The homestretch ...

A few random observations as high school basketball approaches its climax:

I can only imagine that a lot of fans around the state saw the score of the boys' First Region final — Graves County 49, Marshall County 45 in overtime — and laughed and chalked it up to the usual slowdown snoozefest for which this region, rightfully or not, has built up a reputation for providing.

Especially when the championship game in the neighboring Second Region was a 95-82 win for Christian County over Henderson County.

To the contrary ... in my mind, it goes down as one of the best and most exciting finals in the last two decades.

The pace wasn't slow, even if the score doesn't look like it. Chalk that up to solid defense and some poor shooting, some of which was caused by the solid half-court defense that both teams played.

• Marshall guard Scott McKenty, refused to blame an off-night (a season-low seven points) on what appears to be a broken left (non-shooting) hand, but one has to think it affected his game.

In any case, Marshall coach Gus Gillespie was impressed with McKenty's fortitude.

"The kid has played part of the season with a bad ankle and a bad foot," Gillespie said. "There was no way he was going to sit out this one. He's a tough kid."

• A lot of people were asking today "What's gotten into Graves County?"

The quick, one-word answer ... defense. Graves held its three regional tournament opponents to an average of 42 points, and it turned in some especially good work in the semifinals and finals.

Graves didn't let McKenty and Calloway's Brock Simmons get off the shots they wanted, and the Eagles were especially tough at stopping both teams' point guards — McKenty and Calloway's Chris Dobbins — from penetrating and creating opportunities for teammates.

• There will be some local ties at the boys' Sweet 16. David Henley, a starter on Carlisle County's 1983 state runner-up squad, has Covington Holmes at Rupp Arena for the fourth time in five seasons. Holmes is considered the tournament favorite by some, especially since Scott County was beaten by Lexington Catholic in the 11th Region final.

One of Mason County's assistants is Kelly Carwile, who has been a head coach at Webster County and Lyon County and served as an assistant at Graves County and Hopkinsville.

And give the old Fifth District a hand — two of its native sons are still coaching. Christian County is back at Rupp for the third time in four seasons under coach Kerry Stovall, a Lyon County alum. Bowling Green is coached by D.G. Sherrill, a Caldwell County product.

• Several other coaches with area ties nearly took their teams to Lexington.

Boone County, which lost to Covington Holmes in the Ninth Region title game, is coached by Greg McQueary, who played at Murray State, was an assistant at Graves County in the early 1990s and was Caldwell County's head coach from 1999-2004.

The Rebels had upset Holmes late in the regular season and fell 32-29 in the regioal final.

Allan Hatcher (surely we don't need to rehash his background) reached the 14th Region finals for the second straight year, again losing to archrival Hazard. This time, it was 51-48 in overtime.

Hazard and Perry Central may be the state's most heated rivalries — think of Graves County and Mayfield and ratchet it up a few notches. In fact, things have gotten so intense that Hazard's school board has decreed that the schools won't play each other in any sport next season.

And there are the other connections between the programs. Hatcher was hired to replace Allan Holland, who had been the only coach in the history of the school before leaving two years ago after he got into a dispute with the superintendent. Holland was scarfed up pretty quickly ... by Hazard.

Then last season, in Hatcher's first year, he was starting a freshman point guard named Eric Back that transferred to Hazard at the semester break.

Just one more log on an already-roaring fire.

• Some were surprised, and some even heartened, to see Scott County fall in the 11th Region final.

It wasn't a total shock, given that Scott center Richie Phares went down with a torn ACL in the regional semifinals. Still, the Cardinals had plenty of firepower with Division I prospects Dakotah Euton, Chad Jackson and Ge'Lawn Guyn, all of whom have transferred in from other schools over the last two years.

• Massac County steps into a star-studded final four at the Illinois Class 2A state tournament at Peoria. The Patriots are guaranteed two games, as Illinois plays a third-place game preceding the championship game.

Call the Patriots' semifinal against No. 1 Marshall the southern state title game. Marshall, about 20 minutes west of Terre Haute, Ind., has a pair of Indiana State signees (6-4 guards and twins Lucas and Logan Eitel) and has the size that could give Massac some problems if it gets a lead and can settle back into a zone.

The other semifinal pits Winnebago, from the Rockford area, against Seton Academy from South Holland, a south suburb of Chicago. Seton is a Catholic school that was an all-girls institution until about five years ago, and its team has at least four Division I prospects, including a point guard that has signed with Ohio University and a shooting guard that will play at Northern lllinois.

• Marshall County's Hoop Fest should have a heavy Kentucky flavor next season. Founder Steve Woodward has commitments from several of the state's top teams, including Covington Holmes, Lexington Catholic, Scott County, Louisville Ballard, Jeffersontown, South Laurel, Perry Central and the newly-consolidated Muhlenberg County. Christian County and Warren Central remain possibilities.

Woodward is ended his one-year association with WazooSports.com, which was the event's major sponsor in each of the last two seasons. At the moment, he is negotiating with Marshall to run the event as sort of an independent contractor.