Clay County High School
Home of the Tigers.......
Manchester, Kentucky
606-598-3737
We Set the Standard  of Excellence for High School Basketball in Eastern Kentucky

1,500+ WINS

27 REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

55 DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS

Even though this year's Tiger squad did not achieve their ultimate goal of making it to Rupp Arena for the Sweet 16 they have nothing to hang their head about.  They finished the season with a 20-11 record which included the school's 55th 49th Districit Championship.  They also went undefeated in district play (8-0) after being picked the 3rd best team in the district in the pre-season polls.  They captured the Big Red Shoot-Out, our own invitational, for the second consecutive year.  They went from being chosen the 8th-10th best team in the region in the pre-season polls to being one of the favorites (top 5) by season's end.  They represented themselves, their school, and their community in nothing but positive ways as they took on one of the toughest schedules east of Lexington which included participating in the Bobby Keith Classic, the 5/3 Classic at Lexington Catholic, the WYMT Mountain Classic, and the Toyota Classic at Scott County.  This doesn't even include a regional schedule in what could be considered the most balanced region in the state.  These kids played with great heart and intensity and held their own while 15 of the 18 kids on the roster where in the 9th and 10th grades.  They were led by two outstanding seniors in Justin Hobbs and Ryan Lee Smith who exemplified what playing for Clay County should mean to the players who wear the Black and Gold.  It was a fun and exciting year and one that all can be proud of.  Good luck to the seniors in their future endeavors and to the returning players as they continue their quest to get Clay County back to Rupp.

Announcements
The Tiger's season has come to an end....they finished the season 20-11...they captured the 49th district championship while going undefeated in district play (8-0)...they also captured the Big Red Shoot-Out....Even though the season did not end as we wanted these boys have nothing to hang their head about.

Mar 5
The Tigers lost to Corbin in the first round of the 13th Regional tournament 80-62.  The Redhounds came out hot and stayed that way.  Corbin was also able to hold off two major rallies of the Tigers as they never gave up.

Mar 1
The Tigers came away with a 62-55 win over Jackson County to capture the 49th District Championship...their 55th District Championship...there has only been 7 years since 1946 that Clay County hasn't won this and they have advanced to the Regional tournament now for 32 straight years...

Feb 27
The Tigers defeated OBI 66-39 to advance to the District Championship game.  This improved their record to 19-10 as they have won 5 games in a row.

Feb 25
The Tigers defeated North Laurel in the opening round of the 49th District Tournament 72-53.  This improved their record to 18-10 and advanced them to the semi-finals of the District.

Feb 18-22
Clay County finished the regular season with two wins as they defeated Middlesboro 62-50 and Cawood 56-37 on senior night.  This improved their record to 17-10 for the regular season as they get ready for the post-season to begin.  The JV team also finished their season with a win over MBoro to end the season at 15-2.

Feb 11-15
Clay finished the week with a disappointing 1-2 varsity record.  They first traveled to Cumberland and lost 59-41.  It was a horrible night for the Tigers.  We shot 12-51 from the field (24%) which included 0-15 from the 3 point line and 18 missed shots in the paint.  You just can't play that way vs. a good team.  Clay then hosted regional rival Corbin who was and is rated the top team in the 13th region.  The tigers would fall in this one 71-69 in overtime.  We played pretty solid and had our chances to come away with the win.  On Saturday we hosted Red Bird.  This game was never close as the Tigers woudl win 87-50 after leading 77-25 after 3 quarters.  All players got to play in this one.  The tigers record stands at 15-10 with two games remaining in the regular season.  The JV team won at Cumberland in their only game of the week to improve to 14-2.  They also have 2 games left.

