[Old School Hound]

Biggest regional upset was Pineville over Cawood when Pineville had only won either two or three games all year and Cawood was really good.  It was in the mid 70s, HCS will have to supply the exact year.


  Another stunner, although the team that pulled the upset was good, was Jackson Co. over Corbin in mid-90s in a game at Clay Co. Jackson had Mitchell Madden and Chico Baldwin, and they just kept making bombs, it went I think two overtimes and both teams went over 100 points. One of the most exciting regional games I ever witnessed.

That game was going to be the next one I was going to talk about. I was at that game at Clay Co. High School. Corbin, led by senior guard, Tony Pietrowski,  was one of the top ranked teams in the state and was the tourney favorite.  Jackson was pretty good in their own right, led by Jeff "Chico" Baldwin.   Jackson County caught fire and was hitting everything they threw up. Corbin came back and then the game was back and forth, back and forth, regulation, first OT , second OT, with the Generals finally pulling the game out in overtime number three. It was a devastating loss for Corbin, who had very real expectations of competing for a state title. I vividly recall seeing a lot of the Corbin moms in tears, consoling their downtrodden sons, who were physically and emotionally drained, as were us fans as well.  

As soon as the game ended I caught sight of the old ball coach, Coach Keith, waving his arms in absolute jubilation, like a Pentecostal preacher after a fiery sermon and just before the snake-handling was to begin.  As someone who had just had their hoop dreams(and visions of sugar plums and a state title) ripped out from under him, I didn't take the gesturing in the light of friendly competition as I should have. I found the legend a few minutes later, and with as much respect as I could muster at the time, said, "Coach, why are you so happy? You didn't win anything."  With a sardonic grin, reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's Cheshire F***ing Cat, the coaching God of KY basketball said wryly, "Son, maybe I did." [mic drop]  He couldn't have pounded my a$$(and my broken psyche) anymore had he been Buford Pusser swinging his damned stick.  Of course, Coach K(the real one) realized what I would have known as well, had I not been so pissed off. Clay Co. had been the winner that night.

With the highly-ranked Redhounds vanquished from the House of Keith like an insurrectionalist  from the Capitol, the homestanding Tigers could now lay seige to another  13th region title.  The old coaching legend was right, an upstart group of Generals did his bidding that night. Coach Keith and the Tigers were the ultimate victors of Jackson's upset victory over Corbin.  They went on to win the 13th region tourney a few nights later over those same Jackson County Generals 64-45, after knocking off Charles Thomas and Harlan in a one point barnburner in the semi-finals.   Clay then went on to take eventual state champ Fairdale, led by Rashawn Morris,  down to the wire in a 77-75 loss in the first round game of the state tourney, a game that Clay led by five after three quarters. 

Corbin, meanwhile, got a small measure of revenge a year later in '95 , knocking Keith and the Tigers out of the regional in the semi-finals. But, as usual, Coach Keith and his Tigers weren't done causing me more pain. Corbin hosted the region in 1996, after steamrolling its 50th district tournament opponents by an average of 33 pts. a game.  Clay lost in the finals of the 49th to Jackson Co.  That set the stage for a first round matchup at Gillium Gym between Corbin and Clay. Corbin , the favorite, now had Henry Garrison in its backcourt after he had transferred over from Clay County. With boos reigning down on the traitorous (at least in the minds of the some of the Clay contingent) Garrison from the Clay Co. fans, the Tigers stunned the homestanding Redhounds 63-54 and sent me home pissed again.  The Hounds and Tigers would meet up in the region the next two years, with Corbin winning in '97 and Clay sending the Hounds back to Corbin in '98  with a  1 pt. OT loss in the "Manchester Miracle ."  More about that some other time...

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Biggest regional upset was Pineville over Cawood when Pineville had only won either two or three games all year and Cawood was really good.  It was in the mid 70s, HCS will have to supply the exact year.


  Another stunner, although the team that pulled the upset was good, was Jackson Co. over Corbin in mid-90s in a game at Clay Co. Jackson had Mitchell Madden and Chico Baldwin, and they just kept making bombs, it went I think two overtimes and both teams went over 100 points. One of the most exciting regional games I ever witnessed.

Cawood had lost only one game all season and were stunned by a Pineville team that limped into the  '78 regional tourney with only nine wins .  The Lions pulled off the biggest shocker in regional history, winning by something like six or seven points.