Clay County 59. North Laurel 56. OT

walterwhite · 02-26-2016, 03:35 AM

Once again Burchell proves it's hard to beat the Lady Tigers at tournament time! Gritty performance by the entire team and staff. This reverses 11 and 8 point regular season loses. Once again 49th District Champs. I have said all year that by tournament time this group would be a tough out. Congrats!!!!!

UKCC · 02-26-2016, 03:51 AM

Huge win by the Lady Tigers. They showed that Clay County brings it come tournament time and that can be attributed to history. Nothing else matters as far as this season and the future is bright. Great job by Coach Burchell, his staff, and the players. I noted before the season to watch out for Kaylee Mathis for years to come. No team was younger and the 13th region might want to get ready, again.

**64SUR** · 02-26-2016, 04:30 AM

Congratulations Clay County tigers this was a Huuuuugggg win. Confused

inglepar

insideinfo · 02-26-2016, 04:32 AM

Congratulations Lady Tigers, I have said it hundred time Burchell is the best coach in the region and there is not even no one close to him.

Van Hagar · 02-26-2016, 12:54 PM

Besides the great coaching, which is obvious, how about Kaylee Mathis, an 8th-grader!, stepping up and making three free throws with her team down three with two seconds to go after getting fouled on a three-point attempt? Just to get to overtime? That would be nerve-wracking for Steph Curry!

Dorlon70 · 02-26-2016, 02:24 PM

Coach Mahan is a good coach and so is Coach Burchell. But, it was going to be hard to beat them the 3rd time. And fouling on the 3ptr was not Coach Mahan plan/fault nor a good coaching move by Burchell. Mathis can PLAY!!

**E's Army** · 02-26-2016, 04:10 PM

Congrats to Clay

Magic Johnson · 02-26-2016, 05:03 PM

North has much more talent than Clay, that is not debatable. This one is coaching, and coaching alone. Burchell is the best there is in the 13th. Team individually has so many flaws, but collectively he has turned them in to a dangerous team at the correct time.

HCS · 02-26-2016, 08:07 PM

Burchell is a great coach, but I don't see how anyone could say Akal isn't at least in the conversation after the job he's done in building Harlan, a Class A school, into the No. 1 team in the region to this point. Harlan beat Clay in each of the last two regional tournaments.

~~Cellking~~ · 02-26-2016, 09:55 PM

Mathis is a player, Best 8th grader I saw last year. Cong: to Clay Co. They will be Good for several years to come.

walterwhite · 02-26-2016, 10:43 PM

[quote=Dorlon70]Coach Mahan is a good coach and so is Coach Burchell. But, it was going to be hard to beat them the 3rd time. And fouling on the 3ptr was not Coach Mahan plan/fault nor a good coaching move by Burchell. Mathis can PLAY!![/QUOTE
Burchell's game plan was excellent and the players executed it well. Phillips was outstanding and Mathis came up big at the line late. Give credit where credit is due. Clay out played and out coached North Thursday night. Period!!!

insideinfo · 02-26-2016, 11:22 PM

HCS Wrote:Burchell is a great coach, but I don't see how anyone could say Akal isn't at least in the conversation after the job he's done in building Harlan, a Class A school, into the No. 1 team in the region to this point. Harlan beat Clay in each of the last two regional tournaments.

Akal is a great coach, just not in Burchell league. IMO. You get to the next level of coaches and it is also a big step down. After watching a few games at the end of the season I'm picking Harlan Ind to go to the State Tournament. I thought North might give them a good game but I doubt it.

Dorlon70 · 02-27-2016, 12:11 AM

I am definitely not taking credit from Burchell. He is an excellent coach, that is NOT debatable. But I'm not willing to throw Mahan under the bus after one game.

walterwhite · 02-27-2016, 12:34 AM

Dorlon70 Wrote:I am definitely not taking credit from Burchell. He is an excellent coach, that is NOT debatable. But I'm not willing to throw Mahan under the bus after one game.

He's not been thrown under the bus, he just got ran over by it in one game.

walterwhite · 02-27-2016, 01:32 AM

I haven't criticized Mahan at all, but Burchell made the adjustments after 2 loses and pulled out a District championship. Excellent game plan that his players followed. I can let it go at that. In reality it's only importan for pride and the draw for the region. Both teams will now have to win three games to advance to the state and that's what's important now. Harlan will be very, very hard to beat.

icecreamandcake · 02-27-2016, 04:38 AM

Congrats to Coach Burchell and the Lady Tigers!

Dorlon70 · 02-27-2016, 07:33 AM

walterwhite Wrote:He's not been thrown under the bus, he just got ran over by it in one game.

Lol...that's a good one. And that's very possible. Burchell is a great coach and could easily out coach anyone in our region. There are a couple other good coaches also. And I agree, Burchell can and probably will be in the finals because of his coaching ability. I just hate to say that someone got out coached because sometimes players just don't respond. But, I understand your point.

Leonards_loser · 02-27-2016, 07:48 AM

Dorlon70 Wrote:Lol...that's a good one. And that's very possible. Burchell is a great coach and could easily out coach anyone in our region. There are a couple other good coaches also. And I agree, Burchell can and probably will be in the finals because of his coaching ability. I just hate to say that someone got out coached because sometimes players just don't respond. But, I understand your point.

Happens a lot on both boys and girls board lately. One would think the coaches are scoring every point for their teams. Give credit where credits due. North made a silly foul and an eighth grader stepped up under unreal pressure and made the shots. I think both Clay and North have two fine coaches and both put their teams in position to win this game. Simply come down to player execution and neither coach scored a point.

walterwhite · 02-27-2016, 03:10 PM

Leonards_loser Wrote:Happens a lot on both boys and girls board lately. One would think the coaches are scoring every point for their teams. Give credit where credits due. North made a silly foul and an eighth grader stepped up under unreal pressure and made the shots. I think both Clay and North have two fine coaches and both put their teams in position to win this game. Simply come down to player execution and neither coach scored a point.

So the game plan and strategy employed by coaches have little impact on the game? Player execution is absolutely critical and without it even the best coaches look bad, but to imply that coaching is pretty much irrelevant is crazy! Dictating how the game is played is how teams that may be undermanned can turn the tables on more talented teams. If coaching isn't important then we should just play without 'em, pick-up games. Coaches try to put their teams in the best position to win, and players execute to carry out those plans.

Magic Johnson · 02-27-2016, 09:45 PM

Anyone who thinks coaching doesn't matter..... Didn't play!

walterwhite · 02-27-2016, 10:45 PM

Clay hasn't been a favorite all year, and have experienced many peaks and valleys this season. 2 of their losses were to North by 11 and 8 (with the 8 point loss coming at home where, according to many on this board, the 12 Disciples couldn't win at). Being able to win and reverse those games required great play by the players and yes, some very nice adjustments in strategy by the staff. Clay has a rough road to travel next week. They very well could lose to a fine Harlan County team in the first round, but that won't change the great performance by the girls and coaches in the district final.

BestSeatInTheHouse · 02-28-2016, 08:07 PM

Congratulations to Clay Co girls!!