A strange season for sure, but we’re getting games in

Schedule changes continue to come on a near daily basis as we struggle to get through this high school basketball season amidst this COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s a struggle for everyone involved, but we are getting games in.

One of the best indicators of just how difficult getting those games played, came this past weekend as we prepared to bring in the teams for the fifth annual Robbie Davis Memorial Classic.

In girls play, Green County dropped out of their game against Pulaski County. Green was replaced with Butler County, then Butler County dropped out.

Finally, the opening game of the Classic was dropped altogether, leaving just four teams for the once planned day-long event.

Then, the opponent Clinton County was supposed to face in the final game, Madison Southern, dropped out. Coach Todd Messer began an all afternoon Thursday and all-day long Friday scramble to find a replacement.

Shortly after we were all told to be ready to play a single game on Saturday, Clinton girls against Pineville, a boys’ opponent for the Dawgs was found, and a Bulldog vs. Danville matchup was born.

The entire season has been close to this, as COVID-19 cancellation notices go out over the KHSAA schedule app on a daily basis. On Friday night, I counted over 30 boys’ matches alone that had been canceled due to COVID-19 rules.

Sunday was Funday, for the most part

Sunday’s matchup between Clinton County and our neighbors to the south, Pickett County, Tennessee, has been unoffically dubbed the “Border Wars Games” and 2021 certainly was no disappointment.

With the exception of the Kentucky COVID crowd regulations that certainly kept the crowds lower than they likely would have been, the action on the court itself was first rate.

Our Lady Dawgs, clearly on the road of improvement from performances earlier in the year, eventually showed signs of simply running out of leg power as the game continued.

A hard fought battle against Logan last Tuesday, followed by a district matchup against Metcalfe Thursday, a down to the wire contest on Saturday against Pineville, then back to face Pickett on Sunday was just more than they could do.

Giving up a 21 point loss to the Lady Bobcats came after a great effort on their part.

In boys’ action, the Clinton /Pickett matchup was another back and forth, hard fought battle that became a little more than intense, especially between the adults on the floor at the end of the game.

Still, the fans got their money’s worth and players from both sides knew they had, in fact, been locked in a 32 minute long “border war” when the contest ended with the Bulldogs claiming the win by one, 59-58.

The schedule, it is ‘a changing

As I noted, the schedule continues to change.

Last week I noted several changes in the 2021 roundball schedule, thanks to COVID-19 issues.

Last week, District Athletic Director Brandon Pharis handed out a revised calendar with a host of new changes marked, and the last thing he did was make another change before giving them out.

Then, on Monday morning, an email came from Pharis with yet another change.

The latest change involves next Tuesday’s February 9, night’s hosting of Metcalfe County. Due to begin quarentined, the Lady Hornets are sidelined, and unless an opponewnt can be scheduled for the Lady Dawgs, Tuesday night’s game will now be a boys’ junior varsity/boys’ varsity matchup.

Like I said, this is going to change again, I’d almost guarantee it, but for now, this is what we’re looking at as games from here on out – I think, but likely it will have changed again between the time I penned this week’s colunn and the time it comes off of the press.

We’ll get through this – I think.

In the meantime – mask up,

so our seniors can get a season in!