Three new Wall of Fame members to be inducted

Basketball fans are beginning to breath a little easier in the past few days with the start of the 2013-14 college roundball season, but for those who long for the season opener of the local high school hoops stretch, relief is still a couple of weeks away.

However, there is some relief in sight at the end of this week when fans can get the first peek at the two teams that will be taking the floor soon for the new season.

Meet the Bulldogs and Big Blue Mania, the annual pre-season kick-off to the new basketball campaign is set to be held this Friday night, November 15, at Clinton County High School.

Now, a long-time tradition for Big Blue basketball fans in Clinton County, the annual event offers fans their first look at the teams they will be cheering on throughout the winter as well as introducing the newest members to the C.C.H.S. Basketball Wall of Fame.

The night will get underway with the annual Basketball Booster Club fundraising meal in the C.C.H.S. cafeteria beginning at 4:00 p.m., then moving into the Lindle Castle Gymnasium at 6:00 p.m. for the introductions of the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams and cheerleaders.

The pre-program meal served by the Booster Club will include a choice of bar-b-que chicken or pork for a donation of $5.

There will be no admission charge for the Meet the Bulldogs portion of the program in the gymnasium.

During the Meet the Bulldogs program, fans will be treated to introductions of the individual players, cheerleaders, support staffs and coaching staffs.

The varsity squads will also be involved in brief intra-squad scrimmages following the introductions, that will give fans their first look at what they might expect from the teams in the upcoming season.

Also included in the program Friday night will be the induction of the newest members to the C.C.H.S. Basketball Wall of Fame, which this year will see three new members being placed among those names that have been inducted in past years.

This year’s inductions include a member from the Bulldogs and the Lady Bulldogs, as well as a long-time member/volunteer of the basketball support staff.

This year’s inductees include a stand-out player for the Bulldogs from the mid 1960s, a stand-out player from the late 1980s who later spent nearly two-decades on the bench as both an assistant coach and head coach, and an individual who has been a long-time supporter of Clinton County High School athletics and has already logged 34 seasons as the public address announcer for home C.C.H.S. basketball games.

Those three who will be placed onto the Basketball Wall of Fame during Friday night’s induction ceremony are Kay Flowers, Jennifer Lee Preston and Al Gibson.

Among the accomplishments that will be noted during Friday night’s Wall of Fame ceremony for those three newest members will include:

Kay Flowers

A graduate of 1964, Flowers was a member of the Bulldog basketball team under Coach Lindle Castle during one of the “hey-day” years of the early 1960’s.

Flowers will be inducted this Friday night, as the 32nd leading scorer in school history with 841 points and has the seventh highest leading scoring average in a season at 21.3 points per game in 1964.

Flowers scored a career high 41 points in a game against McCreary County on November 22, 1963.

Named to the All-District team in 1963 and 1964, he was the team’s leading scorer during his senior season of 1964.

He helped lead the team to the regional tournament in 1962 and 1963 and helped lead the Bulldogs to a district championship title in 1963.

The three varsity teams that Flowers played on finished with overall records of 30-4 in 1962, 21-5 in 1963 and 13-10 in 1964.

Jennifer Lee (Preston)

A graduate of 1981, she was a member of some of the first Lady Bulldog teams since the sport was revived in the mid 1970s as a girls’ high school sport, first appearing on the varsity squad as an eighth grader, playing for two Lady Bulldog head coaches, Lois Haddix and David McFarland.

She later joined the coaching staff and served for nearly two decades on the Lady Bulldog bench.

As a player Preston is currently the 31st leading scorer in school history with 603 points.

She helped lead Clinton County to district championships in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.

As a member of the Lady Bulldog coaching staff, Preston was on the bench for 19 years, including two years as the team’s head coach, 2006 and 2007.

As the head coach, she led the Lady Bulldogs to a district championship in 2006.

As an assistant coach, working with head coaches Ronnie Guffey and Gary Abbott, Preston helped lead the teams to a total of 10 district championships as well as three district runner-up finishes.

She also helped coach teams to eight All “A” Classic 4th Region championships, three All “A” Classic 4th Region runner-up finishes, one All “A” Classic State runner-up finish and two All “A” Classic State Championships.

Preston also, as an assistant coach, helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to one Kentucky High School Athletic Association 4th Region runner-up title and three KHSAA 4th Region Championship titles which resulted in three appearances in the KHSAA Sweet 16 State Tournament, resulting in a quarter-final Sweet 16 finish and the 2005 KHSAA State tournament runner-up title.

Al Gibson

With the start of the 2013-14 season, he will be beginning his 35th consecutive season as the Public Address Announcer for Clinton County Home basketball games, beginning that duty with the 1978-79 season at the direction of then boys’ head basketball coach and athletic director Lindle Castle.

Gibson has worked as Public Address Announcer for all of the 16th District Tournaments held at C.C.H.S. during that time, as well as working as Public Address Announcer for several district tournaments held at other 16th District schools.

Gibson was instrumental in organizing the Bulldog Booster Club in the early 1980s, serving as its first president and later helping to organize the Bulldog Booster Club Radio Auction, working as the radio on-air co-host each year since the inception of that event.

He has been a long-time supporter of C.C.H.S. athletics as the Editor of the Clinton County News since 1978, covering basketball while dedicating many hours traveling from gym to gym to cover games, write game accounts and make game photographs.

He is well known across the 16th District and the 4th Region for not only his media coverage, but for his distinct voice that is heard over the public address system at Clinton County High School basketball games.

In 2012, he was the recipient of the Kentucky High School Athletic Director’s Association’s Rudy J. Ellis Distinguished Service Award.