The Scribe
11-25-2008, 03:43 AM
13th Region Boys Preview
By Les Dixon
The Times-Tribune
On paper, no team returns more talent in the 13th Region than Tony
Pietrowski’s Corbin Redhounds.
The Redhounds (25-8) return all five starters back from last season,
but the big question entering this year is if Corbin can recover from
consecutive losses to South Laurel in the 13th Region finals?
Corbin was just minutes away from advancing to Rupp Arena for the
first time since 2005, but blew a double digit lead to the Cardinals
in the fourth quarter before losing in overtime, 59-49.
This time around, Pietrowski believes his team is ready to take the
next step.
“The way we lost last year was a hard pill to swallow, but I told the
kids that you can’t dwell in the moment and they’ve done a good job
of not doing that,” he said. “A lot of different factors played in
that loss and in the same light, we’ve moved on.”
Despite seeing his team penciled in as the region favorites,
Pietrowski believes until someone knocks off South Laurel, the
Cardinals should be the favorite.
“They’ve won three straight region titles in the 13th Region and four
straight overall,” he said. “Until someone beats them, they are the
team to beat.”
South Laurel coach Steve Wright said he doesn’t mind to see his team
as the region favorite, but was quick to point out his team has a lot
to prove.
“I wouldn’t mind us being the pre-season favorite, but this season,
Corbin is wearing the hat,” he said. “Corbin returns every starter
and a solid bench and there’s no way they can avoid the hat because
it’s been put on them.”
Knox Central coach Brandon Elam agrees to some degree.
“On paper, Corbin has to be the team to beat,” he said. “But, until
someone knocks off South Laurel, you have to believe they are the
team to beat.”
Both Elam and Wright agree that the region is full of talented teams.
“there is a lot of teams that return a lot of talent this season,”
Wright said. “Corbin, Clay County, Knox Central, Lynn Camp, Bell
County, Middlesboro, Whitley County and Williamsburg return a lot of
talent,” he added. “The unknown factor is Harlan County. You don’t
know what they have and they could be really good.”
Elam said he returns a solid team and wouldn’t be surprised to see a
sleeper team win the region.
“It’s going to be competitive - that’s for sure,” he said.
But until someone beats Corbin, the Redhounds are the team to beat.
With Josh Crawford (10.4), Madison Johnson (15.3), Lee Crawford
(3.2), Isaac Wilson (10.2), Josh Smith (10.4), Aaron Manns (8.0) and
Blake Hendrickson (3.2) returning, Corbin will be tough to handle.
“I really like this team,” Pietrowski said. “It would be easy for us
to have a hangover from last year, but the kids have come in here and
worked hard.
“We have set a lot of goals for this season and we want to accomplish
them,” he added. “It takes a lot of hard work and luck to win the
region and I believe we’re heading into the right direction.”
Coming in at the No. 2 spot is Kevin Spurlock’s Clay County Tigers
(20-11), while South Laurel (27-8), Knox Central (24-8) and Bell
County (19-12) round out the top five.
The Tigers return a ton of talent with players such as D.J. Wilson
(13.2), Cody Roberts (9.5), Kendale Reed (7.9), John Vernon Hooker
(1.1) and Matthew Mitchell (5.2) ready to play.
Buckhorn transfer Adam Gay will give Clay County some size, along
with Brandon Griffin (1.1), Tanner Gilbert (1.1) and Bill Ed White
(1.0).
“Clay County has a good team,” Wright said. “They’ll be right in the
mix of things.”
Another team that will be in the mix of things is Wright’s Cardinals.
South Laurel graduated four key players off of last year’s regional
champion squad, but return big man Matt St. John (14.2), Zack Smith
(6.2), Wes Dean (5.0), Matthew Gilbert (4.3) and Matt Watkins (6.6).
“We graduated four guys that contributed a lot for us and it’s going
to be hard to replace them,” Wright said. “I’m not saying we can’t
replace them, but it’s going to be hard.
“This is a new team that has new chemistry and is playing a new
style, so it’s going to take a while,” he added.
Following the Cardinals is Elam’s Panthers, who reached the 13th
Region semi-finals before being ousted by Corbin.
Knox Central returns the region’s top player in Cody Miller (21.5),
along with Chad Messer (10.0), Josh Brown (3.0), Seth Bingham (2.3),
Travis Canady (2.9) and Tanner Broughton.
“”I feel like we’ve got a good team,” Elam said. “It’s great to have
someone like Cody and I believe the sky is the limit for him. If we
can have some other players step up, I believe we can compete for the
region title.”
