The Clubhouse ... by Joey Fosko

First Region coaches awards ...

2011-05-29T14:16:00.004-05:00

The First Region baseball coaches determined their award winners at Sunday's regional tournament draw.

Player of the Year — Jordyn Abell (SS-P, Ballard Memorial)

Coach of the Year — Josh May (Reidland)

East-West Senior All-Star Game — Jordyn Abell (SS-P, Ballard Memorial) and Trevor Hicks (P-3B, Hickman County) ... alternate is Josh Dickson (1B, Lone Oak)

East-West Junior All-Star Game — Dylan Dwyer (P-OF, Calloway County) and Nathan Hackel (C-P, Graves County) ... alternate is Austin Adams (P-1B, Murray)

Sophomore Showcase – Seth English (P-1B, Community Christian), John Lollar (P-IF, Murray) and Micah Chessor (P-IF, Reidland) ... alternates Sam Goode (3B-P, Lone Oak) and Clay Chandler (C-3B-P, Ballard Memorial)

First Region baseball pairings ...

2011-05-29T13:42:00.012-05:00

First Region baseball tournament
(at Brooks Stadium)

Monday
Hickman County (17-11) vs. Mayfield (7-16), 11 a.m.
Lone Oak (23-12) vs. Murray (17-13), 1:30 p.m.
Calloway County (16-16) vs. Fulton City (6-16), 4 p.m.
Ballard Memorial (23-9) vs. Reidland (19-9), 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday
Semifinals, 5 p.m.

Thursday
Finals, 6 p.m.

Notes: Hickman County didn't use ace pitcher Trevor Hicks in the First District tournament and will have him available for Monday. Fulton City is essentially out of pitching, having used ace Jordan Miller in the district semifinals on Friday and playing its district championship game on Saturday.

Fulton City asked to move the first day of the tournament back to Tuesday, but the proposal was voted down by the eight participating schools.

Ballard Memorial vs. Reidland is a rematch of the All A Classic regional championship, which the Greyhounds won 4-2 en route to a berth in the state tournament. Ballard beat Reidland 10-9 later in the season.

Hickman County beat Mayfield 4-3 in the All A Classic regional quarterfinals, a game in which Hicks went the distance for the Falcons and took a shutout into the seventh inning. The Cardinals had beaten Hickman 2-1 about two weeks prior to that.

Lone Oak and Murray didn't play each other during the regular season, nor did Calloway County and Fulton City.

First Region softball pairings ...

2011-05-28T09:29:00.007-05:00

First Region softball tournament
(at Graves County)

Monday
Hickman County (10-13) vs. Heath (18-13), noon
Ballard Memorial (17-12) vs. Calloway County (19-12), 2 p.m.
Reidland (23-10) vs. Graves County (13-14), 4 p.m.
Marshall County (23-7) vs. Carlisle County (10-14), 6 p.m.

Tuesday
Semifinals, 5 p.m.

Wednesday
Championship, 7 p.m.

Notes: On paper, the top four teams in the tournament are (in alphabetical order) Calloway County, Heath, Marshall County and Reidland, and all four will be favored to reach the semifinals.

Interestingly, none of the four first-round games are matchups that we saw during the regular season. Hickman County upset Heath 2-1 in the first round of the regional tournament last year.

The bracket was set up in similar fashion last year, with Heath and Calloway slated to meet in the semifinals, as were Reidland and Marshall, but Hickman spoiled the party.

Reidland is the defending state champion and has also won two straight All A Classic state titles.

Fourth District baseball pairings ...

2011-05-13T14:30:00.003-05:00

The Fourth District baseball tournament, which has pairings determined via a blind draw for the first time in over two decades, turned out to be not far off what a seeded tournament might look like.

Murray will take on Christian Fellowship in the "play-in" game, scheduled for May 23 at Community Christian, with the winner taking on Marshall County in the semifinals on May 25. Calloway County will meet Community Christian for a trip to the district finals and a berth in the regional tournament.

The championship game is scheduled for May 26.

One caveat: Christian Fellowship, which has played just seven games this season, needs to play three more to reach the minimum 10 games as required by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association to compete in postseason play. Fulton City had to cancel a game that was scheduled for today, and at the moment, the Eagles are supposed to play Fulton County on Saturday.

That means CFS will have to play two games next week to qualify for the postseason.

If CFS fails to get to 10 teams, Murray and Marshall will meet in the semifinals, and the tournament schedule is likely to change, perhaps with one semifinal each on May 23-24 and the finals on May 25.

Also, the five district teams voted to continue determining the tournament pairings via blind raw instead of seeding. The vote was 3-2 with Murray, Community Christian and Christian Fellowship voting to use a draw.

That means it is unliklely that Marshall and Calloway will play any of their three district rivals again in 2012.

Roof, Moore excel on NAIA level

2011-05-10T14:37:00.006-05:00

Former Lone Oak pitcher Derek Roof worked hard over the final two days as Union University (Tenn.) won the TranSouth Athletic Conference baseball tournament last weekend.

Roof, who spent his freshman year at Indiana, closed out a win over nationally-ranked Cumberland in an elimination contest on Friday, then threw a complete game in an 11-2 win over Bethel in Saturday's championship game.

Now 7-1 with a 3.90 ERA for the Bulldogs, Roof pitched five innings in relief against Cumberland, allowing just two runs. A little more than 24 hours after that 69-pitch effort, Roof pitched nine innings against Bethel, throwing 99 pitches.

In 14 innings over the two outings Roof allowed 14 hits and four runs with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Union, which has moved up to No. 8 in the NAIA national rankings, is the No. 1 seed at the regional tournament at Kingsport, Tenn. Cumberland, the defending national champion, is ranked fifth nationally and is the No. 1 seed at the Paducah Regional, which begins Wednesday at Brooks Stadium.

Moore, a St. Mary product, was named the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player of the year after leading the league in several offensive categories. Moore, a third baseman at Berea College, hit .467 with 9 home runs and 35 RBI in 43 games. He led the league in batting average and slugging percentage and had 31 extra-base hits i only 152 at-bats.

Berea reached the KIAC championship game, falling to regular-season champion Indiana-Southeast.

He has gotten a couple of looks from professional scouts — Boston and Toronto have expressed some interest — and there is a chance he could be a late-round selection in Major League Baseball's amateur draft in June.

Football scheduling news ...

2011-04-26T12:19:00.004-05:00

Only 115 days — or a little over 16 weeks — until the western Kentucky football season starts off with a bang, the season-opening tilt between crosstown rivals Lone Oak and Paducah Tilghman.

But a look at some of the top teams' schedules reveals some interesting non-district matchups.

Lone Oak's schedule has undergone a major upgrade — Owensboro is now a Class 4A district opponent and the non-district slate includes Tilghman, defending Class 5A runner-up Christian County and a bowl-game date at Hopkinsville.

Tilghman's second game is against powerhouse Evansville Reitz, a contest that is part of a bowl game that was originally scheduled to have been played at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. Word is the bowl may be moved elsewhere in town, perhaps at Louisville Trinity, but nothing has yet been set.

The Tornado also has a first meeting with Crittenden County and a late-season game at Clarksville Northeast, a Class 5A team in Tennessee that went 8-5 and reached the state quarterfinals last season, falling 24-21 to eventual state runner-up Hendersonville.

Mayfield will open up with Greenwood at a bowl game in Bowling Green, with a potential matchup with Warren Central (and ex-Graves County coach Mike Rogers) in 2012. The Cardinals will take on Evansville Harrison in the Alliance Bowl at Graves County, with the host school meeting Madisonville. And the Cardinals will renew acquaintances with Murray for the first time since Kentucky realigned into six classes after the 2006 season.

Reidland's schedule includes an early-September game at Lake County, a Tennessee Class A quarterfinalist last fall.

Crittenden County and Trigg County haven't hooked up in over a decade and will meet in Trigg's Wildcat Chevrlolet Bowl. The Rockets will host the Kentucky National Guard Warrior Bowl to open the season, taking on Hopkins Central with Caldwell County also meeting Union County.

College player updates ...

2011-04-25T13:26:00.004-05:00

Few pitchers in college baseball have improved as much as former Marshall County left-hander Cody Forsythe, who threw seven shutout innings at Creighton on Saturday. Forsythe, a sophomore, allowed four hits and struck out 10 and has put together some impressive numbers for the Salukis — Forsythe is 5-3 with a 2.08 ERA and has only nine walks and 50 strikeouts in 69 innings.

Former Heath star Chad Wright is hitting .314 with four home runs and 27 RBI for Kentucky and leads the Wildcats with a .423 on-base percentage.

Gabriel Shaw has struggled in recent outings for Louisville and is now 0-2 with a 7.31 ERA. There are reports that Shaw, a St. Mary product, has yet to recover some lost velocity on his fastball after undergoing elbow surgery in the summer of 2009.

James Jones is continuing to throw well in his role as the closer for Louisiana-Monroe. James, a Ballard Memorial product, is 4-1 with a 2.03 ERA with only 27 hits allowed in 40 innings. He has five saves and has walked 12 batters to go with 37 strikeouts.

Minor league updates ...

2011-04-25T12:51:00.003-05:00

Former Heath pitcher Daniel Webb allowed just four singles in seven innings on Sunday for Lansing of the Midwest League, his best start of the season. Webb is 1-1 with a 5.14 ERA in three starts for Lansing, the Toronto Blue Jays' low-Class A team. Webb has allowed 17 hits in 14 innings with four walks and eight strikeouts.

Pope County product Michael Broadway has a 1.80 ERA in five innings at Mississippi, the Atlanta Braves' Double-A club. Broadway has allowed three hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Daniel Calhoun, a Murray State product, is 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA in relief for Palm Beach, the St. Louis Cardinals' high-Class A team in the Florida State League.

Jonathan Roof is off to a good start for Hickory, the Texas Rangers' entry in the Low-A South Atlantic League. Roof, a St. Mary product who played collegiately at Michigan State, is hitting .292-1-8 in 48 at-bats and has stolen four bases. Roof, drafted as a shortstop, has also seen some time in the outfield.

Older brother Eric Roof, his former St. Mary/Michigan State teammate, has two hits in his first 14 at-bats for Lakeland, the Detroit Tigers' entry in the Florida State League. Shawn Roof, the oldest of former major leaguer Gene Roof's three sons, is 2-for-15 for Erie, the Tigers' Double-A affiliate.

Former Murray State star Wes Cunningham is hitting .222 with five RBI in 45 at-bats for Fort Wayne, the San Diego Padres' team in the Midwest League.

All A delays ...

2011-04-18T11:08:00.005-05:00

I went to the All A Classic regional softball championship on Sunday afternoon, watching Reidland and Heath play in pleasant conditions, with some sun and a temperature in the 70s.

Meanwhile, the four semifinalists in the regional small-school baseball tournament were practicing after tournament host Mayfield postponed their games yet another day.

Needless to say, the question was asked of me more than once: "Why isn't the baseball tournament playing today?"

Good question.

Mayfield doesn't have a full-infield tarp — it only has tarps that cover the pitcher's mound and the home plate area. And someone on Mayfield's staff indicated that the field still had water standing behind second base and the infield grass remained "mushy."

Fair enough. But that raises two questions:

1. Why isn't the tournament being played at a site that has a full-infield tarp?

2. Why weren't the semifinals moved to a suitable neutral field, perhaps nearby Graves County or Lone Oak?

The second answer seems apparent. Mayfield's program benefits from the concession revenue generated at the tournament.

But the tournament has been needlessly delayed, so much so that teams have had enough rest that would enable them to get around the state pitching rules that would have come into play, had the semifinals been played on the weekend.

For instance, Hickman County's Trevor Hicks threw seven innings in a 4-3 win over Mayfield on Thursday night and would have been unavailable to pitch on the weekend. However, he is eligible to pitch against Reidland in tonight's semifinals.

Now, whether Hicks is able to bounce back and be equally as effective on three days' rest after a 102-pitch outing is another question.

The delays will also affect when the First Region champion gets to play its sectional game against Third Region champion Owensboro Catholic — the winner of that game advances to the state tournament, which is May 7-8 at Whitaker Bank Park (formerly Applebee's Park) in Lexington.

Owensboro Catholic has guidelines that prohibit athletic contests during Holy Week, which would prevent the Aces from playing this weekend, since this Sunday is Easter. The Aces are also scheduled to play in the LIT the following weekend, so the First Region winner will likely have to make the trip to Owensboro on a school night.

Smart guy, that Shaka ...

2011-04-04T15:48:00.004-05:00

Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart, who took his basketball team from much-maligned NCAA tournament invite to the Final Four, made a motherlode of money over the last three weeks. Smart got a five-year contract extension today that bumps his base salary from $325,000 to $1.2 million. That adds up to more than $4 million over the next four seasons.

Now, if Butler wins a national championship, what the heck does Brad Stevens make next year?

College player updates ...

2011-03-29T13:20:00.004-05:00

Chad Wright is having another fine spring as the University of Kentucky's starting left fielder. Wright, a junior from Heath, is hitting .348 with 3 home runs and 19 RBI in 25 games and leads the Wildcats in several offensive categories. Wright also has a very impressive .469 on-base percentage. Kentucky is 14-11 overall and 2-4 in the SEC after being swept at Alabama last weekend.

Gabriel Shaw is 0-1 with a 5.59 ERA at Louisville, and has been his pattern, has been very good out of the bullpen. Shaw, a St. Mary product, gave up four runs in three innings in his only start but has a 2.70 ERA as a reliever. Louisville is 15-8 and took two out of three at Rutgers to start its Big East schedule.

Ballard Memorial product James Jones has taken to a bullpen role at Louisiana-Monroe, with a 4-1 record and a 2.03 ERA and three saves in 10 appearances. In 31 innings, Jones has allowed 21 hits with 10 walks and 31 strikeouts. ULM is 14-9 overall and 3-3 in the Sun Belt.

And Marshall County graduate Cody Forsythe is having a great sophomore season at Southern Illinois. Forsythe is 2-3 (for a team that is 6-17) with a 2.76 ERA. In 42 innings, Forsythe has allowed 42 hits with four walks and 27 strikeouts.

Beck leaves Graves, surfaces at Massac ...

2011-03-24T12:32:00.003-05:00

Travis Beck, a 6-3 forward who transferred from Joppa to Graves County in mid-December, is now enrolled at Massac County.

Beck, who helped the Eagles as a reserve next season, should lend some versatility to the Patriots' roster. He can score from the perimeter and won't have to play in the post at Massac, which already has 6-5 Griffin Bazor and 6-6 Ethan Schulte back for next season.

Presnell eligible at Tilghman ...

2011-03-24T12:29:00.002-05:00

Paducah Tilghman may have found a new quarterback in Lone Oak transfer Tyler Presnell, who has been ruled eligible to play for the Tornado next fall.

Presnell was Lone Oak's starter at the beginning of the 2010 season but was soon replaced by freshman Cole Ousley.

Boys' regional tournament ... facts and figures

2011-03-02T13:48:00.003-06:00

Game 1: Fulton County vs. Ballard Memorial

The scoop: These two teams have been paired at the hip, so to speak, for much of the season. They were the early-line favorites in the All A Classic regional tournament, and indeed, they went into the event as the top two seeds.

They split a pair of regular-season matchups, with Fulton County prevailing 55-52 in LaCenter in early December, a game decided when Zack Chaykowsky's potential game-tying 3-pointer was ruled as coming after the buzzer.

In a rare Saturday night game in the final week of the regular season, the Bombers won 52-40 in Hickman, with Fulton County star Leonard Smith in constant foul trouble — he finished with five points and five fouls.

Both teams have had some ups and downs — the Pilots were the No. 2 seed in the All A Classic, but their bid to win it was derailed at the start with a loss to district rival Carlisle County. Ballard lost a seven-point lead in the final two minutes to Heath in the championship game a few days later.

And neither team is at full strength. Fulton County's Derrick Swift, who averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game, went back to Lake County (Tenn.) in early February, taking away a player that was sometimes a dominant force in the post. Ballard has had three guards — Manny Yarbro and sometimes-starting point guards Alex Hill and Chris Jones — leave the team since the All A Classic.

So where does that leave us? Swift's loss hurts the Pilots on the inside, where Ballard's Jay Middleton makes his living, and the loss of Swift means that Fulton County coach Andrew Clinton has nightly decisions to make on whether he utilizes Smith and Dylan Johnson on the perimeter or moves them closer to the basket.

Ballard doesn't have the frontcourt depth it once enjoyed, and the personnel losses seem to have hurt a defense that was playing rather well at midseason.

A win gives the Bombers their first 20-win season since 1982. Fulton County is 23-4 against a soft schedule — only a third of their games have comes against teams with a winning record.

Overall records: Fulton County 23-4, Ballard Memorial 19-9
Against teams with winning records: Fulton County 5-4, Ballard Memorial 6-8
Against district champions: Fulton County 1-2, Ballard Memorial 1-5
Against First Region tournament teams: Fulton County 4-4, Ballard Memorial 4-7
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Fulton County 5-4, Ballard Memorial 6-8

Game 2: Paducah Tilghman vs. Calloway County

The scoop: Tilghman seems to be playing a like a team very conscious of the calendar, with the focus and passion of a team that knows this is the postseason and wants to get back to Rupp Arena, where a winnable first-round game with the 13th Region awaits the winner of the First Region.

One coach told me last week that Tornado point guard Josh Forrest is the hardest player to keep out of the lane that he's ever coached against, and Forrest has asserted himself more on the offensive end when he senses it's needed.

Defense is what won the Tornado the regional title last year, and more good work is expected from guards Trevonte Cole and Cody Schultz. With athletic swingmen J.D. Harmon and Darrius Brown and several other options inside, Tilghman coach Brad Stieg is well-stocked with options if foul trouble arises.

Calloway is the consummate middle-of-the-road team that beats the teams it should — none of the Lakers' wins this year have come against a team with a winning record. Brock Simmons is still one of the region's best scorers, and the Lakers' X-factors of late have been a pair of young guns, 6-6 freshman Michael Arnett and 6-4 eighth-grader Parker Adams, who will be a tough matchup on the wing in the future.

Overall records: Paducah Tilghman 25-4, Calloway County 15-13
Against teams with winning records: Paducah Tilghman 14-4, Calloway County 0-12
Against district champions: Paducah Tilghman 7-3, Calloway County 0-8
Against First Region tournament teams: Paducah Tilghman 10-1, Calloway County 0-8
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Paducah Tilghman 15-4, Calloway County 0-11

Game 3: Marshall County vs. Carlisle County

The scoop: It's become a running joke in both programs, the seeming inevitability of this matchup. They've drawn each other in the first round of the regional tournament in six of the last nine seasons, dating back to 2003 — the other three years were those that the Comets failed to advance out of the district.

Carlisle also knocked out Marshall in the semifinals 10 years ago in its Cinderella run to Rupp Arena, where it led eventual state champion Lexington Lafayette for most of the first three quarters before falling in the first round.

Marshall has had their way with the Comets in recent years, and is favored to do so again with regional player of the year front-runner Stephen Atkinson leading the way and a club that Carlisle coach Brian O'Neill told me earlier this season he felt was the best defensive team in the region.

The key for Marshall is the backcourt. Cole Nelson has become the primary ballhandler, with Blake Clark helping out, and Peter Northcutt has found his shooting range in the latter part of the season. Chase York can score off the bench, and he and Nelson can hit the boards, too.

Carlisle guard Blake Rutherford can light it up from the perimeter and the key for the Comets would appear to be 6-6 sophomore Marcus Burnett, who could pose the undersized Marshall frontcourt some problems.

Overall records: Marshall County 24-6, Carlisle County 16-13
Against teams with winning records: Marshall County 12-6, Carlisle County 2-10
Against district champions: Marshall County 5-3, Carlisle County 1-7
Against First Region tournament teams: Marshall County 9-2, Carlisle County 2-8
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Marshall County 12-5, Carlisle County 2-9

Game 4: Graves County vs. Heath

The scoop: Graves coach Terry Birdsong insisted on Saturday that the Pirates should be favored to beat his club, based on their 74-64 win at the Eagles' Nest a few weeks ago. No one agrees with that, necessarily, but this is one of the region's most intriguing matchups.

