[Pulp Fiction]

I'll be the first to say it.... tonight at the Expo was collectively the best overall night of basketball the 15th region tournament has ever seen. Some people probably won't agree, but if you were there., you know what I mean...... everybody got their $7.00 worth tonight. The Expo, even though I don't like it, was a great venue for tonight's games. Last number we were told was over 5,000 tickets sold. The crowds brought it for all three games.


The girls game between JC and Paintsville was tight the whole game. Paintsville is going to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1932. Nobody could really pull away, nobody could make a run. Cross-town rivals going toe to toe for 32 minutes in the regional championship game is what makes high school basketball great. Paintsville won 39-36. JC had their chances down the stretch, but Paintsville would answer and make the big plays when they needed to. Paintsville proved they were the best team in the 15th region... winning the All-A regional and the 15th regional, now they need to go represent at the Sweet 16.


The boys semi-final game between JC and Lawrence County was AMAZING!!!!! The 88-87 score shows just how close this game was. Lawrence County led by 11 with 1:38 left in the 3rd qtr. There was 5 ties and 6 lead changes.
Lawrence County was 12/26 from behind the 3 point line. Dalton had 28 points, Wellman has 25 points, Dotson had 21 points.... those three carried Lawrence County.
JC was 12/31 from behind the 3 point line. Blair had 40 points, Crace had 16, Davis had 12.
This was a GREAT game.
Back and forth, up and down.... 3 balls, fast breaks, turnovers, double Technical fouls... you name it, this game had it. Lawrence County missed their big #4 late in the game and they really missed Dalton down the stretch. JC stayed calm, weathered the storm and made some major baskets late in the game. JC never could hit Dagger shot to put Lawrence away. Lawrence kept battling back, JC made a great offensive play with a very short amount of time left, then made a game winning stop as time expired as time expired. You could see the expressions change on the JC players and coaches faces as the horn sounded. As big of a JC homer as I am, Lawrence County was the better team tonight. No shame in saying that either. Lawrence County played the best basketball game they could have asked for.
Johnson Central needs to hit their knees and say a prayer. Beating a team four times in a season hardly ever happens. No way the JC coaching staff would let the players over look Lawrence County, they just didn't play like they did the past three games. In tournament time, it's survive and advance.


South Floyd vs. Pikeville.... as a fan with no connection to either team was incredible to watch. Both teams played good the 1st half. Nobody pulled away, just exchanged baskets. Oh but the 2nd half was awesome to watch. South Floyd played like a team possessed. They didn't want their schools basketball history to end with an L. Big 3's, rebounds and nice moves in the post brought the Raider Nation to their feet. Pikeville hit some 3 point shots from U.S. 23.... I mean some DEEP shots in the 4th qtr. IMO, South Floyd had some players try to be too much of a hero too early in the 4th. Taking crazy long shots and trying to make hero passes when they didn't need to. When they started doing that is when Pikeville was able to pull away. The 82-75 score is a good representation of the overall game. Pikeville was able to take advantage of South Floyd's miscues late in the 4th and grind out a win.

We get a rematch of the 2000 15th Region tournament championship game between JC and Pikeville. JC won 66-54. JC's head coach Tommy McKenzie was JC's starting PG that year and JC's official statistician, Clinton Hackney, was their starting PF. That team made it to the Elite 8 for the first time in school history that season.







Nights like tonight is why we love high school basketball.

[Snow]

I'll be the first to say it.... tonight at the Expo was collectively the best overall night of basketball the 15th region tournament has ever seen. Some people probably won't agree, but if you were there., you know what I mean...... everybody got their $7.00 worth tonight. The Expo, even though I don't like it, was a great venue for tonight's games. Last number we were told was over 5,000 tickets sold. The crowds brought it for all three games.


The girls game between JC and Paintsville was tight the whole game. Paintsville is going to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1932. Nobody could really pull away, nobody could make a run. Cross-town rivals going toe to toe for 32 minutes in the regional championship game is what makes high school basketball great. Paintsville won 39-36. JC had their chances down the stretch, but Paintsville would answer and make the big plays when they needed to. Paintsville proved they were the best team in the 15th region... winning the All-A regional and the 15th regional, now they need to go represent at the Sweet 16.


