Beech Tree News Network

Look for some changes in Kentucky’s non-conference schedule next year based on what Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell is saying. Kentucky had a brutal non-conference schedule this year and Mitchell says it needs to be a  “learning opportunity” for him about next season.

“I think just because of the success we’ve had and the formula we’ve had, we’ve always scheduled tough in the non-conference and we were able to handle it last year with a very short bench. But we had two veterans, future pro’s on the team that helped us navigate through that, and the placement of those games helped us out,” Mitchell said.  “There’s no doubt that as we are trying to get our roster back to full strength and trying to recruit and add players that I must learn some lessons from this season and how it was scheduled. 

“We had the most difficult conference schedule in so many ways, so difficult I can’t remember one more difficult. We would have been just fine if the non-conference had not been so tough and challenging. There’s no one to blame for that but myself. I can promise you we will look at that closely and improve and learn.”

Kentucky signee Blair Green made it to the state tournament at Northern Kentucky University after leading Harlan County to the 13th Region championship.
Green was the dominant player in the regional tourney. She had 23 points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block in a 59-42 win over Pineville. In the regional semifinals. she was even better with 38 points on 11-for-21 shooting, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in a 68-62 victory over South Laurel. 
Harlan County rolled to a 78-51 win over North Laurel in the regional title game when Green had 32 points on 12-for-18 shooting, six assists, five steals, two blocks and two rebounds.
That meant she averaged 31 points per game in regional play when it counted most for her team. 

Harlan took a 28-2 record and 18-game win streak into the state tournament.

Green is also one of the leading contenders for Miss Basketball honors. The winner will be announced March 13 in Lexington.