the regional tournament game with my two assistants. I had 20 pages of notes and I didn’t have anything on Pineville,” he said.

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The 1983 Cumberland team was very good, but I'd guess the 85 team had the best shot. Coach Keith (we're quoting him a lot) told me the 85 team may have been better than the Hopkinsville team that beat his team in the state finals that year.
The 83 Cawood team was loaded and lost in OT to Middlesboro in the regional finals when there was a late start on the clock to give Middlesboro time to get up two shots to force overtime. That was Kirk Chiles' last team at Cawood with David Hensley, Everly Eads, Kevin Hatfield, Tony Sanford and a young Nick Sanford.

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The 6-OT game was 1984. I was at EKU then in the days before the internet and had to get my Herald to find a score the next morning. I almost tripped on my way to class when I saw six overtimes. I think Clay beat Bell in overtime in the finals that year.

HCS, as you probably know, this was back in the days when I was at every Clay Co. game. The Clay/Bell final actually went three overtimes, Clay winning 51-49 on a shot by Big Eddie Smith. Big Eddie was tragically killed in a four-wheeler accident not long after graduating after the ‘85 state runner-up season.
That Clay-Cumberland final in ‘’85 was still to this day one of the most intense, draining games I’ve ever witnessed. Two great teams, with every possession being sooooo important, as the final score was 47-46.

As far as upsets, nothing in the 13th can ever top Pineville over Cawood, just because of the overall talent disparity between the two teams. The Corbin loss to Jackson Co. was shocking, but Jackson had a couple of very talented players in Mitchell Madden and Chico Baldwin.

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Oh and I should have added the huge upset pulled off by Barbourville over Knox Central in the district in 1989. Knox had two great big men in Tony Patterson and Tim Davis and had been ranked in the state’s top 10 all year.