Heath employed a triangle-and-two against Graves, chasing senior guards Jesse Anderson and Ross Williams and limiting them to a combined 13 points.

Graves has had questions about depth all season, but guard Mason Beale and forward Travis Beck have been solid in the latter half of the season. The Eagles' MVP may be center Aaron Cooper, whose low-post scoring and defense are invaluable.

Heath is a tough matchup for the Eagles with 6-6 Drew Robinson and 6-5 Jacob Jett, two players that can face the basket, and 6-4, 260-pound reserve David Wallace, who had a career-high 11 points against Graves.

But the Pirates have also struggled a bit since coming back from its quarterfinal-round appearance at the All A Classic — they lost to Reidland in their first game back home, then struggled to beat the Greyhounds in the district tournament, and have lost decisively to Padcuah Tilghman twice in the last three weeks.

One key to watch — point guard Damien Bolen gave the Eagles fits in the regional tournament last year with his quickness and ability to penetrate. Swingman Drew Wrinkle has emerged as a potential scorer.

Overall records: Graves County 22-7, Heath 20-10
Against teams with winning records: Graves County 11-7, Heath 10-8
Against district champions: Graves County 3-5, Heath 2-7
Against First Region tournament teams: Graves County 7-5, Heath 5-6
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Graves County 9-6, Heath 8-8

Final BluegrassPreps.com rankings ...

2011-03-01T01:56:00.002-06:00

BOYS

1. Louisville Eastern
2. Louisville Ballard
3. Clark County
4. LexingtonTates Creek
5. Scott County
6. Christian County
7. Louisville Trinity
8. Jeffersontown
9. Warren Central
10. Lexington Catholic
11. Louisville Moore
12. Louisville Western
13. Lexington Henry Clay
14. Bullitt East
15. Louisville Central
16. Pleasure Ridge Park
17. Bowling Green
18. Louisville Seneca
19. Paducah Tilghman
20. Madison Central

FINAL BGP GIRLS TOP 20

1. Louisville Manual
2. Rockcastle County
3. Boone County
4. Louisville Mercy
5. Bowling Green
6. Louisville Sacred Heart
7. Marion County
8. Perry Central
9. Ryle
10. Elizabethtown
11. Calloway County
12. Louisville Butler
13. Greenwood
14. Newport Catholic
15. Lexington Bryan Station
16. Clay County
17. Owensboro Catholic
18. Grayson County
19. Scott County
20. Franklin-Simpson

Girls' regional tournament ... facts and figures

2011-02-27T23:27:00.006-06:00

Game 1: Lone Oak vs. St. Mary

The scoop: Perhaps the most intriguing game of the first round. The Lady Vikings won 58-51 at Lone Oak on Dec. 7, but when the two teams get together on Monday night, they haven't faced each other in 83 days.

Since then, Lone Oak has gained some confidence on the strength of its first 20-win season in eight years. The Lady Flash's 21 wins is two more than they had in the last three seasons combined, and sophomore guard Haley Boyd has emerged as one of the area's better up-and-coming talents. Tiffany Brown has size and defensive presence in the middle.

At the same time, Lone Oak has been found wanting against the region's top teams, with a 17-point loss to Marshall County and a 38-point defeat against regional favorite Calloway County. They also lost by double digits at Ballard in December, a game that Brown missed while battling mononucleosis.

St. Mary has retooled some things, too, with coach Staci Averill going with some young talent of her own. Freshman Alex Durbin had a double-double against Ballard Memorial in the district championship game and sophomore Lydia McManus was one point shy of one. Peyton Vaughan has been a reliable lead guard, leading the team in scoring and assists.

The winner probably becomes the sacrificial lamb for Calloway in the semifinals, but both are chasing their first regional tournament wins in some time — St. Mary's last one was in 2006, while Lone Oak's last semifinal appearance was in 2001.

Overall records: Lone Oak 21-8, St. Mary 15-12
Against teams with winning records: Lone Oak 2-6, St. Mary 3-7
Against district champions: Lone Oak 2-3, St. Mary 1-5
Against First Region tournament teams: Lone Oak 5-4, St. Mary 2-6
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Lone Oak 7-6, St. Mary 2-8

Game 2: Calloway County vs. Hickman County

The scoop: There shouldn't be much mystery about this one. Calloway, led by West Virginia signee Averee Fields, may be the First Region's strongest team since Paducah Tilghman reached the final four of the state tournament in 2005. Hickman, the only team in the tournament with a losing record, simply ended up with the worst possible draw.

Expect the Lady Lakers to roll and for coach Scott Sivills to use his bench liberally. Hickman's only chance to stay competitive would appear to be by slowing down the tempo and/or hitting some 3-point shots early in the game.

Overall records: Calloway County 27-1, Hickman County 8-15
Against teams with winning records: Calloway County 16-1, Hickman County 0-4
Against district champions: Calloway County 5-0, Hickman County 1-3
Against First Region tournament teams: Calloway County 8-0, Hickman County 1-6
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Calloway County 14-0, Hickman County 1-7

Game 3: Ballard Memorial vs. Paducah Tilghman

The scoop: These two teams met on Jan. 14 in a game that ended in somewhat controversial fashion. After Ballard hit a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left to tie the score, the Lady Bombers were called for a foul in the backcourt, with Tilghman's Kendra Patterson hitting one of two from the line to nail down the win.

It was a game soon forgotten in the Ballard camp — the Lady Bombers went on to win the All A Classic regional tournament eight days later, knocking off favored Murray in the final. For Tilghman, it was the first sign of progress in a season that was derailed by star point guard Chelsey Shumpert suffering a torn ACL in a mid-December loss to district rival Lone Oak.

Tilghman coach Josh Barnett has done a good job of reconstructing his lineup and gameplan without Shumpert, perhaps the region's best guard, and athletic center LaQuesha Prather, who also has a torn ACL. But there are times the Lady Tornado attack has trouble generating points if Patterson and forward Ngodoo Itiavkase can't attack the rim, and two of the first players off the bench are eighth-graders.

Ballard, however, isn't the same team that went to the All A Classic state tournament. Center Tisha Burgess tore an ACL in that game, taking away a low-post presence and a badly-needed rebounder. Guard Anna Denton suffered a similar injury in the district finals, giving coach Billie Prince precious little time to make the proper adjustments in practice.

Just before the All A Classic, Prince questioned his team's effectiveness when it went to the bench — Ballard sometimes went 10-deep, but Prince wasn't sure he could afford to go without more than one starter on the floor at a time. Now, with two starters down, he has no choice.

Overall records: Ballard Memorial 21-9, Paducah Tilghman 13-14
Against teams with winning records: Ballard Memorial 10-7, Paducah Tilghman 4-9
Against district champions: Ballard Memorial 4-4, Paducah Tilghman 2-4
Against First Region tournament teams: Ballard Memorial 7-3, Paducah Tilghman 4-4
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Ballard Memorial 10-6, Paducah Tilghman 6-8

Game 4: Murray vs. Carlisle County

The scoop: There isn't much reason to think this game won't be well in hand by halftime. Murray, the defending regional champion, beat Carlisle 59-34 only two weeks ago, and has generally had its way with the regional small-school competition, aside from Ballard Memorial.

Point guard Janssen Starks and swingman Haley Armstrong are two of the region's top players and are on course to combine for something like 4,500 points in their careers — Armstrong, a junior, is the school's all-time leading scorer and recently passed the 2,000-point mark, while Starks has eclipsed 1,000 points as a sophomore. And 6-3 center Sian House and guard Amanda Winchester are two of the region's most potent defensive forces, House as a shot-blocker and rock in the paint.

Carlisle has some young talent, led by sophomores Macy Moran and Jenna Babb, but this probably isn't the way coach Ember Wright would have liked her team to develop some regional tournament experience.

Overall records: Murray 20-9, Carlisle County 13-13
Against teams with winning records: Murray 8-9, Carlisle County 1-8
Against district champions: Murray 4-6, Carlisle County 0-5
Against First Region tournament teams: Murray 4-4, Carlisle County 3-7
Against teams that reached regional tournaments: Murray 9-7, Carlisle County 3-8

Second Region pairings ...

2011-02-26T15:38:00.002-06:00

Boys
(at Hopkinsville)
Wednesday
Livingston Central vs. Christian County, 6 p.m.
Henderson County vs. Hopkins Central, 7:45 p.m.
Thursday
Madisonville vs. Lyon County, 6 p.m.
University Heights vs. Union County, 7:45 p.m.
March 7
Semifinals, 6 p.m.
March 8
Championship, 7 p.m.

Girls
(at Livingston Central)
Monday
Madisonville vs. Christian County, 6 p.m.
Henderson County vs. Lyon County, 7:45 p.m.
Tuesday
Hopkinsville vs. Union County, 6 p.m.
Crittenden County vs. Caldwell County, 7:45 p.m.
Friday
Semifinals, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 7 p.m.

Boys' First Region pairings ...

2011-02-26T09:27:00.004-06:00

Wednesday
Fulton County (23-4) vs. Ballard Memorial (19-9), 6 p.m.
Paducah Tilghman (25-4) vs. Calloway County (15-13), 7:45 p.m.

Thursday
Marshall County (24-6) vs. Carlisle County (16-13), 6 p.m.
Graves County (22-7) vs. Heath (20-10), 7:45 p.m.

March 7
Semifinals, 6 p.m.

March 8
Championship, 7:45 p.m.

Notes: Who got the best draw? You have to go with Paducah Tilghman, which saw Marshall County and Graves County placed in the opposite bracket.

Two first-round matchups stand out — Ballard Memorial and Fulton County split a pair of regular-season meetings, with the Bombers winning in Hickman just a week ago, and they were the top two seeds in the All A Classic regional tournament.

But neither ballclub has the personnel with which it began the season — Ballard has had three athletic guards (Manny Yarbro, Alex Hill and Chris Jones) leave the team in the last month, and their absence is particularly noticeable on the defensive end. Fulton County was rocked when double-double machine Derrick Swift moved back to Lake County, Tenn.

The other one is Graves County and Heath, two teams that met about a month ago. Heath won that game 74-64 at the Eagles' Nest, a somewhat surprising result in that it came right after the Pirates had won the All A Classic regional title and it was generally thought they were due for a letdown.

Girls' First Region pairings ...

2011-02-26T09:24:00.006-06:00

Monday
Lone Oak (21-8) vs. St. Mary (15-12), 6 p.m.
Calloway County (27-1) vs. Hickman County (8-15), 7:45 p.m.

Tuesday
Ballard Memorial (21-9) vs. Paducah Tilghman (13-14), 6 p.m.
Carlisle County (13-13) vs. Murray (20-9), 7:45 p.m.

Friday
Semifinals, 6 p.m.

Saturday
Championship, 7 p.m.

Notes: Ballard Memorial sustained its second big personnel loss in a month when guard Anna Denton tore the ACL in her right knee during Thursday night's Third District championship game against St. Mary. Center Tisha Burgess suffered a similar injury in the All A Classic state tournament.

The Lady Bombers will play a Paducah Tilghman squad that is also without two critical players, point guard Chelsey Shumpert and center LaQuesha Prather, both of whom tore ACLs in December.

There could easily be a rematch of the All A Classic regional final between Ballard and Murray, a game in which the Lady Bombers made a dramatic fourth-quarter rally with a wild 22-1 run. But the Ballard team that could meet Murray in the semifinals isn't the same club that beat the Lady Tigers a month ago.

But this should be a lot like last year's regional tournament, where there isn't much drama until the championship game.

Notice who is missing ... no Graves County and no Marshall County in the regional tournament. It's the first time that has happened since Graves was formed by consolidation in 1985.

Pre-postseason briefs ...

2011-02-21T12:49:00.004-06:00

First District: Two boys' teams with regional tournament aspirations have had recent comings and goings that could drastically affect their post-season fortunes.

To start, the bad news: Fulton County's Derrick Swift, a 6-foot-3 senior forward and sometimes prolific scorer and rebounder, recently moved back to Lake County (Tenn.) for the second time — Swift moved there as a sophomore and came back to the Pilots over the summer. His loss is significant for Fulton County, who will have a difficult time replacing his 15 points and 10 rebounds per game, not to mention his athleticism and relentless on the glass.

His loss shouldn't cost the Pilots a trip to the regional tournament, but it severely jeopardizes their chances of doing damage once they get there.

Fulton City welcomed back guard Vance Maze, who had left the team briefly. Maze is coming off the bench for the Bulldogs, but he provides some quickness, ballhandling and scoring potential on the perimeter.

Second District: Paducah Tilghman's boys' team hit its stride in late January and early February last season and got on a roll that led to a regional title. The Tornado had that focused, engaged demeanor again in last week's win over Heath, and Josh Forrest's 30-point, 13-rebound performance that also included a pair of assists, three blocked shots and three steals showed that few, if any, players in far western Kentucky can impact the game in so many ways.

Forrest's performance last March earned him regional tournament MVP honors, and it wouldn't come as a shock if he does it again.

On the girls' side, Tilghman coach Josh Burnett has made sure his team adjusted to the early-season loss of star point guard Chelsey Shumpert and athletic center LaQuesha Prather, and has started to utilize a bench that includes a pair of talented eighth graders in Kaylee Humphrey and Alex Kohler. Kendra Patterson, who took over as the playmaker, and Ngodoo Itiavkase can take the ball to the basket, and Tilghman still has enough quickness and athleticism to cause problems on the defensive end.

Their first-round game with Heath, which features a potent 1-2 punch in point guard Elizabeth McSparin and forward Lauren Baer, will be one of the region's most intriguing.

Third District: St. Mary's girls have taken to starting a pair of freshmen in forwards Alex Durbin and Casey Kupper. Even more noteworthy, they have a chance to keep Graves County out of the regional tournament for only the second time in its 26-year existence.

Graves opened in the fall of 1985, and has missed the regional only once — in 2005, when the top-seeded Lady Eagles were beaten by Ballard Memorial. Graves has won 15 district titles in those 25 years, but the talent level there isn't what it used to be, due in large part to the fact that six players that attended Graves in middle school now play elsewhere.

The list is headed by Murray sophomore point guard Janssen Starks, who will likely be a four-year Paducah Sun All-Purchase Team selection. Abby McAlpin is a reserve guard at Murray, and Samantha McClain is a perimeter threat at Hickman County. Throw in three solid post players — Marshall County's Kaylin Goins, Carlisle County's Jenna Babb and St. Mary's Lydia McManus — and you have the makings of a pretty good squad.

On the boys' side, Ballard Memorial was hit by the loss of two guards — Alex Hill and Chris Jones, both of whom have started at the point at times, left the squad last week. Two sophomores, 3-point threat Chris Davis and swingman Clay Chandler, have seen their playing time increase dramatically in recent weeks.

St. Mary, which meets the Bombers, will be without its outstanding shooter, freshman Patrick Hubert, who was injured in a collision with Marshall County's Cole Nelson in a game two weeks ago and is still suffering post-concussion side effects.

Fourth District: All eyes are on the Murray-Marshall County clash, which pits two of the region's top three teams against one another. They split during the regular season, with Marshall at full strength on neither occasion. The Lady Tigers beat Marshall when it was without point guard Margaret Thomas, an All-Purchase pick last year, and Marshall won the second meeting when forward Kaylin Goins was sidelined as she recovered from a concussion. Marshall is now also without swing player Kelsey Lawson, who has a torn ACL.

Marshall is hosting the district because Community Christian passed on those duties since its gym lacks the seating to handle the district tournament crowds.

Fifth District: Crittenden County's hopes of contending for a Second Region title have taken a hit as its team has struggled in recent weeks, perhaps a letdown after its All A Classic exploits, but should still advance to the regional party. The Nos. 2-3 seeds game is between Lyon County and Livingston Central, which have split two regular-season meetings. The tournament is at Livingston, but the Lady Lyons won there 61-54 on Jan. 4.

Want a better girls' regional tournament?

2011-02-17T16:54:00.004-06:00

Not to rehash the last post, but this is what a girls' regional tournament format would look like under my proposal:

The four top district seeds:
1. Calloway County
2. Ballard Memorial
3. Lone Oak
4. Hickman County

The four No. 2 seeds:
5. Marshall County
6. St. Mary
7. Heath
8. Carlisle County

And the rest:
9. Murray
10. Paducah Tilghman
11. Graves County
12. Community Christian
13. Mayfield
14. Reidland
15. Fulton County
16. Fulton City

District tournament sites:

(at Calloway County)
Calloway County vs. Fulton City
Carlisle County vs. Murray

(at Ballard Memorial)
Ballard Memorial vs. Fulton County
Heath vs. Paducah Tilghman

(at Lone Oak)
Lone Oak vs. Reidland
St. Mary vs. Graves County

(at Hickman County)
Hickman County vs. Mayfield
Marshall County vs. Community Christian

Want a better boys' regional tournament?

2011-02-16T15:23:00.006-06:00

Once again, I'm proposing a change to the postseason format we use for high school basketball.

District tournaments, in this day and age, are almost obsolete. Most districts in the state are down to four teams — it isn't like the old days when districts had 10-12 schools and the tournament was a week-long party.

And not all districts are created equal. Some are much stronger than others, and I would make the argument that if we want the regional tournament to be a showcase for the best teams in the region, we come up with a format that allows more than two teams from the same district to advance to the next stage.

With that in mind, here is my idea, one for which I make an annual pitch.

In the 16-team First Region, with four teams in each of four districts, we continue to seed them as normal, with home-and-home, round-robin play.

The four top seeds will be seeded 1-4 in the 16-team regional field and will, as a reward, host a "district tournament." The four No. 2 seeds go in the 5-8 slots, with the rest of the region seeded 9-16.

Postseason rules apply, just as they do now. You win your first-round game and you're in the regional tournament. The second-round winners go into the regional tournament as "district champions" and meet a team that lost a second-round game in the regional quarterfinals.

Under the current format, the four top seeds are (in order of district) Fulton County, Paducah Tilghman, Graves County and Marshall County. For seeding purposes, I'm going to combine three power ratings services — the Louisville Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings, the Lexington Herald-Leader's Cantrall Ratings and MaxPreps.com's Freeman Ratings.

Let's seed them this way:

1. Paducah Tilghman
2. Marshall County
3. Graves County
4. Fulton County

The four No. 2 seeds are (in order of district) Carlisle County, Heath, Ballard Memorial and Calloway County.

Let's seed them this way:

5. Heath
6. Ballard Memorial
7. Calloway County
8. Carlisle County

Now, the rest of the region:

9. St. Mary
10. Mayfield
11. Lone Oak
12. Murray
13. Fulton City
14. Hickman County
15. Reidland
16. Community Christian

That gives us these "district tournament" matchups:

at Fulton County — Fulton County vs. Fulton City, Heath vs. Murray

at Paducah Tilghman — Paducah Tilghman vs. Community Christian, Carlisle County vs. St. Mary

at Graves County — Graves County vs. Hickman County, Ballard Memorial vs. Lone Oak

at Marshall County — Marshall County vs. Reidland, Calloway County vs. Mayfield

In all honesty, this format could give us the same eight teams we'll see for real at Murray State University's CFSB Center. The biggest changes will be reflected on the girls' side, and we'll look at that on Thursday.

Pujols "ends contract talks" ... so what?

2011-02-13T22:58:00.007-06:00

St. Louis Cardinals fans are all panicky because first baseman Albert Pujols has said he won't negotiate a new contract by a certain deadline.

So what?

It's simply posturing by Pujols and his agent, Dan Lozano, in an effort to sway public opinion to push the Cardinals to meet what is likely to be a contract demand somewhere in the $30 million per year range.

Bottom line ... Pujols is under contract for all of this season, so he is under the Cardinals' control through October. And there is always the possibility that, if the Cardinals feel they are out of the race by the end of July, they can put him on the trade block.

As a player with 10 years of experience and five with the same team, Pujols has a right to veto such a deal, but would he really do that if the Cardinals are out of the race and he has a chance to showcase himself for a new contract in a pennant race?

If so, then maybe the Cardinals really need to look elsewhere for a new first baseman.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz echoed the point on Sunday that I've been making for some time.

Putting it my way, Pujols needs to decide what he wants for the rest of his baseball career. Does he want to remain in St. Louis, as he has continually insisted, or does he want to chase a megabucks contract?

