les dixon designer of the year

PINEVILLE UPSETS CORBIN

BY TIM BRANSTETTER

STAFF WRITER

THE ARENA — Strange things are hap-pening at The Arena like J.D. Strange and

his Pineville Mountain Lions knocking offthe Corbin Redhounds, 56-51, to end TonyPietrowski's streak of five straight regionfinal appearances.

Pineville’s Seth Jeffrey had only scoredfour points in the game when he launched athree-pointer with :26 remaining and thescore tied at 51 apiece. His shot found thebottom of the net and lifted the Mountain

Lions to a big victory.“We’re just tickled to death,” Strange

said. “Sometimes you just have to closeyour eyes and hope.”

Pineville came out focused and grabbeda 14-9 lead at the end of the first quarter

SECTION B

Check out the Corbin-Pineville picture page.See Page 6B

Clay County hands Black Bears 66-58 loss.See page 2B

North Laurel will play Harlan County today.See Page 3B

TIGERS KNOCK OFF HARLAN COUNTYCAN NORTH PULL OFF ANOTHER UPSET?

TOP SCORERS

Things are lookingso-so today. I now havecompiled a 5-3 recordand hopefully I won’tmiss another game. Butthings get even harderbeginning today. Whenyou get down to theregion semifinals youhave four good teamsthat are about even, butthat’s why I have mytrusty crystal ball. I’mpraying it won’t lead meastray.

13th RegionTournamentat The Arena

SemifinalsGirls

Harlan County 57,North Laurel 50

For you that believethis will be a cakewalkfor the Lady BlackBears, shame on you.

North Laurel isn’t abad team. The LadyJaguars have had todeal with injuriesthroughout the seasonand are just now play-ing at full strength.

But with that said,Harlan County isn’t abad team either. CoachAnthony Nolan doesn’tget the credit hedeserves as the LadyBlack Bear coach.

13th RegionTournamentat The Arena

SemifinalsGirls

Clay County 66,Bell County 53

The streak will go on.Bell County’s Maci

Morris might just be thebest player in theregion, but Clay Countywill find a way to win —the Lady Tigers alwaysdo at this time of theseason.

Jeff Hale, South Laurel 26Tobie Merida, Knox Central 18John Simpson, Pineville 18Chad Massingale, Harlan County 18Tyler McDaniel, Clay County 17Tyler Brewer, Harlan County 15Travis Smith, Corbin 15Ethan Eversole, North Laurel 14Kody Reed, Clay County 13Jared Philpot, Pineville 13Hunter Grubb, Corbin 13Stephon Lyttle, Clay County 12TJ Kelly, Knox Central 12Marcus Carson, North Laurel 12Alex Sergent, Harlan County 12Cameron Rancher, Middlesboro 12Zach McGeorge, Clay County 11Matthew Barger, Knox Central 11Michael Wilson, Middlesboro 11Jonathan Barger, Knox Central 10Austin Rush, North Laurel 10Kendrick Henson, North Laurel 10Byron David Asher, Pineville 9Donal Collett, Pineville 9Zach Farley, Corbin 9Ryan Shears, North Laurel 8Jason Mitchell, South Laurel 8

PHOTO BY TIM BRANSTETTER

Clay County’s Tyler McDanielscored 17 points duringTigers’ 66-58 win overHarlan County.

LesDixon’sDAILY REGIONPICK’EMS

13th Region Boys Tournament First Round • Pineville 56, Corbin 51

MARCH SADNESS✦

PINEVILLE ENDS CORBIN’S FIVE-YEAR RUN TO 13TH REGION CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Pineville 56, Corbin 51


Top — Travis Smith walks off the court for the final time as a Corbin Redhoundafter his team dropped a 56-51 decision to Pineville.Tony Pietrowski’sRedhounds finished the season with a 19-12 record.SEE MARCH, PAGE 4B

2B

BOYS’ 13TH REGION TOURNAMENT

AT THE ARENA

Middlesboro 43

Feb. 29, 6:30 p.m.

North Laurel 59

North Laurel (19-14)

Knox Central 59

Knox Central (24-7)

South Laurel 50

Feb. 29, 8 p.m.

March 1, 6:30 p.m.

Harlan County 58

Clay County 66

Clay County (23-10)

Corbin 51

Pineville 56

Pineville (12-18)March 1, 8 p.m.

March 3, 3:30 p.m.

March 3, 2 p.m.

March 5, 7:30 p.m.

GIRLS’ 13TH REGION TOURNAMENT

AT THE ARENA

Whitley County 55

Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m.

North Laurel 57

North Laurel (9-24)

Harlan County 60

Harlan County (25-6)

Barbourville 30

Feb. 27, 8 p.m.

Feb. 28, 6:30 p.m.

Corbin 33

Clay County 49

Clay County (29-5)

Knox Central 50

Bell County 64

Bell County (19-11)Feb. 28, 8 p.m.

March 2, 8 p.m.

March 2, 6:30 p.m.

March 3, 7:30 p.m.

It’s do-or-die time now atthe 13th Region Tournament.After tonight we’ll find outwho will be participating inthe girls’ 13th RegionTournament championshipgame.

So who will it be?Well, since my pick has

already been eliminated(Whitley County), I’ve got togo with three-time defendingchampion Clay County.

The Lady Tigers have thebest point guard in the region in Alisha Mitchelland the best post players in the region in CheyenneMadden, Morgan Chesnut and Sara Robinson.

But that’s not all — Clay County also possessesone of the best three-point shooters around inTaLaura Mathis and Sabrina Smith.

Now don’t get me wrong, Bell County has a shotto knock off the Lady Tigers. Any time Maci Morrisis in your line-up, you’ve got a chance.

Morris showed everyone during Tuesday’scome-from-behind win against Knox Central thatshe might just be the best overall player in theregion. If Clay County can’t contain her today, BellCounty might pull off the upset.

Everyone is tagging Harlan County as a bigfavorite against North Laurel, but I’m not too sureabout that.

Yes, the Lady Black Bears should be the favoritecoming into the game, but you can’t overlook whatthe Lady Jaguars did against Whitley County thispast Monday. North Laurel is talented and coachEddie Mahan has done a fantastic job, but can hecome up with a scheme to put the clamps down onHarlan County’s Miranda Davenport?

That’s the big question.

Speaking of DavenportThe senior point guard from Harlan County was

named the Kentucky Association of BasketballCoaches player of the year for the 13th Region ear-lier this week.

The player of the year award guaranteesDavenport and invitation to try out for theKentucky All-Star team, comprised of the state’stop seniors. The all-stars face the Indiana All-Starsin a two-game series each season. Davenport willalso have the opportunity to compete in the state’sEast-West All-Star game on March 10 at WarrenCentral High School in Bowling Green.

Davenport has recorded 16.3 points, 5.2rebounds and 3.6 assists per game for the 25-6Lady Bears.

A big hat tip goes out to Harlan Daily Enterprisesports editor John Middleton for the help on this.

Lauren Wombles Mid-South ConferencePlayer of the Year

What a career former South Laurel LadyCardinal and Times-Tribune Player of the YearLauren Wombles has put together at the Universityof the Cumberlands.

She found out a cou-ple of days ago that shewas the Mid-SouthConference Player of theYear and that’s an awe-some honor for one ofthe best student-athletesI have ever covered.

Here is some infor-mation from the MSCpress release —Wombles ranks in theconference's top-five insix individual categories,including leading theMSC in scoring at 19.4points per game. She isthird in the conferencein field goal percentage(49.0) and free throw

percentage (83.6). She fin-ished fourth in the MSCfollowing regular seasonplay in rebounds (8.1) andsteals (2.5) and fifth in theconference with 10 dou-

ble-doubles.Nationally, Wombles ranks fifth in scoring, 15th

in free throw percentage and 24th in field goal per-centage.

LES DIXON - THE WAY IT IS

LES DIXON

13th Region Boys Tournament First Round • Clay County 66, Harlan County 58

✦

KODY REED’S THREE THREE-POINTERS HELP LIFT TIGERS OVER HARLAN COUNTY

THE NEED FOR REEDBY LES DIXON

SPORTS EDITOR

THE ARENA — The HarlanCounty Black Bears enteredthe season as preseasonfavorites to cut down the netsat The Arena once everythingwas said and done in the 13thRegion Tournament, but it did-n’t happen.

Instead Harlan County wassent packing for the fourthstraight season in first roundaction, as the Clay CountyTigers built a 16-point secondhalf lead and managed to holdon and win, 66-58.

“I felt like we had a run inus, even though we gave thema 16-point lead, and we did,”Harlan County coach MikeJones said. “But until it getsto the point it means more toour program and to the kids —I saw two that was upsetenough to shed a few tearsand one of them didn’t get inthe game, so you would expectthem to be a little bit morehurt.

“You’ve got to give ClayCounty credit,” he added. “Ibelieve they shot 64 percent inthe second half. We just didn’tmake the plays and they did.”

Clay County’s biggest leadof the game came with 6:22left in regulation after a bas-ket by McDaniel and justwhen it seemed as if theTigers were going to cruise toan easy win, Jones’ squadbegan to play up to its poten-tial and rallied late, but couldonly get as close as two points(59-57) with :59.9 remaining inthe game.

“With about six minutes togo, we wanted to be patientwith it,” Clay County coachRobert Marcum said. “Thekids had a hard time distin-guishing whether to go inthere and shoot it or not. Atthat point, we wanted tospread them out and we fig-

ured they would get desperateand double and we would get abackdoor layup or somethinglike that.

“We just kind of played a bitlike we were trying not tolose,” he added. “You can’t dothat and we learned from it.We are really proud of thekids.”

Many people hyped the firstround match-up between thetwo teams as a 13th Regionheavyweight contest and it

lived up to its end of the bar-gain.

There were 10 lead changesin the first half, as neitherteam led by more than fivepoints.

After falling behind 26-25with 7:48 remaining in thethird quarter, Clay Countybegan to take control of thegame.

The Black Bears had trou-


The Harlan County Black Bears are now 0-4 in 13th Region Tournament play.TheBlack Bears finished the season with a 27-5 record.


Clay County’s Kody Reed hit three-of-four three-point attempts during the Tigers 66-58 win over Harlan County.

SEE REED, PAGE 4B

COURTESY PHOTO

Former South Laurel LadyCardinal Lauren Wombles hasbeen named the Mid-SouthConference Player of the Year.

Well it appears that theNorth Laurel Jaguars arefor real and they just mightbe peaking at the right time.

I really like BradSizemore and the excite-ment that he has brought tothe North Laurel basketballprogram. When you look atthe coaching staff and thelevel of talent that they have,it's hard to imagine that any-one can knock them out of theregion tournament.

From the quickness and ability to finish aroundthe basket from Marcus Carson to the post play ofJake Allen, these Jaguars can present severalproblems to opposing teams.

I know most of you will laugh when you readthis, but I think I figured out what exactly sparkedthe Jaguars run late in the third quarter duringtheir win over Middlesboro – it was the departure

of Carson’s headband. That’s right,when Marcus gotrid of the head bandthe Jaguarsseemed to startclicking.