The boys semi-final game between JC and Lawrence County was AMAZING!!!!! The 88-87 score shows just how close this game was. Lawrence County led by 11 with 1:38 left in the 3rd qtr. There was 5 ties and 6 lead changes.
Lawrence County was 12/26 from behind the 3 point line. Dalton had 28 points, Wellman has 25 points, Dotson had 21 points.... those three carried Lawrence County.
JC was 12/31 from behind the 3 point line. Blair had 40 points, Crace had 16, Davis had 12.
This was a GREAT game.
Back and forth, up and down.... 3 balls, fast breaks, turnovers, double Technical fouls... you name it, this game had it. Lawrence County missed their big #4 late in the game and they really missed Dalton down the stretch. JC stayed calm, weathered the storm and made some major baskets late in the game. JC never could hit Dagger shot to put Lawrence away. Lawrence kept battling back, JC made a great offensive play with a very short amount of time left, then made a game winning stop as time expired as time expired. You could see the expressions change on the JC players and coaches faces as the horn sounded. As big of a JC homer as I am, Lawrence County was the better team tonight. No shame in saying that either. Lawrence County played the best basketball game they could have asked for.
Johnson Central needs to hit their knees and say a prayer. Beating a team four times in a season hardly ever happens. No way the JC coaching staff would let the players over look Lawrence County, they just didn't play like they did the past three games. In tournament time, it's survive and advance.


South Floyd vs. Pikeville.... as a fan with no connection to either team was incredible to watch. Both teams played good the 1st half. Nobody pulled away, just exchanged baskets. Oh but the 2nd half was awesome to watch. South Floyd played like a team possessed. They didn't want their schools basketball history to end with an L. Big 3's, rebounds and nice moves in the post brought the Raider Nation to their feet. Pikeville hit some 3 point shots from U.S. 23.... I mean some DEEP shots in the 4th qtr. IMO, South Floyd had some players try to be too much of a hero too early in the 4th. Taking crazy long shots and trying to make hero passes when they didn't need to. When they started doing that is when Pikeville was able to pull away. The 82-75 score is a good representation of the overall game. Pikeville was able to take advantage of South Floyd's miscues late in the 4th and grind out a win.

We get a rematch of the 2000 15th Region tournament between JC and Pikeville. JC won 66-54. JC's head coach Tommy McKenzie was JC's starting PG that year and JC's official statistician, Clinton Hackney, was their starting PF. That team made it to the Elite 8 for the first time in school history that season.







Nights like tonight is why we love high school basketball.

Wow. Great analysis of the game. Congrats to all involved

[jamesclay]

Great win by Coach Booher tonight!

[Pulp Fiction]

While it's fresh on my mind.....


The Expo REALLY and I mean REALLY needs to go back to reserved seating and advanced ticket sales. With today's technology, there is no reason why people can't buy tickets online or from the schools. And oh by the way, if they aren't gonna do advanced sales.... there is no reason to only have two ticket windows open. That is a joke. Biggest night of the tournament and they only had two ticket windows open.

The Expo REALLY and I mean REALLY needs to have more than one concession stand open. Three big games with massive crowds and they only have one concession stand open to service the entire arena. And oh by the way, they ran out of all of their main food items and snacks during the JC vs. Lawrence County game.

The Expo REALLY and I mean REALLY needs to do something to improve cell service inside the arena OR provide free WiFi. I was told that the WiFi was disconnected because they saw a media outlet streaming the last few seconds on the Paintsville vs. Shelby Valley girls game. In today's social media world, they have to provide quality WiFi or do something to improve cell service. You see Appalachian Wireless signs all over the place inside the Expo, surely they can do something to make this better for everybody.

The Expo REALLY and I mean REALLY needs to work on their sound system. They have good speakers, but the settings are all jacked up. Sounded like the PA announcer was using a mega phone on top of the actual microphone. Way too distorted for the money they have in their system.