The Cardinals need to know, and St. Louis fans need to know.

If Pujols wants to stay in St. Louis and join Stan Musial as a Cardinals' legend, then he will accept a little less on the contract. If he wants to pursue an Alex Rodriguez-type contract, it's time to say "good riddance" in October.

As Miklasz puts it, Pujols can walk with Stan the Man or he can walk with A-Rod.

Really, now, if Pujols is wanting a 10-year, $300 million contract as is rumored, who is going to pay it?

The Yankees? They have Mark Teixieira signed to a long-term deal, as do the Red Sox with recent trade acquisition Adrian Gonzalez. Neither team is likely to want to sign a $30 million designated hitter.

At one point, I thought the Angels might be an option, but they have taken on Vernon Wells' albatross contract.

That leaves, perhaps, the Mets and Cubs. And I have my doubts about those, too.

Really, who is going to give Pujols, who is allegedly 31, a contract that takes him to past 40? And just because the Phillies gave Ryan Howard, admittedly an inferior player to Pujols, a $25 million per year deal doesn't mean another team has to top it.

Pujols and Lozano can posture all they want, but they can also accept the fact that the Cardinals don't have to make them a contract offer, and there isn't another team that can for months.

And remember, this is a verbal line in the sand. Those have long been made to be erased.

Murray's road to recovery ...

2011-02-13T16:38:00.003-06:00

Defending the crown and protecting the throne aren't necessarily easy.

Case in point: Murray's Lady Tigers.

A lot of things went right for Murray a year ago, when the Lady Tigers went 30-4 and swept the All A Classic and overall regional titles. There were no major injuries, no blowups, no unexpected or catastrophic losses.

This season ... well, Murray has hit a lull after finishing 2010 on a high note. The Lady Tigers have had four signature games, and lost all of them — twice to archrival Calloway County, to Ballard Memorial in the All A Classic regional final and last week to a Marshall County club that it will meet a make-or-break game in the first game of the district tournament.

Monday night provides a chance to go into the postseason on a high note, with a visit to Henderson County, which has won six consecutive Second Region titles and is favored to win it again, even with a young squad that has taken some lumps this season.

Murray coach Rechelle Turner scheduled the game last week when some other contests were lost to inclement weather, and it will give us one more chance to determine whether this Murray club is ready for prime time again.

No change for Fourth District ...

2011-02-12T15:58:00.003-06:00

The Fourth District boys' tournament will remain seeded for at least another year. Christian Fellowship, which has indicated plans to enter its boys' squad in district play next season, didn't have a representative at Saturday morning's district meeting.

Therefore, there was no third vote to trump those of Marshall County and Calloway County. Community Christian and Murray were expected to support such a change, but needed a third vote to determine the district tournament pairings via a blind draw.

Fourth District decision looms ... seed or not to seed?

2011-02-10T21:51:00.005-06:00

The Fourth District meets to finalize tournament plans on Saturday, and there is one big decision awaiting the five schools that play boys' basketball.

Indications are that Christian Fellowship, which plans to rejoin the district on the boys' side next season, will join Community Christian and Murray in voting to determine future district tournament pairings by blind draw and not by seeding.

Christian Fellowship upset the applecart, so to speak, and throughly upset Marshall County and Calloway County last spring by voting to determine the baseball pairings by blind draw. Not coincidentally, none of the three "yea" votes on the blind draw — Murray, Community Christian and Christian Fellowship — appear on the schedules of either Marshall or Calloway this spring.

The same could happen with boys' basketball, if Murray — the obvious swing vote — again cast its lot with the two tiny private schools. That could prove costly at the gate, as Marshall and Calloway generally represent the Tigers' two biggest gates each season.

Girls' basketball won't be affected by the vote, since Christian Fellowship doesn't field a girls' team.

Stay tuned.

BluegrassPreps.com rankings ...

2011-02-09T13:54:00.003-06:00

Boys

1. Louisville Eastern
2. Louisville Ballard
3. Clark County
4. Jeffersontown
5. Lexington Tates Creek
6. Christian County
7. Scott County
8. Louisville Trinity
9. Lexington Catholic
10. Louisville Western
11. Lexington Henry Clay
12. Warren Central
13. Louisville Moore
14. Bullitt East
15. Louisville Seneca
16. Louisville Central
17. Bowling Green
18. Pleasure Ridge Park
19. Paducah Tilghman
20. Madison Central

Girls

1. Louisville Manual
2. Rockcastle County
3. Louisville Sacred Heart
4. Louisville Mercy
5. Bowling Green
6. Boone County
7. Ryle
8. Marion County
9. Perry Central
10. Elizabethtown
11. Calloway County
12. Scott County
13. Louisville Butler
14. Lexington Bryan Station
15. Greenwood
16. Newport Catholic
17. Madison Central
18. Clay County
19. Owensboro Catholic
20. Grayson County

District deadline pushed back ...

2011-02-08T01:20:00.003-06:00

Because teams all over the state are having to juggle games on the schedule because of a series of snowstorms, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association is granting schools an extension on the deadline to play all district games.

Under normal circumstances, district games needed to be completed by this weekend, one week before the start of the district tournaments. That has now been pushed back to next Wednesday, and it could be sorely needed locally.

Heath's boys and girls have three remaining district games apiece. Last Friday's doubleheader with Lone Oak was moved since Heath's boys were playing in the All A Classic, and it was postponed again, from Monday to Wednesday, after this week's surprise storm. Lone Oak, Paducah Tilghman and Graves County each have both teams needing to play two district games, and the same goes for the Mayfield and Ballard Memorial girls, who meet on Saturday afternoon.

Here is a look at each district race, as we go to the final week:

First District

Boys: There is one game left to play, but the first-round pairings have already been decided. Fulton County is the top seed and will take on Hickman County, while Carlisle County will meet a Fulton City club that is more dangerous now that guard Vance Maze, dismissed from the team in January, is back in good graces.

Girls: Hickman County is scheduled to meet Fulton County on Tuesday night, but a postponement seems likely. If the Lady Falcons, they tie Carlisle County for the top seed. The winner of the coin flip gets winless Fulton City.

Second District

Boys: Nothing is decided yet. Paducah Tilghman has the inside track on the top seed, but needs a win over Heath on Tuesday to lock it down. Chances are that Lone Oak and Reidland will end up in a tie for the No. 3 seed.

Girls: Lone Oak is 4-0 in the district but has games with Paducah Tilghman and Heath to be played, and there is a possibility of a three-way tie. The only thing that is for certain is that Reidland is the No. 4 seed.

Third District

Boys: Graves County can clinch the top seed by beating either Ballard Memorial or Mayfield this week. Ballard is guaranteed at least the No. 2 seed, and Mayfield must beat the Eagles to tie St. Mary for the third seed.

Girls: Ballard Memorial has clinched the No. 1 seed, with St. Mary locked in the No. 2 spot. Graves County can lock up the No. 3 seed by beating Mayfield on Friday.

Fourth District

Boys: Marshall County visits Calloway County on Friday, with the Marshals poised to take the top seed. A Calloway upset would force a coin flip, with the winner getting Community Christian and the loser facing third-seeded Murray.

Girls: Marshall County's win over Murray on Saturday night was little more than a dress rehearsal for the most meaningful game — the Lady Marshals will host Murray in the district semifinals, one night after Calloway County meets Community Christian.

Fifth District

Boys: Lyon County and Livingston Central, both 4-2 in the district, will have a coin flip for the top seed. Trigg County is the No. 3 seed, with only its early-season loss to fourth-seeded Crittenden County preventing a three-way tie for the top spot.

Girls: Crittenden County is the No. 1 seed and will meet Trigg County in the district semifinals, with Lyon County taking on Livingston Central.

Lawson turns down Hoptown, exits coaching ...

2011-02-07T16:26:00.003-06:00

Last week, we told you that former Marshall County football coach was the top choice for the Hopkinsville vacancy, and he was. There are reports that Lawson initially accepted an offer from Hopkinsville, but changed his mind and elected to turn it down.

Now comes word that Lawson is stepping down at Central Hardin and may have plans to get out of coaching altogether.

Lawson is 73-41 in 10 seasons as a head coach, three apiece at Owensboro Catholic and Marshall and four seasons at Central Hardin.

The All A hangover ...

2011-02-05T11:31:00.003-06:00

Years ago, local broadcaster David Rowton coined the term "All A hangover," alluding to the lull that teams regularly suffer after coming back from an extended stay at the All A Classic state tournament.

There is always a dose of emotional and physical fatigue for the affected teams, and each club handles it differently. Some take All A Classic success and build on it — coming to mind are Fulton County's boys in 1993, who were beaten in overtime in the championship game and eventually weathered the shocking death of teammate Joey Bumpous (from a congenital heart defect) en route to a spot in the regional championship game.

In 2003, Mayfield's boys came back from a two-point loss to eventual champion St. Henry in the quarterfinals and made it to the regional finals. And just last year, Murray's girls built on a semifinal finish in Richmond with a run to the regional championship in March.

Others seem to never recover. Murray's boys, beaten in a close game by eventual champion Harlan in the quarterfinals in 1995, never put things back together. Heath's boys had a sluggish performance in a loss to Barbourville and 2005 and had nearly a total collapse upon returning home, going 2-5 and getting knocked out of the postseason by a sub-.500 Paducah Tilghman outfit in the district semifinals.

So what happens with Heath's boys and Ballard Memorial's girls? We almost don't have enough time to find out.

Because the All A Classic state tournament was moved back a week to accommodate host Eastern Kentucky University and its Ohio Valley Conference schedule, we're now just two weeks away from the end of the regular season.

For the Pirates, there is no time to lick their wounds from a draining quarterfinal-round loss to Danville. Friday's game with Lone Oak was moved back to Monday, and Heath has to finish up its district schedule with Tilghman on Tuesday and Reidland on Friday. Heath has something for which to play, too — a sweep of the week would probably earn it a tie for the top seed for the district tournament.

Ballard's girls may have some emotional baggage to shed. Coach Billie Prince didn't bring any of his players to the postgame press conference, noting that they were "devastated" after a 52-51 loss to Sheldon Clark.

"We had put in their head the idea that we could win up here," Prince said. "And that's what they were thinking about doing."

Ballard needs only one win this week to clinch the top seed for the district tournament, with home games against Graves County on Tuesday and Mayfield on Saturday afternoon. Those games will also help to determine the Nos. 3-4 seeds, as those are the two teams that could face the Lady Bombers in the postseason opener.

Former Marshal Lawson to Hoptown?

2011-02-04T14:09:00.004-06:00

Indications are that former Marshall County football coach Mike Lawson is the leading candidate to take over at Hopkinsville, although the school has yet to officially announce Dixie Jones' replacement.

Lawson just finished his fourth season at Central Hardin, going 9-3 and advancing to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs, and he was also able to work wonders in previous rebuilding jobs at Owensboro Catholic and Marshall County.

He would certainly inherit another one in Hopkinsville, which was a fixture in state top-10 rankings for a decade under Craig Clayton but has gone 6-15 the last two seasons and missed the Class 5A playoffs in 2010 for the first time in 20 years.

The worm has certainly turned in the Christian County school system. In 2004, when Clayton retired and took the coaching job at Tennessee power Franklin, the hope inside the program was that longtime assistant Steve Lovelace, a Mayfield native, would be Clayton's successor.

But Hopkinsville chose to hire Jones, another former assistant, away from Madisonville, and the two local programs' fortunes have drastically changed. Hopkinsville was 33-37 in Jones' six seasons, and Lovelace went to Christian County before being elevated to the top spot in 2007.

All Lovelace has done is put together a 39-16 record with a pair of state runner-up finishes in Class 5A over his first four years.

BluegrassPreps.com rankings ...

2011-02-03T11:39:00.003-06:00

BOYS

1. Louisville Eastern
2. Jeffersontown
3. Louisville Ballard
4. Clark County
5. Lexington Tates Creek
6. Christian County
7. Louisville Trinity
8. Scott County
9. Lexington Catholic
10. Lexington Henry Clay
11. Warren Central
12. Louisville Western
13. Louisville Moore
14. Bullitt East
15. Pleasure Ridge Park
16. Madison Central
17. Bowling Green
18. Louisville Seneca
19. Paducah Tilghman
20. Louisville Central

GIRLS

1. Louisville Manual
2. Louisville Mercy
3. Rockcastle County
4. Louisville Sacred Heart
5. Boone County
6. Marion County
7. Bowling Green
8. Perry Central
9. Scott County
10. Ryle
11. Calloway County
12. Elizabethtown
13. Louisville Butler
14. Greenwood
15. Lexington Bryan Station
16. Newport Catholic
17. Madison Central
18. Clay County
19. Murray
20. Grayson County

Massac girls get acquainted with Herrin

2011-01-30T16:00:00.006-06:00

Massac County's girls currently sit atop the River-to-River Conference race with an 8-0 mark, one game ahead of Herrin with two left to play, and the Lady Patriots can clinch the conference title with a win at Herrin on Tuesday night. Otherwise, Massac and Herrin will likely be co-champions.

Regardless of the outcome, don't be surprised if the two teams meet again a week later, this time in the Illinois Class 2A regional semifinals at Carterville.

Massac (15-10) is the No. 2 seed at Carterville, with Herrin (19-8) in the No. 3 position and facing an eminently winnable first-round game with league rival Murphysboro on Feb. 7, one day before a potential rematch with the Lady Patriots.

Vienna is the No. 1 seed and sports a 23-5 record, although one of its losses came against Massac, a 39-38 decision way back on Nov. 29 at Metropolis. Vienna is also ranked second in the southern Illinois rankings issued by the Carbondale-based newspaper, The Southern Illinoisan.

One suspects the Lady Patriots' record played a role in the seedings, apparently one more so than the head-to-head result. Five of the Lady Patriots' losses are to out-of-state schools, including Marshall County twice and single games with Calloway County and six-time defending Second Region champion Henderson County.

Sweet 16 draw ... boys

2011-01-28T14:30:00.009-06:00

Whichever teams takes home the First Region boys' title also has a nice extra present, a winnable first-round game in Rupp Arena.

In fact, the regional draw is one of our best in several years, in the lower bracket and away from most of the state's heavyweight programs.

Paducah Tilghman remains on the fringes of the state's top 20, earning a No. 20 ranking in this week's BluegrassPreps.com rankings. Marshall County owns a win over the Tornado and visits Tilghman tonight, while Graves County has split two games with Marshall and led the Tornado by double digits before falling 90-81.

The 13th Region awaits the winner. Clay County is the favorite there, with Corbin and Bell County as the primary challengers. Bell whacked Corbin 69-40 on Thursday night, but Clay remains the slight favorite, having beaten Bell 52-50 on Tuesday night.

Clay is a solid team but hasn't fared too well against good competition outside the region, with double-digit losses to Lexington teams Henry Clay, Tates Creek and Lexington Catholic and a 20-point loss to Scott County in Corbin's Christmas tournament.

Just 10 days ago, the Tigers fell 45-40 to Perry Central, which is coached by former Graves and Marshall mentor Allan Hatcher and is favored to win the 14th Region.

The quarterfinal-round opponent could be a tough one, depending on who wins the Sixth Region on the western side of Louisville. Western has 6-8 senior Ryan Taylor, who moved in from Indianapolis after committing to play for Rick Pitino at the University of Louisville. Bullitt East has a pair of solid seniors and a player on the rise in 6-8 sophomore xxx.

Central, which usually starts slow because of its football team's postseason run, played in the state chanpionship game in 2009 and looks to be making another late-season charge, and Pleasure Ridge Park and Iroquois are solid contenders.

The upper bracket is where the power is. That starts with the absolutely loaded Louisville-based Seventh Region, which has a field that includes what may be the top three teams in the state in Eastern, Jeffersontown and Ballard and perhaps six or seven of the state's top 20 teams.

Clark County is a top-five team and the 10th Region favorite, and Christian County is the clear Second Region favorite. Also in the top half of the draw is the 11th Region, which includes Scott County, Madison Central and several good Lexington schools such as Tates Creek, Lexington Catholic, Henry Clay and Bryan Station.

Boys' Sweet 16
(at Rupp Arena)

March 16
Region 10 (Clark County, Scott, Mason County) vs. Region 8 (South Oldham, North Oldham, Oldham County, Simon Kenton), 11 a.m.
Region 4 (Bowling Green, Warren Central, Glasgow) vs. Region 7 (Louisville Eastern, Jeffersontown, Louisville Ballard, Louisville Trinity), 12:30 p.m.
Region 2 (Christian County, Henderson County) vs. Region 15 (Johnson Central, Betsy Layne, Pikeville), 5:30 p.m.
Region 11 (Lexington Tates Creek, Scott County, Lexington Catholic, Lexington Henry Clay) vs. Region 9 (Dixie Heights, Newport Catholic, Covington Holmes, Covington Catholic), 7 p.m.

March 17
Region 16 (Ashland, Rowan County, West Carter) vs. Region 3 (Muhlenberg County, Daviess County, Owensboro), 11 a.m.
Region 12 () vs. Region 14 (Perry Central, Buckhorn, Hazard), 12:30 p.m.
Region 6 (Louisville Western, Bullitt East, Pleasure Ridge Park, Louisville Central, Louisville Iroquois) vs. Region 5 (John Hardin, North Hardin, Elizabethtown, Bardstown), 5:30 p.m.
Region 1 (Paducah Tilghman, Marshall County, Graves County) vs. Region 13 (Clay County, Bell County, Corbin), 7 p.m.

BluegrassPreps.com rankings ...

2011-01-28T14:20:00.003-06:00

Boys

1. Louisville Eastern
2. Jeffersontown
3. Louisville Ballard
4. Clark County
5. Lexington Tates Creek
6. Scott County
7. Christian County
8. Louisville Trinity
9. Louisville Moore
10. Lexington Henry Clay
11. Louisville Western
12. Lexington Catholic
13. Bowling Green
14. Warren Central
15. Louisville Seneca
16. Bullitt East
17. Pleasure Ridge Park
18. Madison Central
19. Lexington Bryan Station
20. Paducah Tilghman

Girls

1. Louuisville Manual
2. Rockcastle County
3. Louisville Mercy
4. Louisville Sacred Heart
5. Boone County
6. Marion County
7. Scott County
8. Bowling Green
9. Perry Central
10. Ryle
11. Calloway County
12. Elizabethtown
13. Louisville Butler
14. Greenwood
15. Bryan Station
16. Newport Catholic
17. Madison Central
18. Clay County
19. Ohio County
20. Grayson County

Sweet 16 draw ... girls

2011-01-28T14:03:00.004-06:00

There could be some real star power on the floor if Calloway County matches up with Boone County in the first round of the girls' Sweet 16.

Calloway boasts West Virginia signee Averee Fields, perhaps the most talented and versatile girl that the First Region has ever produced. Boone touts 5-11 junior forward Sydney Moss, a Division I prospect and the daughter of well-traveled NFL star Randy Moss.

Both teams will have to navigate their respective regions, of course, to make that matchup occur on March 10 at Western Kentucky University's Diddle Arena, but both are favored to do so.

The Lady Lakers could be challenged by the likes of Murray, Marshall County and Ballard Memorial. Boone has plenty of potential potholes in its path, starting with neighboring Ryle, not to mention St. Henry, Covington Notre Dame, Fort Thomas Highlands and the Newport Catholic club that is favored to repeat as All A Classic state champions next week.

If the First Region winner survives the opening round, there is a very winnable quarterfinal game against the winner of the game between Regions 15 and 16. Sheldon Clark, which meets Ballard Memorial in the opening round of the All A Classic, is one of the 15th Region's top contenders.

Here is the complete draw, with the potential favorites in each region:

Girls' Sweet 16
(at Western Kentucky University)

March 9
Region 8 (South Oldham, Walton-Verona, Anderson County) vs. Region 4 (Bowling Green, Monrow County, Franklin-Simpson, Greenwood), noon
Region 7 (Louisville Manual, Louisville Mercy, Louisville Sacred Heart, Jeffersontown) vs. Region 2 (Henderson County, Union County, Hopkinsville), 1:30 p.m.
Region 6 (Louisville Butler, Bullitt East, Bullitt Central) vs. Region 14 (Perry Central, Letcher Central), 6:30 p.m.
Region 5 (Elizabethtown, Marion County) vs. Region 10 (Clark County, Montgomery County), 8 p.m.