The only sadpart is that NorthLaurel's scorebookkeeper, J.R. Smith,found a head bandafter the game, so Iguess we will justhave to wait andsee what kind ofluck the fashionablehead wear brings tothe Jaguars whenthey face KnoxCentral. J.R. waskind enough to posefor a picture withhis new green sweatblocker on whilewatching the KnoxCentral and South

Laurel game.While watching the South Laurel Cardinals

during their loss to Knox Central I couldn’t helpbut think about Blake Sanders. Jeff Davis had atough season during his first year as a highschool head coach, but things got tougher whenSanders went down with an injury.

Sanders didn't start the season like I thoughthe would, but he was finally getting his teamtogether and things seemed to be starting to clickfor the Cardinals when their starting point guardwent down with a concussion.

The Cardinals got a big performance from JeffHale, but I think Sanders could have made the dif-ference if he was still in the lineup. I'm not surewhat the latest update is on his injury, but I knowit turned out to be worse than they originallythought it was going to be.

I just hope that Blake is doing better now andthat he will be playing basketball this summerand getting ready to help his team next year. Iknow that Davis would love to have him back.

TIM BRANSTETTER - THE WAY IT SHOULD BE

TIM BRANSTETTER

3B

13th Region Girls Tournament SemifinalHarlan County (24-7) vs. North Laurel (9-24)

✦

Can upstart Lady Jags pull off another upset?

13th Region Girls Tournament SemifinalsClay County (29-5) vs. Bell County (19-11)

✦

Can Maci Morris lead Bell County past Clay County?BY LES DIXON

SPORTS EDITOR

The Clay County LadyTigers are one winaway from reaching the

13th Region Girls Tournamentchampionship game for theeighth straight season.

The last time they failed toreach the regional title gamecame back during the 2003-04season when RockcastleCounty handed former coachDonnie Gray’s squad a 60-46loss in the first round of the49th District Tournament.

Bell County (19-11) faces thetough task of trying to send theLady Tigers (29-5) home todayduring the nightcap of the 13thRegion Girls Tournament semi-finals.

The Lady Bobcats had tofight back from a 10-point sec-ond half deficit during firstround action against KnoxCentral to advance, as fresh-man Maci Morris scored 32points and had 12 rebounds inthe 64-50 win.

“Bell County is a very goodteam,” Clay County coachJames Burchell said. “We’regoing to have to find a way tocontain the Morris kid. She is avery good player and she canscore.

“They have some other play-ers that are very good, too,” headded. “We know if we don’tcome ready to play, we couldget beat, so hopefully, we’ll beready to go.”

Lady Bobcat coach DavidTeague knows what his team isgoing up against when theyface the defending three-timeregional champions.

Clay County has won 58straight games against 13thRegion competition while gar-nering an impressive 103-2record against 13th Region foesdating back to the 2005-06 sea-son.

“Obviously, Clay County is avery good basketball team,”Teague said. “Just look whatthey have done over the years.They have dominated. Theyhave a lot of talent and a greatcoaching staff.

“We know it’s a tough chal-lenge and we’ve got to be readyto play,” he added. “They are ahard team to prepare forbecause they have a lot ofweapons. They maybe have thetop post player in the regionand Mitchell has to be one ofthe top guards.”

Teague said the big key forhis team is to not be intimidat-ed by the Lady Tigers’ success.

“That’s just it, we can’t beintimidated,” he said. “They

have accomplished a lot andhave had so much success, butwe’ve got to be focused. Weknow what challenge we arefacing.

“We’ve got to contain theirpost players and pressure theirguards,” Teague added. “Itsounds easy, but it’s not. ClayCounty is the top dog and we’vegot to find a way to beat them.”

Having a player the caliberof Morris is a plus for Teague,though.

“We are very fortunate tohave a player like Maci,”Teague said. “She’s a hardworker and a great kid. She’lldo whatever it takes for us towin. She’s one of, if not the bestplayer in the region right now.”

BY LES DIXON

SPORTS EDITOR

Eddie Mahan’s NorthLaurel Lady Jaguarshave already pulled off

one upset in the 13th RegionGirls Tournament, so why not tryto pull off another one todayagainst Harlan County?

“We’re going to try our best,”Mahan said. “We’re at the pointnow that there isn’t any badteams left this late in the season.I know our girls are excited andthey’re staying focused becausewe know that Harlan County is avery good team.”

The two teams played eachother back on Feb. 11 with theLady Black Bears pulling out a69-52 win over Mahan’s squad.

“North Laurel is a differentteam than when we played themthen,” Harlan County coachAnthony Nolan said. “We’ve gotto expect the unexpected againstthem. We’ve got to be preparedfor everything. We’ve also got totry to contain (Ashley) Woolumbecause her play against WhitleyCounty gave her teammates con-fidence and they ran with it.

“We’ve also got to be preparedfor any type of junk defensesthey throw at us and we’ve got tobe ready for anything they throwat us offensively,” he added.

Harlan County enters today’sgame with a 13th Region-best 10-game win streak and will be ledby senior guard and KABC 13thRegion player of the Year,Miranda Davenport, who is aver-aging a team-best 15.2 points pergame.

“We know we have our handsfull with Harlan County,” Mahansaid. “Like I said earlier, it’s oneof those cases where there areno bad teams now. They havetheir style and they stick with it.

“They like to slow the pacedown and they have nice postplayers to do that,” he added.“One of our big concerns is try-ing to find a way to containDavenport. She can really hurtyou from the outside.”

Nolan said his team needs tocome out and avoid a good startfrom North Laurel.

“They’ve already got a lot ofconfidence coming off their winagainst Whitley County, you don’twant to to get any more,” hesaid. “North Laurel is a very dan-gerous team and I thought com-

ing into the tournament they hadenough talent to pull off someupsets and they did just that.

“We’ve got to be able to slowdown Woolum,” Nolan added.“She is very quick off the dribbleand their team shoots with a lotof confidence. They have boughtinto what Coach Mahan hastaught them and they’re doing avery good job at what they’redoing.”

Mahan admitted one of the bigkeys to his team’s success is con-trolling the tempo and steppingup on defense.

“We’ve got to be able to dothat to win,” he said. “We’ve gotto keep them from scoring a lotof points. If we keep it in the mid40s to low 50s, we will be fine.But if it gets higher than that, wewon’t have a chance.”

FILE PHOTO

Sam Proffitt will try to lead the North Laurel Lady Jaguars to another upset win todayagainst Harlan County.

Tim Branstetter’s

DAILY REGIONPICK’EMS

My record stands at 4-4 I'm not at all confi-dent when picking the winners during the sec-ond round of the 13th Region Girls Tournament,but I guess I can give it a shot. At this point Ithink we all have realized that anything can hap-pen in the postseason, so here goes nothing.

13th Region Tournamentat The Arena

SemifinalsGirls

North Laurel 43, Harlan County 42It's hard to not pick North Laurel after watch-

ing them knock off one of the best teams in theregion in Whitley County, but Harlan County willtry to take what they learned from watching thatgame and figure out a way to stop EddieMahan's madness.

North Laurel's Ashley Woolum proved to be adifference maker as she executed Mahan'sgame plan to perfection against the LadyColonels, but I look for the Lady Black Bears toput a little more pressure on the ball and try tokeep the Lady Jaguars from milking the clock.

Mahan also has a nice player in eighth graderKayla Bruner. If she can stay calm under pres-sure and perform like she did in the first roundNorth Laurel will be a tough team to knock out.

I look for Mahan's mayhem to continue and Ithink the Lady Jaguars will find a little moremagic and pull off another big win to earn a tripto the region title game.

13th Region Tournamentat The Arena

SemifinalsGirls

Clay County 58, Bell County 51I really like Bell County's Maci Morris, but I

think the Clay County Lady Tigers will do whatthey do best and find a way to win.

Clay County has one of the best point guardsin the region in Elisha Mitchell. Mitchell is atrue point guard that does a great job of control-ling the pace of the game. She can get to thebasket and she does a great job of getting herteammates involved.

One of the biggest differences in this gamewill be the play of Cheyenne Madden. Maddenhas really stepped up her play this season andshe gives the Lady Tigers a talented post playerafter the departure of Whitney Belle Jackson.

Clay County is a well coached team and theyhave all the tools to keep their 58-game winstreak going. They have a balanced scoringattack and they don't know what it's like to lose.

FILE PHOTO

Bell County’s Maci Morris scored 32 points against Knox Central this past Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO

South Laurel guard Blake Sandersmissed most of the season aftersuffering a concussion.

4B

thanks to six points by John Simpson. Simpson fin-ished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

“Simpson has been giving that kind of effort allyear,” Strange said. “Beating a solid team and a pro-gram is big, but adding that it’s this time of year justadds to that. We just took it one possession at atime."

Jared Philpot gave Pineville a 21-16 lead with justunder three minutes remaining in the second quar-ter, but Corbin answered with an 8-2 run to take a 24-23 advantage at the half. Hunter Grubb hit a three-pointer, Smith finished a three-point play and TrevorHill added a bucket to end the first half. Smith ledCorbin with 15 points, while Grubb added 13 pointson the night.

Grubb scored a three-point play and Smith naileda three-pointer to give Corbin a 30-26 lead with 5:14left in the third frame, but Pineville would not goaway.

The Mountain Lions turned to Philpot late in thethird quarter and he poured in six points to give histeam a 38-36 lead with one quarter remaining to play.Philpot finished with 13 points for the game.

Corbin’s Kaleb Maguet hit a three-pointer withjust over four minutes left in the game to give theRedhounds a 46-42 lead, but Pineville scored sevenstraight points to take a 49-46 lead.

Grubb drained a three-pointer to tie the game at49 apiece and came up with a steal and an assist totie the game again at 51-51 with :59 left on the clock.

“Hats off to Pineville,” Corbin coach TonyPietrowski said. “They played really well. They gotthe ball to the right people and they executed theirgame plan well.”

Pietrowski admitted that his team never lookedlike they were themselves, but he doesn’t feel they

overlooked their opponent.“I really don’t think we overlooked Pineville,” he

said. “But we looked a step slow all night.”Corbin seniors Smith and Kyle West took different

paths during their Redhound career, but they willboth be missed.

“They are the epitome of what Corbin basketballstands for,” Pietrowski said. “Kyle put in three yearsjust to get one year of playing time, but he stuck withit and was a big part of our program. Travis madehuge plays for us throughout his career. It will be dif-

ficult and hard to not have them on the team nextyear.”

13th Region Boys Tournamentat The ArenaFirst Round

Pineville 56, Corbin 51Pineville 14 9 15 18 56Corbin 9 15 12 15 51

Pineville (56) – Asher 9, Simpson 18, Philpot 13, Collett 9, Jeffrey 7.Corbin (51) – West 4, Maguet 5, Farley 9, Smith 15, Grubb 13, Berezutchi 3,

Hill 2.

