Back to Richmond for “A” show

Gas up the car (van, SUV, truck – whatever), and point it northeast to the city of Richmond and the McBrayer Arena on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University, because for the first time in Clinton County High School history, our Bulldogs are making a second straight appearance in the All “A” Classic State Basketball Tournament.

The quick scan for the upcoming tournament action is that our Bulldogs will be taking the floor in the bottom portion of the boys’ brackets this week, in an opening round game against the champions of the 15th Region, the Shelby Valley Wildcats.

Now – a little deeper look at this week’s All “A” venture.

Our Bulldogs go into this tourney with a 16-5 record this season and take their game to the floor Thursday evening for a 5:30 (central time) tip against a really nice Shelby Valley team that also boasts a really impressive season record with an 18-2 mark.

The Dawgs earned the trip to Richmond as the 4th Region champs by defeating Metcalfe County (68-44), Monroe County (69-59) and then Cumberland County (81-61) in Friday night’s championship game.

The Wildcats had to win four games to emerge the champion of the 15th Region, including Piarist, Prestonsburg, Paintsville, before finally picking up a last second winning shot win over Pikeville in the championship game, 50-48.

Wins in this week’s tournament will find the Bulldogs taking the floor for subsequent games on Friday (7:00 p.m.), Saturday (6:30 p.m.) and a championship game on Sunday afternoon (1:00 p.m. – all times listed here are central time).

As I noted earlier, this will be the first time ever that the Bulldogs have headed to the state tournament level of the All “A” Classic event in back to back fashion.

Although for many, many years, the Lady Bulldogs were practically a staple in the event’s state tournament, it hasn’t been until recent years that the Bulldogs were able to break through and claim a 4th Region championship to make it to the state tournament.

In fact, current head coach Todd Messer was the first to take the Bulldogs to the state level, and this trip will be the fifth time he had led Clinton County to the state tournament. Messer coached us to the state tournament in the All “A” in ’07,’09, ’13 and ’18.

We had been “close” to trips several times before. Head Coach Ronnie Guffey picked up three runner-up titles to just barely miss a state tournament trip in ’99, ’00 and ’03.

Darrell Thompson, the current Lady Bulldog head coach, likewise barely missed taking the Bulldogs to the state tournament trip when he was at the helm of that program, also earning three runner-up titles in ’04, ’05 and ’06.

So, exactly what is this All “A” Classic tournament and more importantly – “why” are we doing this.

Kentucky is now the only (I think) state that does not utilize a class system to separate its teams by enrollment size when it comes to basketball.

That said, there is always an argument going around that we should use a class system in basketball, as we do in football and several other sports sanctioned by KHSAA.

The other side of that argument – of which I am a card-carrying member – prefer to throw it all out come time for the post-season and play the game head to head regardless of school size, giving every team the equal hope of eventually becoming one of the 16 regional champions that will advance to the Sweet 16 – the Greatest Show in Hoops, and competing for that coveted ONE state championship.

In 2005, our Lady Bulldogs came within just one bad bounce and one rebound from pulling that off, losing to one of the largest schools in the state, Lexington Catholic, in the championship game of the Sweet 16 Tournament.

It was a true David and Goliath atmosphere that Saturday night and although it only happens occasionally, it’s the best argument for keeping the system as is.

All of that being said, in order to give the small schools in Kentucky an opportunity to let its athletes showcase itself in a setting that would pit small schools against small schools, a group of coaches from Northern Kentucky came up with the idea of having a tournament with only schools from what would be Class A size enrollments.

I’ve been a huge fan and supporter of this tournament since it moved from the small event it was in the beginning, to the statewide event it currently is. For boys, that happened in 1990, while the girls’ statewide competition was added in 1991 with sectional winners, eventually evolving to a full field of 16 teams as well.

I traveled to Lexington and took in some of that first All “A” Classic state tournament, although Clinton County wasn’t playing – and I’ve been a huge fan of the concept ever since.

Although the event isn’t “sanctioned” by the KHSAA, the state high school organization does now appear to support and endorse the event.

For awhile, organizers billed the event as the “world’s largest high school invitational basketball tournament.”

Since that time, the program has expanded to include a host of other sports and activities including baseball, softball, golf, cheerleading, JROTC, art, music and soccer.

Currently, the All “A” Classic organization is managed through a network of volunteers – including our own Mike Reeves who serves on the Board of Control and is responsible for the event’s Internet presence as its webmaster as well as secretary for the organization.

Mike has been an integral part of the organization nearly since its beginning on the statewide level.

Like basketball, the Classic gives athletes and other participants a chance to showcase their skills in ways they would likely not get the same chance otherwise.

For example, if you look through the seats this week in Richmond, you would find several coaches and scouts from colleges large and small, checking out the talent on the floor. I’ll guarantee that before the week is over, some kids will get offers from colleges to play basketball on scholarship that they otherwise wouldn’t have received.

Sure, this tournament is a fun run for us fans, parents and a point of pride for entire communities. But the more important bottom line is, it’s very beneficial for the youth who are involved, and that’s what this is all about.

I’m in the gym, don’t call me until April!