Sport for a King … …

The 2 chief things that the state of Kentucky has been noted for, during the past hundred years or so, are the extremely competitive sports of college basketball and horse racing.   Horse racing is in the forefront because of the annual event held on the first Saturday of May (for the last 136 years & running); this event is called the Kentucky Derby and is held in Louisville, KY.

On the other hand, the sport of basketball has best been exemplified most often by The University of Louisville (U of L), KY and The University of Kentucky (UK) located in Lexington, KY.  U of L has 2 NCAA Championship wins (with 4 Final Four appearances) and UK has a total of seven (7) NCAA Championships (with 14 Final Four appearances) … UK holds no less than 46 over all Conference Championships and also holds the record for most the wins in all of college basketball throughout the United States.

Kentucky is in often called the “Bluegrass State” primarily I think because of the lush Bluegrass horse farms located throughout a large portion of the state.  Kentuckians are also occasionally called “Briar Hoppers”, especially those of us who are from the mountains located in the southeastern section of the state … there the king of sport is basketball …

As most any Briar Hopper will tell you, Kentucky’s source for the love of the game is none other than high school sports and originates in the hills and small communities located throughout southeastern Kentucky; from London (Laurel County) to Ashland (Boyd County)…

Although typically, high schools located here are tiny when compared to other areas of the state; historically this is due to the lack of decent roadways in the area and therefore consolidation of schools didn’t catch on until about 20 years ago when roadways began to improve as well. Regardless, the game of basketball is played within these mountains with such intensity; it’s often referred to as being a second religion to some.

This line of thought can best be understood by reviewing a few of the outstanding state wide tournament results concerning the game of high school basketball as they relate to southeastern Kentucky. All things considered, they’re quite impressive:

KY Boys State Wide Tournament Results …

Ashland High School won in 1928, 1933, 1934, and 1961 (Boyd County)

Hazard High School won in 1932 & 1955 (Perry County)

          Hindman High School won in 1943 (Knott County)

          Inez High School won in 1954 (Martin County)

Carr Creek High School won in 1956 (Knott County)

Laurel County High School won in 1982 (Laurel County)

Clay County High School takes the honors in 1987 (Clay County)

Paintsville High wins the tournament 1996 (Johnson County)

South Laurel enters the winning circle in 2005 (Laurel County)

And most recently in 2010 enter Shelby Valley (Pike County)  

And then there’s the All “A” boy’s teams … (for small schools which have 570 or less students) ...

          Carr Creek High School won in 1928 (Knott County)

Dilce Combs took the honors in 1993 (Perry County) only a few years after the special state wide tournament was re-instated following a long absence.

And not just the boys … in fact when the Kentucky girls “Sweet Sixteen” tournament came into play in 1975, it didn’t take long for the female variety of the Briar Hopper to step up … As a matter of fact in :

1977, 78, & 1979 the Laurel County High School girls got things started by winning 3 years in a row.

In 1989 the Clay County High girls won

In 1994 the girls from M C Napier (Perry County) won

Then in 1997 the young ladies from Hazard High (Perry County) brought the trophy home.

It is I believe of significant note, that M.C. Napier lady Navajo great Kristie Combs has been awarded her well deserved status as a high school basketball legend as she is set to be officially inducted into the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2011.

As reported by a local news paper, The Hazard Herald, “Combs led her Lady Navajo team to the 1994 state championship in girls’ basketball, setting several state records along the way.”

I for one, can testify to the nothing short of great level of play that Kristy was noted for, as I knew her quite well at the time … In fact I believe her athletic skill can only be out matched by her superior personality.  And yes, I was in Bowling Green, Kentucky to watch her and the rest of the team during every game of the tournament in 1994. 

Sources…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_teams_with_the_most_victories_in_NCAA_Division_I_men's_college_basketball

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Wildcats_men's_basketball

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville_Cardinals_men's_basketball http://www.knottcountyadventure.com/sports-legend.html             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Sixteen_(KHSAA_State_Basketball_Championship) http://fieldsnotes.wordpress.com/category/ky-sports-history/page/2/                                 http://www.hazard-herald.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Kristie+Combs-+Hall+of+Famer%20&id=8860042&instance=secondary_stories_left_column