[LOOKAYANNER]

And a neverending flow of transfers doesn't hurt either.

You're very correct. Hazard has an enrollment of slightly over 300 but by the time they get transfers in most years it throws away the 'small school' status for them. Many of their greatest teams had transfers who helped them get over the hump. Johnny Cox was a transfer who played on their last state championship team in the 1950's. Steven and Charlotte Sizemore were on teams that played in the state tournaments (with Charlotte's winning the state title). Their past two state teams have had the Bell County kids. These are just a few examples among many more that could be listed.

But more often than not big schools are going to dominate most regional play. Just look at the enrollments in the state tournament programs every year. The only exceptions are the privates, who also rely on transfers and recruits to pull them through.