From Las Vegas to Hindman, Kentucky’s smallest titan proved again that it belongs
READ MORE
Sweet Sixteen stories
The 2020 Boys’ Sweet 16 was postponed before it began because of the coronavirus pandemic. The stoppage of our annual high school basketball state tournament denied 16 schools and their communities — for many — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for recognition on one of Kentucky’s most prominent stages. In the absence of basketball, the Herald-Leader is telling their stories. Click below to read the stories published so far.
Expand All
Editor’s Note: The 2020 Boys’ Sweet 16 was postponed before it began because of the coronavirus pandemic. The stoppage of our annual high school basketball state tournament denied 16 schools and their communities — for many — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for recognition on one of Kentucky’s most prominent stages. In the absence of basketball, the Herald-Leader is telling their stories.
Eastern Kentucky’s mountains are stocked with communities whose high school basketball histories are just that. History.
Consolidation guided by declining populations and efforts to centralize resources led to the end of Dilce Combs High School and M.C. Napier High School in 1994, when they joined to form Perry County Central in Hazard. Al Holland, the only active head coach on the all-time wins list who has even coached at any program no longer in existence, has the distinction of having coached at all three programs.
He didn’t stop there: Holland qualified for his 10th Sweet 16 appearance and his third as the head coach of Hazard High School, the city’s only surviving independent school, this month when the Bulldogs won the 14th Region championship at Knott County Central in Hindman.
Holland has coached them for 13 years but has been in the city his whole life, even playing for M.C. Napier in the 1977 Sweet 16. Going to the state tournament is a right of passage for many but seems particularly valued by those in the hills, and perhaps even more so by those faithful to Hazard, which has played in more state tournaments than all but two schools. The list of schools with fewer trips to state than Hazard includes Bowling Green, Christian County, Henry Clay, Male and Scott County.
“You cherish those things and never forget ‘em,” Holland said during a phone interview with the Herald-Leader.
The Bulldogs rank third all-time with, now, 31 state-tournament berths, but hadn’t reached state since 2009, the second of back-to-back trips to Rupp Arena. It felt great about its chances a year ago, when it had won more games than any team in the 14th Region. The Bulldogs could not, however, figure out what to do with Perry Central — the Commodores capped a 4-0 season sweep with a 53-48 decision in that region finals.
The silver lining? Six of Hazard’s top seven scorers were set to return for another stab at it, including a trio of crucial seniors in Reece Fletcher, Logan Hall and Jacob Johnson. Eighth-grader Rydge Beverly, a cousin of North Carolina State player Braxton Beverly, was expected to contribute to the chase but transferred to PCC mid-year; that still left Hazard with a set of five key players around which Holland and his staff could build a 14th Region contender.
And boy, did they: The Bulldogs went 18-1 against their region brethren, the lone loss coming against PCC in overtime, 65-64. They narrowly defeated the Commodores for the 54th District championship (40-37) but avoided a fourth matchup in the region tournament; Wolfe County, whom Hazard would eventually beat for the region title, took PCC out in round one.
Free throws proved to be a difference-maker against the Wolves, themselves vying for the school’s first trip to state. Wolfe forced overtime on a trio of free throws by Wilgus Tolson but Hazard jumped ahead early in the extra period and iced things at the line. Hall, a three-year starter, had game highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds in the 57-51 decision.
“He was kind of the difference in the game down the stretch,” Holland said of the 6-foot-4 forward. “He played really solid.”
Fletcher matched Hall’s 12 boards. “We thought we were just a little bit bigger than they were in the paint, overall,” Holland said.
These Bulldogs were well-prepared for the 2020 postseason. They won the WYMT Mountain Classic, along the away toppling eventual 15th Region champ Martin County and Clay County, a favorite in the 13th Region. They represented the region in the All “A” Classic, winning two games in Richmond before losing to eventual small-school champ St. Henry.
A December tournament in Las Vegas stands apart from the rest when glancing at the Bulldogs’ résumé. They split four games out west but the two losses were by a free throw and a bucket, so they came away feeling pretty good about how things could go when they returned to Kentucky.
Holland has taken teams to Vegas five or six times since he has been at Hazard. Typically, the kids will take guided tours of Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon. They stay downtown at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, a Caesars Entertainment property.
No gambling, though — even for those of legal age.
“The kids can walk through casinos but they can’t stop and watch anyone play the slots or gamble,” Holland said.
He continued with a laugh: “And if you do, after a minute or two you’ll have a security guard who’ll come up and peck you on the shoulder to say, ‘Young man, you gotta keep moving now.’ They keep ’em moving.”
That’s what Holland does from his perch inside Hazard’s Memorial Gym, in which high school basketball games have continuously been played since 1951. He, like all coal-county lifers, is too aware of the region’s economic spiral along with that of the industry.
Basketball doesn’t keep the lights on, but it brightens lives.
“The people in the area, the games mean a lot to them,” Holland said. “Just a good tradition. It’s so competitive, the games are. It doesn’t matter what the record is. You throw the records out when we all play each other cause it’s so tradition-rich. It means so much to the people in the community. It’s a good atmosphere for high school basketball.
“It doesn’t get much better than that.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 11:20 AM.
