Knox Central coach Tony Patterson knows his team has a difficult first-round matchup in the state tournament against Ashland, one of the state’s top teams, Thursday night. However, the coach was unfazed Monday about expectations for his team.
“We are coming to win a state title and we will not rest until we get one,” said Patterson.
His team won its third straight 13th Region championship even though North Laurel — and star sophomore Reed Shepherd — was the team many expected to win. Knox Central (18-5) beat North Laurel 78-63 in the title game.
“I know what I have every year. I knew I had the potential to win the region and go win a state championship,” Patterson said. “I do not pay any attention to rankings. I knew what I had. We proved that at the end and we are not finished yet. North Laurel has a good team but we played strong and were just able to play better than them (in the title game).”
Ashland (20-4) has won 11 straight games but had to rally to beat Rowan County 62-58 in overtime to win the 16th Region title.
“Ashland shoots it real well. Good size inside, They like to guard, we like to guard as well,” Patterson said. “We are shooting well and we are a big, strong physical team.
“We have to play at our pace and control the boards. They are wanting to do the same thing. It’s going to be a war with these two teams. If you do not have a ticket yet you better try to get one.”
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Boyle County coach Dennie Webb knows what it meant to many of his players to win the 12th Region championship, the fifth in school history.
“We got kids who have dreamed of this,” Webb said. “When we were here in 2015 we had several (current players) out on the floor (at Rupp Arena). I know it is a big deal for them.”
Boyle (21-4) plays Paintsville Thursday at 5 p.m. after bouncing back from a loss in the 45th District final to Lincoln County to beat Lincoln in the regional title game. The Rebels also lost to 45th District rival Danville on March 6.
“Danville just outplayed and outworked us. We kind of relaxed a little,” Webb said. “We beat them pretty good (earlier) and kids can lose their edge but Danville also played really well. The Lincoln loss in the district was a little bit of the same. We had beat them twice by double digits and lost a little bit of our edge.
“I think to a certain degree I got in their heads about attacking (Lincoln). I think maybe I had them thinking too much. I think I overthought it too much. We went back to basics (in the region). It was good for me and them. They rallied back and saw we had lost a little bit of our edge.”
He knows Thursday’s game will be a solid matchup for his team.
“Paintsville has got some good size. They look like a physical team,” Webb said. “They have got some kids who can put the ball in the hole. We have our work cut out on defense trying to slow them down.”
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McCracken County coach Burlin Brower had a simple message for his team any time something was not going right this season.
“We felt like we had a good team last year and a competitive team with a shot to win (the state championship),” Brower said.
His team won the 1st Region championship again and will play Bullitt East Thursday at 2 p.m. in the state tournament in Rupp Arena.
McCracken County (22-6) used motivation from last year’s state tourney being canceled by COVID-19 all season.
“They (KHSAA) owe us a game. Any time we hit a lull and were not inspired I went back to they owe us a game,” Brower said. “That was our biggest motivation. We felt like we wanted to see these kids get the game back (at the state tournament).”