March 10
Region 15 (Magoffin County, Sheldon Clark, Shelby Valley) vs. Region 16 (Ashland, Fleming County, Rowan County, Boyd County), noon
Region 1 (Calloway County, Murray, Marshall County) vs. Region 9 (Boone County, Ryle, Newport Catholic), 1:30 p.m.
Region 11 (Scott County, Lexington Bryan Station, Madison Central, Lexington Catholic) vs. Region 12 (Rockcastle County, Lincoln County), 6:30 p.m.
Region 13 (Clay County, Harlan County, North Laurel, South Laurel) vs. Region 3 (Owensboro Catholic, Ohio County, Grayson County), 8 p.m.

Basketball doings ...

2011-01-26T17:20:00.003-06:00

Friday night's schedule brings us two marquee matchups, one each on the boys' and girls' sides.

Paducah Tilghman's boys, which fell 51-47 at Marshall County less than two weeks ago, hosts the rematch at refurbished Otis Dinning Gym with a chance of re-establishing itself as the First Region favorite.

And Calloway County's girls, who thumped crosstown rival Murray 54-38 two weeks ago, get a chance to take one more step towards clinching the top seed in the Fourth District tournament.

It was at the start of February a year ago that Tilghman began to round into the form that eventually delivered the Tornado's third regional title in four seasons, starting an 11-game winning streak that didn't end until the state tournament loss to eventual champion Shelby Valley.

Those that saw the championship game of Massac County's Superman Classic on Saturday night saw it, with the Tornado blowing out No. 2 seed Carbondale and turning the fourth quarter into a fast-break dunkfest.

But the Tornado's last regular-season loss in 2010 came to Marshall on this date on the schedule, a week after the Superman Classic. Marshall scorched the nets from the perimeter in a 91-76 win on its home court.

Marshall held serve at home against Tilghman, and now it's the Tornado's turn to host. In fact, Tilghman doesn't leave McCracken County in the final four weeks — Brad Stieg's club's only road games in that span are at Lone Oak and St. Mary.

When Murray visits Calloway, Rechelle Turner's team finds itself in a position in which it never expected to be — the Lady Tigers were thumped in the first meeting and now find themselves with only the district race and postseason on its radar. Murray expected to be preparing for the All A Classic state tournament, but that went by the wayside in a 64-58 loss to Ballard Memorial in which it blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead.

Ballard stunned Murray with a 22-1 run, a surge fueled in part by the Lady Tigers' turnovers and mistakes. Turner sees leadership as an issue, noting that no one her team was able to take care of the basketball and stabilize things when the game got hectic.

• Missing pieces: Ballard Memorial's boys, who were beaten by Heath in the All A Classic regional final, has apparently parted ways with a couple of guards. Chris Jones, who was starting at the point but not necessarily playing starters' minutes, left the team early this week. Reserve guard Manny Yarbro, who provided some scoring punch early this season but whose playing time has dwindled lately, reportedly quit after Saturday's championship game.

• Mea culpa: I've taken a little heat for my list of the region's top-10 players in The Cats' Pause preseason magazine, having omitted Carlisle County guard Blake Rutherford, who was a Paducah Sun All-Purchase Team pick last year.

Rutherford belongs on the list, as evidenced by his 37-point performance in a losing effort against Fulton County and a 21-point showing when Carlisle avenged that loss, beating the Pilots in the All A Classic quarterfinals.

Likewise, Heath's Drew Robinson might merit inclusion on the list, too. Robinson, a 6-6 forward that can play on the wing, averaged 15.3 points as the Pirates won the All A Classic, then put up 17 points and 10 rebounds as Heath won at Graves County on Tuesday night.

Also, Heath is 7-1 on the Eagles' Nest floor this season — the only loss was to Marshall County in Graves' TimePiece Photography Roundball Classic in mid-December when point guard Damien Bolen was out with the flu. That prompted Heath center Jacob Jett to suggest that the Pirates lobby for the regional tournament be moved to the Eagles' Nest.

Why I love the All A Classic ...

2011-01-26T17:01:00.003-06:00

The All A Classic is played in January, but the atmosphere for the boys' and girls' regional championship games is a little slice of March Madness.

Heath's two-minute rally to beat defending champion Ballard Memorial was the stuff of legend, a moment that will be remembered long after the Pirates' program shuts down in a couple of years, snuffed out by McCracken County's pending consolidation.

On the girls' side, Ballard Memorial's amazing 22-1 run that dethroned Murray was fueled in part by the pressure of the moment, the knowledge of what was at stake, with a Murray club that seemed to feel the heat of the expectation of repeating as regional champions and making another state tournament run.

There are some basketball people around the state that downplay the All A Classic. They say that the small-school state tournament doesn't compare to the Sweet 16, both in terms of quality of play and public and media attention.

No argument there, but there is also no question that, for the players, coaches and fans of the participating teams, it's an event that highlights their regular-season schedules.

On more than one occasion last week, I saw a senior from a team that just lost a game walking off the court in tears, knowing that their dream of reaching the state tournament was dashed. You just don't see that level of emotion for a regular-season game or tournament.

The All A Classic is in its 22nd year as a statewide event. I've been lucky to cover all or part of 21 of the 22 regional tournaments, and next week's state tournament will be the 21st I've covered. I would feel my basketball season was incomplete without it.

Defending Jay Cutler ...

2011-01-24T14:20:00.006-06:00

I once had a conversation with another sportswriter when we discovered that we had a mutual friend.

"The thing about (name deleted)," the writer said, "is that trouble always seems to follow him around."

And so it goes with Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. He suffered a knee injury in the first half of Sunday's NFC championship game against the Green Bay Packers, was ineffective and was taken out of the game early in the second half with the Bears trailing 14-0.

Third-stringer Caleb Hanie, inserted into the lineup when backup Todd Collins was injured, rallied the Bears to a pair of second-half touchdowns. The Bears lost 21-14 when Hanie was picked off deep in Green Bay territory in the final minute.

Hanie actually threw for three scores — unfortunately for the Bears, one of them was an interception that was run back for a touchdown by Green Bay defensive tackle B.J. Raji.

Even before the game ended, however, players and fans alike were ripping Cutler, essentially calling him gutless. Most surprising was that some of the criticism came from NFL players, mostly via their Twitter accounts.

Cutler's reputation isn't the best in the league, and he obviously has a way of ticking off guys around the NFL.

But reports came today that Cutler has at least a partially torn MCL, which is far from a minor injury. Teammates have rushed to his defense, as did coach Lovie Smith in a press conference earlier today. And the Bears' medical staff, it turns out, made the final call on Cutler's availability to play.

Cutler isn't a sympathetic figure, but he doesn't deserve this kind of treatment, especially from players around the NFL who live with the idea that a catastrophic injury can essentially end their careers at any time.

The criticism of Cutler, frankly, seems based more on his being unlikeable than anything else.

Olive ... a Racer, perhaps?

2011-01-22T15:00:00.003-06:00

Murray's Robert Olive, a two-way standout at offensive and defensive tackle and one of far western Kentucky's top players, may end up deciding between Murray State, Austin Peay and a preferred walk-on invitation at Kentucky.

Steve Duncan, Murray's coach, feels that Olive might be leaning towards Murray. Olive, a 6-foot-3, 303-pound tackle, is being recruited as an offensive lineman.

Gunner's Magic Train Shootout schedule ...

2011-01-20T13:55:00.007-06:00

Marshall County is hosting the Gunner's Magic Train Shootout on Friday and Saturday nights, with both of the host school's teams playing two games.

The schedule was only finalized this week, with St. Mary taking on Madisonville on Friday night. South Laurel pulled out of the shootout in the fall, and Marshall was left scrambling to fill the void.

After the All A Classic seedings were set, Marshall worked out an agreement for the loser of Wednesday night's Mayfield-St. Mary game to play Madisonville, since a first-round loss for either team would leave it able to fit an extra game on its schedule.

The Marshals and Lady Marshals will each play two out-of-state teams, Arnold from Panama City, Fla., and Harding Academy of Searcy, Ark.

Both of Marshall's teams played in Arnold's Christmas tournament last month, and both of the Marlins' boys' and girls' teams have records around the .500 mark. Harding Academy is a small, private school that plays in Class 3A in Arkansas. The Wildcats' boys' team is currently 9-3 while the girls' squad has a 5-5 mark.

Here is the schedule:

Friday
Girls: Marshall County vs. Panama City Arnold (Fla.), 5 p.m.
St. Mary vs. Madisonville, 6:30 p.m.
Marshall County vs. Panama City Arnold, 8 p.m.

Saturday
Girls: Massac County vs. Panama City Arnold, 3 p.m.
Madisonville vs. Panama City Arnold, 4:30 p.m.
Marshall County vs. Harding Academy (Ark.), 6 p.m.
Girls: Marshall County vs. Harding Academy, 7:30 p.m.

All A Classic amended schedules ...

2011-01-20T13:37:00.006-06:00

Snow has wreaked havoc on the All A Classic, postponing tonight's games in both the First Region and Second Region tournaments. Both regionals are down to the semifinals in both boys' and girls' play.

Here are the revised schedules:

First Region
(at Graves County)

Boys
Saturday
Ballard Memorial vs. Mayfield, 10:30 a.m.
Heath vs. Carlisle County, noon
Championship, 8 p.m.

Girls
Friday
Ballard Memorial vs. Community Christian, 6 p.m.
Murray vs. Heath, 7:45 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 6 p.m.

Second Region
(at Crittenden County)

Boys
Saturday
Lyon County vs. Livingston Central, 6 p.m.
Caldwell County vs. University Heights, 7:30 p.m.
Monday
Championship, 8 p.m.

Girls
Friday
Lyon County vs. Dawson Springs, 6 p.m.
Crittenden County vs. Livingston Central, 7:30 p.m.
Monday
Championship, 6 p.m.

Amended Superman Classic schedule ...

2011-01-20T13:32:00.006-06:00

Superman Classic play at Massac County has been postponed for tonight. Friday's schedule will proceed as planned, with the Paducah Tilghman-Massac County semifinal highlighting the two-game session. The Carbondale-Martin Westview (Tenn.) semifinal set for Saturday at 11 a.m., with the winner playing for the championship that night.

Because St. Louis Sumner couldn't guarantee it could play on Friday, for travel reasons, Sumner's game with Calloway County is likely cancelled. However, Sumner will play on Saturday.

Here is the revised schedule:

Friday
Madison vs. Vienna, 6:30 p.m.
Paducah Tilghman vs. Massac County, 8 p.m.

Saturday
Carbondale vs. Martin Westview, 11 a.m.
Calloway County vs. Vienna, 1 p.m.
Madison vs. St. Louis Sumner, 2:30 p.m.
Third-place game, 6:30 p.m.
Championship, 8 p.m.

Eight locals make All-BluegrassPreps.com football team ...

2011-01-18T02:12:00.004-06:00

Far western Kentucky was well-represented on the All-BluegrassPreps.com football team, which was released today.

Robert Olive of Murray and Jay Cain of Lone Oak were named as offensive linemen and Josh Forrest of Paducah Tilghman was named at defenisve back. Murray's Carson Greifenkamp was selected as the kicker and Mayfield's Marc Wynstra was chosen at punter.

Three other players, all two-way stars — Mayfield's Jonathan Jackson, Caldwell County's Brandon Sigler and Christian County's Marcoreyon Tandy — were named to the "athletes" team, which "recognizes 12 players whose versatility and all-around contributions on offense, defense and special teams embody the spirit of high school football."

Here is the complete team:

OFFENSE

QB - Demarcus Smith, Louisville Seneca
RB - J.J. Jude, Johnson Central
RB - Anthony Wales, Louisville Central
WR - Jordan Gilbert, Mason County
WR - Devante Parker, Louisville Ballard
WR - James Quick, Louisville Trinity
OL - Jamon Brown, Louisville Fern Creek
OL - Jay Cain, Lone Oak
OL - Tyler Combs, Lawrence County
OL - Robert Olive, Murray
OL - Zach West, Lexington Christian
K - Carson Greifenkamp, Murray

DEFENSE

DL - Paul Megilligan, Boyle County
DL - Darrian Miller, Lexington Bryan Station
DL - Channing Smith, Sheldon Clark
LB - Lamar Dawson, Boyle County
LB - Flo Hardin, Louisville Ballard
LB - Josh Harris, Mason County
LB - John Dudley Hilton, Bell County
DB - Austin Abner, Fort Thomas Highlands
DB - Josh Forrest, Paducah Tilghman
DB - Daylen Hall, Louisville St. Xavier
DB - Leon Melvin, Louisville Western
P - Marc Wynstra, Mayfield

ATHLETES

ATH - Alex Abner, Pulaski County
ATH - Cortez Barber, Warren Central
ATH - Brandon Boards, Allen County
ATH - Darrell Cross, Rowan County
ATH - Cory Davenport, Bell County
ATH - Jalen Harrington, Louisville Fern Creek
ATH - Jonathan Jackson, Mayfield
ATH - Chris Kelly, Newport Catholic
ATH - Chad Lawrence, Simon Kenton
ATH - Cory Lyle, Greenup County
ATH - Brandon Sigler, Caldwell County
ATH - Marcoreyon Tandy, Christian County

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Lamar Dawson, Boyle County
COACH OF THE YEAR - Brad Hood, Allen County

Alex Mallory narrows college choices ...

2011-01-18T02:07:00.003-06:00

Ballard Memorial quarterback Alex Mallory said he is awaiting potential offers from Eastern Kentucky and Western Kentucky. Eastern may offer a partial scholarship, while an invite to Western would likely include an offer to grayshirt, which is what former Lone Oak quarterback Corey Robinson did at Sun Belt Conference rival Troy.

Mallory, who threw for nearly 5,000 yards with 53 touchdowns and 25 interceptions over the last two seasons, said he is likely to go the NAIA route if talks with Eastern and Western fall through.

Superman Classic preview ...

2011-01-16T22:59:00.004-06:00

A few years ago, Massac County athletic director Kelly Glass decided to conduct a seeding meeting to set the pairings for the Superman Classic, guaranteeing the participating teams that the Patriots wouldn't set up the bracket to give themselves an easy bracket in which to make a run to the championship game.

But when you have teams from three (and sometimes four) different states and participating schools spread out from Tennessee to the St. Louis area, and sometimes beyond, it's difficult to nail down a logical pecking order.

Last year was a prime example, when Madison won the tournament as the No. 5 seed and had its toughest game in the opening round, staging a furious comeback to knock off fourth seed Paducah Tilghman.

This year, the seedings looks a little more true to form. Tilghman is the top seed, although the team that earned the seeding may not take the floor this week, as it appears that point guard Josh Forrest will miss a game or two, or possibly the entire tournament, if he opts to take an official football visit to Central Florida. Carbondale is the No. 2 seed, followed by Martin Westview, Massac and Madison.

If it was my seeding, I would probably go with a slightly different order, with Massac at No.3, followed by Madison and Westview. As it stands, the Massac-Madison game will draw some attention since it matches two strong small-school teams — both teams have made it to the state tournament in one the last two seasons — from opposite ends of what much of the state considers southern Illinois.

In any case, a semifinal matching Tilghman and either the Patriots or Madison could be a fun game to watch, and expect Carbondale to be awaiting the winner in Saturday night's final.

Big three, round three ...

2011-01-16T22:01:00.003-06:00

So ... the midseason round-robin between First Region heavyweights Paducah Tilghman, Marshall County and Graves County ended in a draw.

Friday night's third installment may have been the best game of the three, a contest full of drama that went right down to the final second, when Graves reserve Travis Beck tipped in a missed shot by backup point guard Mason Beale to give the Eagles a 56-54 win.

Note the key words ... reserves. Graves' bench, which has been woefully thin for much of the year, made its biggest contribution yet in a tight game. Beck hit two 3-pointers in the first half and scored 10 points, and Beale was handed the ballhandling responsibilities as Graves set up the game-winning shot without point guard Jesse Anderson, who was held scoreless in the first half and had fouled out with just five points, his season-low total.

Beck, a 6-3 junior who is more of a face-the-basket player, transferred in from Joppa in mid-December and was pushed into some brief action almost before he had a chance to practice with the Eagles, which meant he had precious little time to learn the team's extensive array of offensive sets. Beale, a sophomore, is the first guard off the bench and the heir apparent at the point when Anderson graduates this spring.

What else did we learn about Graves? As good as Anderson is, he might not be the Eagles' most indispensible player. That might fall on athletic 6-4 center Aaron Cooper, Graves' only true post player. With Cooper on the bench with four fouls and Graves holding a seven-point lead with less than two minutes remaining, Marshall attacked the basket at will, scoring two baskets and five points in two possessions.

Combined with a turnover, Marshall made it seven points in three trips and tied the score when guard Blake Clark drew Anderson's fifth foul and sank two free throws with less than a minute remaining.

As for Marshall ... it appears that Gus Gillespie's crew has the size and bulk that enables it to match up with Tilghman a little better than the Eagles. Drew Williams and Casey White, who had big putbacks in both games last week, provide some inside depth and enable Marshall to use a lot of fouls in the paint. That, in turn, exposes one of the Tornado's glaring flaws, its free throw shooting.

What did we learn over the past week or so? Tilghman is still the favorite, in my estimation, probably because it appears to have the most upside. I'm sticking with Marshall second and Graves third — the teams have split two games this season — but, as someone from the Eagles' camp noted on Friday night, the gap between No. 1 and No. 3 might have narrowed a bit.

Stay tuned for the second round-robin, coming soon — the Tornado hosts Marshall and Graves in back-to-back games on Jan. 28 and Feb. 1, and then the Marshals host Graves on Feb. 4.

Forrest reaffirms commitment to Kentucky ...

2011-01-14T14:06:00.005-06:00

There were reports earlier this week that Paducah Tilghman football star Josh Forrest might be wavering on his commitment to the University of Kentucky, but Forrest seems to have nixed those by issuing invitations to his national letter-of-intent signing on Feb. 5. The invite said that Forrest will indeed sign with the Wildcats.

Still, there are indications that Forrest will take a visit to Central Florida this weekend.

Tilghman coach Randy Wyatt told Rivals.com that Central Florida isn't a threat to Forrest's commitment to Kentucky. "My understanding is it's more like a vacation for him," Wyatt was quoted as saying. "He wants to go to Disney World. That's all I'm going to say about it. He's Kentucky-bound."

Murray-Calloway ... round one

2011-01-13T14:56:00.005-06:00

Murray and Calloway County, as schools, are separated by a little over a mile.

In the various state girls' basketball rankings, they're even closer.

Murray is the defending First Region champion. Calloway, which fell to Murray in overtime in last year's regional final, has a Division I signee, returns a bit more on paper and is, at least in some quarters, the regional favorite.

So ... who wins tonight's game at Murray's Tiger Gym, the first of two regular-season showdowns between the two teams?

Does it really matter, given that conventional wisdom has them meeting four times this year, including the district and regional finals?

You bet it does.

"This year, it's even more important to get the number one seed (for the district tournament)," Calloway coach Scott Sivills said. "You don't want to be the two-seed and have to play Marshall County on their court in the first round of the district."

Sivills also makes another point that it is arguably the First Region's biggest regular-season game in years, perhaps even close to two decades. For the first time in recent memory, the region has two teams ranked in the state's top 20 in the Cantrall and Litkenhous ratings.

So ... how big is it?

"It's a big game, but it's not the end of the season," Sivills said. "I think sometimes you can make this out to be too big and your players play tight.

"Our players are excited about it, because it's Murray and because it's the first time we've played them since the regional finals. But they're not as jacked up as the media and the parents and the fans."

Murray coach Rechelle Turner's answer to the question was laced with a little humor.

"Everybody gets real excited about it, and I'm not sure why," Turner said with a smile."These two teams gave everybody four classic match-ups last year, and this is the first time we've seen them this year."

Could we see another foursome this season?

"If that means we're both in the regional finals, I'll take it," Turner said. "I'm not sure I would necessarily pick them as the team I would want to play four times."