One of the sleeper teams in the region is Bell County.
The Bobcats will host the 13th Region Tournament this year and
returns Shawnta Zachary (15.1). George Wilson (14.7) also returns
along with Bryan Robbins (7.6), Mitchell Mayes (6.4), Ben Madon
(1.6), Keith Lowe (2.8) and Seth Chambers (3.0).
North Laurel (17-12), Harlan County (NA), Whitley County (13-17),
Middlesboro (14-16) and Lynn Camp (19-11) round out the top 10.
The Jaguars return Josh Seidel and his 22.2 points per game average
along with Adrian Wardrup (9.2), while Mike Jones will try to get the
Black Bears into the regional tournament with Josh Caldwell (16.2)
returning.
Whitley County could be a sleeper in the region with four starters
returning in Ben Prewitt (4.9), Jacob Lowrie (4.9), Michael Crawford
(7.5), Jeremy Daniels (4.1) and Jamie Lebanion (10.4) returning.
Middlesboro has an argument to be rated higher, but the Yellow
Jackets need to be more consistent. Returning is Blaine Green (12.5),
Antwan Brown (12.2) and Nick Smith (14.8).
Another wild card is Anthony Pennington’s Lynn Camp Wildcats.
The Wildcats are coming off their best season ever and hope their
success continues this season with Jonah Mitchell (13.6), David
Sizemore (10.0) and Cody Mobley (6.6) returning. Brad Bargo (12.2),
Tyler Wagner (4.2) and Sidney Wagner (NA) are also returning to the
mix for Lynn Camp.
Rounding out the final seven spots are Barbourville (13-15),
Pineville (24-6), Williamsburg (5-21), Harlan (6-22), Red Bird
(14-12), Oneida Baptist (6-16) and Jackson County (15-13).
Dinky Phipps’ Tigers are looking to get back into the 13th Region
Tournament after making a run to the region finals in 2006.
Barbourville lost the services of Cody Messer, but return talented
players in Garrett Clark (11.7), Kevin Williamson (7.2), Cody
Thompson (9.2), Josh Mills (8.6), Andrew Lee (3.3) and Garrett Vaughn
(1.1).
Pineville returns the region’s top guard in James David Strange
(17.5), but will be hard-pressed to repeat last season’s 24-6 record.
Williamsburg is a sleeper team, but will have a tough time competing
in the rough and tough 50th District.
Jacob Teague (12.1), Daniel Pettit (5.0) and Aaron Cunningham (18.1)
could make Williamsburg a dangerous team come post-season.
Harlan will be led by Jecorey Fields (8.6), while Red Bird, Oneida
Baptist and Jackson County faces major rebuilding tasks.
• 13th Region Pre-season Rankings
1. Corbin (25-8) - The Redhounds return all five starters. Enough said.
2. Clay County (20-11) - The Tigers have enough talent to win the
region title this season.
3. South Laurel (27-8) - The Cardinals are 116-24 during the past
four years. Can the success continue?
4. Knox Central (24-8) - Cody Miller returns, which is a plus for the
Panthers.
5. Bell County (19-12) - Could be the surprise team of the region.
6. North Laurel (17-12) - With Seidel returning, the Jaguars have
enough talent to compete for a region crown.
7. Harlan County (NA) - Jones will work his magic.
8. Whitley County (13-17) - Better than most people think.
9. Middlesboro (14-16) - The Yellow Jackets are another dangerous team.
10. Lynn Camp (19-11) - Pennington’s Wildcats are heading in the
right direction.
11. Barbourville (13-15) - Dinky’s Tigers are slowly moving up.
12. Pineville (24-6) - Strange is solid.
13. Williamsburg (5-21) - The Yellow Jackets have won only 21 games
during the past four years.
14. Harlan (6-22) - Casey Lester’s Green Dragons will be better.
15. Red Bird (14-12) - A long season is in store for the Cardinals.
16. Oneida Baptist (6-16) - The Mountaineers return some solid players.
17. Jackson County (15-13) - The Generals have a new coach and he’ll
have to replace 10 seniors from last season’s squad.
Top Players in the 13th Region
1. Cody Miller, Knox Central
2. Josh Crawford, Corbin
3. Madison Johnson, Corbin
4. Matt. St. John, South Laurel
5. Josh Seidel, North Laurel
6. James David Strange, Pineville
7. Blaine Greene, Middlesboro
8. Shawnta Zachery, Bell County
9. Isaac Wilson, Corbin
10. Josh Caldwell, Harlan County
By Les Dixon
The Times-Tribune
On paper, no team returns more talent in the 13th Region than Tony
Pietrowski’s Corbin Redhounds.
