March Madness – roundball ends

for the Big Blue

There were plenty of hugs and the tears flowed last week when the seasons ended for both the Lady Bulldogs and the Bulldogs in first round action of the 4th Region Tournament.

Our Lady Dawgs fell to Franklin-Simpson on Tuesday night in Allen County – Scottsville, while the Dawgs went down in defeat at the hands of Warren Central on Saturday in Glasgow.

It’s always sad when the year finally ends for our Big Blue – for the players, parents and for the fans. Still, it was a fun year following both squads, and there were no reasons on either end to feel anything but pride in our programs as our teams left the floor last week.

Our kids left their hearts on the playing floor in both cases, and they went above and beyond in representing our hometown with dignity and respect.

I couldn’t have been prouder of any group of players or coaches for the accomplishments in the 2013-14 seasons.

On a personal note – to both squads and coaching staffs, thanks for a great year, and thanks for letting us here at the Clinton County News play a part in getting the word out. I can’t remember having this much fun all around in a long, long time.

When do we start again?

Still plenty of Congrats to go around

Last week we offered up a couple of congratulatory offerings to players and coaches – as is always the case when we get near to or reach the post-season stretch, and this week there are a couple more to note for one of our own.

Keifer Dalton who has already been named the 4th Region Player of the Year by the 4th Region Coaches Association, has also been named 4th Region Player of the Year by the 4th Region Athletic Director’s Association.

Keifer collected a second accolade last week also when he was named as one of the 45 players who have been asked to try out for the boys Kentucky Junior All-Star team.

Sponsored by the Lions of Kentucky and the Bluegrass Sports Commission, the Kentucky Junior All-Star team will involve a 12 player squad that will face an Indiana Junior All-Star counterpart squad in a couple of games this summer, one in Indianapolis on Friday, June 6, and again in Lexington on June 7. Keifer will try out for the Kentucky squad at Georgetown College in mid-April.

Right total, right year, wrong shooter

Sid Scott, longtime WANY Voice of the Bulldogs (and Lady Bulldogs) pulled his headset off last Saturday night during a post-game commercial break to grab my attention as I walked by, saying that I should check my notes in this space last week concerning the stats I gave for the second all-time leading scorer in pointing out that junior guard Keifer Dalton had moved into third place.

Turns out, old “eagle-eye Sid” was right. I had the point total right, and the year right, but I inadvertantly threw in the wrong name for the player who was currently in second place.

That honor belongs to CCHS Wall of Famer Louis Brummett, who finished his C.C.H.S. roundball career with the Class of 1948 after pouring in 1,671 points.

Just to recap, Brummett trails all-time leading scorer Kenneth Conner (Class of 1962) with 1,887 points. It should also be pointed out that neither Conner nor Brummett’s scoring total involved three-point baskets, a rule that wasn’t adopted by the KHSAA until the late 1980s.

And then there were 32

When we started the day this Wednesday morning, the list of Kentucky High School varsity basketball teams still competing in this 2013-14 season had been whittled down to just 32 teams.

This week, the 16 region champions will converge on Bowling Green, Kentucky and Diddle Arena to go through the five-day long process of selecting an overall girls’ champion for 2014.

Next week, it’s the boys’ turn in Lexington, Kentucky and Rupp Arena.

Once again, the KHSAA has opted to go with the new plan of playing the championship game on Sunday afternoon rather than the generations old format of playing semifinals and finals both on Saturday.

This year, for the first time, both the boys and girls will go with the Sunday championship format.

Regardless, it’s still my favorite time of the year, so for a couple more weeks . . .

It’s March Madness in Kentucky – don’t call me until April!