On paper, it's a tough game to call. After battling through some sickness and injuries early in the season, Murray hit its stride just before Christmas, going 3-1 in Lexington Catholic's Republic Bank Holiday Classic and later winning its own Lady Tiger Classic, beating a strong Grayson County team in the championship game.

Two of the Lady Tigers' three losses are to defending state champions. Guard Haley Armstrong and point guard Janssen Starks lead the way, and 6-foot-3 Sian House is a strong defensive presence in the paint. In recent weeks, Murray has gotten more offensive production from forward Shelby Crouch and defensive whiz Amanda Winchester lately.

Calloway's Averee Fields, a West Virginia signee and the returning Paducah Sun All-Purchase Player of the Year, is her usual self, averaging 22 points and 12 rebounds per game. Point guard Taylor Futrell is averaging 11 points per game, and guards Abby Futrell and Karlee Wilson have made significant strides. Forward Alyssa Cunningham, sidelined by mononucleosis in the postseason, provides solid work in the post..

"My uncle, who has coached for 40 years, told me after the regional final last year that we would be much when our sophomores became juniors," Sivills said. "And he was right. We're seeing that on the floor."

The Lady Lakers' only loss was to a team from Connecticut in a post-Christmas tournament in Orlando, Fla., and Calloway owns two wins over a Martin Westview squad that's been in the Tennessee Class 2A final four the last two years.

Big three, round two ...

2011-01-12T02:11:00.004-06:00

It wasn't so shocking that Marshall County beat Paducah Tilghman, but how the Marshals did it.

Marshall didn't shoot the ball well from the perimeter, as it was thought it would need to — the Marshals hit just 2 of 14 tries from 3-point range in Tuesday night's 51-47 win. And they outrebounded a bigger, stronger Tilghman squad by a considerable margin.

They did it with defense, too, keeping Josh Forrest out of the lane for much of the night and not letting the Tornado shooters go wild from the perimeter, and their depth was clearly the equal of Tilghman's, with reserves Chase Clark, Peter Northcutt and Drew Williams providing quality minutes.

Stephen Atkinson had 24 points and 14 rebounds, is averaging a double-double and has put himself in the conversation for The Paducah Sun Purchase Player of the Year award. Guards Chase York and Cole Nelson were able to provide board support.

As for Tilghman — well, the Tornado missed a chance to possibly put the game away late in the first half, when Cody Schultz tried an alley-oop pass to Josh Forrest on the break with Tilghman up 29-18 and threatening to blow open the game. The move backfired, and the Marshals scored twice late in the half to cut the deficit to seven.

Was the Tornado a bit fatigued from a tough stretch of three games against solid opposition — district rival Heath, Graves County and Marshall — in a span of five days? Perhaps, especially since Tilghman was beaten back down the floor two or three times for Marshall baskets in transition in the fourth quarter.

And, of course, there is Tilghman's Achilles' Heel — the free throw line. The Tornado was 8-for-18 from the line, with Forrest going 3-for-12. In a close game, foul shooting is always going to give the Tornado's opponent a chance to sneak off with a win.

BCS musings ...

2011-01-12T01:53:00.004-06:00

Five consecutive "national champions" from four different schools.

Without question, the Southeastern Conference has again proven itself as college football's league without peer.

Auburn is certainly a deserving champion, having beaten three top-20 opponents within the SEC and containing an Oregon offense that was considered the nation's most explosive, holding it to well under half its typical point total.

And, given that Oregon took the Tigers to the wire, scoring the game-tying touchdown before falling on a last-second field goal, it's safe to declare the quacky Ducks as the nation's No. 2 team, right?

Well, maybe not.

The voters went with Texas Christian, the nation's only other undefeated squad, as the runner-up, but the vote here is for Oregon. I like the Horned Frogs, but remember that they barely escaped the Rose Bowl with a win over Wisconsin. And frankly, Oregon's close call with Auburn looks like the more impressive bowl performance.

• The play was officiated correctly, but Auburn freshman Michael Dyer's run after he was dragged down by a defender on the Tigers' game-winning final drive is an example of a rule that, while properly enforced, needs to be changed.

Why is it that a runner can be tackled and totally prone on top of a defender, but he isn't considered down because his knee isn't touching the ground? He's no longer in position to gain yardage, and he would be on the ground if not for the defender below him.

Oregon's defense certainly thought Dyer was down, and rightfully so. And while players are told to go until they hear the whistle, sometimes a player doesn't necessarily hear it. And in that case, it's understandable why one would be afraid to hit a running back who gets back to his feet and off a prone defender — if he makes considerable contact with such a running back, and the whistle had actually blown, he would surely be flagged for a personal foul, a 15-yard penalty.

• Who is the nation's second-best team? My vote goes to Alabama — yes, the same Crimson Tide that lost three games during the regular season.

Alabama fell at South Carolina a week after pummeling Florida while the Gamecocks had an off-week, then lost a close game at LSU and a one-point decision to Auburn, the eventual national champion.

If the Tide played Auburn right now, on a neutral field, I would take Alabama. And if we had a real national championship tournament, Alabama would be just as much a threat to win the title as anyone — Auburn, Oregon, TCU included.

Big three, round one ...

2011-01-10T16:02:00.004-06:00

In a stretch of seven days, the First Region's top three teams are squaring off in what amounts to a midseason round-robin — Paducah Tilghman came from behind to beat Graves County 90-81 on Saturday night and visits Marshall County on Tuesday night. The Eagles, who have already lost to Marshall once this season, host the rematch on Friday night.

Some observations after round one:

Tilghman coach Brad Stieg seems to have settled on a starting lineup that includes three guards, with Cody Schultz and Trevonte Cole (who combined to go 10-for-20 from 3-point range) flanking point guard Josh Forrest and versatile forward Darrius Brown in a sixth-man role. Earlier in the season, Brown was in the first five, with Schultz coming off the bench.

"In the First Region, teams are going to pack it on us with that lineup," Stieg said. "This gives us two shooters to spread the defense, and I like all the things that Darrius does for us coming off the bench."

DeShawn Jackson has turned in some solid work as the top guard reserve, and Tilghman can still call on DeCarida Key as a swingman and two bigs off the bench in 6-4 Chavion Harper and 6-7 Devin Wilson.

Tilghman's ferocious fourth-quarter run shows that the Tornado's "A" game is the region's best, but there are still some defensive issues to address.

As for Graves, it's been a pair of really frustrating losses in the region, the first one to Marshall in the championship game of Graves' TimePiece Holiday Classic in mid-December. In both games, the Eagles held double-digit leads in the first half on their home court, fueled for the most part by dead-eye perimeter shooting.

Graves was 9-for-16 from beyond the arc in regulation against Marshall, then went 0-for-7 from long range in the overtime, falling 63-57 after being outscored 8-2 in the extra four minutes.

The Eagles held a 15-point lead on Marshall early in the second quarter and had Tilghman down 38-24 with less than three minutes left in the first half — at the time, Graves had hit seven of its 12 3-point attempts.

Is there a moral to the story? Perhaps, in that as long as the Eagles' four-guard lineup is shooting the ball well from the perimeter, Graves is a dangerous team, not to mention that athletic center Aaron Cooper is having a splendid season — he had 23 points and 17 rebounds against Tilghman's big front line.

And the depth issue is something with which the Eagles will have to contend. Guard Mason Beale and forward Travis Beck are the best bets off the bench, but they may not be ready to handle major minutes just yet against the likes of Tilghman.

Stieg has taken to calling his team "a work in progress" and, in a sense, the Eagles' bench brigade is, too.

Cardinals reaching a bit ...

2011-01-10T00:33:00.003-06:00

Check out the St. Louis Cardinals' projected everyday lineup, and there is a discernible pattern.

Ryan Theriot at shortstop?

Skip Schumaker at second base?

Lance Berkman at an outfield corner?

If I'm on the pitching staff, I'm filing a grievance with the players' union.

Defense appears to be optional next season for the Cardinals, who have apparently decided that fortifying the offense was the most important mission of the offseason. Whether that has been accomplished is still in doubt.

First, let's look at the infield. The trade for Theriot wasn't necessarily a bad thing — Blake Hawksworth is your run-of-the-mill middle reliever and spot starter — but the decision to play him at shortstop and trade defensive whiz Brendan Ryan reeks of spite and desperation.

Theriot is the kind of hustler Cardinals fans love, but his actual performance isn't one that you should fall in love with. Theriot came up to the Cubs as a second baseman that had shown the ability to get on base, and while he had a couple of decent years after being moved to shortstop, his defense is better suited for the right side of the bag.

Now 31, he has precious little time left as a regular, and the Cardinals are gambling that Theriot will rediscover the batting eye he showed in 2008 and 2009.

If Theriot was playing second, the move would make more sense. He could provide a solid glove and would certainly be a defensive upgrade on Schumaker, the converted outfielder who plays second like ... well, a converted outfielder. Like Theriot, Schumaker took a nosedive offensively last season, and his downturn was as big a reason as any for St. Louis' disappointing season.

Theriot at second and Ryan at shortstop was a middle infield the Cardinals could live with, but Tony LaRussa seemed bent on getting rid of Ryan, whose bat died a predictable death in 2010. Ryan hit over his head in 2009, but he's better than he showed in 2010 — his true level of ability is somewhere in the middle, and his glove is among the best in the game.

So why the trade to Seattle? It seems more about personality than performance. Ryan had some run-ins with teammates, star pitcher Chris Carpenter in particular, but I'm betting that Carpenter wishes he had Ryan's glove behind him by May.

Bottom line — Ryan and Theriot up the middle make much more sense than Theriot and Schumaker. Throw in the uncertainty at third base, where David Freese was one red-hot weekend away from being thoroughly mediocre, and the Cardinals still don't have enough bats to back up Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus and give a fine pitching staff the run support it needs.

That is why the Cardinals added Berkman, whose bat looked noticeable slower last year. That could have been because of his age (Berkman turns 35 next month) and it could have been due to some early-season knee problems. Berkman claims his knee is better and says he's lost some weight, which could save the knee some wear and tear.

But Berkman is a first baseman, which means in St. Louis he has to move to the outfield. Berkman hasn't played in the outfield since 2007, and he needs to be platooned at this point. He's always been a much better hitter against right-handed pitching, but his work against lefties has deteriorated to the point that he needs a partner, a role that Allen Craig might fill.

Again, these moves are an indictment of the Cardinals' farm system, which has deteriorated to the point that they couldn't provide a prospect of enough quality to get Jake Westbrook from Cleveland at the trade deadline last season — instead, they had to pony up Ryan Ludwick to the Padres.

There are no position players on the horizon that appear ready to contribute in the next 2-3 years, and the Cardinals have had to resort to taking chances on aging veterans like Theriot and Berkman.

Part of coaching and building a successful team in any sport is putting players in positions best suited for their skills, giving them the best chance to make a solid contribution. It's hard to see that the Cardinals have done that as spring training approaches.

Murray State-Austin Peay ... under further review?

2011-01-08T16:19:00.010-06:00

It will be interesting to see if there are any repercussions from the controversial flagrant foul called on Murray State guard Isacc Miles in Saturday's ESPNU-televised Ohio Valley Conference rival Austin Peay, and the manner in which the officials arrived at the call.

This is the scenario which led up to the call: Murray had cut a 15-point Austin Peay lead to three and had possession of the ball with less than two minutes remaining. Miles caught pass from a teammate and, defended closely by Austin Peay's Josh Terry, held the ball over his head and turned into him in an effort to clear some space.

Terry fell back as if he had taken an elbow to the face, although television replays were inconclusive as to the extent of the contact. An official blew the whistle to stop play, but the play was later ruled an inadvertent whistle and a media timeout was called.

During the timeout, according to ESPNU announcer Mark Adams, a former college coach, he called an official to him to ask for an interpretation of the call — not an uncommon action among media types. I've done it myself on occasion.

According to Adams, the official then asked him if there was contact on the play, and Adams replied that there was and then asked the official "The call is reviewable, correct?"

Sometime, in the aftermath of the discussion, the officials decided to review the call. Miles was later assessed the foul, his fifth of the game, and Austin Peay was awarded two free throws and possession of the ball, standard procedure for an intentional or flagrant foul.

Did Adams' query intitate the review? Judging solely by his comments — Adams told the story three or four times during the ESPNU broadcast — it appears that may have been the case.

Adams isn't out of bounds for doing what he did — after all, he's simply doing his job. I wonder, however, if the OVC and perhaps the NCAA might review the situation and issue a clarification on the proper procedures for reviewing the call.

In these situations, my mantra is consistent — as long as the officials get the call right, nothing else matters. But I'm not sure that there was actual contact, and Miles' action seemed rather innocuous. Regardless of whether or not that is a point of emphasis for officials this season, as Adams maintained, Miles' actions certainly didn't appear to have any intent.

Murray coach Billy Kennedy was gracious in his postgame comments, refusing to blame the officials for the loss, and I'm not making that claim, either. But there is little doubt that the events changed the game on three levels — instead of Murray having possession of the ball and trailing by just three points, Austin Peay was shooting free throws and had possession.

Miles, who was 6-for-8 from the field and had 14 points and three assists, was done for the day, and the call also sapped any momentum the Racers may have garnered during its run.

Strange things often happen when the Governors and Racers get together, and this one just adds another chapter to the story.

Cubs still chasing ...

2011-01-07T16:31:00.003-06:00

The Chicago Cubs traded five players, including a pair of high-profile prospects, to Tampa Bay for pitcher Matt Garza, continuing general manager Jim Hendry's ongoing charade of attempting to steer the team into contention.

Garza has been a good pitcher for the Rays for three seasons, going 34-31 with a sub-4.00 ERA each year and helping Tampa win two divisional titles. He was especially good in the ALCS in 2008, beating Boston twice and holding the Red Sox to two runs in 13 innings.

Still just 27, he's still three years away from free agency, although he is likely to get a little pricey in arbitration if the Cubs don't work out a long-term deal with him.

But — and you knew there would be a "but" here — is this really the kind of deal the Cubs need to be making?

The Cubs gave up Chris Archer, a pitcher that was part of the Mark DeRosa deal and blossomed last season, going 15-3 with a 2.35 ERA in high-A and Double-A. Hu-Jak Lee is a 19-year-old shortstop with a good looking bat and defensive tools and Brandon Guyer looks like a decent fourth outfielder, a right-handed hitter than can play all three spots with speed and a little pop.

Hendry seems to feel the Cubs, who went 75-87 last season and finished 16 games behind division champion Cincinnati, are a legitimate contender. That seems to be the reason behind the signing of former Tampa first baseman Carlos Pena to a one-year, $10 million contract, and the push to trade some high-level prospects for Garza.

Garza should help the Cubs — he's a reliable guy that can make 30-plus starts and work around 200 innings a season. And with Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, Tom Gorzelanny and possibly a push from rookie Casey Coleman, the Cubs have plenty of rotation depth.

Kerry Wood's amazingly cheap signing helps back Carlos Marmol and lefty Sean Marshall in the bullpen, but more help is needed — perhaps top prospect Andrew Cashner fits in there for the time being.

But are the Cubs really a contender of any stripe? Milwaukee has improved immensely, fortifying a shaky rotation with trades for Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum — the Brewers now have as good a top four as anyone in the division. St. Louis has some questions (we'll deal with those later this weekend) and the Reds' young pitching only figures to get better.

The offense still has plenty of question marks, and Pena probably isn't going to fill the need for a reliable lefty bat. Pena had two good seasons with the Rays, but you have to be scared of a slugger that, at age 32, slumped to .196 and 28 homers after averaging 39 in the previous three seasons. Pena isn't getting any younger, and his bat isn't picking up any speed, either.

St. Louis signed Lance Berkman for $8 million, but the Cubs paid more for Pena. Both need platoon partners to face left-handers, and frankly, I would much rather see the Cubs move Aramia Ramirez across the diamond or Alfonso Soriano to first base and try to put together a representative defense.

Instead, Hendry is acting like he has a team on the verge of contention. All the indicators, trending downward as they are, seem to differ.

All A Classic girls seedings ...

2011-01-06T12:45:00.005-06:00

No surprise that Murray and Ballard Memorial are the top two seeds in the All A Classic girls' First Region basketball tournament, which is Jan. 17-22 at Graves County's Eagles' Nest.

Heath's double-digit win over St. Mary wasn't enough to leapfrog the Lady Pirates into the No. 3 spot, but it might have pushed Heath over Mayfield, Community Christian and Carlisle County into the fourth slot — only 2.5 points separate the three teams in the Louisville Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings, which are used to determine the seedings.

One other interesting note: the Litratings have Murray as the state's No. 15 team, with Calloway County at No. 20.

Here are the seedings:

1. Murray
2. Ballard Memorial
3. St. Mary
4. Heath
5. Mayfield
6. Community Christian
7. Carlisle County
8. Hickman County
9. Reidland
10. Fulton County
11. Fulton City

Seeding doesn't matter ...

2011-01-06T12:20:00.003-06:00

Ballard Memorial proved the point a year ago, knocking off three higher-seeded teams en route to the school's first All A Classic regional title.

This year, the shoe could be on the other foot.

A little over 24 hours after the Bombers were awarded the top seed in this year's small-school meet, the Bombers were beaten 59-49 at Carlisle County, which had dropped to the No. 7 seed after a disastrous three-game visit to Allen County's Christmas tournament.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we dropped a spot with every loss," said Carlisle coach Brian O'Neill, whose club went into the tournament with a 6-2 record and shot less than 30 percent in losses to the host school, Christian Academy of Louisville and Gallatin County "Going up there, I thought we had a chance at being either three or four, and on the way back, I knew we could be anywhere down to seven."

Ballard, Fulton County and Heath are the top three seeds and considered nearly equals, but Carlisle's win is an indication that one of the middle-tier clubs could rise up and knock off a top-tier team in a couple of weeks.

Mayfield is starting to get healthy, with guard William Higginson and forward Jonathan Jackson recovering from football injuries. St. Mary, which took Heath to the wire on Tuesday night, plays solid defense but has problems putting points on the board.

There will be a few more key matchups to watch in the week leading up to the All A Classic. Mayfield takes on district rivals Ballard and St. Mary next week and Carlisle hosts Fulton County on Thursday.

Superman Classic pairings ...

2011-01-05T14:17:00.004-06:00

Seedings and pairings for the Superman Classic were determined today. The tournament is Jan. 17-22 at Massac County. Madison, which finished third in the Illinois Class A state tournament a year ago, is the defending champion.

There is a slight change in the tournament format, the first since it became an eight-team bracket tournament in 1988. Because certain teams can only play on certain nights for travel reasons and potential scheduling conflicts, one semifinal will be played on Thursday night and another on Friday night instead of both being played in the Friday session.

These are the seedings, with each team's record (as of today) in parentheses:

1. Paducah Tilghman (9-3)
2. Carbondale (8-5)
3. Martin Westview, Tenn. (12-3)
4. Massac County (10-6)
5. Madison (8-4)
6. Calloway County (5-7)
7. St. Louis Sumner (3-7)
8. Vienna (6-6)

This is the schedule:

Jan. 17
Game 1: Carbondale vs. St. Louis Sumner, 6:30 p.m.
Game 2: Calloway County vs. Martin Westview, 8 p.m.

Jan. 18
Game 3: Paducah Tilghman vs. Vienna, 6:30 p.m.
Game 4: Massac County vs. Madison, 8 p.m.

Jan. 20
Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 6:30 p.m.
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 8 p.m.

Jan. 21
Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 6:30 p.m.
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 8 p.m.

Jan. 22
Seventh-place game, 1 p.m.
Fifth-place game, 2:30 p.m.
Third-place game, 6:30 p.m.
Championship, 8 p.m.

BluegrassPreps.com basketball rankings ...

2011-01-04T14:10:00.005-06:00

Paducah Tilghman checks in at No. 16 in the BluegrassPreps.com rankings. All three of the Tornado's losses are to ranked teams — No. 3 Louisville Ballard, fifth-ranked Christian County and 12th-ranked Warren Central.

On the girls' side, I believe it's the first time in the nine-year history of BGP's rankings that two First Region schools have cracked the top 20.