The Redhounds (25-8) return all five starters back from last season,
but the big question entering this year is if Corbin can recover from
consecutive losses to South Laurel in the 13th Region finals?
Corbin was just minutes away from advancing to Rupp Arena for the
first time since 2005, but blew a double digit lead to the Cardinals
in the fourth quarter before losing in overtime, 59-49.
This time around, Pietrowski believes his team is ready to take the
next step.
“The way we lost last year was a hard pill to swallow, but I told the
kids that you can’t dwell in the moment and they’ve done a good job
of not doing that,” he said. “A lot of different factors played in
that loss and in the same light, we’ve moved on.”
Despite seeing his team penciled in as the region favorites,
Pietrowski believes until someone knocks off South Laurel, the
Cardinals should be the favorite.
“They’ve won three straight region titles in the 13th Region and four
straight overall,” he said. “Until someone beats them, they are the
team to beat.”
South Laurel coach Steve Wright said he doesn’t mind to see his team
as the region favorite, but was quick to point out his team has a lot
to prove.
“I wouldn’t mind us being the pre-season favorite, but this season,
Corbin is wearing the hat,” he said. “Corbin returns every starter
and a solid bench and there’s no way they can avoid the hat because
it’s been put on them.”
Knox Central coach Brandon Elam agrees to some degree.
“On paper, Corbin has to be the team to beat,” he said. “But, until
someone knocks off South Laurel, you have to believe they are the
team to beat.”
Both Elam and Wright agree that the region is full of talented teams.
“there is a lot of teams that return a lot of talent this season,”
Wright said. “Corbin, Clay County, Knox Central, Lynn Camp, Bell
County, Middlesboro, Whitley County and Williamsburg return a lot of
talent,” he added. “The unknown factor is Harlan County. You don’t
know what they have and they could be really good.”
Elam said he returns a solid team and wouldn’t be surprised to see a
sleeper team win the region.
“It’s going to be competitive - that’s for sure,” he said.
But until someone beats Corbin, the Redhounds are the team to beat.
With Josh Crawford (10.4), Madison Johnson (15.3), Lee Crawford
(3.2), Isaac Wilson (10.2), Josh Smith (10.4), Aaron Manns (8.0) and
Blake Hendrickson (3.2) returning, Corbin will be tough to handle.
“I really like this team,” Pietrowski said. “It would be easy for us
to have a hangover from last year, but the kids have come in here and
worked hard.
“We have set a lot of goals for this season and we want to accomplish
them,” he added. “It takes a lot of hard work and luck to win the
region and I believe we’re heading into the right direction.”
Coming in at the No. 2 spot is Kevin Spurlock’s Clay County Tigers
(20-11), while South Laurel (27-8), Knox Central (24-8) and Bell
County (19-12) round out the top five.
The Tigers return a ton of talent with players such as D.J. Wilson
(13.2), Cody Roberts (9.5), Kendale Reed (7.9), John Vernon Hooker
(1.1) and Matthew Mitchell (5.2) ready to play.
Buckhorn transfer Adam Gay will give Clay County some size, along
with Brandon Griffin (1.1), Tanner Gilbert (1.1) and Bill Ed White
(1.0).
“Clay County has a good team,” Wright said. “They’ll be right in the
mix of things.”
Another team that will be in the mix of things is Wright’s Cardinals.
South Laurel graduated four key players off of last year’s regional
champion squad, but return big man Matt St. John (14.2), Zack Smith
(6.2), Wes Dean (5.0), Matthew Gilbert (4.3) and Matt Watkins (6.6).
“We graduated four guys that contributed a lot for us and it’s going
to be hard to replace them,” Wright said. “I’m not saying we can’t
replace them, but it’s going to be hard.
“This is a new team that has new chemistry and is playing a new
style, so it’s going to take a while,” he added.
Following the Cardinals is Elam’s Panthers, who reached the 13th
Region semi-finals before being ousted by Corbin.
Knox Central returns the region’s top player in Cody Miller (21.5),
along with Chad Messer (10.0), Josh Brown (3.0), Seth Bingham (2.3),
Travis Canady (2.9) and Tanner Broughton.
“”I feel like we’ve got a good team,” Elam said. “It’s great to have
someone like Cody and I believe the sky is the limit for him. If we
can have some other players step up, I believe we can compete for the
region title.”
