Turnovers … by Alan B. Gibson

Posted November 9, 2016 at 10:04 am

Meet the Bulldogs is here

The 2016-17 roundball season is finally just about three weeks away at this point – despite the fact that we’re still wearing short sleeve shirts and short pants. Just remember, we’re in southern Kentucky, so the weather can turn to winter in a matter of a few hours.

Our Lady Dawgs and Bulldogs will take the floor for the first time in “real game” situations on Tuesday, November 29, when they play host to the Lady Rebels and Rebels of Casey County in the Lindle Castle Gymnasium.

From there, hold on to your hats because the winter is going to be fast and furious and busy.

A quick look at the schedule shows at least 16 double-header nights, 16 nights with JV and varsity games, four holiday tournaments, the All “A” Classic and that takes us through the regular season play.

Sounds like fun, huh!

Now, if all of that still seems too far off for you hard-core fans who have been chomping at the bit to throw up the rock since everything ended last March, fret not – you can get a quick fix this Friday night.

The annual pre-season primer, Meet the Bulldogs is on slate for Friday night at the Lindle Castle Gymnasium

A separate article can be found with more details beginning on page 1 this week, but in a nutshell, things get started Friday with the chili supper at 4:00 p.m. – $5 for all you can eat – introductions and scrimmages in the gym beginning at 6:00 and the Wall of Fame inductions at 7:00.

Come on out and enjoy the fun!

Congrats to our newest Wall members.

Congratulations are certainly in order to our two newest Wall of Fame members who will be inducted Friday night during the final portion of the Meet the Bulldogs event.

The committee chose to go “old school – new school” so to speak this year, with Jessica Cummings – now Jessica Cummings Conner – from the Class of 2006 for the Lady Bulldog inductee, and Tony Sloan from the class of 1955 as the Bulldog inductee.

Both are certainly well deserved of the honor.

Stats and more particulars can be learned by reading the aforementioned article.

I wasn’t around when Tony was wearing the blue and white, but I’ve heard stories about what a fierce competitor he was and just how important high school basketball was to the community when he played.

A great scorer – with a 15.3 points per game average his senior year, Tony was also well known apparently for his rebounding ability. A friend for many years, Tony told me once years ago about leaving the game many times with handfuls of leg hair missing from the back of his legs where defending opponents would try to hold him down by grabbing a handful of hair.

While Tony was a force to be reckoned with on the teams he played for, there was a lot of team basketball being played then as well. He will be the third player from that 1955 squad to be inducted to the Wall, behind Louis Brummett (class of 1955) and Sid Scott (class of 1956).

As for Jessica, I remember her fierce competitive spirit very well from her playing days during the great years she played with our Lady Bulldog squads just over a decade ago.

A steady ball handler, Jessica would often step back when the defense was concentrating on stopping the better known guards of Amber and Paige Guffey – I can still see Jessica stretching upward from just beyond the three point arc to sink one of her long-range jumpers.

Then, there was the fire in her eyes when a defender would cross that line and ruffle her temper. A fierce competitor on the floor, she had one of the most perfect-form jump shots I’ve ever seen, and having covered a lot of Clinton County Lady Bulldog basketball – that says a lot.

Since the 2005 storied run to the KHSAA championship game, I’ve had a large photo hanging in my office of those five players walking down the floor after a time-out, emblazoned with the title “Fab Five”.

Jessica, in her first year of Wall of Fame eligibility, now joins those other four teammates as members of the Wall of Fame – Amber Guffey, Paige Guffey, Brittany Abbott and Dorothy Papineau, as members of the Wall of Fame.

Additionally, Jessica is the first brother/sister combination to be named to this distinction, brother Matt Cummings was inducted several years ago.

Join us Friday night as we honor our newest members.