DISHING THE WEEKLY DIME: Ho ho ho, they would go

Dec. 26—The most important high school basketball games of the season are nearly two months away. But significant dress rehearsals are well underway.

Early-season showcases and Christmas tournaments aren't necessarily predictors of postseason success. However, the idea is to mimic that setting, by providing quality opposition and the infrastructure and atmosphere of high-stakes games.

Tournaments, especially in deeper rounds, put teams in scramble mode. Learning to handle that — to be comfortable being uncomfortable, with less rest and smaller preparation time — matters, even if holiday results don't.

"Showcases and holiday tournaments are great for having to step up your level of play, learn to take the scout info and execute, and find out how deep your team is now and what more you need to develop," Boyd County boys coach Randy Anderson said.

Rowan County girls skipper Matt Stokes called holiday tournaments "a way to learn how our girls best retain info or scouting reports about other teams in a short amount of time. That way, going forward with tournaments, we as coaches are able to reach our players the best we can."

With one week of holiday tournament action down and one to go, here's a look at five northeastern Kentucky boys teams and five area girls teams who have made the most of tournament and showcase play so far — listed alphabetically and separated by gender.

The Dime

—Ashland boys

The Tomcats' first three games on special stages were losses. Ashland dropped a 78-73 decision at Great Crossing in the Jersey Mike's Classic, fell to defending state champion George Rogers Clark, 70-57, in the Boyd County Roundball Classic, and slipped to Harlan, 80-63, in the first round of the Pikeville Invitational Tournament.

The level of competition, however, was stout. The Cardinals and Warhawks were ranked third and fourth, respectively, in last week's Associated Press poll, while the Green Dragons were four polling points from tying for 10th.

That's exactly what Ashland wanted in its early-season slate as it looks to retain region supremacy with a notably different cast of characters than those who authored the last four titles in Morehead.

"We got to really discover the direction we need to go as a team," Tomcats interim coach Ryan Bonner said. "Playing Great Crossing, GRC and a tough three-game stretch at the PIT has shown us what we're doing well and also exploited some things we aren't doing so well. ... We felt as a staff that it was important to expose our team to that type of adversity early on."

—Bath County boys

The Wildcats have not been shy about challenging Ashland for its mantle. Most of the principal figures are gone from the team that produced Bath County's best record ever last season, but Zack Otis is still in Owingsville and wasted little time reminding observers of that.

The senior, selected the top player in the northeastern Kentucky coaches in preseason polling, drained a trey at the horn to lift the Wildcats past East Carter in the first round of the Eastern Kentucky Conference Tournament. Otis then spearheaded Bath County's fourth-quarter rally to top Lewis County in the EKC semifinals.

The Wildcats finally fell to Russell in the EKC title game, but had by then shown mettle in major moments.

An attempt to reach Bath County coach Steve Wright for comment was unsuccessful before press time.

—Boyd County boys

The Lions, off to the best start in the 16th Region at 9-1, count among those wins four showcase victories in as many tries.

A night after handling Lewis County, 76-40, in the Boyd County Roundball Classic, the Lions dropped defending state quarterfinalist Pikeville, 79-69.

One weekend later, Boyd County again went 2 for 2 in the Stock Yards Bank and Trust Challenge at Rowan County. The Lions topped Eastern (now 7-2), 73-66, in overtime, and beat Central Hardin, 94-85.

In addition to the success Boyd County found in those two events, they simulated the process the Lions hope to go through with postseason runs.

"Our four opponents in the Roundball and at Rowan gave us four different strategies, personnel matchups and game adjustments," Anderson said. "Real growing experience for our program."

—Morgan County boys

The Cougars (8-2) have already quadrupled their win total from last year with one of the most profound season-to-season turnarounds in northeastern Kentucky in recent memory.

Two victories, in particular, stood out. Morgan County rallied from a 16-point third-quarter deficit to take down Monterey (Tennessee), 94-93, in overtime in the opening round of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic at Clinton County.

The next day, the Cougars trailed the host Bulldogs by a point in the final moments before Eli Griffith converted a 3-pointer as time expired to lift Morgan County, 74-72.

The Cougars under first-year coach Reece Griffith have coupled the returning experience gained in a 2-22 campaign last winter with some prominent transfers to mint themselves well within the mix in the 62nd District race — and perhaps beyond.

"Our team really grew together and bonded on and off the court," Reece Griffith said. "A lot of smiles and improvements made for a successful trip."