MARCHFROM FRONT PAGE



“Hats off to Pineville. They played really well. They got the ball to the right people and they executed their game plan well.”

- Tony Pietrowski -

ble with the Tigers quickness on both offense anddefense the entire game and it hurt them during aseven-minute stretch during the period.

A floater by Stephon Lyttle gave his team a 27-26 lead and back-to-back baskets by McDanieland Kody Reed lifted their team’s edge to 31-28.

The layup by Reed was a preview of things tocome, as he took over during the quarter’s finalfive minutes by hitting three three-pointers whilescoring all 13 of his points during the period. Hisbasket with 1:05 left gave Clay County a 48-36edge going into the fourth quarter.

“He (Kody Reed) is a good ball player,”Marcum said. “He’s a heck of a player and whenhe has a good game, it seems like we win. Butwith this team, we have no superstars. In the pre-season we weren’t ranked to do anything, but weplay really hard and there is no jealousy. Theyjust want to go out and get a win.”

The Black Bears hit eight-of-12 from the chari-ty stripe to cut their deficit to 57-48 with 3:01 left.Harlan County then preceded to turn up thedefensive pressure while forcing Clay County intosome crucial turnovers.

Three-pointers by Alex Sergent, ZacharyCaldwell and Chad Massingale got the BlackBears to within two points with :59.7 left, but ClayCounty knocked down seven-of-eight attemptsfrom the charity stripe down the stretch to wrap-up the win.

Harlan County missed a golden opportunity tomake the score 61-59 after Sergent stole the ball,but missed an uncontested layup and the Tigersmade the Black Bears pay. Lyttle hit two freethrow attempts to put to rest any attempt of aHarlan County comeback and the Black Bears fin-ish the season with a 27-6 record.

“It puts a little damper on winning 27 ball-games,” Jones said. “I’m really disappointed wedidn’t finish the season better. These kids aregoing to have to decide if it’s going to mean moreto them. I know we’re going to be capable of hav-

ing another good season, but I’m tired of comingdown here(and losing in the first game). I’venever had teams lose in the first round of thetournament until I took the Harlan County job, soI told them in the locker room I’m tired of comingdown here and losing in the first game.”

McDaniel led Clay County with 17 points whileLyttle finished with 12 and Zach McGeorge had11. Massingale had 18 points for Harlan Countywhile Tyler Brewer finished with 15 and Sergenthad 12.

The Black Bears connected on 19-of-50 shotattempts and struggled at the free-throw line by

hitting on only 15-of-26 shot attempts.The Tigers shot 26-of-52 from the floor and 11-

of-19 from the free-throw line.

13th Region Boys Tournamentat The ArenaFirst Round

Clay County 66, Harlan County 58Harlan County 12 12 12 22 58Clay County 9 16 23 18 66

Harlan County (58) - Calton 3, A. Caldwell 6, Sergent 12, Brewer 15,Massingale 18, Bond 1, Z. Caldwell 3.

Clay County (66) - Lyttle 12, Wagers 2, Reed 13, McGeorge 11, McDaniel17, Word 7, Kemp 4.

REEDFROM PAGE 2B


Clay County coach Robert Marcum talks things over with his players during a timeout.


Pineville’s John Simpson scored 18 points to lead the Mountain Lions past the Corbin Redhounds, 56-51. Pineville will now play ClayCounty in semifinal action Saturday.

5B

TIG

ERS

HO

LD O

N T

O B

EAT

HAR

LAN

CO

UN

TY, 6

6-58


BIG

CLAY

MOV

ES O

N TO

SEM

IS

PHOTOS BY TIM BRANSTETTER

Left — Harlan County coach Mike Jones argues a call in the first half.Above — Clay County freshman Tyler McDaniel led the Tigers with a17-point effort.


Clay County’s TylerMcDaniel goes for a looseball during the Tigers’ 66-

58 win over HarlanCounty.


Above — Former Clay County coach Bobby Keith celebrates theTigers’ 66-58 win over Harlan County. Right — Clay County’sTyler McDaniel and Zac Kemp celebrate after a Harlan Countyturnover.

6B

UPS

TAR

T PI

NEV

ILLE

HAN

DS

THE

COR

BIN

RED

HO

UN

DS

A 56

-51

LOSS


Corbin coach Tony Pietrowski watches his team during first half action against Pineville.

PIN

EVIL

LE U

PSET

S CO

RB

IN


Left — Corbin’s Zach Farley puts up a shot.Above — Corbin’sCaleb Maguet applies defensive pressure.


Left — Corbin’s Kaleb Maguet drives past aPineville player.Above — Pineville’s Seth Jeffreyknocks down the game-winning shot, as theMountain Lions defeated Corbin, 56-51.


MEN’S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP • KENTUCKY 67, KANSAS 59AT THE LOUISIANA SUPERDOME • NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

✦KENTUCKY CAPTURES EIGHTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nomatter where Anthony Davis andhis buddies go to make their mil-lions, their ol' Kentucky home willlong remember this championshipseason.

The Wildcats hit the jackpot withtheir lottery picks Monday night,ignoring Davis' bad shooting nightand parlaying a roster full of NBAtalent into a 67-59 victory overKansas for the team's eighthnational title — and its first since1998.

The one-and-doners did it in awire-to-wire victory — a little diceyat the end — to cap a season inwhich anything less than bringing atitle back to the Bluegrass Statewould have been a downer. Theyled coach John Calipari to his firsttitle in four trips to the Final Fourwith three different schools.

"This is not about me. This isabout these 13 players," Caliparisaid. "This is about the Big BlueNation."

Doron Lamb, a sophomore withfirst-round-draft-pick possibilities,led the Wildcats (38-2) with 22points, including back-to-back 3-pointers that put them up by 16with 10 minutes left.

The Jayhawks (32-7), kings ofthe comeback all season, fought tothe finish and trimmed that deficitto five with 1:37 left. But Kentuckymade five free throws down thestretch to seal the win.

Davis' fellow lottery prospect,Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, was anoth-er headliner, creating space forhimself to score all 11 of his pointsin the first half.

Davis, meanwhile, might havehad the most dominating six-pointnight in the history of college bas-ketball, earning the nod as themost outstanding player. He fin-ished with 16 rebounds, six blocks,five assists and three steals — and

made his only field goal with 5:13left in the game. It was a surefireillustration of how the 6-foot-10freshman can exert his will on agame even on a rare night whenthe shot isn't falling.

"Well, it's not me, it's these guys

behind me," Davis said after his 1-for-10 performance. "They led usthis whole tournament. This wholegame I was struggling offensively,and I told my team, every timedown, you all score the ball; I'mjust gonna defend and rebound."

So much easier when you've gotteammates like this. Davis is thelikely first pick in the draft shouldhe choose to come out, and Kidd-Gilchrist won't be far behind.Another first-round prospect, fresh-man Marquis Teague, had 14points. And yet another, sophomoreTerrence Jones, had nine points,seven rebounds and two ofKentucky's 11 blocked shots.

"We've got a lot of great playerson this team,'" Teague said. "Otherplayers stepped up and madeplays. He had confidence in us tomake plays and that's what wetried to do."

Kansas also has a lottery pick inAP All-American ThomasRobinson. But he was harassed allnight by Davis and Jones and fin-ished with 18 points and 17rebounds on a 6-for-17 shootingnight.

The Jayhawks won the "B''League this year, as Calipariavenged a final-game loss to BillSelf back in 2008 when Cal wascoaching the Tigers. Not a bad sea-son in Lawrence, though, consider-ing where KU began.

Kansas lost four of its top fivescorers off last year's roster. Therewere times early in the seasonwhen Self and his old buddy and

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist celebrates after helping the Wildcats to a 67-59 win over Kansas in the national championship game.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Kentucky Wildcats captured their first NCAA National Championship since 1998 andeighth overall. Kentucky finished the season with a 38-2 record.

SEE EIGHT, PAGE 3B

CATS DELIVERED✦

WILDCATS MAKE FANS PROUD BY WINNING TITLE NO. 8

2B

KENTUCKY’SCHAMPIONSHIPS

UK 58, BAYLOR 42

UK 46, OK. A&M 36

UK 68, KANSAS ST. 58

UK 84, SEATTLE 72

UK 94, DUKE 88

UK 76, SYRACUSE 67

UK 78, UTAH 69

UK 67, KANSAS 59

Top-rankedWildcats provedthey are the best

THE WAY IT IS

LES DIXON

When the 2011-12 sea-son tipped-off, manybelieved the race for thenational championshipwould be between twoteams — Kentucky andNorth Carolina.

But in all reality, it wasthe Wildcats to lose.

Sure Carolina returneda lot of talented players,but this Kentucky teamwas special.

You could tell from theget-go.

This Kentucky teamhad it all — a great shotblocker in Anthony Davis,a great shooter in DoronLamb, a great leader inDarius Miller, a great go-toguy in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a great floorleader in Marquis Teague,a great rebounder andscorer in Terrence Jonesand a great coach in JohnCalipari.

Yep, this Wildcat teamhad all of the componentsa national championshipcaliber team would needand in the end, they deliv-ered.

This team never got toohigh or too low. Sure theysuffered losses to bothIndiana and Vanderbilt,but all the Wildcat playerscared about was takingcare of business while try-ing to find a way to remainhealthy.

A lot of people doubtedCalipari and his “one anddone” philosophy since theformer UMass andMemphis since replacingformer Kentucky coachBilly Gillispie a few yearsback.

Well, he’s proved every-one wrong.

Monday’s win overKansas in the nationalchampionship game eras-es the loss Calipari’sMinutemen had againstKentucky in the 1996 FinalFour and even better, iterases the memory ofCalipari’s Memphissquad’s disappointing lossto Kansas in the title gamea few years ago and it alsosilences his critics for atleast a day.

Yep, Calipari is now achampionship coach andonce again, the BluegrassState is celebrating anoth-er NCAA NationalChampionship.

It has been long 14years since Tubby Smithguided Kentucky to a itsseventh national title in1998. Wildcat fans havebeen through a lot sincethen — a lot of shortcom-ings in the NCAATournament under Smithand of course, the BillyGillispie mess.

It’s hard to believe justa few years back,Kentucky was participat-ing in the NIT — that’sright, the NationalInvitational Tournament.

But now the Wildcatsare back on top of themountain and I’m not surewhen, or if they’ll getknocked off any time soon.

It looks as if Calipari isgetting ready to haveanother outstandingrecruiting class for nextseason and if that hap-pens, look out.

Of course, it looks as ifhe’s going to have to findreplacements for Davis,Jones, Kidd-Gilchrist,Miller and maybe evenTeague and Lamb.

If that happens, Calipariwon’t be concerned, like Isaid, he’ll just reload andKentucky fans shouldn’t beconcerned either.

It’s a fun time forKentucky fans across thestate and country. TheWildcats are back on topand to be honest, that’s theway it should be.

5967

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist gives Terrence Jones a hug after the Wildcats defeated Kansas, 67-59

NEW ORLEANS (AP) —Won and Done, indeed.Maybe even Over and Out.

