LOOKING BACK

 I was listening to Dave and Dave do the play-by-play of the McCreary Central game with the Redhounds last week when they mentioned that Howard Jones had stopped by to say hello to his friends in Corbin.

Howard “Cotton” Jones and his brother Harley went to Lynn Camp High School. Howard was a very successful high school coach at Pine Knot High School in the 50’s and 60’s. Howard is the father of McCreary Central Coach Rob Jones.

The Redhounds stretched their winning streak to seven games last week before suffering a setback, losing to Rockcastle County in Mt. Vernon.

The Redhounds will play their final home game of the season Friday night against the Harlan Green Dragons. That game will close out the regular season.

Coach Tony Pietrowski and his team must get it all together as the 50^th District Tournament begins Monday. The Redhounds will face Williamsburg, needing a win to advance to the 13^th Region Tournament.

Coach P will play several players in an effort to compete for his third regional championship in the last four years. Travis Smith must play, as we know he can. Travis has always been a clutch performer and can lead a team to a championship. Travis is simply the best player in the region.

Zach Farley has become very aggressive and can score from the perimeter as well as drive the ball to the basket.

Robbie Igo can be counted on for all out effort, and to defend the paint, rebound and give the team inside scoring presence.

Kaleb Maguet is very intelligent and very team oriented and Kaleb defends extremely well.

Kyle West is fundamentally sound and is another hard-nosed kid playing inside.

Trevor Hill may have as good of skill sets as anyone on the team. This young man’s future begins now.

Victor Berezutchi is big, strong and athletic and can make a huge difference on the boards and inside. I can still remember Victor breaking away and splitting two defenders for a two-handed dunk. Anyone capable of making that move can help.

Joey Shelton is very versatile and can be effective inside or outside.

Magic Moments…

4.4 seconds left in the game with Bell County, leading by one point over Corbin in the 13^th Region game in 2007. The Redhounds must go the length of the floor, two passes and freshman Madison Johnson lofts a shot from deep in the corner, SWISH! Redhounds win.

2008 – Knox Central dominates the Redhounds for three quarters, Isaac Wilson scores 42 points and Travis Smith hits two free throws with 2.2 seconds to face a fourth overtime win over Bell County and go to the state.

We need some of the magic moments starting Monday evening.

Friday evening I ran into Wayne Willis, a man I have a great deal of respect for. For all he does for the youth of Corbin now and has done over the years.

Friend of the Youth

Wayne was telling me of a reader we have in Barbourville named Jack Ketchum. I would assume that is my old friend, Jack Ketchum, who was the best modified pitch/catcher I ever saw play the game.

When I think of Jack, I always recall one play I saw him make. The batter bunted the ball and the runner on second broke for third. Jack flashed out from behind the plate and grabbed the ball in mid-air and out raced the runner trying to return to second base for a double play. That has been a few years, but I’ll bet he could still do it.

If I had any pull or knew anyone with any leverage with the Kentucky High School Athletic Association I would propose that they would either increase the quarters to ten minutes or introduce a 30-second shot clock for high school basketball.

Unfortunately, the only one I know is Paul Pietrowski, Sr. and he is assigning secretary for the 13^th Region for volleyball and ping-pong or Monopoly or something and has little pull.