1970

Middlesboro was the defending District Champion from 1968-69.
As drawn, Middlesboro was the favorite in their bracket, and Lone Jack was the pre-tourney favorite to win the District.

Middlesboro 112 Red Bird 51
Bell County (bye)
Lone Jack 77 Hend Settlement 75
Pineville (bye)

Middlesboro 49 Bell County 43
Lone Jack 89 Pineville 84 OT

Title: Middlesboro 60 Lone Jack "5_"

[The Lone Jack score in the title game was not definitively stated in available sources]

Harlan was the defending Regional Champion, but many predicted that the District 51 champion would be the favorite in '69-70.
Others "in the know" chose Knox Central, 24-1 entering the Regional Tournament.
Knox Central was coached by Don Bingham, and one of the premier players for the Panthers was the coach's brother, Darrell Bingham.

Harlan had lost a first-round game in the State Tournament the previous year. However, Harlan was not to repeat since the 52nd District final was a matchup between Cumberland (the victor) and Evarts.

Evarts 61 Middlesboro 53
Knox Central 78 Brodhead 55
Cumberland 58 Whitley County 31
Lone Jack 78 Clay County 71

Knox Central 72 Evarts 36
Cumberland 93 Lone Jack 63

Title: Knox Central 62 Cumberland 55

The Lone Jack-Clay County game in the first round was a high-tension affair. This game occurred one month after a regular-season game between the two schools' teams at Manchester.
The postscript to that game was (among other incidents) the Lone Jack coach, Shirley Goodin, receiving a broken arm via a thrown stone.
The two schools were drawn into this rematch; however, they refused to play one another during the regular season for some years thereafter.

The Lone Jack scoring in the 78-71 win over Clay County was Vaughn 29, Woods 28, H. Collett 10, M. Johnson 7, and Crockett 4.
Clay County's scoring was paced by Mike Jones' 33 and Garrison's 14.

In the Mustangs' semifinal loss to Cumberland, the Lone Jack scoring was Woods 27, Vaughn 12, Collett 10, Johnson 7, Crockett 6, and Slusher 1.
All five Cumberland starters were in double figures in scoring.

In the Title game, LeRoy Smallwood led Knox Central with 24 points.
Knox Central was unfortunate to have suffered some key injuries during the Regional title game, and this (in part) led to their subsequent low rating prior to the Sweet 16 tourney (16th of 16).
Knox Central's last trip to the State Tournament had been in 1966, at which time they had been pre-ranked likewise. In that tourney, Knox Central surprised many by losing to #1 ranked Shelby County by one point - after having been a thirty nine point underdog.
Central was to engage Louisville's Pleasure Ridge Park in the first round of the upcoming tourney.

Rodney Woods - Lone Jack
Mike Jones - Clay County
LeRoy Smallwood - Knox Central
Grady Wilson - Cumberland
Billy Hicks - Evarts
Clete Bledsoe - Knox Central
Dennis Griffey - Cumberland
Larry Vaughn - Lone Jack
Darrell Bingham - Knox Central
Dennis Smith - Knox Central
Ronnie Alexander - Cumberland
Pat Sharp - Middlesboro

Rodney Woods, Lone Jack junior, was chosen the Outstanding Player of the Regional Tournament. He had scored 55 points (total) in two regional tourney games - in addition to his 79 points in three District Tournament games.
Woods reportedly had scored 748 points during the season to average 24.3 points-per-game. Of those games, Woods had scored in excess of twenty points on twenty two occasions, and had scored over twenty five points in fifteen of those games.

Knox Central, having won the Regional Tourney for their fourth time, faced Pleasure Ridge Park. Each team sported a 27-1 record.
The injury-riddled Panthers lost to PRP 81-54.

Coach of the Year:
Raymond Reed - Hazel Green
Player of the Year:
Rodney Woods - Lone Jack
G.J. Smith - Hazel Green
Mike Jones - Clay County
LeRoy Smallwood - Knox Central
Maurice Byrd - Harlan
Otis Fultz - Pineville
Pat Sharp - Middlesboro
Dennis Smith - Knox Central
Leamon Merida - Barbourville
Bill Dotson - Hazel Green
Tom Patrick - Whitley County

Two other Lone Jack players, Larry Vaughn and Herschel Collett, were members of the SEKC Second Team.
Hazel Green, the only team to have beaten Knox Central prior to the State Tournament, was the Conference champion.

Two area coaches were Doyle Troutman at Evarts and Ralph "Red" Roberts at Cumberland High School.