The Expo REALLY and I mean REALLY needs to work on their scoreboards. Several times this week all of the scoreboards would just go black. It was like they would loose power. The clock operator could still see the all of the information, but the scoreboards would be blank.

The Expo (or the 15th Region Tournament committee) REALLY and I mean REALLY needs to get a banners for the State Championship teams the 15th Region has. The championship teams that Inez (1941 & 1954), Paintsville (1996) and Shelby Valley (2010) need to be recognized. The banners of the former and current teams are great and we all like to see them hanging up in the rafters, but the State Championship teams the 15th region has produced needs to be up there as well. We all play to win the Sweet 16, the teams that have completed that feat needs to be on display for the world to see.

[OffTheHook]

The stream they cut off was mainly for the girl from Italy. That was the ONLY way her family could see what was goin on. The people here are gonna come. But...please....we ALL have people far from here that love us all. The Expo needs to grow up. Trust me. They didn't loose any money from that little feed......JERKS!

[Pulp Fiction]

I was trying to do the updates for the JC vs. Paintsville girls game and the JC vs. Lawrence County game.... but couldn't get service inside the arena, and there was no way I was gonna go outside and do it.

I agree OffTheHook, the Expo needs to grow up and get with the times. Social media coverage of sports is not going away and is more popular than ever. If newspapers and TV stations aren't able to update the stats and scores to the masses gives the Expo a bad look.

[MrMechanic]

Place was packed. Last announcement I heard was over 6,000.

[catwoman]

Bullcrap LC got the shaft

[Redneck]

How do we go about starting a petition for moving the tournament back to the high schools

[basketball101]

Crowd was great

[Speedshot]

how do we go about starting a petition for moving the tournament back to the high schools

lol

[kids03]

Which HS has enough seating for 6,000 people?

[PHSFAN]

15th Region Tournament is held at the Expo Center in downtown Pikeville every year...not sure any of the local high schools can seat 6000...I assume not.

[PHSForever]

Bullcrap LC got the shaft

I agree there were questionable calls or non calls. But that happens every game. When Lawrence County was up 5 with 2 minutes and change left, they were still jacking up shots instead of running time off clock. That hurt them too. It was a little of everything. Was an exciting game to watch, and Dalton is a wonderful player.

[basketball101]

No high school does

[Gsjhe]

I will agree that this was the greatest night in Regional Basketball history. And I agree with PHSForever with his take on the LC game. LC didn't get screwed. Yeah they were questionable calls. But on both sides. LC people don't wanna talk about all the missed FTs late or them not burning clock with a 2 or 3 possession lead all the 4th quarter. No one got screwed. And I was cheering for LC. I don't really think the expo needs to go to reserved seating. They have bigger problems than that I think. I mean yeah they should have more than two windows open but I wouldn't say they have to go to reserved seating. I will say they do need to get with the times though. The whole internet situation is absolutely ridiculous. No excuse for that. The scoreboard messing up every couple minutes is just as ridiculous. Plus the clocks on the basketball goals didn't even work for some of last night. The concession prices are ridiculous plus they do need more than one. I understand that they are really not many times they will be that crowd size. Especially compared to the last few years. But everyone knew they would be a huge number last night. They should've been more prepared.

[clipperw]

I attended last night and enjoyed it. I liked the general admission policy personally. I do think they should have had each section marked for certain schools like the District Tournaments do. The Districts I've attended usually has the schools name listed on a certain section.

I also think all four box office windows should have been open. I got there shortly after the doors opened and didn't have to wait too long, but I can imagine as the day went on, the longer the wait was.

The concession stand surprised me. I am surprised nobody had the foresight to realize a big crowd would be on hand, and perhaps it would have been wise to had all the stands running, and also to make sure they had plenty of food in stock.


I attended nights of the 57th and 58th Tournaments and both tournaments had t-shirts and programs for sale. I believe the 15th Region had shirts, if I saw right, but no program. I realize money is tight and all, but I would think not only fans like myself, but also families and the players would like a program as sort of a keepsake.


