Pat Forde just wrote a great article for ESPN today about the Elliot County Lions, the tiny Eastern Kentucky school in a town with a smaller population than the enrollment of many of its upcoming opponents in the Kentucky State Tournament:

“SANDY HOOK, Ky. — With another 100-point night in the books, the Elliott County Lions have adjourned to the Penny Mart (”Deli-Propane-Lotto” reads the sign). Here, playing rook amid the motor oil and fishing hooks and canned goods, they are rural royalty.

The chicken wings, cheeseburgers and slushies are free for the boys after every game, enthusiastically provided by proprietor Bobbie Howard.

“Nobody really done anything special for them,” she said. “A lot of them I’ve known since they were babies. They make us proud. This is a town a lot of people thought nobody would ever come from.”

The Lions have come roaring out of this rugged, remote Appalachian hamlet of roughly 700 people along the Little Sandy River to capture the imagination of a state that cherishes high school basketball. They have rekindled memories of the glory days of mountain ball, when tiny communities like Carr Creek or players like King Kelly Coleman and Richie Farmer wandered out of Eastern Kentucky to become folk heroes memorialized in books.”

Forde’s Story

Make sure you check out the article in case you don’t know about this incredible story, but also make sure you check back with the Pinkie for updates on the Lions quest to make it to Rupp Arena for the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row and, this time, to cut down the nets in the hallowed Kentucky State Tournament.

Elliot County’s first game will be against East Carter on the road at 7 pm tonight in an elimination game in Grayson, KY. Elliott County sports a pristeen record of 25-2 on the year, including double digit wins over Ballard and Mason County. The Lions have also beaten East Carter twice already this season: 73-53 at home on February 7 and 74-52 on the road on January 13. Here’s Elliott County’s season schedule

Make sure you check in tomorrow morning to see the outcome of the game.  Everybody loves cheering for the underdog, and Elliott County qualifies in every sense of the word.  However, I think the key to many underdog stories is when a team decides that they aren’t underdogs, and that they can play with anybody.  That’s exactly what’s happened with Elliott County and it’s why they could really pull this off.  They’ve played so much quality competition at both the AAU and high school level (on top of their games against big Kentucky schools, they’ve played 5 games against out of state opponents, winning all but one:

‘”We’ve played against so many good players and teams that we’re used to it.  Everyone says we’re a great underdog story, we lost that mentality a long time ago” said Faulkner.

If you don’t have time to listen to the live broadcast online, I’ll be along tomorrow morning to update you on the game and with a recap.  Make sure you log back on!

Elliott County's Ethan Faulkner diving for a ball against Darius Miller's (left) Mason County team which eliminated the Lions last year

Also, we will do our best to cover the High School Basketball District and Regional Tournaments leading up to the Sweet 16, which is without question the greatest high school basketball tournament in America.  Simply because teams as small as Elliott Co. can compete against schools that have a larger enrollment than they have population.

Here is Jason Frakes’ (Courier-Journal) breakdown of Monday & Tuesday:

Monday night
*Sophomore Marcellus Barksdale had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Tates Creek beat host Paul Dunbar 58-47 in a 43rd District opener. Paul Dunbar, coming in at No. 29 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, was the highest-ranked team eliminated on the first night of postseason play. Tates Creek will face No. 10 Lexington Catholic in a district semifinal on Wednesday.
*The other big game of the night saw Beechwood knock off Covington Catholic 63-56 in a 35th District semifinal at Covington Holy Cross. The loss will leave the Colonels out of the Ninth Region Tournament for the first time since 1997.
*There were some decent games around town as Holy Cross, Doss, St. Francis and Bullitt Central all won first-round games. Shawnee advanced to the 23rd District final by crushing Brown 83-45.
*Only three Top 20 teams were in action, and all three won to wrap up spots in next week’s regionals – No. 1 Scott County (111-41 over Sayre), No. 8 Mason County (94-31 over Augusta) and No. 12 Corbin (81-49 over Williamsburg).

Tuesday night
*The top game of the night could be at Henry Clay, where the Blue Devils will host No. 15 Bryan Station in a 42nd District semifinal. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, which were decided by five and three points.
*No. 16 Christian County will host rival Hopkinsville in an Eighth District semifinal.
*The Ninth District semifinals at the Owensboro Sportscenter will match Owensboro against Owensboro Cath and Apollo vs. Davies County.
*Interesting matchup at Doss tonight as the Dragons will host DeSales in a 22nd District semifinal. Doss won the regular-season matchup 35-33.
*The 26th District tips off at Moore with the host Mustangs facing Whitefield Academy at 6 and Atherton meeting Fern Creek at 7:30.

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