—Russell boys

The Red Devils' resume in tournament play up to this point is unrivaled in the area. Russell already owns two trophies — from winning the Eastern Kentucky Conference Tournament and the Derby Classic.

Who Russell beat to do it — a trio of other teams positioning themselves to make a 16th Region run — was as important as the hardware. The Red Devils knocked off Rowan County, 51-47, in the EKC opening round and dropped Bath County, 67-58, in the title game.

And in the Derby Classic final, Russell shut down district and county rival Raceland, 57-35.

Throw in a 53-47 win in the Ironton Classic over the host Fighting Tigers, and the Red Devils had three tournament and showcase victories on opposing floors before Santa even showed up.

"Each tournament and showcase allowed us to gain valuable early-season experiences and success in tournament-like atmospheres," Russell coach Derek Cooksey said. "These experiences will be very beneficial during tournament time at the end of the season."

—Ashland girls

The defending 16th Region Tournament runner-up Kittens unmistakably entered a new era when veteran coach Bill Bradley retired and Stacy Franz Davis stepped in as bench boss.

The beginning to this era has been much like the one before it, with an 8-3 start. That has included early accomplishment with a statewide flair, as Ashland won two games in three outings in Louisville last week.

The Kittens topped two Ninth Region opponents, beating St. Henry, 57-38, and Highlands, 61-53. Ashland fell to Franklin County, but played the state's eighth-ranked team within seven points.

"The trip was a great growing experience as a team," Davis said. "It showed the type of team we can be and toughness we can bring, but the experience also showed us that we have to bring that every game, because every team is going to bring their best against us."

—Boyd County girls

To win the two biggest games of any season, a team must produce two victories in one day. The Sweet Sixteen, under the current scheduling format, has its semifinals and championship game slated for the same Saturday.

If the defending 16th Region Tournament champion Lions again play in Rupp Arena, they've already experienced what it's like to win twice in 24 hours — actually fewer — to claim a crown.

With inclement weather impending late last week, some tournaments combined two days' worth of games into one in order to complete the whole bracket.

So, hours after Boyd County knocked off Madison Southern, 72-50, in the Gateway Holiday Classic on Thursday, the Lions took the floor again versus host Montgomery County (8-2).

Boyd County dropped the Indians, 61-53, for the first of what it hopes is multiple titles this season.

One additional aspect to this: the Lions lost to Dixie Heights, 60-57, in the Boyd County Roundball Classic. One game later, the Colonels fell to Montgomery County, 69-55.

So Boyd County's defeat of the Indians showcased growth, coach Pete Fraley said.

"I think the win shows we have gotten better over the last 10 days," Fraley said.

—Lawrence County girls

Though the Bulldogs went 1-2 at the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic last week, their participation in one of Kentucky's premier holiday tournaments at Lexington Catholic marked a clear step up in competition from their recent in-state Christmastime events.

After all, having given Pikeville all it wanted in the 15th Region Tournament final last year, Lawrence County is in hot pursuit of a return trip to Lexington in March and has scheduled like it.

"We like to play in tournaments away from the area and play teams we don't normally see during the season," Bulldogs coach Melinda Feltner said. "We feel playing those teams will get us better prepared for the 2A tournament and also the district and regional tournaments."

—Morgan County girls

For all the Cougars accomplished in their first two seasons under Derrik Young, they never won two games in the same tournament except for the consolation bracket of last winter's Gateway Holiday Classic.

Morgan County checked off that box last week at the Mike Bromagen Ladycats Legend Tournament at Bath County. The Cougars topped East Jessamine, 64-31, before dropping Johnson Central, 40-33. The Golden Eagles were 8-1 going into that game.

"I think it was a good experience for my kids," Young said. "We got to play some really athletic teams, which pushed us to be better."

—Rowan County girls

The Vikings won the Eastern Kentucky Conference Tournament, knocking off Russell, West Carter and Lewis County in succession. Stokes called that event "an early chance to see how girls react and recover from playing several games in a short amount of time."

Rowan County spent last week at the Queen of the Commonwealth at Bullitt East, one of the state's top regular-season tournaments. The Vikings dropped their first two outings, to DuPont Manual and McCracken County — ranked third and second, respectively, in Kentucky last week.

The Vikings righted themselves to top Greenwood and Mercer County.

"The Queen of the Commonwealth we have used to see where we stand as a team and what we need to improve on to reach the caliber of the teams we played," Stokes said.

Reach ZACK KLEMME at zklemme@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2658. Follow @zklemmeADI on Twitter.