All that really matters isthat Kentucky parlayed a ros-ter full of NBA talent into a67-59 victory Monday nightover Kansas for the team'seighth national NCAA basket-ball title — its first since 1998.

John Calipari coached thistitle team to a wire-to-wirevictory — a little dicey at theend — to cap a season thatcried for no less than a cham-pionship for their ol'Kentucky home.

"I wanted everybody tosee, we were the best teamthis season," said the coachwho finally has the champi-onship that eluded him for allthese years. "We were thebest team. I wanted this to beone for the ages."

Doron Lamb, a sophomorewith first-round-draft-pickpossibilities, led the Wildcats(38-2) with 22 points, includ-ing back-to-back 3-pointersthat put them up by 16 with10 minutes left.

The Jayhawks (32-7), kingsof the comeback all season,fought to the finish andtrimmed that deficit to fivewith 1:37 left. But Kentuckymade five free throws downthe stretch to seal the win.

Davis' fellow lotteryprospect, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, was another head-liner, creating space for him-self to score all 11 of hispoints in the first half.

Davis, meanwhile, mighthave had the most dominat-ing six-point night in the his-

tory of college basketball,earning the nod as the mostoutstanding player. He fin-ished with 16 rebounds, sixblocks, five assists and threesteals — and made his onlyfield goal with 5:13 left in thegame. It was a surefire illus-tration of how the 6-foot-10freshman can exert his willon a game even on a rarenight when the shot isn'tfalling.

"Well, it's not me, it's theseguys behind me," Davis saidafter his 1-for-10 perfor-mance. "They led us thiswhole tournament. Thiswhole game I was strugglingoffensively, and I told myteam, every time down, youall score the ball; I'm justgonna defend and rebound."

So much easier whenyou've got teammates likethis. Davis is the likely firstpick in the draft, though hesaid he hasn't decided yetwhether he will come out,and Kidd-Gilchrist won't befar behind. Another first-round prospect, freshmanMarquis Teague, had 14points. And yet another,sophomore Terrence Jones,had nine points, sevenrebounds and two ofKentucky's 11 blocked shots.

"I love the fact AD goes 1for 10, and you all say he wasbiggest factor of game,"Calipari said. "He was 1 for10. I asked these guys whatthey would do without scor-ing. You have an idea what hedoes."

Kansas also has a lotterypick in AP All-AmericanThomas Robinson. He washarassed all night by Davisand Jones and finished with18 points and 17 rebounds ona 6-for-17 shooting night. Heleft upset, though not overlyimpressed with Davis, whohe'll certainly see in "theassociation" over the nextseveral years.

"He's not Superman,"Robinson said. "He's just agreat player. I don't mean tobe disrespectful by it, but as acompetitor I'm not going tosit here and give all mypraise to someone I go upagainst."

The Jayhawks won the "B''League this year, as Calipariavenged a final-game loss toBill Self back in 2008 whenCal was coaching the Tigers.Memphis missed four freethrows in blowing a nine-point lead in that one. Kansasdidn't get any such help thistime.

“I wanted everybody to see, we were thebest team this season. We were the best

team. I wanted this to be one for the ages.”- John Calipari -

3B

TITLE GAMEBY THE NUMBERS

WELCOMING THECHAMPIONS

8Number of national

championshipsKentucky has won.

67Number of pointsKentucky scored.

59Number of pointsKentucky allowed.

38Number of wins

Kentucky finishedwith this season.

2Number of lossesKentucky finishedwith this season.

16Number of

rebounds AnthonyDavis finished with.

The University of Kentuckymen’s basketball team will have apublic celebration of the 2011-12season Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at

Rupp Arena, immediately followingthe Wildcats’ return from New

Orleans.

Here are the details of theevent:

Tickets are free and will bedistributed Tuesday beginning at 8

a.m. at the Rupp Arena ticketoffice.

Fans wishing to acquire ticketsmay begin lining up at the Rupp

ticket office immediately followingthe game. Security will be on-siteto provide directions / assistance

as fans arrive.There is a limit of four tickets

per person.Persons must be at least age

14 to pick up tickets.Tickets are available only at

the Rupp Arena ticket office andCANNOT be ordered online or over

the telephone.* UK students with ID may

request tickets in a special student section while supplies

last. Students can receive oneticket in these special sectionswhen student ID is presented at

the windows.Children under the age of 2 do

not need a ticket if the child sitson the lap of a parent.

Doors to Rupp Arena will opento the public at 2 p.m.

The event begins at approxi-mately 3:30 p.m.

Paid parking will be availablein all lots of Rupp Arena at the

usual rate of $12 per car.

For those who will be unableto attend the event at Rupp but

would like to cheer the team busalong its way to Rupp, here is the

route:Man-o-War to Versailles Road

Right on Red MileRoad/Virginia Ave

Left on South LimestoneLeft on West Main

West Main to Rupp Arena

mentor, Larry Brown, would standaround at practices and wonder if thiswas a team that could even make thetournament. It did. Won its eighthstraight conference title, too.

None of this, however, was for the faintof heart. The Jayhawks trailed by doubledigits in three of their five tournamentgames leading to the final and playedevery game down to the wire. They fellbehind by 18 late in the first half of thisone and this time, there was no big come-back to be made; not against these guys.

"We came up short, but I don't think welost. I think they just beat us," Self said.

Davis realized early this was no shoot-first night for him at the Superdome.Sporting his near-unibrow, which the UKWildcat mascot also decided to paste on,he endured the worst shooting night of ashort college career in which he makes 64percent. No big deal. He set the toneearly on defense, swatting Robinson'sshot twice, grabbing rebounds, makingpretty bounce passes for assists.

Early in the second half, he made asteal that also could have been an assist,knocking the ball out of Robinson's handsand directly to Jones, who dunked for a46-30 lead.

Then, finally. With 5:13 left in the game,he spotted up for a 15-foot jumper fromthe baseline that swished for a 59-44 lead,putting a dagger in one of Kansas' manycomebacks.

"He was terrific," Self said. "The baskethe made was one of the biggest basketsof the game."

The crowd, a little more full ofKentucky fans than Kansas, went crazy. Ifthis guy only stays one year and onlymakes one shot, they're fine with that.

It's the new normal at Kentucky, whereAdolph Rupp set a standard, Rick Pitinolived up to it for a while, then Calipari —hardly the buttoned-down type — washired to bring back the glory.

He goes for the best player, no matterwhat their long-term goals.

Normally, the prospect of losing allthose players in one swoop would havepeople thinking about a tough rebuildingyear.

But Cal has mastered the art ofrebuilding on the fly.

He's the coach who brings in the JohnWalls, Brandon Knights and DerrickRoses (at Memphis) for cups of coffee,lets them sharpen up their resumes, thenhappily says goodbye when it becomesobvious there's nothing left for them to doin school.

Last year, the formula resulted in atrip to the Final Four that ended with a

crushing loss to Connecticut in the semi-finals.

This year, Davis and Kidd-Gilchristcame to Lexington with big-time bona-fides, and they didn't disappoint.Kentucky lost only twice all season —once on a buzzer-beater at Indiana, thesecond time last month in the SEC tour-nament title game to Vanderbilt.

The Vandy loss might have been, asCalipari put it, just what the doctorordered for a team that could sometimesborder on arrogance.

They rebounded nicely for the realtournament, and through it all, the coachrefused to apologize for the way he

recruits or how he runs his program. Justplaying by the rules as they're set up, hesays, even if he doesn't totally agree withthem. Because he refuses to promiseminutes or shots to any recruit anddemands teamwork out of all of them, hesays he comes by these players honestly.

He has produced nine first-round picksin the last four drafts with a few morecoming. This latest group will have anNCAA title in tow and the everlasting loveof a fan base that bleeds basketball.

"I don't know of any team that has sac-rificed for each other like this team andthey deserve this moment, they reallydo," Calipari said.

EIGHTFROM PAGE 1B

ASSOCIATED PRESS

University of Kentucky coach John Calipari waves to the Wildcat faithful after cutting off a piece of the net.Calipari’s Wildcats finished the season with a 38-2 record after defeating Kansas in the national title game,67-59.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Members of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrate after defeating Kansas in the national championship game, 67-59.

“I don’t know of any team that has sacrificed for each other like this team andthey deserve this moment, they really do.”

- John Calipari -

13TH REGION FASTPITCH CHAMPIONSHIP • NO. LAUREL 4, SO. LAUREL 1AT SOUTH LAUREL HIGH SCHOOL • LONDON, KENTUCKY

✦

NORTH LAUREL CAPTURES SIXTH STRAIGHT REGIONAL TITLEBY LES DIXONSPORTS EDITOR

SOUTH LAUREL — A three-run first inning and another dominating performance on the mound by 13th Region Fastpitch Tournament MVP Megan Baldwin was all North Laurel needed to capture its sixth straight 13th Region championship Thursday.

The Lady Jaguars (35-5) were outhit 8-3, but still managed to knock off cross-town rival South Laurel (25-13) to win the 13th Region Fastpitch Tournament title over the Lady Cardinals, 4-1.

Baldwin posted an impressive 3-0 record during regional tourna-ment play and never surrendered an earned run during the 19 innings she pitched.

Her stat line against South Laurel was just as impressive — scattered eight hits, one unearned run while striking out eight batters.

“I knew I was on top of my game all year this year,” Baldwin said. “I was never nervous at all during the game. I knew I had my defense behind me and there really wasn’t any pressure at all.

“I just kept pitching my game and never really worried about any-thing,” she added. “I made the error that cost us a run, but I set-tled down after that. I’m ready for state. We’ve got a lot of heart and I believe we will have a chance this year.”

North Laurel coach Rogers Strong admitted jumping out to an early lead against the Lady Cardinals was important, especially with the way South Laurel is capa-

ble of putting runs on the score-board.

“The kids were mentally pre-pared,” Strong said. “They really wanted this game because we have put in so many hours since last fall.

“We kinda jumped on South Laurel,” he added. “I don’t know if

they were expecting our short game and we executed real well, but after that they settled in.”

The Lady Jaguars will be mak-ing their 14th appearance (1995, 96, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11 and 12) in the KHSAA Fastpitch State Tournament next week

against 16th Region champion Ashland Blazer. North Laurel enters the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the state by riding an impressive 21-game win streak.

PHOTO BY LES DIXON

The North Laurel Lady Jaguar coaching staff jumps for joy after seeing their team capture their sixth straight 13th Region championship.

PHOTO BY LES DIXON

North Laurel’s Sidney Herrell attempts to tag out South Laurel’s Destinee Fisher during the Lady Jaguars’ 4-1 win Thursday.

SEE NORTH, PAGE 8

OWENSBORO BOUND

6FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2012

NEWSROOM: 606-528-2464FAX: 606-528-9850

E-MAIL: [email protected]

7TIMES-TRIBUNE / FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2012

13TH REGION BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP • SO. LAUREL 8, MIDDLESBORO 2AT SOUTH LAUREL HIGH SCHOOL • LONDON, KENTUCKY

✦

SOUTH LAUREL HEADING TO BASEBALL STATE TOURNAMENTBY TIM BRANSTETTERSTAFF WRITER

SOUTH LAUREL — The South Laurel Cardinals saved their best game for last as they blasted past Middlesboro, 8-2, Thursday to claim the 13th Region Baseball Tournament championship.