Personally, I would love to see it go back to the schools, but I would guess, especially after last night it will stay at the Expo Center for quite sometime. I cant imagine any gym in the Region could hold as many people that was there last night.

[Redneck]

There were 6,000 tickets sold between 3 games. There wasn't 6,000 fans there at one time. The crowds you see at these games this day and age are no bigger than they were 10, 20, or even 30 years ago. The only issues you seen at some of the schools that hosted the region was parking. Playing on the college size floor is the only positive.

[Gsjhe]

There were 6,000 tickets sold between 3 games. There wasn't 6,000 fans there at one time. The crowds you see at these games this day and age are no bigger than they were 10, 20, or even 30 years ago. The only issues you seen at some of the schools that hosted the region was parking. Playing on the college size floor is the only positive.

Idk what the official number during the games were. But I promise you they aren't a gym in the region that could've held the crowd of LC and JC. And trust me I hate having it at the expo.

[Blacksmith]

The tourney really and I mean REALLY needs to go back to the schools. Just my opinion

[Sports72]

It was one of the best Regional Tourney's from beginning to end that ive seen at the Expo! I have went to of them!!

[Warthog]

I'll be the first to say it.... tonight at the Expo was collectively the best overall night of basketball the 15th region tournament has ever seen. Some people probably won't agree, but if you were there., you know what I mean...... everybody got their $7.00 worth tonight. The Expo, even though I don't like it, was a great venue for tonight's games. Last number we were told was over 5,000 tickets sold. The crowds brought it for all three games.


The girls game between JC and Paintsville was tight the whole game. Paintsville is going to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1932. Nobody could really pull away, nobody could make a run. Cross-town rivals going toe to toe for 32 minutes in the regional championship game is what makes high school basketball great. Paintsville won 39-36. JC had their chances down the stretch, but Paintsville would answer and make the big plays when they needed to. Paintsville proved they were the best team in the 15th region... winning the All-A regional and the 15th regional, now they need to go represent at the Sweet 16.


The boys semi-final game between JC and Lawrence County was AMAZING!!!!! The 88-87 score shows just how close this game was. Lawrence County led by 11 with 1:38 left in the 3rd qtr. There was 5 ties and 6 lead changes.
Lawrence County was 12/26 from behind the 3 point line. Dalton had 28 points, Wellman has 25 points, Dotson had 21 points.... those three carried Lawrence County.
JC was 12/31 from behind the 3 point line. Blair had 40 points, Crace had 16, Davis had 12.
This was a GREAT game.
Back and forth, up and down.... 3 balls, fast breaks, turnovers, double Technical fouls... you name it, this game had it. Lawrence County missed their big #4 late in the game and they really missed Dalton down the stretch. JC stayed calm, weathered the storm and made some major baskets late in the game. JC never could hit Dagger shot to put Lawrence away. Lawrence kept battling back, JC made a great offensive play with a very short amount of time left, then made a game winning stop as time expired as time expired. You could see the expressions change on the JC players and coaches faces as the horn sounded. As big of a JC homer as I am, Lawrence County was the better team tonight. No shame in saying that either. Lawrence County played the best basketball game they could have asked for.
Johnson Central needs to hit their knees and say a prayer. Beating a team four times in a season hardly ever happens. No way the JC coaching staff would let the players over look Lawrence County, they just didn't play like they did the past three games. In tournament time, it's survive and advance.


South Floyd vs. Pikeville.... as a fan with no connection to either team was incredible to watch. Both teams played good the 1st half. Nobody pulled away, just exchanged baskets. Oh but the 2nd half was awesome to watch. South Floyd played like a team possessed. They didn't want their schools basketball history to end with an L. Big 3's, rebounds and nice moves in the post brought the Raider Nation to their feet. Pikeville hit some 3 point shots from U.S. 23.... I mean some DEEP shots in the 4th qtr. IMO, South Floyd had some players try to be too much of a hero too early in the 4th. Taking crazy long shots and trying to make hero passes when they didn't need to. When they started doing that is when Pikeville was able to pull away. The 82-75 score is a good representation of the overall game. Pikeville was able to take advantage of South Floyd's miscues late in the 4th and grind out a win.