One of the sleeper teams in the region is Bell County.
The Bobcats will host the 13th Region Tournament this year and
returns Shawnta Zachary (15.1). George Wilson (14.7) also returns
along with Bryan Robbins (7.6), Mitchell Mayes (6.4), Ben Madon
(1.6), Keith Lowe (2.8) and Seth Chambers (3.0).
North Laurel (17-12), Harlan County (NA), Whitley County (13-17),
Middlesboro (14-16) and Lynn Camp (19-11) round out the top 10.
The Jaguars return Josh Seidel and his 22.2 points per game average
along with Adrian Wardrup (9.2), while Mike Jones will try to get the
Black Bears into the regional tournament with Josh Caldwell (16.2)
returning.
Whitley County could be a sleeper in the region with four starters
returning in Ben Prewitt (4.9), Jacob Lowrie (4.9), Michael Crawford
(7.5), Jeremy Daniels (4.1) and Jamie Lebanion (10.4) returning.
Middlesboro has an argument to be rated higher, but the Yellow
Jackets need to be more consistent. Returning is Blaine Green (12.5),
Antwan Brown (12.2) and Nick Smith (14.8).
Another wild card is Anthony Pennington’s Lynn Camp Wildcats.
The Wildcats are coming off their best season ever and hope their
success continues this season with Jonah Mitchell (13.6), David
Sizemore (10.0) and Cody Mobley (6.6) returning. Brad Bargo (12.2),
Tyler Wagner (4.2) and Sidney Wagner (NA) are also returning to the
mix for Lynn Camp.
Rounding out the final seven spots are Barbourville (13-15),
Pineville (24-6), Williamsburg (5-21), Harlan (6-22), Red Bird
(14-12), Oneida Baptist (6-16) and Jackson County (15-13).
Dinky Phipps’ Tigers are looking to get back into the 13th Region
Tournament after making a run to the region finals in 2006.
Barbourville lost the services of Cody Messer, but return talented
players in Garrett Clark (11.7), Kevin Williamson (7.2), Cody
Thompson (9.2), Josh Mills (8.6), Andrew Lee (3.3) and Garrett Vaughn
(1.1).
Pineville returns the region’s top guard in James David Strange
(17.5), but will be hard-pressed to repeat last season’s 24-6 record.
Williamsburg is a sleeper team, but will have a tough time competing
in the rough and tough 50th District.
Jacob Teague (12.1), Daniel Pettit (5.0) and Aaron Cunningham (18.1)
could make Williamsburg a dangerous team come post-season.
Harlan will be led by Jecorey Fields (8.6), while Red Bird, Oneida
Baptist and Jackson County faces major rebuilding tasks.
• 13th Region Pre-season Rankings
1. Corbin (25-8) - The Redhounds return all five starters. Enough said.
2. Clay County (20-11) - The Tigers have enough talent to win the
region title this season.
3. South Laurel (27-8) - The Cardinals are 116-24 during the past
four years. Can the success continue?
4. Knox Central (24-8) - Cody Miller returns, which is a plus for the
Panthers.
5. Bell County (19-12) - Could be the surprise team of the region.
6. North Laurel (17-12) - With Seidel returning, the Jaguars have
enough talent to compete for a region crown.
7. Harlan County (NA) - Jones will work his magic.
8. Whitley County (13-17) - Better than most people think.
9. Middlesboro (14-16) - The Yellow Jackets are another dangerous team.
10. Lynn Camp (19-11) - Pennington’s Wildcats are heading in the
right direction.
11. Barbourville (13-15) - Dinky’s Tigers are slowly moving up.
12. Pineville (24-6) - Strange is solid.
13. Williamsburg (5-21) - The Yellow Jackets have won only 21 games
during the past four years.
14. Harlan (6-22) - Casey Lester’s Green Dragons will be better.
15. Red Bird (14-12) - A long season is in store for the Cardinals.
16. Oneida Baptist (6-16) - The Mountaineers return some solid players.
17. Jackson County (15-13) - The Generals have a new coach and he’ll
have to replace 10 seniors from last season’s squad.
Top Players in the 13th Region
1. Cody Miller, Knox Central
2. Josh Crawford, Corbin
3. Madison Johnson, Corbin
4. Matt. St. John, South Laurel
5. Josh Seidel, North Laurel
6. James David Strange, Pineville
7. Blaine Greene, Middlesboro
8. Shawnta Zachery, Bell County
9. Isaac Wilson, Corbin
10. Josh Caldwell, Harlan County