South Laurel’s Trey Martin took the mound in the third inning and picked up the win for the Cardinals, but it took a gutsy effort in the seventh inning to close out the victory.

Martin walked in a run with two outs and the bases loaded, but he wasn’t ready to leave the game when South Laurel Coach Wynn Harris paid him a visit on the mound.

“I asked him if he wanted me to take him out and he said, ‘heck no,’” Harris said. “I just wanted to stop momentum for him and give him a chance to catch his breath.”

Martin had faith his teammates would make a play.

“I just wanted to get that last out and I knew my team would back me up,” Martin said. “I just needed to throw strikes. I didn't want to come out, I wanted to fin-ish. I love my team, they're great. They back me up, we’re family.”

The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead on a two-run double by Alex Sears in the first inning, but the Yellow Jackets scored on a hit batter to close the gap at 2-1 in the third inning.

Stephen Simpson ripped a two-run homer over the left field fence to five the Cardinals a 5-1 lead and Martin played Follow the Leader as he recorded the first homerun of his career with a two-run shot to give South Laurel a 7-1 advantage.

“When it’s 2-0 you feel OK, but

when we put the five spot up with the two slams it was really a shot in the arm,” Harris said. “I think it might have took a little bit of wind out of their sails.”

Harris expects the state tourna-ment to be tough for his young team, but he also has faith in them.

“It’s going to be a tough road,” he said. “We’re just fighting to live and play another day. You don’t

have to be the best team in the entire tournament, you just have to be the best team that night.”

Although most people expected the Cardinals to face North Laurel in the finals, Harris was not taking Middlesboro lightly.

“I was very nervous based on the type of game that they played last night against North Laurel,” he said. “I knew they could put runs up in bunches.”

Harris is excited his young team will have a chance to com-pete on the big stage during the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament Tuesday against the 16th Region champions – the Ashland Blazer Tomcats.

“The state tournament in Kentucky is like nothing else,” he said. “You don’t have divisions, it’s win or go home, it’s winner take all.”


South Laurel’s Trey Martin is all smiles after hitting a two-run homer during the Cardinals’ 8-2 win over Middlesboro Thursday.

PHOTO BY LES DIXON

The South Laurel Cardinals captured the 13th Region Baseball Tournament championship by defeating Middlesboro, 8-2.

HOW SWEET IT IS

8TIMES-TRIBUNE / FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2012

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t say it, but I felt like all year we were the best team in the region,” Strong said. “I’ve told the kids since last fall that we’re working on not to just win the region, but go down and make some noise. I thought if we could get down there we could make some noise.”

It didn’t take long for Strong’s squad to take command of the game against South Laurel as Kailin Yantz reached base with a single and even-tually scored on a passed ball. The Lady Cardinals committed two errors during the inning and North Laurel made them pay dearly and Emily Sears drove in a run while Vanessa Smith’s single gave her team a 3-0 edge.

“We came out in the first inning and gave them three runs,” South Laurel coach James Burns said. “We committed some errors and that’s been our Achilles heel all year. They only had one hit that inning.”

Even though the Lady Cardinals were down, they regained some momentum by scoring a run in the third inning. Bailey Miller led off with a sin-gle while Amber Hyde drove her in with another single to the outfield. South Laurel had runners on second and third, but left them stranded after a pop up ended the inning.

“Actually, the momentum shifted,” Strong said. “We thought we were out of the inning and we made an error. The momentum did shift, but we refocused and were able to hang on.”

South Laurel put together another scoring threat in the fourth inning by putting runners on second and third again, but couldn’t push any runs across home plate.

“It comes down to execution,” Burns said. “I felt we would come back and play. We were doing well. It’s tough. The girls have worked really hard. I told them I’m extremely proud of them. They showed a lot of heart. We’re going home with a loss, but we still had a good season.”

North Laurel’s Mikayla Vires reached base with a walk to begin the bottom of the fifth inning and

eventually scored on another passed ball to give her team some breathing room at 4-1.

The Lady Cardinals tried to rally in the sixth inning as Megan Smith reached base with a hit and was replaced by pinchrunner Makenzie Powenski.

South Laurel was down to its last out in the inning when Miller connected with a single, but Powenski was thrown out at third to end the scor-ing threat.

“That play was huge,” Strong admitted. “That was humongous. That was Farris’ first year out

there (in left field). She made a great throw.”Burns admitted he thought Miller’s hit was

going to be a gapper.“That was a big play. That was my mistake,” he

said. “I thought the ball was through. Yeah, that was a big play. I take the full blame on that one — it was on me because I had her going all the way. You make those mistakes and it’s hard to come back on.”

The Lady Cardinals never recovered, as Baldwin set them down in order in the seventh inning while wrapping up the win.

NORTHFROM PAGE 6

PHOTO BY DARRIN SPENCER

North Laurel’s Kristin Fields connects with an offering by South Laurel pitcher Hagan Burns.

13TH REGION CHAMPSPHOTOS BY LES DIXON, TIM BRANSTETTER AND DARRIN SPENCER

The South Laurel Cardinals and the North Laurel Lady Jaguars cap-tured the 13th Region Baseball and Fastpitch Tournaments’ champion-ship on Thursday. The Cardinals defeated Middlesboro, 8-2, while the Lady Jaguars defeated South Laurel, 4-1.

KHSAA STATE FASTPITCH TOURNAMENT • NO. LAUREL VS. ASHLAND BLAZERAT JACK FISHER PARK • OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY

✦

NORTH LAUREL HAS SOLID SHOT AT MAKING A RUN AT STATE TITLEBY LES DIXONSPORTS EDITOR

When it comes to picking a favorite for today’s KHSAA Fastpitch State Tournament many are suggesting to pick a team that’s in the loaded bottom bracket, but then again, you can’t count out some teams in the upper bracket as well.

Whoever wins the tournament, one thing is for certain, the 2012 version of the state tournament should be an interesting one to watch.

“I’m not sure if there is a favor-ite,” North Laurel coach Rogers Strong said. “You’ve got some pret-ty good teams in the lower bracket and they’re going to have to battle things out, but there are some good teams in the upper bracket, too.”

Five-time state champion Owensboro Catholic (29-10-2) head-lines the lower bracket teams along with 11th Region champion Scott County (32-7-1) and 4th Region champion Greenwood (36-5).

“I’d like to think we will be tough to beat if we bring our best,” Greenwood coach Penny Reece said. “I’m very proud of my girls coming out of the 4th Region. We have played a tremendously hard schedule in preparation to make a strong postseason run and it has paid off.”

Both Scott County and Greenwood play each other in what many believe will be the top game in first round action today. The Lady Gators reached the state tournament for the first time since repeating as state champions in 2008 by defeating the state’s No. 1 ranked team and defending state champion Allen County in the 4th Region title game.

“The lower bracket is loaded in this year’s tourney and there are many teams, who if they get hot, can win it,” Owensboro Catholic coach George Randolph said.

Randolph’s Lady Aces will be making a state record 15th appear-ance in the state tournament while North Laurel (35-5) will be playing in its sixth straight state tourna-ment and 14th overall.

“We are going to play with confi-dence, continue to execute and play our game and give us a chance to be there in the end,” Randolph said.

Two other teams to watch out for in the bottom bracket are 7th Region champion Louisville Mercy (31-8) and Class ‘A’ state champion Green County (37-3).

“Greenwood and Mercy both are playing really well but could face each other early in the tourna-ment,” Green County coach Jeff Walker said. “Christian County looks to be set up well in the upper bracket, but nothing comes easy once you get this far.

“I like our chances, but we are in a very stacked bracket with seven of the eight teams being ranked with most being in the top 10,” he added. “So we can’t afford to take any plays off. The team that comes out of the lower half of the bracket will have been battle tested and very deserving to be there.”

Mercy coach Josh Bloomer likes his team’s chances, but cautioned his team can’t overlook anyone.

“We have seen several of the teams in the bottom and whomever comes out of the bottom has really gone through some tough tests,” he said. “Greenwood is playing

extremely well and has to be con-sidered one of the favorites after defeating Allen County-Scottsville. We had a tough 1-0 loss to them early in the year and they are play-ing some great softball.

“There are always upsets in the tournament and the key to winning is catching a break here and there and not letting the atmosphere affect how you play on the field,” he added. “I think we have a chance to have a solid showing in the tourna-ment, but we have a very talented team in Bullitt East right out of the gate.”

Even though the teams in the upper bracket might be overlooked, teams such as Christian County (31-6), North Laurel, Estill County (31-9), Ashland Blazer (25-4), Ryle (20-13), Oldham County (34-6), Boyle County (30-11) and Nicholas County (27-8) are solid.

“We’re going there with hopes of winning the state tournament,” North Laurel’s Strong said. “We know it’s not going to be easy, but we feel like we have a good shot.”

The Lady Jaguars will enter their first round game with Ashland Blazer riding a state tournament-best 20-game win streak.

“We have been playing really well,” Strong said. “But we are fac-ing a very good team in Ashland. The big key is to win the first game, it’s going to be hard to come out of the loser’s bracket.”

Another team to watch out for

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

6THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2012

NEWSROOM: 606-528-2464FAX: 606-528-9850

E-MAIL: [email protected]

2012 KHSAA STATE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT

THURSDAY, JUNE 7FIRST ROUND GAMES

UPPER BRACKETAll games begin at 6 p.m.

Nicholas Co. vs. Estill Co. Boyle Co. vs. Oldham Co.

North Laurel vs. Ashland BlazerChristian Co. vs. Ryle

LOWER BRACKETAll games begin at 8 p.m.

Mercy vs. Bullitt EastScott Co. vs. Greenwood

Owensboro Catholic vs. Johnson CentralLone Oak vs. Green County

FRIDAY, JUNE 8Winner’s bracket games

begin at 9 a.m. CST

Loser’s bracket games begin at 10 a.m.

SATURDAY, JUNE 9Championship game scheduled

to begin at 2 p.m.

“I’m not sure if there is a favorite. You’ve got some pretty good teams in the lower bracket and they’re going to have to battle things out, but there are some good teams in the

upper bracket, too.”- Rogers Strong -

SEE STATE, PAGE 8

Teams to BeatGreenwood (36-5) - This team knocked off the defending state champs, so why not put the Lady Gators in this spot? The Lady Gators enter the state tourna-ment with 36 wins.

Owensboro Catholic (29-10-2) - The Lady Aces received a favorable draw so a sixth state championship isn’t out of the question. If they do win it all, they’ll have to go through a tough stretch of games.

North Laurel (35-5) - If the Lady Jaguars can run the table, they’ll set a new program record with 40 wins, but to do so, they must find a way to get past Ashland Blazer and Christian County first.

