Hoops, WinCity soar into 10th Region semi-finals; both are tourney favorites

Bryce Houchens, Sports Editor|March 3, 2023

The beginning of March can only mean one thing – basketball post-season play is here.

GRC Hoops and WinCity are headed to the 10th Region semifinals after routing their opening opponents. Each team also collected yet another 40th District title.

The girls brought home their 10th straight district championship with a win over Montgomery County, then defeated Nicholas County in round one of the region tournament.

The boys won handily over Paris Independent for their sixth straight district title, then took care of Augusta in the first round of the Region to secure their spot in Monday’s semis.

GRC is the only school in the state that has both the boys and girls basketball teams ranked in the top 10. A stat that the school and county should be proud of.

GRC Hoops finished the regular season with a record of 21-7 and hasn’t lost since falling to No. 1 Sacred Heart Feb. 7 by a single point. The one-point loss proves the Cards can play with anyone in the state.

Coach Graham feels his team is ready for tests to come.

“We always play a tough regular season schedule,” he says. “The way we prepare our kids, basically the regular season is a glorified practice session with referees and fans. Basketball season officially starts at tournament time, so we always want to play a tough schedule to prepare for the tournament. We play a variety of different teams with different styles, so when we get to tournament time, nothing is a surprise for us.”

The girls are the favorite to capture the 10th Region crown, and Graham likes how his team has progressed throughout the year.

“We’ve gotten better,” he says. “There were some things we felt like we needed to work on before the season and we’ve improved in those areas. Our older kids have been tremendous leaders to help our young kids understand our system and culture. I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress since day one.”

Even though Graham likes the progress, he still thinks his team can improve in certain areas.

“We can always improve defensively,” he says. “We have to be in the right position and the correct rotations. Our shooting is getting better, but we need to continue to strive to be better game-time shooters.”

Hoops will be looking for their seventh region title.

If Coach Graham’s team keeps their foot on the gas, they should be able to capture another region championship and head back to the state tournament to make yet another deep run.

“We’re very excited,” Graham says. “We have some veterans who have been through the wars and know what to expect. We have some young kids who are very excited for what’s about to happen. You know we’re really looking forward to post-season play. We know it’s not gonna be easy; it’s gonna be tough. We’re going to take it one game at a time, one opponent at a time, to help get through the post season.”

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The WinCity Cards continue post-season play with a target on their backs as the defending state champs.

The Cards finished the regular season at 22-5, coasted through the district tournament games, and put up 108 points in game 1 of the region tournament.

Head coach Josh Cook says his team is ready. “We’re excited to keep it going,” he says. “We believe in our team and are just looking forward to doing something special.”

The Cardinals finished a perfect 11-0 in regular season region play, but have yet to face one of the state’s top ranked teams in the Mason County Royals.

It’s only fitting that the region tournament this year is being played in that beautiful field house in Maysville.

The Royals are 28-5 on the year and one of many teams who can make lots of noise this postseason. It’s a rivalry that has lasted for decades and they will be the Cardinals’ toughest competition in the tournament.

Coach Cook likes where his team is now. “We’ve gotten a lot better at executing when we need to,” he says. “We’ve more importantly figured out who we are as a team. I think our leadership has improved at the right moments and we have a better understanding of what we need to do as a team.”

Mason County isn’t the only team that could be a threat in the region. Harrison County comes in with only four losses, but the Cards have already taken care of the Breds once this season. The two will meet Monday in the semifinals.

Cook says as long as the players trust one another, they can certainly make a deep run in the postseason.

“We’ve had to handle a lot of adversity so there’s still moments where we have to trust each other and do some things and keep our emotions in check,” he says. “With the type of team we have though and the expectations we have there are a lot of highs and lows with that, so most important I think our guys have figured out they have to trust their leadership and they have to do those things together.”