In my memory, I cannot recall a more wide-open quest for the 13th region championship than this season of 2010–11.
Clay County would have to be considered the favorite with the return of their point guard John Hooker. The Tigers are very solid but certainly not unbeatable.
With the rejuvenated spirit of tournament play, look for the Corbin Redhounds to be a tough out. There’s no quit, no give up in this group, and no opponent will enjoy the pressure of their variety of defenses. Whitley County is loaded with talent and athletism, but they must withstand the defensive pressure of South Laurel to advance.
If you are looking for a dark horse, try North Laurel, they have all the pieces, a big man in the middle, an excellent point guard and a couple of deadly perimeter shooters. The Jaguars will make some noise.
The Bell County Bobcats of Coach Lewis Morris are also legitimate contenders. What it will all come down to, in this day of three-point shooters, is who happens to ride the hot shooting streak at the right time. it should be a fun two weeks as always.
The Corbin Redhounds have had a long and glorious history which encompasses nearly ten decades.
One of those decades that stands out is the decade of the 30s. One of the all-time great Redhound coaches came from the University of Illinois where he was a teammate of the legendary Red Grange. Nick Denes came to Corbin and coached both football and basketball. Coach Denes was the coach when the Redhounds garnered one of their five biggest wins ever in 1931 with the 12 to 6 win over Dayton Ohio Stivers High School, who was the national mythical high school champion in 1930.
It was in the 30s when the Centre College praying Colonels scored their huge upset of Harvard and who spearheaded that monumental upset? A young man from Corbin High School named Ted Meadors who was described by that day’s foremost authority on college football Grandland Rice as “the greatest college football player pound for pound I have ever seen."
In 1935 the Corbin Redhounds had two All-state tackles in the persons of Alfred Keck and Sam Brasel. Keck onced blocked five punts in one game.
In 1936 Coach Denes led the Redhounds basketball team to its only state championship to date. The great Marion Cluggish and his brother, Stan led the Redhounds over Nebo in the finals.
Ted Meadors returned to Corbin to coach the football Redhounds to an undefeated season to close out an outstanding decade of sports in 1939. There have been other great decades in Redhound history as well I will and try to revisit them from time to time.
The Wildcats of Kentucky came out red-hot and routed South Carolina, but all goes well when you are hitting from three-point land. I am still concerned with their short bench. The next two weeks will be critical for the cats.
This week’s Redhound from the past was a great all-around athlete from the early 70s Ben Lankster. Lankster was an outstanding quarterback in football, a clutch shooting point guard in basketball and a terrific shortstop in baseball. Ben Lankster always a Redhounds.