Christian County (31-6) - If the Lady Colonels get by either North Laurel or Ashland Blazer then they’ll be in the winner’s bracket finals, if not, then put either North Laurel or Ashland Blazer in this spot.

Mercy (28-11-1) - The Lady Jaguars have enough talent to make a run and win their first state championship, but they’ll need to get past Bullitt East in the first round.

7TIMES-TRIBUNE / THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2012

It’s time to pull the old eight-ball out once again to see who will be crowned the KHSAA Fastpitch state champions.

I’ve done pretty good in the past, but this year’s tour-nament is a hard one to fig-ure out.

The bottom bracket is loaded — seven of the eight teams are ranked in the top 25, but you also have to keep an eye on the teams in the upper bracket, too — espe-cially Christian County and North Laurel, one of those teams will be playing in the winner’s bracket finals.

So with that said, who are the favorites?

You’ve got to go with Greenwood, Christian County, Owensboro Catholic and Mercy and the dark horses are Green County, North Laurel and Scott County.

It’s been three years since I picked the winner, so hope-fully this time around I’m right.

No. 16 - Johnson Central (30-10) — The Lady Golden Eagles are making their sec-ond state tournament appearance, but received a very bad draw.

No. 15 - Nicholas County (27-8) — I don’t know much about this team, but this is their first trip to the state tournament and that could cause some trouble in the end.

No. 14 - Bullitt East (27-9) — This is another team that is making its first trip to the big show and the draw isn’t a favorable one.

No. 13 - Lone Oak (35-4) — This team could be a sleeper. The last time they reached the state tourna-ment in 2001 they put a scare into eventual state champion North Laurel.

No. 12 - Boyle County (30-11) — The Lady Rebels have played a hard schedule and it may pay off in the end. The Lady Rebels’ first two games are very winnable.

No. 11 - Ryle (20-13) — The Lady Raiders started off slow with a 3-8 mark and could prove to be dangerous.

No. 10 - Estill County (31-9) — The Lady Engineers made some noise in 2005 and could do it again beginning today.

No. 9 - Oldham County (34-6) — The Lady Colonels have an outstanding record, but will it be good enough to get past a solid Boyle County team?

No. 8 - Ashland Blazer (25-4) — If the Kittens can get past North Laurel, don’t be surprised to see them make a run at the winner’s bracket finals.

No. 7 - Scott County (32-7-1) — The Lady Cardinals are one of the top teams in the tournament, but a first round game against Greenwood will probably send them to a quick appear-ance in the loser’s bracket.

No. 6 - Green County (37-3) — This team is quietly sitting in a perfect place. This team could make a very good run for a state title.

No. 5 - North Laurel (35-5) — If the Lady Jaguars can run the table, they’ll set a new program record with 40 wins, but to do so, they must find a way to get past

Taking a look at my magic eight ball

THE WAY IT IS

LES DIXON

SEE LES, PAGE 8

NORTH PERSEVEREDLADY JAGUARS HAD TO CLEAR HURDLES ALONG THE WAY TO REACH STATE TOURNEY

✦

PREP SPORTS • SOFTBALL


THE NUMBERS GAMEWhen Saturday evening rolls around,

we will know who will be crowned as the 18th fastpitch state champion.

That's right, the 18th KHSAA Fastpitch State Tournament will be played begin-ning today at Owensboro's Jack Fisher Park.

So with that said, let's take a look at this year's state tournament by the num-bers.

3 — The number of teams (Greenwood, Ashland Blazer and Nicholas County) that lost in their respec-tive district championship game, but won their region title.

57 — The number of state tournament wins Owensboro Catholic has, which is a state tournament record.

24 — The number of state tournament losses North Laurel has, which is a state tournament record.

79 — The number of state tournament games Owensboro Catholic has played in, which ranks first all-time.

54 — The number of state tournament games North Laurel has played in, which ranks second all-time.

37 — No one has more wins than Green County's 37 entering the state tournament.

13 — Ryle has more losses than any other team in the state tournament.

11 — The number of teams in the state tournament that has at least 30 wins.

20 — Ryle's 20-win output is the lowest amount of any team in the state tourna-ment.

5 — Five teams in the field of 16 are past state champions (Owensboro Catholic in 1998, 99, 2003, 05 and 09; Greenwood in 2008 and 09; North Laurel in 2001; Ryle in 2006 and Christian County in 1996.

15 — The number of trips Owensboro Catholic has made to the state tourna-ment. It is also a state record.

14 — The number of appearances the North Laurel Lady Jaguars have made in the state tournament.

3 — Boyle County, Nicholas County and Bullitt East each are making their

first trip to the state tournament.

582 — The number of total wins the North Laurel Lady Jaguars have, which by the way is a state record.

557 — Christian County ranks second all-time in wins.

40 — The most single season wins by any team — Allen County-Scottsville (2011), Christian County (2010), Greenwood (2007) and Owensboro Catholic (2003).

5 — The number of teams that have at least 500 career wins — North Laurel, Christian County, Owensboro Catholic, Reidland and Greenwood.

39 — The most wins North Laurel has had in a season.

20 — The longest win streak of any team (North Laurel) entering the state tournament.

25 — The longest win streak North Laurel has ever had (2000 and 2008).

12 — Owensboro Catholic has reached the state tournament 12 consecutive years.

BY LES DIXON • SPORTS EDITOR

FILE PHOTO

North Laurel (35-5) enters the state tournament riding a 20-game win streak.

BY LES DIXONSPORTS EDITOR

The North Laurel Lady Jaguars (35-5) might be bringing in a state-tour-nament best 20-game win streak when they do battle with 16th Region champi-on Ashland Blazer (25-4) Thursday, but they have had to withstand some bumps along the way.

The Lady Jaguars won their first five games to open the 2012 campaign and had built an impressive 16-5 start after defeating Whitley County at home on April 24 — and then came some bad news.

North Laurel head coach Becky Osborne was involved in a two-car acci-dent the following day which led to Osborne missing the remainder of the Lady Jaguar games due to injuries she sustained. She has recently been back in the North Laurel dugout, but athletic director Jimmy Durham appointed assistant coach Rogers Strong as the interim head coach until Osborne is cleared to return to her coaching duties.

“That was a tough time for us,” Strong admitted. “We had been playing pretty good and then that happened to Becky and we really didn’t know what was going to happen.

“But we overcame that and we have gotten stronger as a team,” he added. “The big thing was that Becky and her daughter was fine.”

North Laurel made a trip to partici-pate in the Western Hills Invitational a couple of days later and turned in a 6-0 effort while capturing the invitational championship.

“Like I said, we had some adversity

and emotional times when Becky had her accident, but I really believe we started to hit stride the week before in the Assumption tournament and it really carried over in the Western Hills Invitational.”

Coming into the season Strong admit-

ted he didn’t know what to expect with the departure of former coach Shane Weaver, but he said he kept telling the girls during the fall they had a chance to put together a special season.

“Losing Coach Weaver was big,” Strong admitted. “He was a good coach that did a good job with this program. These kids knew they were going to be challenged this season and they showed they could play and I kept telling them all of the hard work they were putting in could pay off in the state tournament.

“We’re not afraid to talk about win-ning the state tournament,” he added. “We have to take care of what happens on the field. We have a great group of girls that believe they can win the state tournament.”

To do so, the Lady Jaguars will have to get solid play from a mixture of talent.

“We have one senior in Kristen Fields, who has really stepped up big for us and then we have the big junior group,” Strong said. “And of course, you can’t forget about the the “kiddie corp” as I call them — three eighth graders in Kailin Yantz, Mikayla Vires and Makenzie Mills. Those three girls have really contributed a lot.”

So does Strong believe his team can win the school’s first state championship since the 2001 season?

“That’s our goal,” he admitted. “We’ve been under the radar the entire season and we like it that way. I would say we are a well-respected program and we all know to win, we’re going to have to beat some very good teams.”

FILE PHOTO

North Laurel assistant coach Rogers Strong gives Blake Johnson instructions during a recent game.

8TIMES-TRIBUNE / THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2012

is Jim Perrin’s Christian County Lady Colonels. They won the state tournament in 1996.

“For us to have a chance for the title, we have to stay very focused every pitch and need a little luck,” Perrin said. “We have seven seniors with experience, so we rely heavily upon them.”

Both Boyle County and Estill County are teams that could make some noise in the upper bracket, too.

“I do think Estill County got a pretty good draw to win some ball games,” Estill County coach Shirley Beard said. “If we play like we are capable of, I feel we can play with anyone. I hope it is an advantage that this is our sixth time to be at the state tourney in the last eight years, so that we are not so star struck. We are hoping to make a noise like we did in 2005.”

And there is one thing all of the coaches agree with — you need to stay away from the loser’s bracket as long as possible.

“Looking at the bracket, only four teams return from last year,” Ryle coach Patti Oliverio said. “This tournament looks to be wide open, but the key is always to stay out of the loser’s bracket.”

Ashland Blazer and Christian County first.

No. 4 - Mercy (31-8) — The Lady Jaguars is another team that could easily win the state title.

No. 3 - Owensboro Catholic (29-10-2) — The Lady Aces received a favorable draw so a sixth state championship isn’t out of the ques-tion.

No. 2 - Christian County (31-6) — If the Lady Colonels get by either North Laurel or Ashland Blazer then they’ll be in the winner’s bracket finals, if not, then put either North Laurel or Ashland Blazer in this spot.

No. 1 - Greenwood (36-5) — This team knocked off the defending state champs, so why not put the Lady Gators in this spot?

LES FROM PAGE 7

STATEFROM PAGE 6

FILE PHOTO

Shortstop Sidney Herrell leads North Laurel with 61 hits this season.

FILE PHOTO

Eighth grader Mikayla Vires has provided North Laurel impressive plate at both the pitcher and rightfield positions.



North Laurel coach Rogers Strong knows just how important it is to win the first game of the KHSAA Fastpitch State Tournament. Last season, the Lady Jaguars dropped a 10-2 decision to Central Hardin during first round action and never recovered.

This time around, he hopes his team will be on the winning side of things.

To do so, the Lady Jaguars (35-5) are going to have to find a way to get past 16th Region champion Ashland Blazer (25-4), who is only one of three teams in the state tournament that lost in the district title game but eventu-ally won the region.

“They are a very good team,” Strong said. “They are very, very solid. I believe this makes their fourth year in a row to the state tournament, so they’ve got some experience.”

For North Laurel, today’s game marks their 14th appear-ance, only one shy of tying Owensboro Catholic’s record of 15 trips to the state tournament.

The Lady Jaguars are only one of five teams (Christian County, Ryle, Owensboro Catholic and Greenwood) in the field of 16 that can lay claim to winning a state championship.

But Strong was quick to point out those accomplishments mean nothing once North Laurel and Ashland Blazer hit the field today

at 6 p.m.“They are going to be ready to

play,” Strong said. “They have been here before and we’re going to be tested.”

The Kittens are led by a two-headed monster pitching duo of Kelsee Hammonds (14-2, 1.63 ERA, 95 strikeouts) and Megan Hensley (11-1, 2.10 ERA, 96 strikeouts).

