Scott Brown's SportsBytes on WKDZ

Titans getting ready for trip to Texas

The Titans take their four-game winning streak to Texas Sunday to face Houston.

Tennessee is 5-4 since Vince Young became the starting quarterback and are 2-0 when wearing the baby blue uniforms this year.

As always, WKDZ will have coverage of the game Sunday, beginning with the pregame show at 11am.

Midcats sweep Dawson Springs

Trigg County wrapped up the seventh grade regular season with a 44-6 thumping of Dawson Springs Dec. 7.  The 8th grade also won 38-29.

In the 7th grade game, Deonquez Nance had 10 points, Jermya Love added five points as did Zack Bridges as 11 players scored.  Trigg led 24-2 at halftime.

In the 8th grade game, Trigg led 15-14 and pulled away for the nine-point win.

Alonzo Lewis led the Midcats in scoring with 14 points, Chris McKenzie added eight, and R.J. Sholar scored eight points.

Trigg County 48 Crittenden County 39 (girls)

Trigg County won their district opener for the first time in 11 years as the Lady Wildcats beat Crittenden County 48-39 at Wildcat Gym.

It was a huge night for the Lady Wildcat frontline as sophomore Janada Acree had 21 points and 14 rebounds, while senior Laquisha Boyd added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Ali Shewcraft led Crittenden County (1-4, 0-2) with 20 points.

Trigg County is now 2-2 and 1-0 in the district, winning their first December district game in 11 tries dating back to 2001.

Other game notes....

• Trigg County shot 12/25 (48%) in the second half and 19/55 (34%) for the game.
• Crittenden was 12/43 (28%) from the field.
• Trigg County outrebounded Crittenden 38-32.
• Melanie Want added eight points and four assists.
• Trigg scored 22 points off 33 Crittenden turnovers.
• 94% of Trigg's field goals came from closer than 15 feet.
• Boyd had six steals for Trigg.
• Crittenden still leads the all-time series with Trigg 40-32.

Crittenden County 63 Trigg County 53 (boys)

Not a good night for the Wildcats, who fell to 0-1 in the district and are off to their first 1-3 start in five years.

Crittenden took control by outscoring Trigg 16-10 in the second quarter, and Trigg never led in the second half.

Jonathon King led the Wildcats with 19 points and 10 rebounds.  Rodney Davis added 18 points, and Zack Wright had seven points and seven rebounds.

Crittenden County had three players in double figures, led by Adam Hardin's 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Gaige Courtney added 14 points.

Trigg County is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the district.  Crittenden County is 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the district.

Other game notes...

• Trigg County shot 17/70 from the field (24%) and a chilly 5/30 (16%) from 3-point range.
• Rodney Davis shot 5/28 from the field, including 1/13 from 3-point range.  He hit nine 3-pointers against the Rockets in Wildcat Gym last year.
• Jonathon King was 7/20 from the field and 3/14 from 3-point range.
• Zack Wright had seven points and seven rebounds.
• Trigg County shot just 14/27 (52%) from the free throw line.  Crittenden was 18/26 (69%).
• Trigg had four assists and 10 turnovers.
• Crittenden snapped a six-game losing streak to Trigg County.

Crittenden County at Trigg County (boys)

Trigg County opens their district schedule tonight at Wildcat Gym as Crittenden County comes to town to face the Wildcats.

The Rockets are 2-1, having beaten Dawson Springs (57-47) and Lyon County (57-48).  They lost to Henderson County (59-44), who was playing without their starting backcourt.

Trigg County is 1-2, coming off a 65-54 loss to Hopkinsville Tuesday night.  The Wildcats are looking to avoid their first 1-3 start since 2001.

Trigg County leads the all-time series with the Rockets 71-36 and have won six straight and nine of ten against Crittenden County.  A win over the Rockets tonight would give Trigg their first four-game winning streak against Crittenden since they won five straight in 1996-97.

The Trigg/Crittenden game will air on 106.5 WKDZ following the girls' game.  You can also listen live online at WKDZ Radio.com.

Crittenden County at Trigg County (girls)

After three straight road games, Trigg County returns home for their first game at Wildcat Gym this year.

The Lady Wildcats (1-2) play the first of three consecutive district games as they host Crittenden County.  The Lady Rockets (1-3) have lost three straight games after opening the season with a win.

Trigg County got their first win of the year Monday night at Providence, picking up the 79-35 win as ten players scored for the Lady Wildcats.

Crittenden County leads the all-time series with Trigg 40-31, having won six of the last seven games.  In Cadiz, the series is tied 16-16.

We'll be on the air tonight at 6pm with the tipoff.

Titans getting it done with 'D'

While most of the news surrounding the Titans has to do with Vince Young, Jeff Fisher, and Rob Bironas, it's the Tennessee defense that is getting the job done on the field.

Music City Bowl a sellout

For the first time in the bowl game's nine-year history, the Music City Bowl is a sell-out. The Dec. 29 game features Kentucky vs. Clemson.

