by Alan B. Gibson

The “March” to the Sweet 16 continues

February is finally behind us and we can get on with some important issues – the wait for spring to arrive and the continuing saga of high school basketball tournament time in Kentucky.

First things first.

Last Tuesday night, Clinton County’s varsity basketball teams joined what is now the majority of teams across Kentucky in having their 2010-2011 seasons come to an end.

It’s always hard, especially for the senior members of the squad, to close out that chapter of their young lives when they realize their roundball career has come to an end, and it’s hard to watch as a fan when you see the anguish on their young faces as they leave the floor following a season ending loss.

Clinton County fans say good-bye to two senior Lady Dawgs, Keistan Dalton and Stevi Morgan, both whom have had fantastic careers wearing the blue and white.

Stevi and Keistan wore the blue and white with pride and did our county proud in the effort they poured out each and every time they joined their teammates coming out of the dressing room for another game.

Thanks girls for some great memories.

In both cases last Tuesday night, Clinton County simply wasn’t the best team on the floor.

It’s been a long year for our Lady Dawgs, going through a rebuilding year and yet another year of having a new coach introduced to them again. It will get better, girls – believe me, it will.

In short – chin up – your community is proud of your effort and your big blue hearts.

The Bulldogs on the other hand enjoyed a tremendous year, finishing with one of the best season records in the books at 22-7. A fun year for everyone – players, coaching staff, parents and fans, this season will long be remembered as one of the best in Clinton County High School history.

Sure, it ended way sooner than any of us was ready for it to end, and as Coach Todd Messer told me on Tuesday morning, it left a bad taste in his mouth that will take until February 20, 2012 before he will be able to get over Tuesday night’s loss. That would be the next time he can coach a team to the district championship game and on to Diddle Arena.

Likewise, the Dawgs say goodbye to a short-list of senior players this season, losing only Will Parrish from this highly successful 2010-2011 squad, but believe me, the loss leaves a great hole that will take a lot of work on someone’s part to fill.

Will played a tremendous part in this season’s success – much of it away from the ball and most of it outside of the scoring totals that so many players, parents and fans look at after the game. Thanks Will for your unselfish play down through the years and for wearing the blue and white in a fashion that should make all of us proud to have watched you play.

Now, on to what lies ahead for the rest of Kentucky. On Monday morning of this week, there were still 128 girls’ teams and 128 boys’ teams still playing basketball as we enter this second phase of tournament play in Kentucky – the regional tournament level. From here on out, it’s do or die, win or go home and by next Wednesday, as each of the 16 regions have crowned champions, we’ll head to the respective Sweet 16 tournaments with just that number of teams – 16 – still surviving and still living with the hopes of playing in the final game of this 2010-2011 basketball season on Saturday night.

Kentucky high school basketball fans have it better than anywhere else in the world.

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