“Both girls can throw in the 60s and they both have spot-on location,” Strong said. “This is going to be a real challenge for us. We’re going to have to be real cranked up at the plate. We’ve got to be geared and ready for their pitching.”

Strong also has concerns about Ashland Blazer’s offensive attack at the plate.

Hammonds leads the team with eight homers and a .561 bat-ting average. She’s also driving in 38 runs while collecting 46 hits. McKenzie Vanover is batting .489 with five homers, 34 RBI and 45 hits while Jordan Hensley is bat-ting .485 with 44 RBI and 48 hits.

“They have a total of 20 home runs from a total of five different players — that tells me they are

strong at the plate,” Strong said. “They are also hitting .399 as a team, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

The Lady Jaguars will counter with a solid offensive attack trig-gered by senior Kristin Fields (.437 batting average, 52 hits, five home runs and 32 RBI) and lead-off hitter Sidney Herrell (.430 bat-ting average, 61 hits and 17 RBI).

Pitcher Megan Baldwin has carried the bulk of the load on the mound by going 30-4 with a .99 ERA and 211 strikeouts, but if North Laurel is going to go far in the state tournament, eighth grader Mikayla Vires (5-1, 3.50 ERA, 17 strikeouts) will have to log some innings, too.

“We’re going to have to have all of our pitchers step up,” Strong said. “If you can keep win-ning, it makes things easier for your pitcher, but if you get a loss then you’re going to have to play more games.

“But right now, we’ve got to find a way to get past Ashland first,” he added. “We just need to continue to play fundamental softball and see what happens.”

“They are a good team. They are very, very solid. I believe this makes their fourth year in a row to the state tournament, so they’ve got some experience.”

- Rogers Strong -

TOUGH MATCHUPNORTH LAUREL NOT OVERLOOKING TALENTED KITTEN SQUAD

✦

FILE PHOTO

North Laurel’s Megan Baldwin will pitch against an Ashland Blazer lineup that is hitting .399 on the season.

SECTION B

Liberty Justice’s Corbin Lady Redhounds improved to 3-0 after defeating Somerset

on the road in only two sets - B3

Whitley County turns in another solid scrimmage at home against

Pulaski County - B3

Williamsburg wins season-opener by defeating Jellico, Tenn. on the

road, 62-8 - B2

LADY REDHOUNDS REMAIN PERFECT BLACK PLEASED WITH COLONELSYELLOW JACKETS DOMINATE

THE TIMES-TRIBUNE WEEKEND EDITION, AUG. 18-19, 2012

THE ROAD TO BOWLING GREEN

WEEK 0 SCORESL.T. SMITH STADIUM, NOV. 30 - DEC. 1, 2012 Knox Central 40, South Laurel 21

Lynn Camp 40, East Ridge 14North Laurel 42, Pineville 20

Williamsburg 62, Jellico, Tenn. 8

Corbin 13, George Rogers Clark 12


LYNN CAMP — Coming into the season, Knox Central was picked by many to make a deep run into the playoffs and after the Panthers’ 40-21 thump-ing of South Laurel in Friday’s Pioneer Bowl, now you can see why.

Scottie Russell’s squad forced the Cardinals’ pass-happy offense into five interceptions during their first five possessions and in return built a commanding 27-0 lead in the first half and never looked back.

Knox Central outgained South Laurel, 393-198, in total offense, including a 252-86 edge on the ground and cruised to the easy 19-point win.

“It was big to jump on them early,” Russell said. “We knew going into the game we needed to force some turnovers and we did a great job of that tonight.

“We built a big lead and then we started to control the clock with our running game,” he added. “We went into ball-control mode in the second half and held on.”

Matt Barger did a lot of the damage in the second-ary for the Panthers, as he turned into South Laurel quarterback Tyler Dethridge’s nightmare for the entire game.

Barger picked off Dethridge three times, as the senior signal-caller for the Cardinals completed only six-of-15 pass attempts for 178 yards and two touchdowns while throwing four interceptions.

Barger also turned in a big play on offense by catching a 73-yard touch-down pass with :51 remain-

If you’re a Knox Central Panther fan, you’ve got to like what you saw during Friday’s 40-21 win against South Laurel.

Knox Central showed it can pass the ball, run the ball and play solid defense and put those three ingredi-ents together and you’ve got a team that is going to be hard to beat.

Matthew Barger high-lighted the win with three interceptions and a 73-yard touchdown reception. Jeffrey Canady continues to shine, as he scored two rushing TDs and returned an interception 48 yards for another score in only two quarters of work.

But how about the perfor-mance of quarterback Devon Evans? In his first varsity start he completed 8-of-9 pass attempts for three touchdowns and 141 yards — pretty impressive young man, pretty impres-sive.

If you’re a Panther fan, this season could be special.

Panthers living up to the hype

THE WAY IT IS

LES DIXON

PHOTO BY LES DIXON

Jonathon Gist led Knox Central with 147 rushing yards on 24 carries during Friday’s win over South Laurel.

AS GOOD AS ADVERTISED✦

KNOX CENTRAL FORCES FIVE TURNOVERS IN 40-21 WIN OVER SOUTH LAUREL

CORBIN 13, GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 12

PHOTO BY CHRIS PARSONS

Corbin’s Matt Jewell runs for a first down during Friday’s game.

Key defensive stand leads to Corbin winBY CHRIS PARSONSSTAFF WRITER

CORBIN — One point and a defensive stand for the ages.

That was the difference Friday as the Corbin Redhounds (1-0) fought back from a 12-0 deficit and held on for a heart-stop-ping 13-12 win over George Rogers Clark (0-1) in the season opener.

“If you missed this ballgame, you missed an exciting group of Redhounds playing,” Corbin head coach Steve Jewell said. “We smacked them (GRC) in the mouth and I was proud of them because the biggest heart won that game tonight.”

After turning the ball over on the GRC five-yard line, the Redhounds had to have a defensive stop if they wanted to hold on for the win.

Four plays later Corbin took over with 1:29 to play, after a fourth-and-goal from the one was stuffed to help seal the win.

After the game, a winded Jewell also talked about his team's ability to stand up to adversity as well as the excitement of the win.

“I’m just excited for these kids right now,” Jewell said. “It’s like I told them, I love watching kids play that way.

“That’s the first time in a long time I’ve seen kids play with that much excitement

for four quarters,” he added. “You know, it’s just fun for an old man to watch some-thing like that. That's what you live for, that's what fans live for.”

GRC got the scoring started in the first quarter when Darian Skinner broke free for a 87-yard touchdown run to put the Cardinals on top 6-0 after the missed extra point.

After a stalled Corbin drive, GRC added to its lead thanks to a 70-yard run to the end zone by CD Spight with 10:17 to play in the first half to make the score 12-0 after another missed extra point.

Trailing 12-0, the Redhounds responded with a nine play, 80-yard drive that ended with a four-yard score by Matt Jewell, trimming the gap to 12-6 at halftime.

Corbin’s defense came out on a mission to start the second half, holding GRC in check on consecutive drives before Matt

SEE KNOX, PAGE 2B

“If you missed this ballgame, you missed an exciting group of

Redhounds playing.”- Steve Jewell -

SEE WIN, PAGE 2A

2BTIMES-TRIBUNE / WEEKEND EDITION, AUG. 18-19, 2012 SPORTS SATURDAY

KNOXFROM 1B

AIRING IT OUT✦

WILLIAMSBURG PASSES FOR 340 YARDS IN 62-8 WINBY LES DIXONSPORTS EDITOR

JELLICO, TENN. — Williamsburg opened regular sea-son play with a dominating perfor-mance. The Yellow Jackets accu-mulated 340 through the air during their 62-8 win over Jellico, Tenn. Friday.

“It was a good win for us,” Williamsburg coach Jerry Herron said. “We were able to jump out on them and put them away.

“We made a couple of mistakes in the first quarter and they got back into the game, but after that, we did a good job of taking control,” he added. “I am very pleased with the kids’ effort.”

Williamsburg led 10-0 with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter, but the Blue Devils got on the score-board with 2:45 left to cut their defi-cit to 10-8 and that’s when the flood-gates opened.

The Yellow Jackets responded with a crushing blow, scoring 52 unanswered point during the game’s final 38 minutes of play.

Herron said Jellico’s defense continued to stack seven in the box, forcing his team to pass and Williamsburg made the Blue Devils pay.

“Once they started doing that and we couldn’t run the ball with seven in the box, that gives us five on four and we’ll take that,” he said. “We started throwing the ball and we made the plays.”

Quarterback Dalton Sizemore completed 23-of-29 pass attempts for six touchdowns and 303 yards in the win, as sophomore Skyler Griffith led the receivers with seven receptions for 129 yards and three

touchdowns. Andrew Griffith had five catches for 40 yards and a score while Logan Hamblin had five catches for 30 yards and a touch-down. Corey Shelton finished the game with four receptions and 84 yards and a touchdown in the win.

“It was one of those games,”

Herron said. “Our kids did a great job and I am pleased with their effort. Jellico is getting better. They have a very good defense — it’s tough.

“We took what they gave us tonight and executed,” he added. “We just need to build on this.”

PHOTO BY DARREN SPENCER

Williamsburg’s defense didn’t allow Jellico, Tenn. to score in the second half.

PHOTO BY DARREN SPENCER

Williamsburg’s Corey Shelton reaches out for a reception during the Yellow Jackets’ 62-8 win over Jellico, Tenn.


PINEVILLE — Chris Larkey’s North Laurel Jaguars built a 27-8 lead in the first half and never looked back during their 42-20 win over Pineville Friday.

The Jaguars, who have won their past two season-openers, jumped out to a 6-0 lead with 4:49 remaining in the first quar-ter, thanks to a five-yard touchdown run by Gabe Blair.

North Laurel scored on its ensuing pos-session, as quarterback Michael Nelson broke loose for a 25-yard touchdown run to increase its lead to 13-0.

The Jaguars continued their dominance late in the first half, as Nelson picked off a pass and raced 35 yards to give his team a 20-0 edge.

Both teams scored before the end of the first half and the Mountain Lions added a touchdown in the third quarter to cut their deficit to 13 points (27-14), but their come-back attempt fell short.

Nelson leads Jaguars past Mountain Lions

Wildcats put an end to their losing streak

WILLIAMSBURG 62, JELLICO, TENN. 8

NORTH LAUREL 42,PINEVILLE 20

LYNN CAMP 40,EAST RIDGE 14

ing in the first quarter to give his team a 14-0 edge.

“Matthew Barger is just an athlete,” Russell said. “I thought he did a great job in the secondary. He had a fantastic game.”

Knox Central made a statement during the game’s first six minutes by marching downfield from 75-yards out in 12 plays.

Jeffrey Canady’s two-yard run capped off the drive and gave his team a 7-0 edge.

Canady scored his second touchdown of the game with 7:30 remaining in the first half to increase Knox Central’s lead to 21-0 and he followed that up two players by returning an interception 48 yards, as the Panthers’ lead grew to 27 points (27-0) at halftime.