Boys

1. Jeffersontown
2. Louisville Eastern
3. Louisville Ballard
4. Clark County
5. Christian County
6. Scott County
7. Lexington Catholic
8. Lexington Tates Creek
9. Bowling Green
10. Louisville Trinity
11. Louisville Moore
12. Warren Central
13. Louisville Western
14. Bullitt East
15. Pleasure Ridge Park
16. Paducah Tilghman
17. Dixie Heights
18. Covington Catholic
19. Louisville Seneca
20. Simon Kenton

Girls

1. Louisville Mercy
2. Rockcastle County
3. Louisville Manual
4. Louisville Sacred Heart
5. Boone County
6. Marion County
7. Scott County
8. Madison Central
9. Bowling Green
10. Perry Central
11. Ryle
12. Elizabethtown
13. Calloway County
14. Anderson County
15. Franklin-Simpson
16. Franklin County
17. Grayson County
18. Monroe County
19. Clay County
20. Murray

All A Classic boys seedings ...

2011-01-03T16:01:00.005-06:00

Ballard Memorial, which won its first All A Classic regional boys' basketball title after being seeded sixth, is the No. 1 seed for this year's event, which begins Jan. 15 at Graves County's Eagles' Nest.

The seedings are determined by the Litkenhous Ratings, which were released on the Louisville Courier-Journal's website on Monday afternoon.

Fulton County and Heath, as expected, round out the top three seeds. Fulton City is the No. 6 seed, which sets up a potentially very interesting quarterfinal-round game between the Bulldogs, coached by Jimmy Long, and his former Heath squad, coached by longtime assistant Burlin Brower.

Here are the seedings:

1. Ballard Memorial
2. Fulton County
3. Heath
4. Mayfield
5. St. Mary
6. Fulton City
7. Carlisle County
8. Hickman County
9. Murray
10. Community Christian
11. Reidland

Basketball happenings ...

2011-01-03T14:39:00.006-06:00

The first Cantrall ratings of the season were published in Monday's Lexington Herald-Leader, and there were a couple of surprises on the girls' side. Calloway County is ranked ninth and Murray is ranked 17th, the first time in several years — perhaps a decade or longer — that the First Region has had two schools ranked in the top 20.

The Cantralls don't count out-of-state games, so Murray's two early-season hiccups against two Tennesee clubs — nearby Henry County and defending private-school state champion Ensworth — don't figure into the equation. Neither does Calloway's two wins over Martin Westview (a final four team in Tennessee Class 2A a year ago) and the solid 2-1 performance at a tournament in Orlando last week.

Murray and Calloway meet for the first time on Jan. 14, which could be the first of four meetings this season.

Paducah Tilghman was the First Region's top team in the rankings and tied for 32nd overall with Louisville Western.

• Marshall County point guard Margaret Thomas is expected to make her debut on Tuesday night against Lone Oak and potentially see major minutes when the Lady Marshals host Calloway County on Friday night.

Thomas, a Paducah Sun All-Purchase selection a year ago, originally opted not to play this season, reportedly because she was upset that Marshall assistant Aaron Beth didn't get the head coaching job this summer after the retirement of his father, Howard Beth.

She changed her mind after the Lady Marshals played their first two games in Marshall County's Hoop Fest, but Marshall coach Joseph Simmons decreed that Thomas would have to practice with the team for a few weeks before being eligible to play.

• As one All-Purchase player rejoins the regional ranks, another of the area's most dynamic guards is sidelined for the rest of the season. Paducah Tilghman playmaker Chelsey Shumpert, a sophomore who had a chance to become a four-time All-Purchase pick, has a torn ACL in her right knee and is out for the remainder of the season.

Shumpert will do some rehabilitation work and have surgery within a few weeks. She originally tweaked the knee while playing AAU ball this summer, but the injury was diagnosed at the time as a strained ligament. She went down in the second quarter of Tilghman's Dec. 18 game with Lone Oak, but the torn ACL wasn't diagnosed until nearly a week later, after the Lady Tornado returned from playing in the Kenton County Classic in northern Kentucky.

• The All A Classic First Region tournament will be seeded via the first batch of Litkenhous Ratings, which will be released this week in the Louisville Courier-Journal. The boys' ratings will be published on Tuesday with the girls' ratings set for release on Friday.

The Big Ten's meltdown ...

2011-01-03T01:49:00.003-06:00

Ohio State University president Dr. Gordon Gee ruffled a few feathers a while back with his comments that football programs such as Texas Christian and Boise State didn't deserve to be considered for Bowl Championship Series honors because of their supposedly weak conference affiliations.

Even worse was his characterization of the Buckeyes' Big Ten schedule as a "Murderers' Row."

On New Year's Day, the murderers were ... well, murdered.

Northwestern lost to Texas Tech in the Ticketcity Bowl, whatever that is. Penn State gave up 20 unanswered points in the last 18 minutes to fall to Florida in the Outback Bowl.

And it got worse. Wisconsin, the Big Ten champion, was beaten by undeserving TCU in the Rose Bowl. Michigan was utterly humiliated by Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, outscored 42-0 in the final three quarters.

To top it off, Big Ten co-champion Michigan State was bombed, battered and blasted by Alabama, outgained 3-1 and held to minus-48 yards rushing in a 49-7 rout in the Capital One Bowl. But the Spartans did make it respectable, right, by scoring an "oh, by the way" touchdown after falling behind 49-0?

Dr. Gee might want to stick to running his university and refrain from future smug and pretentious comments about the Big Ten, whose reputation has taken a beating in recent years. Maybe the league should spend more time working to modernize and upgrade its football programs instead of gerrymandering its divisions and choosing haughty division names like "Leaders" and "Legends."

Oh, and the Buckeyes still have to play their bowl game, with several players whose suspensions have been delayed until next season so they can "preserve the integrity" of Tuesday night's Sugar Bowl. I suspect there are a lot of college football fans who will be yelling "Wooo, pig sooie" for Arkansas' Razorbacks.

All A Classic state tournament pairings ...

2011-01-01T22:21:00.005-06:00

It's a new year, and it's time to get back on the blogging thing.

To start 2011, let's discuss the All A Classic state tournament pairings, which were released on the small-school state tournament's website this week.

The state tournament is Feb. 2-6 at Eastern Kentucky University's McBrayer Arena and was pushed back a week this year because of a scheduling conflict with Eastern and the Ohio Valley Conference. The regional championship games are on Jan. 22 at Graves County's Eagles' Nest, so each regional champions will have about 10 days to prepare for the state tournament.

On the girls' side, the First Region champion will take on the 15th Region winner — a very winnable contest if, say, Murray or Ballard Memorial wins the regional title. Shelby Valley, Paintsville and Sheldon Clark are the 15th Region favorites, but all three would likely be an underdog against Murray or Ballard.

The Fourth Region representative, potentially Glasgow or Monroe County, could be a tough quarterfinal-round opponent. Murray beat Glasgow in the first round of the state tournament a year ago before losing to eventual champion Newport Catholic in the semifinals. Newport Catholic could be waiting in the semifinals this year, too.

Crittenden County is the Second Region favorite, with Livingston Central looming as the top challenger, but either is likely to be an underdog against Lexington Christian, the likely 11th Region champion.

The boys' First Region race appears to be wide open, with Fulton County, defending champion Ballard Memorial and Heath among the favorites. The first-round opponent in Richmond is the 13th Region winner, which is likely to be Barbourville. Potential second-round opponents include Glasgow, Russellville and Danville.

University Heights is the Second Region favorite and will be among the state favorites. The Second Region drew the 14th Region, where Hazard and Buckhorn are the favorites. Newport Catholic would make for a very tough quarterfinal-round foe.

Sigler, Morris, Duncan receive state honors ...

2010-12-07T12:29:00.003-06:00

Caldwell County running back-safety Brandon Sigler was named the state's Class 2A player of the year by the Kentucky Football Coaches Association, and Mayfield's Joe Morris (Class A) and Murray's Steve Duncan (Class 2A) were named the coach of the year in their respective classes.

Other players named were quarterback Jon Combs of Hazard in Class A, tailback Anthony Wales of Louisville Central in Class 3A, linebacker Lamar Dawson of Boyle County in Class 4A, wide receiver-defensive back Marcoreyon Tandy of Christian County in Class 5A and quarterback Demarcus Smith of Louisville Seneca in Class 6A.

Other coaches of the year were Russellville's John Myers (a former Mayfield assistant) in Class 3A, Allen County's Brad Hood in Class 4A, Warren Central's Mike Rogers (formerly of Graves County) in Class 5A and Ryle's Bryson Warner in Class 6A.

Fictional playoff ...

2010-12-06T12:31:00.005-06:00

It's my yearly rite to post what a 16-team college football playoff would look like instead of the fiasco that is the Bowl Championship Series.

Here is how it works: seven conferences get automatic bids and another bid goes to the highest-ranked team (in the BCS standings) from the other Division I-A leagues. That gives us these automatic qualifiers:

Big East: Connecticut
ACC : Virginia Tech
SEC: Auburn
Big Ten: Wisconsin
Big 12: Oklahoma
Mountain West: TCU
Pac-10: Oregon
Others: Boise State

Now, we use the BCS rankings to give us eight at-large teams: Stanford, Ohio State, Arkansas, Michigan State, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Nevada

Very interesting is the omission of Alabama, the defending national champion. For the life of me, I can't fathom a system that says Alabama isn't one of the top 15 teams in the country, but the BCS rankings have the Crimson Tide at No. 16. As it turns out, Nevada — thanks to its win over Boise State — edged out the Tide for the last spot.

That gives us these first-round games, in bracket order:

Ohio State vs. Boise State
TCU vs. Oklahoma State
Oklahoma vs. LSU
Oregon vs. Nevada
Wisconsin vs. Missouri
Stanford vs. Virginia Tech
Arkansas vs. Michigan State
Auburn vs. Connecticut

Personally, I love the Ohio State-Boise State matchup, given the comments of Ohio State president Gordon Gee a couple of weeks ago. Just imagine that if Alabama had gotten in as the lowest seed, the Tide would meet Oregon in the first round.

My solution is this: Use the top six bowl games (Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta and whichever other one is your preference) to host the quarterfinals and semifinals on a rotating basis. Use eight other bowl sites to host first-round games on a rotation basis.

Then let the other 21 bowl games invite teams as they wish, and schedule those during the week where they won't conflict with the NCAA tournament games. That still lets fans of the participating teams and college football junkies to watch them — and let's face it, those are the only people who care for those games anyway.

Play out the bracket for yourself and see what later-round match-ups you get. Wouldn't this be much better than the system we have now?

BluegrassPreps.com preseason rankings ...

2010-12-06T12:22:00.005-06:00

Note that Paducah Tilghman is 11th in the preseason poll, and the Tornado will face No. 13 Louisville Ballard in the opening round of Lexington Catholic's Republic Bank Classic after Christmas.

Calloway County's girls are ranked 18th.

Boys

1. Louisville Eastern
2. Jeffersontown
3. Clark County
4. Christian County
5. Louisville Seneca
6. Lexington Tates Creek
7. Bowling Green
8. Warren Central
9. Pleasure Ridge Park
10. Louisville Trinity
11. Paducah Tilghman
12. Louisville Iroquois
13. Louisville Ballard
14. Lexington Lafayette
15. Louisville Male
16. Louisville Moore
17. Lexington Catholic
18. Mason County
19. Scott County
20. Muhlenberg County

Girls
1. Marion County
2. Louisville Manual
3. Rockcastle County
4. Scott County
5. Louisville Sacred Heart
6. Boone County
7. Louisville Sacred Heart
8. Louisville Mercy
9. Madison Central
10. Perry Central
11. Louisville Butler
12. Louisville Ballard
13. Bowling Green
14. Ryle
15. Henderson County
16. Anderson County
17. Clay County
18. Calloway County
19. Elizabethtown
20. Monroe County

BluegrassPreps.com rankings ...

2010-11-03T14:54:00.004-05:00

Final rankings for the 2010 season:

Class A

1. Mayfield
2. Hazard
3. Beechwood
4. Louisville Holy Cross
5. Frankfort
6. Lexington Christian
7. Fairview
8. Crittenden County
9. Raceland
10. Kentucky Country Day

Class 2A

1. Newport Catholic
2. Owensboro Catholic
3. Louisville DeSales
4. Murray
5. Danville
6. Prestonsburg
7. Corbin
8. Christian Academy of Louisville
9. Glasgow
10. Green County

Class 3A

1. Somerset
2. Paducah Tilghman
3. Central
4. Mason County
5. Union County
6. Pike Central
7. Sheldon Clark
8. Belfry
9. Russellville
10. Breathitt County

Class 4A

1. Bell County
2. Boyle County
3. Allen County
4. Collins
5. Louisville Western
6. Covington Holmes
7. Knox Central
8. Lone Oak
9. Franklin-Simpson
10. Lexington Catholic

Class 5A

1. Fort Thomas Highlands
2. John Hardin
3. Christian County
4. Warren Central
5. Bowling Green
6. Johnson Central
7. Pulaski County
8. Covington Catholic
9. Dixie Heights
10. Harlan County

Class 6A

1. Louisville Trinity
2. Louisville St. Xavier
3. Ryle
4. Louisville Ballard
5. Simon Kenton
6. Louisville Male
7. Louisville Eastern
8. Lexington Henry Clay
9. Louisville Seneca
10. Pleasure Ridge Park

New football alignment ...

2010-10-04T08:35:00.004-05:00

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association released its proposed district football alignment for the 2011-14 seasons, and there was a surprise or two in the western Kentucky districts:

Class A
District 1 ... Fulton City, Fulton County, Mayfield, Russellville
District 2 ... Bardstown Bethlehem, Caverna, Kentucky Country Day, Louisville Holy Cross

Class 2A
District 1 ... Ballard Memorial, Caldwell County, Crittenden County, Murray, Reidland
District 2 ... Hancock County, McLean County, Owensboro Catholic, Todd Central, Union County

Class 3A
District 1 ... Fort Campbell, Heath, Paducah Tilghman, Trigg County, Webster County
District 2 ... Adair County, Edmonson County, Hart County, Monroe County, South Warren

Class 4A
District 1 ... Calloway County, Hopkins Central, Lone Oak, Madisonville, Owensboro
District 2 ... Allen County, Breckinridge County, Franklin-Simpson, Warren East

Class 5A
District 1 ... Apollo, Christian County, Graves County, Hopkinsville, Ohio County
District 2 ... Barren County, Bowling Green, Greenwood, Logan County, Warren Central

Class 6A
District 1 ... Daviess County, Henderson County, Marshall County, Muhlenberg County
District 2 ... Central Hardin, Lexington Dunbar, Meade County, Nelson County

One mild surprise is Union County to District 2 in Class 2A. It was thought that the KHSAA would put Union in District 1 to allow the district to have five teams even after Reidland is dissolved in the pending McCracken County consolidation. There is increasing speculation, though, that construction delays could delay the consolidation until the fall of 2013, at which time the KHSAA could tweak the alignment at the end of the 2011-12 contract cycle.

The biggest shockwave in the state is the revelation that Louisville powers Trinity, St. Xavier, Male and Manual will play in the same district.

Corey Robinson ... he's back

2010-09-21T17:14:00.004-05:00

Two years of rust has done little to slow down former Lone Oak quarterback Corey Robinson, who is off to a splendid start in his college football career.

Robinson is a redshirt freshman at Troy and has put up some impressive numbers in his first three games. Robinson has completed nearly 66 percent of his passes and has thrown for 928 yards in three games with six touchdowns and only two interceptions.

The national high school record holder with 91 touchdown passes in a season, set in 2007 while leading Lone Oak to a 14-1 record and a state runner-up finish, Robinson was picked off twice in his first start, a win at Bowling Green. He has thrown for five touchdowns in losses at Oklahoma State (41-30) and Alabama-Birmingham (34-33).

His biggest issue has been holding on to the ball. Robinson fumbled twice in the Oklahoma State game, including one on a run inside the Cowboys' 5-yard line, but that can be chalked up to a freshman making the adjustment to the speed and strength of Division I defenses.

At the very least, Troy appears to have found a standout quarterback for the next 3 1/2 seasons.

The Trojans host Arkansas State (and former Paducah Tilghman star Bryan Hall, who starts on the defensive line) this Saturday and will play Middle Tennessee on ESPN2 on Oct. 5, a rare Tuesday night game.

Bluegrass Preps rankings ... 9/20

2010-09-21T17:07:00.003-05:00

Class A

1. Mayfield
2. Louisville Holy Cross
3. Hazard
4. Beechwood
5. Lexington Christian
6. Crittenden County
7. Frankfort
8. Raceland
9. Fairview
10. Bardstown Bethlehem

Class 2A

1. Newport Catholic
2. Monroe County
3. Louisville DeSales
4. Owensboro Catholic
5. Murray
6. Danville
7. Prestonsburg
8. Glasgow
9. Christian Academy of Louisville
10. Covington Holy Cross

Class 3A

1. Somerset
2. Louisville Central
3. Paducah Tilghman
4. Mason County
5. Sheldon Clark
6. Union County
7. Belfry
8. Pike Central
9. Breathitt County
10. Edmonson County

Class 4A

1. Bell County
2. Boyle County
3. Louisville Western
4. Covington Holmes
5. Lone Oak
6. Allen County
7. Knox Central
8. Marion County
9. Collins
10. Lawrence County v

Class 5A

1. Fort Thomas Highlands
2. Bowling Green
3. John Hardin
4. Christian County
5. Owensboro
6. Johnson Central
7. Pulaski County
8. Dixie Heights
9. Warren Central
10. Louisville Doss

Class 6A

1. Louisville Trinity
2. Louisville St. Xavier
3. Louisville Ballard
4. Ryle
5. Louisville Male
6. Louisville Manual
7. Louisville Eastern
8. Simon Kenton
9. Louisville Seneca
10. Lexington Tates Creek

Bluegrass Preps rankings ... 9/6

2010-09-09T15:22:00.003-05:00

Class A

1. Mayfield
2. Hazard
3. Louisville Holy Cross
4. Beechwood
5. Lexington Christian
6. Raceland
7. Frankfort
8. Crittenden County
9. Fairview
10. Bellevue

Class 2A

1. Newport Catholic
2. Danville
3. Monroe County
4. Louisville DeSales
5. Murray
6. Owensboro Catholic
7. Prestonsburg
8. Fort Campbell
9. Glasgow
10. Christian Academy of Louisville

Class 3A

1. Louisville Central
2. Mason County
3. Paducah Tilghman
4. Somerset
5. Breathitt County
6. Union County
7. Belfry
8. Sheldon Clark
9. Edmonson County
10. Pike Central

Class 4A

1. Boyle County
2. Bell County
3. Louisville Western
4. Covington Holmes
5. Franklin-Simpson
6. Allen County
7. Lone Oak
8. Knox Central
9. Marion County
10. Lexington Catholic

Class 5A

1. Fort Thomas Highlands
2. Bowling Green
3. John Hardin
4. Johnson Central
5. Christian County
6. Owensboro
7. Pulaski County
8. Warren Central
9. Covington Catholic
10. Whitley County

Class 6A

1. Louisville Trinity
2. Louisville St. Xavier
3. Louisville Ballard
4. Ryle
5. Louisville Male
6. Louisville Manual
7. Louisville Eastern
8. Simon Kenton
9. Louisville Seneca
10. Boone County

Minor league updates ...

2010-09-07T15:07:00.004-05:00

The minor league season ended on Sunday, and a couple of local products finished their seasons at the Triple-A level.

Shawn Roof, a St. Mary graduate, hit .354 in 25 games with Toledo, the Detroit Tigers' top farm club. Roof, an infielder, began the season at Double-A Erie and for the year, hit .258 in 271 at-bats with 11 stolen bases.

Mike Broadway, a fourth-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 200x out of Pope County, ended the year at Triple-A Gwinnett, going 4-0 with a 5.73 ERA in 17 appearances. For the season, Broadway was 5-1 with a 4.39 ERA at Gwinnett and Double-A Mississippi, with 25 walks and 57 strikeouts in 53 innings.

Here is a rundown of the rest of the local pro contingent:

Catcher Eric Roof (St. Mary) split the season between Low-A West Michigan and short-season A Connecticut, putting up close to the same numbers at both places. His season stats: a .233 average with 2 home runs and 30 RBI in 245 at-bats.

