13th Region History

A look back at the rich high school sports history of SE Kentucky with occasional commentary of current events.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

If the Coke rollout of New Coke was the worst business decision of all time, then you can equate the KHSAA transition from the Riherds' scoreboard to the Arbiter version to being like going from Coke to arsenic. Thanks @Kyhssports_ for working on a functional alternative!

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

What a defensive job by the North Laurel Jaguars in today's 52-38 Sweet 16 opening round win over Warren Central.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

North Laurel's Eddie Mahan moved into a tie for second among 13th Region girls' basketball coaching regional titles when his team claimed this season's region championship over the weekend. Clay County's Donnie Gray holds the record by leading CCHS to regional top honors 9 times

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

North Laurel's 13th Region title last night moved the Jags' Nate Valentine into a select group of coaches who have won 4 or more 13th Region championships, paced by Clay County legend Bobby Keith's 18.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

A look at how this year's girls' tournament field has fared historically in the 13th Region Tournament. Interesting factoid about this year's field: this grouping of teams has never happened before, as is the case with the boys' field. Let's get it going at the Arena!

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

Here's how this year's boy's field has performed historically at the 13th Region Tournament. Bonus factoid: This grouping of teams has never occurred at the regional tournament until this season.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

OBI would knock off Jackson County 70-63 and Rockcastle County 61-53 to cut down the district championship nets. The Mountaineers fell to Cumberland in the opening round of the 13th Region Tournament.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

Clay County's boys qualified for every 13th Region basketball tournament between 1950 and 2017 except for 1977. What happened to those 1977 Tigers was a bad draw in the form of a talented and tall Oneida Baptist squad.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

Bobby Keith's Tigers roared out of the locker room to dominate the third quarter 21-10 and would eventually lead by as many as 3 in the final stanza before OBI would retake the lead for good in a 67-65 thriller. Caldwell had 18 points, and Franklin added 15 for the winners.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

The Dragons' magic held out for one more night as they claimed the district championship with a 39-35 victory over Manchester. Laurel Creek's run ended in the first round of the regional tournament at Bell County with a 53-29 setback to Middlesboro.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

My favorite 13th Region Cinderella story. The Laurel Creek Dragons under coach Kelly Morgan entered the 1946 49th District Tournament with a mere 9-9 record and little fanfare.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

The Dragons upset host Oneida Baptist, a 15-9 squad, 43-31, and toppled Tyner 34-28. This set up a matchup against the big school from the county seat, the Manchester Tigers. Manchester had downed Laurel Creek 115-20 in the district tournament just two seasons before.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

Girls' basketball district champions from the 13th Region since the 2005-06 realignment which added the Laurel County schools to the region and moved Rockcastle County over to the 12th Region.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

Boys' basketball district champions from the 13th Region since the 2005-06 realignment, which added the Laurel County schools to the region and moved Rockcastle County to the 12th.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

Corbin's 61-40 victory in last night's matchup against South Laurel was the first time the Cardinals had ever suffered a larger than a 10-point defeat in district play. The only other SL double-digit district tournament loss was a 71-61 loss to Whitley in 2011.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

One of the longest streaks of qualifying for the 13th Region boys' tournament is on the line when Corbin and South Laurel collide in a 50th District first-round contest. Corbin has been in the last 21 regional fields, while South has made 10 straight tournaments.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

Zero chance anything like this ever happens, and not sure I would want to see it. Still, an interesting thought experiment on how much different KHSAA basketball might look with classes and private schools in their own division.

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

The Tigers ended at 34-5 with a Sweet 16 quarterfinal appearance powered by first-team all-state selection Clayton Stivers

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

The 1954 49th District basketball tournament title game may be the only one in KHSAA history that had to be played twice. It was thought that Clay County was the titleist after the Tigers downed Tyner on Thursday and McKee on Friday. .

[13th Region History @13thRegionHist]

The teams would meet again in the 13th Region Tournament semifinals with Clay County winning 64-47 to end McKee's best-ever season. The Bulldogs, led by eventual EKU Colonel Paul Sears, finished 26-8 with five of the defeats at the hands of Big Clay.