Feb 4-9
The varsity tigers took two tough ones on the chin to drop to 14-8 on the season.  They lost at Pineville 45-40 in overtime in a game that they should have won.  They also lost at South Laurel 58-51 in a well played game.  In both games the Tigers were finding it hard to find the rim as they shot 30% vs. Pineville and 40% vs. SL.  The JV team finished the week 2-0 as they defeated the same two teams which improved them to 13-2.  The freshmen team had a great week.  They got it started with wins over Knox Central and Berea on the road.  It was then back to Knox Central for the 13th Regional tournament in which they would defeat Whitley County, North Laurel, and then South Laurel to capture the championship and finish the freshmen season at an astounding 21-3.

Jan 28-Feb 2
The varsity Tigers picked up two more big wins this week to improve to 14-6 overall.  They first traveled to Jackson County for a big district rival showdown  and came away with a 53-51 overtime win.  On Saturday the Tigers hosted Pulaski Southwestern on Coronation Night (Gemma Gray elected queen) and came away with the 76-53 win.  The JV team lost at Jackson County but came back to close the week out with an exciting OT win vs. Pulaski Southwestern which made their record 11-2.  The freshmen record currently stands at 15-3.

Jan 21-26
The Tigers played 4 games this week capturing wins in 3 of the 4 to improve to 12-6 on the year.  They traveled to Bell County on Tuesday and won by 9 points 65-56.  It was then onto the Toyota Classic in Georgetown hosted at Scott County.  The Tigers were defeated by a very good Gainsville HS out of Florida 78-49.  The Tigers would then rebound to defeat Perry Central 37-35 and then North Laurel 53-44.  The freshmen defeated Knox Central to improve to 15-3 while the JV hosted and won the Tiger Classic played here at CCHS by defeating Jackson County and Rockcastle County.  They then would defeat Bell County on the road to improve to 10-1 on the season.

Jan 14-19
The Tigers got a big, home, district win  on Friday night as the Jags of North Laurel came to town.  After falling down by as many as 9 points early the Tigers came back to post a 57-53 win to improve to 9-5 on the season.  The freshmen team defeated Corbin and June Buchanan at home before traveling to LCA to participate in a tournament there.  They won the first two games to advance to the championship game (Casey County and Ryle) before losing in overtime to West Jessamine.  Their record stands at 14-3.

Jan 7-12
The Tigers traveled to Knott County to participate in the WYMT/Wayne Supply Mountain Classic this week where they finished 1-2.  They lost in the first round to Hazard in overtime 52-50.  They then played the host school Knott County and defeated them 65-62 before losing to Knox Central 59-53.  Their record now stands at 8-5 with 14 games remaining before district.  The freshmen team lost at South Laurel on Jan 7th.  Their record is now 10-2.

Dec 17-Jan 4
Sorry for the delay in updates but we were on semester break.  The Break started good for the Tigers as they capturd the Big Red Shoot-Out Championship.  They defeated Buckhorn, Warrensville (OH), and Sevier County (TN).  Things turned sour for Clay in their post-Christmas Tournament at Lexington Catholic.  They were defeated by White County (TN) and then lost to Lafayett as they watched their record fall to 6-3.  They returned to their winning ways on Jan 4 as they traveled to Wayne County and defeated the Cardinals 56-50 to improve to 7-3.  The JV team also captured the Big Red Shoot-Out.  They improved to 7-1. 

December 10-15
The Clay County varsity team improved to 3-1 on the season.  They defeated Knox Central 62-61 in a tough intra-regional game at home on Tuesday, the 11th.  They then hosted the Bobby Keith/Ihigh.com Classic and faced Top 5 Scott County and lost 71-61 in very tough game.  The JV had the week off but the freshmen saw their record go to 10-1.  The defeated Corbin at Corbin and then went 1-1 in the Lexington Catholic Tournament. They defeated Lafayette by 13 points and then lost to Mason County by 13.