Shortstop Jonathan Roof (St. Mary), the Texas Rangers' eighth-round pick in June, was promoted to Low-A Hickory in the South Atlantic League after getting off to a hot start at the rookie-league level. Between the two stops, Roof hit .266 with four stolen bases in 139 at-bats.

Wes Cunningham, who was drafted by San Diego after rewriting Murray State's hitters' record book, hit .290 with 5 homers and 32 RBI in 207 at-bats for Eugene in the rookie-level Northwest League. Cunningham also drew 41 walks for an impressive .415 on-base percentage.

On the pitching side, Brandon Braboy (Heath) spent most of the summer on the disabled list at High-A Tampa in the New York Yankees' chain. Braboy's numbers: a 3.57 ERA in 22 innings, allowing 31 hits with four walks and 17 strikeouts.

Former Heath teammates Clint Tilford and Daniel Webb spent most of the year at the rookie-league level. Tilford worked out of the bullpen for Tri-Cities (Wash.), the Colorado Rockies' Northwest League entry. Tilford was 3-3 with a 5.45 ERA, allowing 42 hits in 39 innings with an impressive 45-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Webb, who signed with Toronto a year ago, made his pro debut, going 1-7 with a 4.87 ERA after spending most of the season at Auburn in the New York-Penn League. He was promoted to Low-A Lansing of the Midwest League for two starts at the end of the season, going 1-1 with a 3.08 ERA in 11 2/3 innings.

Former Murray State ace left-hander Daniel Calhoun was a swingman for Quad Cities, the St. Louis Cardinals' team in the Midwest League. Calhoun was 10-0 with a 3.75 ERA, allowing 109 hits in 96 innings with 19 walks and 83 strikeouts.

Football classes set ...

2010-09-07T13:24:00.008-05:00

Football coaches got the word late last week on the Kentucky High School Athletic Association's realignment for the 2011-14 seasons, and the western Kentucky alignment will see several changes.

Ballard Memorial and Crittenden County will move from Class A to Class 2A. Heath, Trigg County and Fort Campbell are moving up from Class 2A to Class 3A, with Union County dropping down to Class 2A.

Graves County and Apollo will drop from Class 6A to Class 5A, with Madisonville and Owensboro moving down from Class 5A to Class 4A.

The KHSAA decided to go with 32 teams in both Class A and Class 6A, with the other four classes around 40 schools apiece. Supporters of the move say that is being done because those are the two classes with the biggest enrollment disparity between the largest and smallest schools.

Here is an educated guess as to what the Region 1 picture will look like in all six classes for the 2011 season:

Class A
District 1 — Fulton City, Fulton County, Mayfield, Russellville
District 2 — Caverna, Bardstown Bethlehem, Louisville Holy Cross, Kentucky Country Day

Class 2A
District 1 — Ballard Memorial, Reidland, Murray, Caldwell County, Crittenden County, Union County
District 2 — Owensboro Catholic, McLean County, Todd Central, Butler County, Hancock County

Class 3A
District 1 — Paducah Tilghman, Heath, Trigg County, Fort Campbell, Webster County
District 2 — Monroe County, Hart County, Edmonson County, Adair County, South Warren

Class 4A
District 1 — Lone Oak, Calloway County, Madisonville, Hopkins Central, Owensboro
District 2 — Franklin-Simpson, Warren East, Allen County, Breckinridge County, Taylor County

Class 5A
District 1 — Graves County, Hopkinsville, Christian County, Apollo, Ohio County
District 2 — Bowling Green, Warren Central, Greenwood, Barren County, Grayson County, Logan County

Class 6A
District 1 — Marshall County, Muhlenberg County, Henderson County, Daviess County
District 2 — Meade County, Nelson County, Central Hardin, Pleasure Ridge Park

In Class 5A, Ohio County and Grayson County could be sent to Region 2, since there are only eight 5A teams in the Louisville area.

Things could change drastically in 2012, when McCracken County is scheduled to consolidate its three schools (Heath, Lone Oak and Reidland) and Nelson County is slated to split into two schools. McCracken County will compete in 6A. The two Nelson schools are expected to be in the 3A range, with perhaps the larger school in 4A.

That would require several schools to retool their schedules in the middle of a two-year contract cycle, which could end up being a dicey proposition.

Also, schools can request to play up in class, but those requests have to be made this month. The KHSAA will set the district alignments at its Board of Control meeting in mid-October.

Several of the state's top programs could be switching classes. Fort Thomas Highlands, which has won all three of the Class 5A state titles since the six-class format's inception, is slated to drop to Class 4A, as could 5A powers Covington Catholic and Johnson Central. Bell County, the Class 4A state champion in 2008, will drop to Class 3A.

Lexington Christian, which beat Mayfield for the Class A state championship last year, will move up to Class 2A. Somerset, which lost to Tilghman in the 3A final in December, was playing up in 3A and could be reassigned to 2A.

And, of course, there is Fort Campbell, which has won the last three Class 2A state titles and will move up a class.

Football classification ...

2010-08-03T14:14:00.005-05:00

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association is looking at football realignment for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and several area schools could be switching classes, depending on how the KHSAA decides to set up the six-class format.

One proposal is to limit both Class A and Class 6A to 32 teams apiece, which would guarantee those schools a playoff berth, and evenly dividing the middle four classes into around 39-40 schools apiece.

If that is the case, look for Crittenden County to move up to Class 2A, perhaps with Ballard Memorial joining it. That could bump Heath and Caldwell County up to Class 3A, where it appears Trigg County and three-time 2A defending champion Fort Campbell are headed to compete in a district with defending 3A champ Paducah Tilghman.

Graves County could drop to 5A if the big-school class is limited to 32 teams.

There are still plenty of issues to be decided. The KHSAA usually uses two-year average enrollments to determine classification ... so will it use the 2008-09 and 2009-10 figures, which are already available, or wait until the 2010-11 numbers come out this fall.

And the KHSAA must decide what to do with A and 6A. One or both of them could be 32-team classes, or perhaps even 16-team classes because of the enrollment disparities there. The six classes could be evenly divided, as is currently the case. And the KHSAA must decide whether or not to let schools "play up" into a higher division.

If Class A goes to 32 schools, there is a good possibility that Russellville, geographically isolated in Class A, would opt to "play up" as it does now, primarily for travel reasons. If that's the case, does the KHSAA then move a team down to fill the gap?

There were 220 schools that played football last season, and that figure is now 221 as Collins High is formed by the split in Shelby County. That number becomes 222 next year when the new South Warren begins playing a varsity schedule, and 2012 could bring all sorts of changes.

McCracken County is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012, and that is the same year the new Thomas Nelson High is formed by the split of Nelson County. That falls right into the middle of two-year contract cycle, which could wreak havoc on scheduling.

Shaw in Cape Cod League ...

2010-07-26T15:10:00.004-05:00

Gabriel Shaw wasn't expecting to be pitching in the Cape Cod League this summer, but managed to find a spot in the league after not being picked in Major League Baseball's amateur draft last month.

Shaw, a St. Mary product and one of the top relief pitchers for the University of Louisville's nationally-ranked team, is pitching out of the bullpen for Yarmouth-Dennis — in three appearances, Shaw is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA and a save. In four innings, he has allowed six hits with no walks and two strikeouts.

Earlier this summer, Shaw made one start for the Marion Bobcats of the Kitty League to get in some work, allowing two runs in seven innings.

Wright makes Cape Cod all-star game ...

2010-07-26T15:06:00.004-05:00

Heath product Chad Wright will play in the Cape Cod League all-star game on Wednesday night at Fenway Park in Boston.

Wright, a University of Kentucky star who is fifth in the league in hitting with a .296 batting average, was originally named as the starting center fielder for the West Division team, but Scott Woodward (who is fourth in the league with a .308 mark) was given the nod.

His performance has probably helped his draft status for next season — Wright, the starting left fielder for the Wildcats the last two seasons, could move to center field next year to replace the graduated Keenan Wiley.

Minor league updates ...

2010-07-15T13:48:00.003-05:00

Former St. Mary shortstop Jonathan Roof spent a week with the Texas Rangers' rookie-level team in Arizona and was promoted to the Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads of the Low-A South Atlantic League. Roof could make his debut tonight at Applebee's Park in Lexington as Hickory is in town for a series with the Lexington Legends.

Roof hit .357 (5-for-14) in six games in Arizona after recovering from a broken rib suffered late in the spring when he was playing at Michigan State.

Both of his brothers are playing in the Detroit Tigers' organization. Infielder Shawn Roof is hitting .229 for Double-A Erie (Pa.) and catcher Eric Roof is now at Connecticut in the rookie-level New York-Penn League. Roof started the year at Low-A West Michigan, where he hit .233, and is now playing more regularly at Connecticut, where he is hitting .245 with a homer and nine RBI in 49 at-bats.

Former Murray State star Wes Cunningham, in the San Diego Padres' organization, is playing first base at Eugene (Ore.) in the rookie-level Northwest League. Cunningham is hitting .281 with two homers and 12 RBI in 64 at-bats.

The rest of the local pro contingent does its work on the mound. Former Pope County (Ill.) pitcher Mike Broadway is having a good year as a reliever for Mississippi, the Atlanta Braves' Double-A team. Broadway is 1-1 with a 3.07 ERA with 14 walks and 37 strikeouts in 29 innings.

Brandon Braboy, a Heath product, is on the disabled list at Tampa, the New York Yankees' high-A team. Braboy was 0-0 with a 3.57 ERA, allowing 31 hits in 22 innings.

Two of his former Heath teammates are pitching in short-season leagues. Daniel Webb, who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays last year, is 0-2 with a 5.32 ERA in the first five starts of his pro career for Auburn (N.Y.) in the New York-Penn League. Webb has allowed 27 hits in 23 innings with only six walks and 15 strikeouts.

Clint Tilford is 3-1 with a 7.43 ERA for Tri-Cities (Wash.) in the Colorado Rockies chain. Tilford has pitched 13 innings, all in relief, with five walks and 16 strikeouts.

Former Murray State ace left-hander Daniel Calhoun is with the St. Louis Cardinals' Low-A team in Quad Cities of the Midwest League. Calhoun has split time between the rotation and the bullpen, going 5-0 with a 4.18 ERA. He has allowed 72 hits in 60 innings with only 10 walks and 48 strikeouts.

Regional softball pairings ...

2010-05-29T09:30:00.005-05:00

These are the pairings for the First Region softball tournament, which will be held at Ballard Memorial High School:

Monday
Ballard Memorial (26-5) vs. Marshall County (25-12), noon
Reidland (30-6) vs. Carlisle County (10-17), 2 p.m.
Calloway County (16-14) vs. Graves County (15-20), 4 p.m.
Hickman County (15-8) vs. Heath (26-11), 6 p.m.

Tuesday
Semifinals, 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday
Championship, 6 p.m.

Notes: The Ballard Memorial-Marshall County matchup is Monday's marquee game. Marshall is ranked 12th in the latest state coaches' poll, with the host Bombers checking in at No. 18. Reidland, ranked eighth, gives the upper bracket three of the top 20 teams in the rankings.

Heath, ranked 14th, is the lower-bracket favorite, but the Pirates beat Hickman County just 2-1 earlier this month and haven't met potential semifinal opponent Calloway County.

Regional baseball pairings ...

2010-05-29T09:27:00.005-05:00

These are the pairings for the First Region baseball tournament, which will be held at Brooks Stadium:

Monday
Murray (22-14) vs. Hickman County (10-21), 10 a.m.
Heath (13-17) vs. Mayfield (8-13), 12:30 p.m.
Graves County (23-12) vs. Lone Oak (26-9), 3 p.m.
Carlisle County (15-16) vs. Marshall County (18-16), 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday
Semifinals, 5 p.m.

Wednesday
Championship, 6 p.m.

Notes: After three years of getting arguably the region's worst draw, Murray ends up in a bracket with three teams with sub-.500 records. The Tigers have had tough first-round games the last three years, each time losing one-run decisions — in 10 innings to Graves County in 2007, to eventual regional champion Heath in 2008 and Lone Oak last spring.

The Lone Oak-Graves matchup is the best of the first day. Don't be surprised if both teams are forced to start their respective aces — Lone Oak left-hander Lucas Englert, a freshman, and Graves lefty Andrew Shultz, who beat the Purple Flash 7-2 a couple of weeks ago. The Flash pitched Eric Winn in that contest, but expect Winn to be behind the plate on Monday.

Girls' basketball doings ...

2010-05-04T13:29:00.005-05:00

Expect Ballard Memorial to name a new head coach sometime this week. The Lady Bombers' job figured to be an attractive one, with six of the top nine players returning, including two-time All-Purchase pick Abby Shelley, veteran Tiffani Hatley and a talented young backcourt of Brandi Jones and sisters Anna and Abby Denton.

Athletic director Kevin Estes has been fairly mum about the search to name his replacement, but there have been indications that one of Ballard's top choices is a retired coach that won more than 400 games in a 20-plus-year career in Tennessee.

Marshall County, of course, is open, as are Hickman County, Caldwell County and Livingston Central.

• Murray doesn't seem likely to repeat its 30-win dream season, thanks to a beefed-up schedule coach Rechelle Turner hopes will push her team to another sweep of First Region titles.

In December alone, Murray will play in Lexington Catholic's tournament, considered the state's best meet, and appear in a shootout at Martin Westview that matches up Kentucky and Tennessee squads. The Lady Tigers' opponent is Ensworth, a Nashville program that was 25-4 last season and won Tennessee's Class 2A private-school state championship.

Calloway County will also play in the event, taking on host Martin Westview, a perennial power that was 27-9 and reached the Class 2A semifinals.

Both squads also host tournaments around the Christmas holidays, and both will feature fine fields next season. Murray's Lady Tiger Classic consists of Murray and Ballard Memorial, as well as Fulton County and Tennessee entries Henry County (the defending champion) and Union City. The non-local contingent includes Clarksville Northeast, Grayson County and Clinton County.

Five of the participating teams — Murray, Ballard Memorial, Henry County, Clarksville Northeast and Grayson County — won at least 20 games last season.

Calloway will travel to Orlando over the Christmas break next year, and coach Scott Sivills' tournament is still looking to fill a couple of slots to go with the Lady Lakers, Henderson County, Graves County, Massac County and a pair of Tennessee squads, Covington and Clarksville Northwest.

Ballard's Lady Bomber Shootout will cut back from 16 teams to eight, but still maintains a solid field. The local entries are the Lady Bombers, Marshall County, Heath, Community Christian and Crittenden County. Lake County returns to the tournament after going 29-4 last season, and Dyersburg is traditionally strong in Tennessee. The eighth team is an unusual selection — Providence-St. Mel, a small Catholic school in Chicago.

Turner: I'm staying at Murray ...

2010-05-03T16:14:00.004-05:00

Murray coach Rechelle Turner has quashed speculation that she would be a candidate for the Marshall County coaching position by announcing that she is staying with the Lady Tigers.

Turner, a former all-stater with the Lady Marshals, took to the airwaves on Monday to affirm her commitment to Murray, going on husband Travis Turner's radio show.

She was a natural candidate for the job, given her ties to Marshall and success at Murray, where she has won two First Region titles and established her program as the area's top small-school program with seven All A Classic regional titles.

In 14 seasons, Turner has a record of 262-137, and with the core of her team returning with Haley Armstrong, Shelby Crouch and Janssen Starks, it's admittedly tough to leave.

Turner cited her affinity for Murray's administration, staff and players in her decision. She's long maintained that Murray has treated her well throughout her tenure, dating back to when she was hired as a head coach at age 23.

Tracking the baseball districts ...

2010-05-01T08:05:00.005-05:00

The Third District race became a bit clearer last week, although not all of the seedings are settled just yet, and next week's showdown between fierce rivals Murray and Calloway County will settle the Fourth District pairings.

Let's take a look at the races that will make the biggest impact on the road to the regional tournament:

Lone Oak has the inside track on the top seed in the Second District, but needs to beat Heath on May 11 to nail it down. Paducah Tilghman is likely to finish fourth and face the Purple Flash in the semifinals, but can possibly avoid that fate by sweeping Reidland and Heath in its final two district games.

Graves County's sweep of Ballard Memorial and Mayfield's sweep of St. Mary means it's likely that the Eagles will take on St. Mary in the Third District's postseason opener. Graves has locked down the top seed, and the Vikings will have to sweep Ballard Memorial this week to work their way out of the cellar.

Even if that is the first-round contest, the potential pitching match up — St. Mary's Chris Hunt (assuming he's back from injury) against either Ryan Hayden or Andrew Shultz — makes it much more interesting than the usual 1-4 fare.

Murray needs to take one of two in its series with Calloway to lock down the top seed in the Fourth District, which would put the Lakers against a Marshall County team with which it split a pair this week. If Calloway gets the sweep, Murray would meet Marshall for a spot in the regional tournament.

• Under the new postseason format, the First Region champion goes directly into a 16-team state tournament at Applebee's Park in Lexington instead of competing in a best-of-three series against another regional winner.

Unfortunately, the First Region didn't get a palatable draw — the 11th Region champion awaits. Seven of the top 25 teams in the state coaches' poll will compete for that regional crown, including No. 1 Lexington Catholic and No. 2 Lexington Christian. Lexington Tates Creek is ranked fifth, followed by Frankfort-area schools Franklin County (13th) and Western Hills (15th), Lexington Lafayette (16th) and Lexington Dunbar (25th).

And you think your district is tough? The 43rd District has five ranked teams — Lexington Catholic, Lexington Christian, Tates Creek, Lafayette and Dunbar.

McClure to Southern Indiana ...

2010-05-01T07:52:00.003-05:00

Former Paducah Tilghman basketball star Isaac McClure has signed with Division II power Southern Indiana after completing two seasons at Southeastern Illinois College.

McClure, a 6-6 sophomore, averaged 13 points and six rebounds as the starting power forward for SIC, which finished at 25-11 after going 2-2 at the national junior college tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. He had drawn some interest from some Division I schools — Austin Peay, Loyola-Chicago, Youngstown State and Charleston Southern — but opted to go with USI, which is located in Evansville and coached by former Southern Illinois assistant Rodney Watson.

USI was 24-3 last season and was ranked ninth in the Division II national poll, finishing second to fifth-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Screaming Eagles were ineligible for postseason play, spending the season on probation because of NCAA rules violations committed the previous year.

Tim Tebow ...

2010-04-24T17:08:00.004-05:00

Say this about Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels — he certainly isn't afraid to put his stamp on the franchise.

Barely a year into his tenure, he's taken his second big chance at the quarterback position with the first-round selection of Florida's Tim Tebow in the NFL Draft.

There probably wasn't another team that considered Tebow worthy of a first-round pick, given his slow release and the incompatibility of the offensive scheme he ran at Florida with established NFL systems.

McDaniels apparently sees something that others don't, and it seems fair to say that he shares a few characteristics with his mentor, Bill Belichick — neither is lacking for confidence in their judgment nor their ability to tick people off.

Remember last year, when not long after the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator took the Denver job, McDaniels alienated quarterback Jay Cutler by expressing interest in Matt Cassel, who he had worked with in New England, and eventually traded him to Chicago.

Both are what I call "genius or idiot" decisions. If they work, McDaniels is a genius. If they don't, he might not be in Denver long.

That's the same tack I take on some of my high school football picks each fall. Thankfully, my job doesn't depend on my accuracy rate.

Henley to North Oldham ...

2010-04-21T12:37:00.005-05:00

Carlisle County native David Henley, who led Covington Holmes to the state championship in 2009, has been named the new head basketball coach at North Oldham.

It's an interesting move with an interesting connection — North Oldham's principal is Lisa Jarrett, who was the principal at Marshall County when Henley was the runner-up to Gus Gillespie for the Marshall coaching job six years ago.

Henley, a starter on Carlisle's 1983 state runner-up squad, has been rumored as a prime candidate to be the coach at the consolidated McCracken County High School, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012.

Lone Oak bears watching ...

2010-04-12T13:41:00.003-05:00

Spring break is over, and that is when high school baseball starts to get serious. The All A Classic regional tournament begins this week, and some of the bigger schools wade into district play.

