Paintsville Boys Basketball 1996
In the spring of 1996 the Paintsville Tigers boys basketball team finished on a sour note in the regular season finale, losing to Lexington Catholic 96-82. That didn’t sit well with the Tigers, who were loaded with height and with great scorers. They tuned up and set about correcting that sour note.
They cruised handily through their 57th District Tournament, defeating Sheldon Clark and Magoffin County handily, as they also did in the 15th Regional Tournament. In that regional they defeated Pike Central by 20, Prestonsburg by 14, and again defeated a determined Magoffin County in the final, but only by 3 this time.
These Tigers were headed to Rupp Arena and they knew the road to winning it all would be rocky, but they felt up to the task. They came into the State Tourney with a record of 22-10. Coach Bill Mike Runyon had more wins in previous seasons but knew these guys had been prepped for this test.
Paintsville ran into two buzzsaws during the first two games with Owensboro taking them to overtime in the opener before the Tigers prevailed 80-78. In the quarterfinal matchup with Allen County-Scottsville they eked out a 78-76 win to send them to another showdown with Lexington Catholic. Their previous meeting had left a bitter taste in the Tigers’ mouths.
The semifinal showdown of Paintsville vs Lexington Catholic seemed like an old west shootout after the first quarter, with Catholic leading 18-16. Paintsville’s JR Vanhoose had taken the Tigers on his broad shoulders in the first quarter and finished it with 10 points and 8 rebounds.
In the second quarter, Vanhoose started with a basket and a three-point play, while Tood Tackett made a couple of threes and Matt Ratliff hit a three-pointer. According to a Courier-Journal article by Jody Demling the Tigers were leading by 10 with 3:45 left in the half.
In the third quarter Vanhoose scored nine points and Paintsville headed to the final period with a 48-38 lead. The Tigers started the fourth quarter with a 15-4 run in which VanHoose grabbed five rebounds. The bitter taste had disappeared. These Tigers were on their way to the final, ultimately defeating Lexington Catholic 79-55.
That was a great showing by the Tigers, but it also showed the state that Paintsville’s 6’9 sophomore JR VanHoose was someone to be reckoned with. He had just broken a state rebounding record (27) that had previously been held by the great Wes Unheld, now in the NBA Hall of Fame. He also scored 29 points and blocked a shot.
In that semifinal match Craig Ratliff grabbed five rebounds and scored 17 points, Josh McKenzie made nine rebounds, 15 points, and one blocked shot, and Todd Tackett scored ten points and made seven assists.
Paintsville went on to defeat Ashland in the championship game 71-53 and brought that huge Sweet Sixteen championship trophy home to their school’s trophy case. Tackett, Ratliff, and VanHoose made the All-Sweet Sixteen team and VanHoose won the MVP trophy.
Paintsville would return to the championship game two years later.
