Turnovers … by Alan B. Gibson

Posted January 28, 2015 at 3:40 pm

Back to the state for our Lady Dawgs

For the first time in a decade, our Lady Bulldogs are headed back to the All “A” Classic state tournament, an event that is, of course, deeply storied in history from Clinton County girls’ basketball teams.

After putting together three very nice wins last week, our Lady Dawgs put their hands around the 4th Region championship trophy and hoisted it high into the air as if to signify – “we’re back”.

Of course, the Clinton County legacy at the All “A” State is well known across that circle of tournament organizers and fans, with the Lady Dawgs having made a host of appearances in the tournament since it’s inception in the early 1990’s, including the back to back state tournament championships in 2003 and 2004 and a runner-up finish the following year in 2005.

In the 10 years since, our Lady Dawgs have stumbled in regional play each time – a few times coming just within reach of a return trip, but stumbling each time, nonetheless.

Not this year – and what a fitting accomplishment for this group of girls it is to be boarding the bus and making the trip to our state capitol to represent the 4th Region once again.

Championship note(ables)

A couple of firsts are to be observed with this 4th Region Championship title, namely it being the first time in a long rebuilding process that head coach Darrell Thompson has walked to center court and been presented with the game ball after leading his Lady Bulldogs to the championship claim.

In those 10 years since the big Clinton County heyday years, the rebuilding process had been a long one and sometimes a painful one for Lady Bulldog’s fans who have endured three coaching changes along the way, but Coach Thompson has done a fantastic job of getting the girls focused on the goals they set and steering them in a direction that will make them successful in realizing those goals.

Another highlight with this victory saw Clinton County High School Principal Sheldon Harlan being called to the center of the Castle floor to be presented with the All “A” Classic State tournament packet – a first for Harlan in his tenure at that position.

Finally, if you will turn back to the front page and take a second look at the photo of Lady Bulldog senior Ansley Stalcup waving the net in the air after the conclusion of Friday night’s game, you will see in the lower left corner Lady Bulldog Assistant Coach Jessica Cummings Conner enjoying the moment as she watches her players celebrate the win.

Jessica was a member of that squad I often refer to as the “Fab Five” – the last squad from Clinton County to take a trip to the All “A” State Tournament.

Tough loss for our Dawgs

Although the entire county is celebrating the championship title win our Lady Dawgs enjoyed, those same fans are also suffering right along with our Bulldogs and the coaching staff after that heartbreaking, one-point, overtime loss at the hands of Monroe County Friday night.

There are no real words that softens the blow to our players or staff except to say that I am, and I know the rest of our fans are as well, as proud of you as we can possibly be for the effort and heart shown during this run.

There is still a lot of basketball in front of us for this 2014-15 season, so – Onward, Upward!

More schedule changes

The All “A” always brings schedule changes to us, and this week is no different.

Of course our girls are playing in Frankfort, and as they continue to win, they will continue to alter future game plans, so more on that next week.

What we know at this point is that the boys’ varsity is set to play Allen County – Scottsville on Saturday afternoon this week at the Lindle Castle Gymnasium, with the JV set to tip-off at 4:00 p.m. Our Lady Dawgs will not be playing ACSHS at all this season, again due to their All “A” success.

We also know that the planned “pink-out” night that was originally set for the game against Allen County has been changed to now be held during the February 6 games against Glasgow, which is also Sweetheart Night.

Of course, the pink-out night is in observance of our local cancer survivors and victims and also includes a few fundraising events designed to benefit cancer research.

On a personal note

Friday night’s games in the All “A” Championship were the first times I’ve had to be absent for home games from my public address duties in a couple of years.

The death of the daughter of some close friends, Mark and Sharon (Shelley) Jones, put myself and Janie in Lexington Friday afternoon for the services.

Thanks to Randy Speck for filling in and from what I’ve heard, doing a great job.. Thanks to you many fans for inquiring and expressing concerns.