Lone Oak meets Paducah Tilghman on Tuesday at Brooks Stadium after a nice trip to Florida that saw the Purple Flash beat one state-ranked team (No. 18 Glasgow) and two clubs (Glasgow and Somerset) that were undefeated before falling to Lone Oak.

The Flash (10-3) went 3-2 in Florida, also beating a team from Ohio, but the week ended on a slightly down note with losses to Russell County and North Bullitt.

"I think we found out that if we make plays," coach Geno Miller said, "we're capable of beating good teams. But we also found out that when we don't, we can lose to just about anybody on our schedule."

Lone Oak's young squad has plenty of long-term potential — the question is whether it will start to fulfill it this spring. Junior Eric Winn, who is also Lone Oak's catcher, was on the mound for the 7-1 win over Somerset. Freshman Lucas Englert worked five innings in the 3-1 win over Glasgow, getting relief help from senior Jesse Turner.

Englert is likely to draw the mound assignment against Tilghman, primarily because "it's his turn to pitch," Miller said.

Comparing scores in baseball is not a sound strategy, given the differences in pitching matchups, but Glasgow bombed First Region favorite Graves County 15-2 last week. Lone Oak also beat the Carroll (Ohio) team that beat Graves 6-4.

• There is no clear-cut favorite for the All A Classic, which begins on Tuesday at two sites, Murray and Mayfield. Murray hosts for the rest of the week and the two-time defending champion Tigers are again a top contender.

St. Mary is the No. 1 seed, followed by Murray, Ballard Memorial, Heath and Reidland.

We'll take a closer look at the tournament in Tuesday's Sun.

Lone Oak-Male ... maybe not

2010-04-09T13:20:00.003-05:00

Some overzealous Lone Oak fans took to the Internet this week to tell the state high school football community that the Purple Flash — Class 4A state runners-up in two of the last three seasons — had scheduled a regular-season game with traditional power Louisville Male for the upcoming season.

The reports were, shall we say, a bit premature. The game could happen, although it isn't likely at this point. Here's the situation:

Lone Oak is scheduled to play at Green County on Oct. 1, the return game in the two-year contract — the Flash pounded Green 52-20 last season.

Male has an open date the same week and is seeking to add a game since it lost the next week's date with Shelby County, a Class 6A school which is splitting into two schools in the fall. Male has been advertising the opening and had some discussions with Lone Oak.

The Flash, however, still is contractually bound to play Green County. Lone Oak could negotiate a buyout, but Green might choose to take a hard line because it would cost them a home gate.

Lone Oak would like to host Male next season in the ongoing effort to beef up its schedule — the Flash will also make the return visit to Lexington Catholic, which it beat 52-49 in overtime last season.

Stay tuned.

Willis to Coffeyville ... sound familiar?

2010-04-08T16:22:00.003-05:00

The news that Calloway County football star Tyrrell Willis will play for Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College this fall brings back memories of Joe Casey, the all-state and all-American tailback from Paducah Tilghman.

Casey, who led the Tornado to the Class 3A semifinals in 2003, dropped out of school late in the first semester, a move that complicated the recruitment process. Casey eventually enrolled into a bridge program and was eligible to play at Coffeyville in the fall of 2004, but he opted not to return to Coffeyville for the start of preseason practice.

Willis has some academic issues, which is why he will enroll at Coffeyville. He isn't a qualifier for NCAA freshman eligibility under, so he will have to pick up his associate's degree before moving on to a Division I school in the fall of 2012.

Turley back in the coaching game ...

2010-04-06T18:05:00.005-05:00

Curtis Turley, whose long list of previous coaching stops includes Lyon County and Graves County, will be back on the bench next season at the new Martha Layne Collins High.

Collins is the offspring of Shelby County, which is splitting in half at the end of this school year. Ironically, Shelby County is also one of Turley's previous coaching stops.

High school basketball fans should get a medal if they can name all of Turley's previous gigs, which include stops at Berea, Lyon County, Warren Central, Graves County, Henderson County, Greenwood, Shelby County, Lexington Catholic, Louisville Manual and Warren East.

He has been to the Sweet 16 with Warren Central, Henderson County and Greenwood.

One of Turley's first duties will be to try and keep his most talented player in the fold. Freshman guard Darryl Hicks, who tossed in 30 points in Shelby County's opening-round loss to eventual runner-up Louisville Ballard, lives in the Collins district. But there are rumors that he will transfer, with schools like Louisville Ballard, Louisville Eastern, Louisville Trinity and Scott County whispered as potential destinations.

• I was watching one of the Fox College Sports channels the other night and stumbled on the Class 3A state championship game in West Virginia, which was won by Logan over Wheeling Park.

Logan's coach is Mark Hatcher, the son of former Marshall County and Graves County coach Allan Hatcher. Mark Hatcher has won two state titles at Logan, which is also his father's hometown.

The elder Hatcher nearly got Perry Central to the Sweet 16 this year, but blew a late lead to Knott Central in the 14th Region finals. Hatcher has been the regional runner-up in each of the last two years — the Commodores were knocked out by archrival Hazard in 2009.

Minor league assignments ...

2010-04-06T17:53:00.003-05:00

Former Heath teammates Clint Tilford and Daniel Webb, both of whom turned professional after being selected in Major League Basebal's amateur draft last summer, just completed their first spring training and are awaiting assignment to a minor league team.

Indications are that Tilford, drafted after pitching three seasons at Kentucky, will be assigned to the Colorado Rockies' short-season Class A team in Pasco, Wash. The Tri-City Dust Devils (love the nickname) will begin their season in June. Tilford pitched last season at Casper, Wyo. Until June, Tilford will likely continue to work out at the Rockies' minor league camp in Arizona.

Likewise, Webb will probably stay at the Toronto Blue Jays' camp in Florida for the next month or two. Webb signed just before the deadline last summer and has yet to throw an official professional pitch. Chances are he will pitch in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, which begins play after this year's draft.

Former Murray State pitcher Daniel Calhoun has been assigned to the St. Louis Cardinals' Quad Cities club, which plays in the Class A Midwest League. One of his potential opponents is St. Mary product Eric Roof, who was assigned to West Michigan, the Detroit Tigers' Midwest League entry.

Brandon Braboy, who also played at Heath, is with the New York Yankees' team in Charleston, S.C., in the South Atlantic League. Braboy pitched at Charleston last summer, moving his way into the starting rotation late in the season.

Two more area products will return to the Double-A level — infielder Shawn Roof (St. Mary) at Erie, Pa., in the Detroit system, and former Pope County pitcher Mike Broadway with Mississippi in the Southern League. Broadway struggled at the Class A level, but didn't allow an earned run in nine innings after being promoted to Mississippi late last season.

Roof, Wright swinging solid bats ...

2010-04-06T17:20:00.004-05:00

Jonathan Roof might be playing his way into prospect status at Michigan State. Roof, the former St. Mary star with two older brothers in the minor leagues, is hitting .350 for the Spartans with two homers and 19 RBI in 24 games. Roof is tied for second on the team in runs scored and, perhaps most impressively, has made just two errors on the season.

Roof, the Spartans' starting shortstop since the first game of his freshman season, was also selected as the Big Ten player of the week in late February. He is a junior and eligible for Major League Baseball's amateur draft in June and heads the First Region contingent in the Division I ranks.

The same is true for Kentucky sophomore Chad Wright, who keeps putting up good numbers as the Wildcats' starting left fielder. Wright, a Heath product, is hitting .355 with two homers and 22 RBI and leads the team in hits.

Ballard Memorial graduate James Jones is 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA and has been Louisiana-Monroe's most durable starting pitcher, leading the staff in innings pitched this spring. Jones has allowed just 32 hits in 44 innings with 22 walks and 46 strikeouts.

Chad Edwards, who prepped at Reidland, is 4-1 with a 4.71 ERA for Middle Tennessee. Edwards has issued just seven walks and struck out 25 hitters in 36 innings.

Gabriel Shaw, a teammate of Roof at St. Mary, is putting together a strong season in the bullpen at Louisville. Shaw is 3-0 with an 0.98 ERA and a couple of saves, allowing just 14 hits with one walk and 15 strikeouts in 18 innings for the Cardinals.

Dunn undergoes Tommy John surgery ...

2010-04-06T17:00:00.003-05:00

Former Carlisle County star Tim Dunn turned down overtures from the Cincinnati Reds last summer, opting to return for his senior season as the ace pitcher at Trevecca Nazarene University.

The gamble didn't pay off. Dunn suffered an elbow injury a couple of weeks ago, leaving a start in the second inning, and underwent Tommy John surgery last week.

Dunn's college career could be over, although Trevecca coach Jonathan Burton is hopeful the school can secure a medical redshirt for Dunn and enable him to pitch again next year.

In nine appearances this spring, Dunn was 4-2 with a 1.61 ERA on the heels of a remarkable 2009 season, in which he was 12-0 with a 1.81 ERA.

McClure headed to Division I?

2010-03-26T15:49:00.004-05:00

Former Paducah Tilghman basketball star Isaac McClure is getting some interest from some lower-level Division I schools after helping Southeastern Illinois College reach the national junior college tournament.

McClure, a 6-6 sophomore, averaged 13 points and six rebounds for SIC, which finished at 25-11 after going 2-2 at the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. Austin Peay, Loyola-Chicago and Youngstown State have expressed some interest in McClure, and Tilghman coach Brad Stieg got a call this week from the coaching staff at Charleston Southern, which plays in the Big South Conference.

Edwards pitching well at Middle Tennessee ...

2010-03-26T15:48:00.005-05:00

Chad Edwards is 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA for Middle Tennessee's baseball team, which is 14-6 going into this weekend's Sun Belt Conference series with Arkansas State. In 21 1/3 innings, Edwards had allowed 22 hits with four walks and 11 strikeouts. Edwards, a Reidland product, is averaging seven innings per start.

Sweet 16 notes ... tourney observations

2010-03-22T13:43:00.005-05:00

Someone in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association office should get a gold star for this display of genius.

Earlier in the week, the KHSAA recognized Edmonson County's surprise state championship team of 1976. As it turned out, Shelby Valley's run to the state title was reminiscent of the Wildcats' ascension to the throne.

Both teams were smaller schools from rural areas and have enrollments in the low 600s. And the general perception was that both benefitted from being in the easier of the two brackets — Christian County, which lost to Edmonson in the championship game, had to survive close games against Ashland, Louisville Shawnee and Lexington Henry Clay to get to the final, and Shelby Valley slugged its way through the lower bracket while Louisville Ballard, Scott County, Christian County and Warren Central fought up top.

In fact, there were a lot of people in Rupp Arena on Friday that felt that that day's afternoon quarterfinal session might be the real final four. Ballard blew a 20-point lead against Warren Central before winning on a last-second 3-pointer, and Scott County fought off massive foul trouble to come from behind and beat Christian County.

Shelby Valley spoiled that premise, however, with an exemplary display of basketball. With Louisville-bound point guard Elisha Justice leading the way, the Wildcats won their first three games by an average of nearly 20 points, then defeated Ballard 73-61.

• Justice's performance has some people re-evaluating their assessment of his game. Justice turned down some mid-major offers to take a walk-on slot for Rick Pitino at Louisville, and truth be told, there aren't many that see him as anything more than an extra body for the Cardinals.

He's a 5-10 point guard and not exceptionally quick and athletic by Division I standards, but Justice showed a better outside shot than many had given him credit for a week ago — in four games, he scored 97 points and, surprisingly, was 13-for-22 from 3-point range. The rest of his numbers (15 assists, nine steals, 10 turnovers) were equally impressive, and he was a remarkable 22-for-23 from the free throw line.

And while there is little doubt that last week's effort sealed his bid to become Kentucky's Mr. Basketball award winner, it's still hard to see Justice as little more than a practice player for Pitino. But, as a walk-on, he will be a nice player to push the Cardinals' other guards.

• Scott County's band of all-star transfers fell short of its bid for a state title, but several players that appeared with the Cardinals in the 2008 version of Marshall County's Hoop Fest will continue their careers on the Division I level.

Dakotah Euton, who had once given a verbal commitment to then-Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie, will play at Akron. Guard Chad Jackson — like Euton, he played in the Hoop Fest for both Scott County and Rose Hill Christian — has committed to James Madison.

Guard Ge'Lawn Guyn, who started his career at Lexington Henry Clay, had once committed to Charlotte but has since re-opened his recruitment.

Some consider West Jessamine guard Jarrod Polson, like Justice, to be a little too small for the high-Division I level, but apparently Polson (57 points and nine assists in two games) has one potential suitor in Mississippi State. Bulldogs coach Rick Stansbury, a Meade County native, was on hand to watch Polson play on Thursday, a night after his team beat Jackson State in the opening round of the NIT.

Louisville Ballard's Keisten Jones, a 6-3 swingman, looks like a steal for Division II power Bellarmine. Christian County's Shaquille Wilson has some Division I interest, but he will have to first recover from his second concussion of the season, suffered on an accidental elbow from a Scott County player in the waning seconds of their quarterfinal clash.

Christian County point guard Anthony Hickey (46 points, six assists in two games) raised his stock at the Sweet 16, and Warren Central's junior duo of 6-7 George Fant and guard Jordan Shanklin played well.

The best prospect on hand, however, may have been Shelby County freshman Darryl Hicks, a 6-3 guard who was 6-for-11 from 3-point range and scored 30 points in a first-round loss to Louisville Ballard.

Hicks' destination for next season remains a bit of a mystery. Shelby County is splitting into two schools next year, and Hicks lives in the district for the new school, Martha Layne Collins High. But Hicks nearly transferred to North Oldham last fall and there is speculation that he could end up in Louisville, perhaps at Ballard, Eastern or Trinity.

According to Jody Demling, the Louisville Courier-Journal's well-informed recruiting guru, Hicks already has a scholarship offer from Indiana and could field offers from Kentucky and Louisville sometime this spring.

• Muhlenberg County coach Reggie Warford played at Kentucky, but never took the court in Rupp Arena. Warford was a senior in 1976, when the Wildcats won the NIT and played their final season in Memorial Coliseum.

Jack Givens, a UK teammate of Warford's, was on hand to watch the Mustangs' first-round loss to West Jessamine.

But Warford is getting support from the state's basketballl community for another reason. He was recently diagnosed with leukemia and started undergoing treatment a few weeks ago. Warford's doctors feel that they caught the disease in its early stages and that it is likely to be treated successfully.

Warford is a Muhlenberg native, having played at now-defunct Drakesboro in the early 1970s. He was coaching in Pittsburgh before returning home to coach Muhlenberg's first consolidated team, and he has two sons that start for him.

Oh, those Bobcats ...

2010-03-19T17:33:00.005-05:00

Ohio University pulled off one of the big upsets of the NCAA tournament, beating #3 seed Georgetown 97-83 in the first round on Thursday.

The Bobcats' coach is Jon Groce, who actually was Murray State's first choice to replace Mick Cronin four years ago. Groce, who was Thad Matta's top assistant at Ohio State at the time, opted to stay in Columbus since the Buckeyes had a mega-star recruiting class that included Greg Oden and Mike Conley.

Ohio State made it to the national championship game the following season, losing to Florida.

Point guard D.J. Cooper is remembered, not necessarily fondly, by our neighbors to the north in Massac County. Cooper was straw that stirred the drink for the Seton Academy squad that blitzed the Patriots 83-63 in the Illinois Class 2A state championship game, handing out 12 assists. I'm still of the belief that Massac would have beaten Seton Academy, a Chicago-area Catholic school, had Cooper not been on the floor.

During the game, my seat on press row was next to that of a recruiting analyst. At halftime, as we went to the hospitality room to get a drink, I noted that "Cooper's probably a little better than Ohio U."

His response was succinct: "He'll be an impact player, probably the (Mid American Conference) freshman of the year."

I wish I remembered the guy's name — he told me he played college basketball at Virginia and was in Peoria that night to make an evaluation for recruiting guru Bob Gibbons. That's because he was on the money. Cooper, who averaged 13 points, six rebounds and five assists per game and led the league in assists, was named the MAC's top freshman.

Cooper torched Georgetown with 23 points, including a 5-for-8 performance from 3-point range, and eight assists.

Sweet 16 notes ... awards portion

2010-03-19T14:12:00.006-05:00

The Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches hands out its annual awards at the boys' and girls' state tournaments, including those for the regional player and coach of the year.

• On the girls' side, Hickman County's Paige Barclay was the winner of the First Region player award that goes to each region's top senior and will receive an automatic invite to the Kentucky-Indiana all-star tryouts. Barclay also appeared in the East-West all-star game last week in Bowling Green.

Paducah Tilghman's Josh Barnett was named the First Region's top coach.

• Carlisle County's Caleb Hardy was the boys' First Region player honoree. Hardy, the Paducah Sun Purchase Player of the Year as a junior, is expected to win the honor again after finishing second in the state in scoring with a 29.3 average and leading the state in rebounding with 13.6 boards per game.

Hardy and Mayfield point guard Tyrese Murrell will represent the First Region in the East-West all-star game on Saturday, and Lyon County's Taylor Gray is one of the two Second Region representatives.

• Heath's Burlin Brower was the KABC coach of the year in the First Region, one of three Heath current and former Pirates' coaches to take center court this week.

Longtime coach Jimmy Long was named to the KABC Court of Honor in recognition of a 30-year career that produced over 500 wins at now-defunct Lowes and Heath.

Long led Lowes to the regional finals in 1981, falling 45-40 to a Mayfield squad that the Blue Devils had beaten in the district finals and eventually reached the state's final four. He also coached Heath to three All A Classic regional titles, reaching the state semifinals in 1994.

One other former Heath mentor was honored on Wednesday — Charlie Hopkins, who coached the Pirates in the late 1980s, was an assistant on Edmonson County's 1976 state championship team that was recognized this week.

• David Smithmier of Paducah was the First Region's top-rated girls' official this season and was selected to work the girls' Sweet 16. Kevin Driver of Benton and Ford Branch of Princeton represented the First and Second regions, respectively, at the boys' state tournament. Driver also worked the All A Classic state tournament earlier this season.

Driver and Hickman County native Will Jones, the Fourth Region representative, worked the Louisville Ballard-Scott County semifinal on Saturday.

Wright, Shaw off to hot starts ...

2010-03-17T14:12:00.004-05:00

Heath product Chad Wright, one of the Kentucky baseball team's biggest surprises last spring, has maintained his level of performance early in his sophomore season. Wright, the everyday left fielder, was hitting .348 with a team-high 16 RBI in 16 game and led the team in total bases before the Wildcats' game with Wright State on Wednesday night.

Kentucky was ranked 20th nationally before Monday's 7-5 loss to Murray State and was 13-3 going into the Wright State contest.

Gabriel Shaw, a former St. Mary star, has given Louisville stellar bullpen work so far this season. Shaw is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in eight appearances and has a couple of saves. Shaw has pitched 11 innings, allowing 11 hits with a walk and 11 strikeouts.

Shaw appears to have recovered well from elbow surgery late last summer.

Jones pitching well down south ...

2010-03-15T13:08:00.007-05:00

Ballard Memorial product James Jones, now pitching collegiately for Louisiana-Monroe, was named the pitcher of the week for the Sun Belt Conference and the state of Louisiana after tossing a two-hit shutout against Mississippi Valley State on March 6.

Jones, who is now 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA, followed up that outing with a strong performance at conference rival Middle Tennessee on Friday, in the opener of a weekend series. Jones worked eight innings, allowing three earned runs and getting a no-decision.

Drafted in June in the 45th round by the Cleveland Indians after spending two seasons at John A. Logan, Jones opted to pitch in the Northwoods League last summer (4-2 with a 3.52 ERA) and go to Louisiana-Monroe to up his draft stock. The Warhawks pay Western Kentucky a visit for a three-game series that begins on March 26.

Former Racer Fowler gets first head coaching job ...

2010-03-12T17:52:00.004-06:00

Cary Fowler, who played at Murray State and later served as an assistant coach under Houston Nutt and Denver Johnson, has been named as the head coach at Tarleton State, a Division II program in Texas.

Fowler, a Hopkinsville native, has been the defensive coordinator at Tarleton the last two seasons after serving in the same capacity at in-state conference rival Midwestern State.