Published: February 27, 2008 02:16 pm            

Two for the ages (better make that four...)

For anyone living under a rock in eastern Kentucky for any of the past 100 or so years, there is a mighty intense high school athletic rivalry right here in Carter County.

Other communities talk about these kinds of ballgame-battles where they live, but just about every time the clubs from East Carter and West Carter square off in a contest, each town gets behind their team and records, stats and individual efforts are out the window.

Following that line of thinking, the pair of tournament matchups that I had the good fortune of covering Monday night certainly lived up to what I consider the greatest high school sports rivalry in Kentucky!

And for the folks of Grayson and Olive Hill, both scored some bragging rights following the games in the opening round of this week’s 62nd District Tournament in Sandy Hook.

Any of the four local varsity squads (coached by four of my favorite people in the world, not just in the area) could have advanced into the championship games but as we all know, only two go on while two more pack it in ‘til next year. The West Carter girls and the East Carter boys will represent this county in those finals later this week. The Lady Raiders and Comets, though either could have found themselves surviving another day by battling until the buzzer, had their own impressive efforts outdone by their rivals. And that hurts for these incredible student-athletes, two of those coaches and all those wild and crazy fans -- some in maroon and white and others sporting blue and red.

Brandon Baker and Von Perry lead their respective teams into another round of the local basketball postseason -- and I’m very proud of both of them and offer the highest of compliments to each of these admirable coaches.

On the flip side, my longtime friends Jeremy Webb and Hager Easterling will have to sooth hurt feelings, banged up pride and probably a few legitimate bumps and bruises this week as their players look to next year -- except for the ones who have suited up for the schools for the final time. And as a former high school athlete, I certainly know that stings.

It’s impossible for both teams to win, it just can’t happen. So in my book, the next best things happened down their in that gym in Sandy Hook; both towns get to look forward to next week’s 16th region tournament on the heels of those two well-played games. While the Raiders and Lady Comets came away with the wins, each club knew they were in a battle that could easily have sent them out of the season and their rivals heading to Morehead State’s Johnson Arena.

I love writing about community sports and this is the best beat in the business. I’ve said it so many times before and it’s even more heartfelt this morning -- anyone who wants to see what a high school sports rivalry is all about only needs to plop down in a gym or in the bleachers of any local ball park when East and West line up and begin to battle!

These four programs are part of two schools and just one county. It’s safe to say that class abounds in all four directions… be it boys or girls, East or West.

See you at the game!

        

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