December 3-8
The Boys Varsity team got the season off with a couple of wins on the road.  They defeated Harlan 67-45 on the 4th and then OBI 66-42 on the 6th.  The JV team also collected two wins as they also defeated Harlan and OBI to improve to 4-1 on the season.  The freshmen team traveled to Whitley County to participate in the Southeast Ky Invitational on the 8th were they were crowned champions as they collected 4 wins in one day; the last 3 were played consecutively.  This improved their record to 8-0 on the season.

November 26-Dec 1
Clay's varsity had the week off but their JV and 9th teams got things fired up.  The JV team played 3 games and finished the week 2-1.  They lost on the road at Perry Central by 5 points in a game they were leading at the half.  They would then defeat Jackson County by 17 at home and then travel to North Laurel and defeat them by 6.  The freshman team woudl go 4-0 on the week.  They defeated Perry Central by 5 and then North Laurel by 30.  The would then host the Tiger Classic which included South Laurel and Corbin.  They would defeat SL by 18 and Corbin by 24 to capture the crown.

November 17-24
The Clay County High School boys basketball team got their season unofficially started this past week as they hosted the Ballard Bruins out of Louisville, Kentucky in a preseason scrimmage as part of the first ever Spider Thurman Classic hosted at the newly dedicated Spider Thurman Gymnasium at the old high school (current middle school) on November 17th.  Ballard came into the game rated in most everyone's Top 10 rankings and they came out strong as they jumped out to the early 15-4 lead.  They would also win the  second quarter 21-16 as they would take the first of three halves 36-20.  The Tigers would settle down and make the proper adjustments and they would turn the tide on the Bruins in the next set of quarters, the third and fourth, and win 35-30.  The Bruins would open up the third set of quarters, the fifth and sixth, strong as they jumped out to a 10-point lead  but the Tigers would find the range from the 3-point line and eventually win this set as well 37-36.  The final score of all 6 quarters would be Ballard 102 Clay County 92 in a very exciting game as both teams showed signs of what should be successful seasons for both.  In their second exhibition of the pre-season the Tigers hosted Moore High School out of Louisville, Kentucky.  The Tigers started the game on a 17-0 run and never looked back.  Moore would make a couple of runs in the second and third quarter but could never get it closer than 11 points.  With 3:00 remaining in the scrimmage Clay had opened it back up to a 29 point lead and would hold on for the 57-40 win.

After looking back at the 2007 season one would have to conclude that it was a successful one.  The Tigers finished the season with a 20-9 record which included a 49th District Championship.  Not bad for a team that in the pre-season predictions were picked in the lower half of the region and were said to be "lucky to finish the season .500 and most likely would not get out of the district".  As you can see they over-achieved those predictions by putting together  another 20-win season and continuing their dominance of the 49th District.  They also captured the Bobby Keith Classic while finishing 2nd in the SEKC which included a win over the eventual champion, Bell County.  They also had big wins over Louisville Valley in the Hoopin' it up Classic,  Letcher Central in the People's Bank and Trust Classic, and Sheldon Clark in the  Hatfield/McCoy Shoot-Out.  They were led by seniors Raleigh "Little Moe" Campbell and Jeremy Sizemore.

Junior Varsity/9th Grade Schedule
November
17  Ballard (Scrimmage)
24  Moore  (scrimmage)
26  at PCC jv/9th
27  Jackson Co.  jv/9th
29  at NL jv/9th
December
1 Tiger Classic 9th
4  at Harlan jv
6  at OBI jv
8  at Whitley Co Tourn.  9th
10 at Corbin 9th
13  at Knox 9th
15  at Lex Catholic Tourn. 9th
20-22 Big Red Shoot-Out jv
January
7 at SL 9th
14 Corbin 9th
15  JBS 9th
19 at LCA Tourn. 9th
21 Tiger Classic JV
21 Knox 9th
22 at Bell Co. jv
29 at Jackson Co. JV
February
2  Southwestern
5 at Pineville jv
6 at Berea 9th
8 at SL jv
9 13th Regional Tourn. 9th
12 at Cumberland jv
19  Middlesboro jv
21 Cawood jv