We get a rematch of the 2000 15th Region tournament championship game between JC and Pikeville. JC won 66-54. JC's head coach Tommy McKenzie was JC's starting PG that year and JC's official statistician, Clinton Hackney, was their starting PF. That team made it to the Elite 8 for the first time in school history that season.







Nights like tonight is why we love high school basketball.

Last night is one reason it should remain at the expo because no highschool gym could come close to holding that capacity. It was electric

[-STAT-]

I'll have to agree, definitely one of the best nights of the 15th Regional Tournament, most definitely in the Expo center, ever. The last time I seen that place nearly filled to capacity, was the Valley-Paintsville semi final matchup in 2008, nearly 7500 in attendance for that game. But when you have back to back to back games like that, come down to the wire? It really makes you change your tone about having it in the expo, just wish that the atmosphere would be like that every night. Maybe implement this concept of having the girls championship, and the boys semi finals on Saturday, but maybe start a little earlier, or even have the girls championship as the last game of the evening, they deserve to have the main event, and with all the ideas that PULP had mentioned above, I think the expo center could turn it around, because it's been way down the last 5 years. But you couldn't ask for a better night of basketball.

[jamesclay]

The Expo Center is a beautiful facility. The folks who operate the Expo Center and deal with fans/media are an absolute joke. I'm considering going on an epic rant to tell how they really treat people. Should I unload or refrain?

[Pulp Fiction]

The Expo Center is a beautiful facility. The folks who operate the Expo Center and deal with fans/media are an absolute joke. I'm considering going on an epic rant to tell how they really treat people. Should I unload or refrain?

Let's hear it, just stay within the BGR rules.



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[Redneck]

I'll have to agree, definitely one of the best nights of the 15th Regional Tournament, most definitely in the Expo center, ever. The last time I seen that place nearly filled to capacity, was the Valley-Paintsville semi final matchup in 2008, nearly 7500 in attendance for that game. But when you have back to back to back games like that, come down to the wire? It really makes you change your tone about having it in the expo, just wish that the atmosphere would be like that every night. Maybe implement this concept of having the girls championship, and the boys semi finals on Saturday, but maybe start a little earlier, or even have the girls championship as the last game of the evening, they deserve to have the main event, and with all the ideas that PULP had mentioned above, I think the expo center could turn it around, because it's been way down the last 5 years. But you couldn't ask for a better night of basketball.

7,500 in attendance? There are only 6,675 tickets available for the Chris Stapleton concert in April, and that's including 1,400 seats on the floor. Explain to me how there were 7,500 at a high school basketball game when the actual capacity is only around 5,200

[PHSForever]

7,500 in attendance? There are only 6,675 tickets available for the Chris Stapleton concert in April, and that's including 1,400 seats on the floor. Explain to me how there were 7,500 at a high school basketball game when the actual capacity is only around 5,200

Capacity is 10k. They curtain off sections for some concerts based on early sales and cap the ticket numbers. Back in 2008 or so, they did not do that and that is why the discrepancy. But the seating capacity is 10k.

[Redneck]

Capacity is 10k. They curtain off sections for some concerts based on early sales and cap the ticket numbers. Back in 2008 or so, they did not do that and that is why the discrepancy. But the seating capacity is 10k.

Not even close bub. The seating capacity in that arena with the basketball floor set up right now is around 5,200. Feel free to call the Expo and verify if you would like.

[Pulp Fiction]

Capacity is 10k. They curtain off sections for some concerts based on early sales and cap the ticket numbers. Back in 2008 or so, they did not do that and that is why the discrepancy. But the seating capacity is 10k.

Not even close bub. The seating capacity in that arena with the basketball floor set up right now is around 5,200. Feel free to call the Expo and verify if you would like.

There is NO WAY the Expo's capacity is 10,000.

[Gsjhe]

There is NO WAY the Expo's capacity is 10,000.

I agree. I say its between 7000 and 7500.