He finished the game with 30 rushing yards and 31 receiving yards along with three touchdowns and an interception as he set out the second half due to precau-tionary reasons after getting hit in the head.

The Cardinals came out in the second half and looked like a different team, as Dethridge guided his team to paydirt with a 12-play, 72-yard drive that was capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by Devin Pennington, but the damage had already been done.

Knox Central answered two posses-sions later, as Devon Evans, who was making his first varsity start, threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Trent Tuttle to put the game away.

“We just made a ton of mistakes,” South Laurel coach Larry Welch said. “We just got ourselves in too big of a hole. Their secondary had several interceptions and they’ve got good speed, very good speed.”

Knox Central’s Evans finished the game completing 8-of-9 pass attempts for three touchdowns and 141 yards and an interception.

Jewell was able to strike again.This time, he scampered in from

71 yards out to give his team the 13-12 lead after Cai Jackson made good on the extra point with 2:13 to

play in the third quarter.The teams traded possessions

until Corbin's turnover with 3:17 to play set the stage for the big finish. A finish Steve Jewell hopes will set the tone for his Redhounds this season.

“I hope that this goes a long way in showing them that if they battle the whole way, they have a chance to win games if they are still in it in the fourth quarter,” he said. “We

talked about that at halftime, the fact we want to be in better shape than them and be able to come away with the win.

“These kids came together tonight and really tugged on each other the whole way,” Jewell added. “You can’t really name any one person that stood out because it was a total effort.”

WINFROM PAGE B1

PHOTO BY LES DIXON

Lynn Camp ended its 13-game losing skid by defeating East Ridge Friday, 40-14.


LYNN CAMP — Phil Russell’s first game as lynn Camp head coach turned out to be a good one, as his Wildcats defeated East Ridge in the Pioneer Bowl, 40-14, to put an end to a 13-game losing streak.

“We came out tonight and played really well,” Russell said. “We had a game plan for them and we ended up executing.”

Tommy Hatfield scored three touch-downs in the win while Trenton Medlin added two scores.

“This was a great win,” Russell said. “I’ll remember this night the rest of my life.”

3BTIMES-TRIBUNE / WEEKEND EDITION, AUG. 18-19, 2012SPORTS SATURDAY

PREP SPORTS • FOOTBALL PREP SPORTS • SOCCER

PREP SPORTS • GOLF

PHOTO BY STEVE CORNEILIOUS

North Laurel’s Sam Marcum passes the ball off to a team-mate during the Jaguars’ 2-1 loss to Pulaski County.

Redhounds capture Tri-match win

PREP SPORTS • VOLLEYBALL

Lynn Camp wins while North falls


CORBIN — The Corbin Redhound golf team won their regular season home match by shooting a 148, 20 shots better than second place finisher Clay County, who shot a 168. Pulaski County finished third with a 176.

Clay County’s Tyler McDaniel took home first place honors in individual play with a 33 while Corbin’s Cody Ellis, Alex Davis and Luke Cooney each shot a 36. Connor Maguet and Henry Moore each finished shooting a 40.

Russ Tolliver led Corbin’s junior varsity with a 37 while Kenton Frederick (42), Brandon Elliott (44), John Austin Childress (45) and Nick Vorbeck (47) followed.

BY CHRIS PARSONSSTAFF WRITER

The Lynn Camp Lady Wildcats volleyball team picked up its first win of the season by defeating Middlesboro while North Laurel dropped its second game in a row after losing to Middlesboro.

Lynn Camp snaps losing skidLynn Camp volleyball coach Cody Dixon can

breathe a sigh of relief after his squad picked up its first win of the season Thursday, knock-ing off Middlesboro 2-1 (25-16, 19-25 and 25-19).

The win was something Dixon saw coming after seeing his team win two sets for the first time this season Monday.

“I knew we were improving and I felt like we should compete against the teams we were fac-ing,” Dixon said. “It’s always good to get that first win off your back.”

Dixon said he nearly had a repeat of an ear-lier incident this week when he sat his varsity starters down and replaced them with the junior varsity squad.

“We’ve come a long way from last year and I reminded the starters that they can be replaced,” he said. “We were able to get things going and get the win.”

North Laurel fallsThe North Laurel volleyball team lost its

second straight match, falling to 2-2 on the sea-son after a 3-0 (25-12, 25-20 and 25-13) loss to Wayne County.

Following the loss, Lady Jaguar coach Ali Ray said her team didn’t play as well as she expected it to, but also gave credit to Wayne County for a solid effort.

“They have a lot of hitters on that team and they really hit the ball everywhere,” Ray said. “Our girls really had a hard time handling that kind of action. What it came down to is that we came out flat and never really got into it.”

Pulaski slips past JaguarsBY DOUG EADSFOR THE TIMES-TRIBUNE

PULASKI COUNTY — Both North Laurel and Pulaski County boy’s soccer teams were impressive in their season openers with shut-out victories earlier in the week, so when the two met up something had to give.

And, it was the homestanding Maroons giv-ing the visiting Jaguars their first loss of the young season with a 2-1 win.

Early on, it was the visiting Jaguars that took the action to Pulaski County right out of the gate, as North had two or three golden scoring opportunities early on, but couldn’t get the ball into the net.

Pulaski County’s Justin Tilley broke through and got the scoring underway just past the midway point of the first half, giving the Maroons a 1-0 cushion.

Inside the final two minutes of the first half was arguably the biggest play of the contest.

With Pulaski County on the offensive attack, a North Laurel player inadvertently touched the ball with a hand inside the penalty box, giv-ing the Maroons a penalty kick and a 2-0 edge.

“It’s always tough when you have to talk to the press after a game and say that you played better than your opponent because you never want to put an opponent down in any way, but by the same token, I thought we outplayed Pulaski County tonight,” stated North Laurel coach Mark Acampa.

“We had a lot more opportunities in the game and a lot more shots on goal, and one of the struggles I’ve been talking to our team about this year is finishing, and trying to get the ball in the goal,” he added.

BY LES DIXON AND CHRIS PARSONSSTAFF WRITERS

Both North Laurel and Whitley County volleyball teams will be in action today. Ali Ray’s Lady Jaguars will participate in the McCreary Central Invitational while the Lady Colonels are set to play in the Boyle County Invitational.

Whitley County will enter its respective invitational with an impressive 4-0 record and will play both Mercer County and Casey County today before tour-nament play begins.

“Getting into this tourna-ment will allow me to see where we are at while prepar-ing us for the rest of the regu-lar season,” Whitley County coach David Halcomb said. “It’s good to get into these tournaments early in the sea-son to see what you need to improve on.

“This will benefit us and of course we want to win, but our main objective is to get better and learn from the experience,”

he added. “If we win, we win, and if we lose, we lose, but the main objective is to get better.”

North Laurel coach Ali Ray agrees with Halcomb that the key to the early season tourna-ments is to gain experience.

Although they carry a 2-2 mark into the McCreary County Invitational Tournament and are on a two-game skid, Ray said at this point it’s not about wins and losses for her Lady Jaguars.

“We really just want get out there and see how the girls respond to this many games in such a short time,” Ray said. “There is some good competi-tion in this tournament every year and playing those teams

will do nothing but help us improve”

After starting the season 2-0, Ray’s squad lost its second straight match Thursday, falling to 2-2 on the season after a 3-0 (25-12, 25-20 and 25-13) loss to Wayne County, a team that will also take in the MIT.

Following the loss, Ray said her team didn’t play as well as she expected it to, but also gave credit to Wayne County for a solid effort.

“They have a lot of hitters on that team and they really hit the ball everywhere,” Ray said. “Our girls really had a hard time handling that kind of action.”

“Getting into this tournament will allow me to see where we are at while preparing us for the rest of the

regular season.”- David Halcomb -

Both North and Whitley competing in volleyball invitationalsPREP SPORTS • VOLLEYBALL

BY MICHAEL CHILDERSFOR THE TIMES-TRIBUNE

SOMERSET — After victories over Bell County and North Laurel to begin the 2012 season, Corbin traveled to Somerset on Thursday looking for a third straight victory on the year.

It was the visiting Lady Redhounds who got the job done at the Briar Patch as they downed the homestanding Lady Jumpers of Somerset by a final tally of 2-0 (25-14, 25-17).

With the victory, Corbin upped its record to a perfect 3-0, while Somerset’s losing skid continued, leaving the Lady Jumpers stand-ing winless at 0-4 on the year.

Corbin, led by the stellar play from senior Vanessa Wiseman, jumped out front on the Lady Jumpers early and never looked back, taking the opening set by an 11-point margin at 25-14. In the first game, Wiseman tallied six of her game-high 10 kills for the Lady Redhounds.

The Lady Redhounds ran out to a 6-0 advantage with kills from Catie Tucker, Carley Jackson, and Wiseman. A kill from Somerset junior Kaitlyn Moore would end the 6-0 spurt from Corbin.

Later in the opening game, Corbin went on a 9-1 run to grab a 14-point, 22-8 lead over the ladies in purple and gold. On the run, Wiseman had five kills and Landry Jung had a lone kill, while Allison Worthy tallied three aces, which would be a match-high.

PHOTO BY STEVE CORNEILIOUS

Corbin’s Landry Jung and Hannah Norris attempt to block a shot during the Lady Redhounds’ win over Somerset.

Lady Redhounds remain perfect with win over SomersetPREP SPORTS • SOCCER


WHITLEY COUNTY — For the second straight week, the Whitley County Colonels have looked good on both sides of the ball, accord-ing to coach Jim Black.

The Colonels hosted Pulaski County Thursday in a scrimmage and scored on their first five pos-sessions while allowing the Maroons to score once.

“We did well,” Black said. “I really thought we played well. We continue to improve on both sides of the ball and the big thing is that we’ve improved from last week.

“We still have work to do, though,” he added. “I feel like both scrimmages we have had have tested us and that’s what we wanted to get out of those.”

Even though he has been pleased with what he has seen out of his team, Black remains cau-tious.

“I am cautiously optimistic right now,” he said. “What I have seen has been good, but I still want to see what we do in our first game.

“We ran the ball well against Pulaski County and didn’t make a miscue on our first 18 plays,” he added. “We also threw the ball well, too and that’s important to our success.”

Black’s team took Friday off and he took advantage of the situ-ation and made a visit to Russell County to watch his team’s first opponent of the regular season.

“I’m going to scout them and get us ready for what we will see against them,” he said. “It’s good to be able to be off to do that.”

Black pleased with Colonels’ effort

PHOTOS BY CHRIS PARSONS

Above — Boston Bryant celebrates with a teammate after scoring a touchdown dur-

ing the Colonels’ scrimmage against Pulaski County. Left — Whitley County was

able to move the chains on the ground against the Maroons’ defense.

les dixon designer of the year

Documents

south laurel

corbinpineville picture

win overharlan county

round pineville

harlan county isnt abad

harlan countycan north

north laurel isnt abad

corbin redhoundafter