Wendy's SportsBytes on WKDZ

Marty Cline named Madisonville basketball coach

In a move that surprised no one, Marty Cline has been named the new boys' basketball coach at Madisonville.  He replaces James Davis, who was asked not to return last month.

Cline was 44-40 in three years as the girls' coach at Madisonville.  Before that, he led the University Heights boys team to the 2005 Second Region title.  He posted a two-year record of 49-19 record at UHA.

Cline was a former all-state basketball player at UHA and played his college ball at Morehead State.

Meanwhile, former Hopkinsville assistant coach Russell Malone is the new boys basketball coach at Clarksville Northwest.  Malone has been the head coach at Warren East, where he posted a 39-71 record, including an 18-10 mark last year.  Before taking the Warren East job, Malone was an assistant coach for five years at Hopkinsville.

Also, Dawson Springs is looking for a new boys basketball coach after Wayne Simpson resigned.  He was 30-78 in four seasons as Panthers head coach with one appearance in the region tournament.

Scotty Hopson scores 21 points in all-star game

Scotty Hopson scored 21 points and grabbed four rebounds to lead his Blue Team to a 124-114 win in the 2008 Jordan Brand Game at Madison Square Garden.

Hopson fed off Arizona signee Brandon Jennings, who had a game-record 14 assists.

The UHA senior is expected to be named to the Kentucky All-Star team later this week despite having to miss the tryouts to play in the game in New York.

Scotty Hopson, Jon Hood named to C-J All-State team

University Heights seniors Scotty Hopson and Tyshawn Edmonson and Madisonville junior Jon Hood were named to the Louisville Courier-Journal's All-State team in voting conducted by coaches statewide.

Mason County's Darius Miller was named player of the year.

Christian County sophomore Shaquille Wilson and Madisonville senior Darnell Moore were named to the C-J third team.

Voted honorable mention were Chuck Jones of Hopkins County Central and Henderson County's Josh Terry, who will play at Three Rivers College in Missouri.

CLICK HERE for the complete C-J All-State teams

Wildcats honored at basketball banquet

The Trigg County Wildcats were recognized at their annual basketball awards banquet recently.  Here are the award winners:

Jonathan King -Outstanding offensive player, leading rebounder, steals, FT %, 3 pointers made

Zeke Wright - Outstanding Defensive Player, Most charges taken

Dustin White- Leadership Award, Most Blocked Shots

Shelton Burress - most assists

Bradley Davis - Best perimeter defense and coaches award

Jalik Alexander - Most improved from season to season and coaches award

Russell Lancaster - Most improved during season, senior award, Millard Griffin 6th man award

Josh Adams - 110% award

Javin Grubbs - Outstanding JV player

Chris McKenzie - Outstanding Freshman player

University Heights 90 Christian County 86

University Heights held off Christian County 90-86 to win the Second Region Boys' Tournament tonight in Madisonville.

UHA held a double-digit lead for most of the third quarter, but Christian County whittled away at the deficit in the fourth quarter.  However, the Colonels had two players pick up technical fouls in the second half and spotty free throw shooting made it tough for them to overcome the Blazers.

Scotty Hopson, the target of several college coaching visits to Madisonville this week, had 25 points and seven rebounds, while Tyshawn Edmonson added 19 points, and Daquan Brown scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Christian County got 32 points and 10 rebounds from junior Corey Wilford, while freshman Veonte Lewis added 14 points.

The Colonels' season ends with a record of 12-19, while UHA advances to the Sweet 16 with 17 straight wins and a record of 30-4.

The region title is the sixth for the Blazers in school history, and the championship win over the Colonels was the highest scoring championship game since Henderson County beat Lyon County 101-82 in 1990.

It's only the second time in eight tries that UHA has advanced to the Sweet 16 in the same season they have won the All-A Classic State Tournament.

The Blazers will play the first game of the opening round of the Sweet 16 next Wednesday against 11th Region champion Lexington Catholic in a rematch of the 1992 state title game won by the Blazers.  LexCath has won 13 straight games and carries a 30-3 record into the game.  The Knights knocked off two of the state's top ranked teams in the 11th Region Tournament (Bryan Station and Scott County) en route to the championship.

All Second Region teams announced

The Second Region Basketball Coaches Association has named their All-Region teams and players and coaches of the year.

BOYS PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Scotty Hopson - University Heights

BOYS COACH OF THE YEAR - Mark Starns - Henderson County

ALL-REGION TEAM - Jonathon King - Trigg County; Robbie Townsend - Fort Campbell; Ramsey Walker - Lyon County; Corey Wilford, Shaquille Wilson, and Daquan Murden - Christian County; Tyshawn Edmonson and Daquan Brown - UHA; Jon Hood and Darnell Moore - Madisonville; Ethan Scott - Dawson Springs; Darnell Davis - Hopkinsville; Chuck Jones - Hopkins County Central; Josh Terry - Henderson County; Labrice Williams - Webster County; and Torez Jones - Union County.

GIRLS PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Rinesha Soaper - Henderson County

GIRLS COACH OF THE YEAR - Anthony Hickey - Christian County and Marty Cline - Madisonville

ALL-REGION TEAM - Shatera Lewis, Rikiah Gatlin, and Denisha Mumford - Christian County; Chelsea Mills - Dawson Springs; Kayla Schull - Livingston Central; Abbey McLeod - Lyon County; Jessica Hobson - Hopkinsville; Jayme Jackson - Caldwell County; Whitney Bingemer and Alyse Poindexter - Henderson County; Kari Jo Harris - Hopkins County Central; Tayla Foster - Madisonville; Alex Paris - Union County; and Lynette Harris - Webster County

Boys Second Region Tournament pushed back a day

Bad weather has pushed back the Boys' Second Region Tournament a day.

The semifinals will now be played on Tuesday, and the championship game will be played Wednesday night at Madisonville-North Hopkins High School.

In the first game Tuesday at 6pm, Christian County (11-18) will play Madisonville (22-9).  In the 7:30pm nightcap, University Heights (28-4) will play Henderson County (18-7).

 

Video from the Fifth District Tournament

It may not be something Trigg County fans would want to watch again, but from a personal standpoint, you can watch video footage from the Fifth District Tournament, courtesy of the Princeton Times-Leader.

Just click on the links below the picture.

Good stuff.  With internet technology changing daily, online video is something more newspapers and radio stations are adding to their websites.

Boys Second Region Draw

Here is the draw for the Second Region Boys Tournament that begins Wednesday in Madisonville:

Wednesday

6pm - Madisonville (21-9) vs. Webster County (16-11)
7:30pm - Lyon County (13-13) vs. Christian County (10-18)

Thursday

6pm - University Heights (27-4) vs. Hopkins Central (14-15)
7:30pm - Henderson County (17-7) vs. Livingston Central (9-16)

Semifinals -  Monday March 10

Finals -  Tuesday March 11

All Fifth District teams

Here are the All-Fifth District teams based on regular season play

BOYS

Trigg County - Jonathon King, Jalik Alexander, Shelton Burress

Crittenden County - Gaige Courtney, Adam Hardin

Lyon County - Mitchell Peeler, Taylor Gray, Ramsey Walker

Livingston Central - Brandon Croft, Dylan Saint, Wes Lasher

GIRLS

Trigg County - Janada Acree, Elysia Brown

Crittenden County - Ali Shewcraft, Breanna Cozart, Jessica Cozart, Jessi Hodge

Lyon County - Erin Mussato, Sidney Greene, Hayley Parrent, Abbey McLeod

Livingston Central - Kayla Schull, Lauren Whetstone