Swimmers take third place at meet

Trigg County competed in the Nofsinger Swimming Invitational Monday at Hopkins County Central.

Trigg finished third in both the boys and girls competition against seven other schools.

BOYS TEAM SCORES

Paducah Tilghman - 63

Hopkins Central - 60

TRIGG COUNTY - 51

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

Hopkins County Central - 77

Heath - 60

Trigg County - 51

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

200 Medley Relay : Ashley Wigand, Cody Flood, Sarah Woodall, and Ashton Fuller - 4th Place

Girls' 200 Freestyle:  Ashton Fuller - 5th, Sarah Woodall - 6th

Boys' 200 Freestyle:  John Reinick - 4th

Girls'  50 Free: Ashley Wigand - 3rd; Courtney Harrison - 5th

Boys' 50  Free: Chris Perkins - 4th; Garrett Clark - 8th

Girls' 100 Butterfly: Ashley Wigand - 6th

Girls' 100 Free:  Courtney Harrison - 1st Place (1:18.15); Ashton Fuller - 3rd place (1:18.58)

Boys 100 Free:  Chris Perkins - 10th

Girls' 100 Backstroke:  Cody Flood - 8th

Girls' 100 Breaststroke:  Sarah Woodall - 6th

Boys' 100 Breaststroke: John Reinick - 2nd place (1:17.31)

Head coach Jan Woodall said the swimmers continue to improve their times and will continue to work on their speed.

Hopkinsville 65 Trigg County 54

Trigg County trailed by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, battled back to cut it to five late in the game but fell to Hopkinsville 65-54 at Wildcat Gym.

Poor shooting early and Hoptown's dominance on the boards were the keys to this one.

• Rodney Davis led Trigg County with a career-high 41 points.  He hit eight 3-pointers, including five in the third quarter.  Davis was 15-of-28 from the field, including 8-of-17 from 3-point range.  He also had three assists, three steals, and five turnovers.
• The next highest scorer was Zack Wright and Dustin White with three points each.
• Trigg County shot 5-of-25 (20%) in the first half and had no assists in the first 16 minutes.  They shot 15-of-32 (47%) in the second half and had five assists.
• Trigg County was outrebounded 42-16.  Ryan Eubanks had four rebounds to lead the Wildcats.
• Hoptown had 12 second chance points off 14 offensive rebounds.  They won by 11 points.
• Both teams scored 21 points off turnovers.
• Chad Brown led Hopkinsville with 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Antwain Loving added 12 points, and Richard Brown chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• Hopkinsville shot 57% from the field (30/52), including 69% (16/23) in the second half.
• Hoptown now leads the all-time series with Trigg 50-24.

Trigg falls to Browning Springs, beats SP&P

Trigg County's eighth grade Midcats lost to Browning Springs 40-18 Tuesday night in a game played at Wildcat Gym.

BSMS led 18-6 after one quarter and led 33-11 at halftime.  Devon Wharton led Trigg County with eight points, Nick Watkins added five points, and Chris Lawrence scored three points.

The eighth graders did beat St. Peter and Paul Middle Monday night 48-20 at Midcat Gym.  Trigg led 23-5 and coasted to the easy win.

Alonzo Lewis scored 14 points to lead Trigg, who also got six from Derek Rogers.

Jerome Soldo led SP&P with 10 points, and Jon Hober added eight.

The Midcats are now 4-9 on the season and will host Dawson Springs Thursday at Midcat Gym.

Trigg County vs. Hopkinsville

Trigg County returns to action tonight at home against Hopkinsville at Wildcat Gym.  Because of a middle school game at 5pm, the tipoff for the JV game will be 6:30 and the varsity will tip off around 8pm.

Trigg County is 1-1 after losing to Marshall County 74-47 in the Marshall County HoopFest Friday in Draffenville.

Hopkinsville is 2-0 under first-year head coach Jim Simmons, a long-time assistant coach under Allen Hatcher at Graves County.  The Tigers beat Reidland 47-37 in their season opener and knocked off Livingston Central 63-42 on Friday.

5-9 senior point guard Greg White averaged 11 points a game last year, while 6-4 senior Chad Brown (5.4 ppg., 4.0 rpg.) has the potential to be among the region’s best players if he can stay out of foul trouble.

Simmons, whose only other head coaching job was a 7-16 stop at Crittenden County in 1990, has been pleased with the preseason work of 6-1 guard Dominique McDonald, 6-2 forward Richard Brown, and 6-8 center Karlos Thompson.

Hopkinsville leads the all-time series with Trigg 49-24, including a 24-10 record in Cadiz.  Trigg County snapped an eight-game losing streak to Hopkinsville last year with a 77-57 win at Wildcat Gym.

Trigg last won back-to-back games over Hopkinsville in 1997-99.

Airtime tonight on WKDZ 106.5 FM is 7:30pm.

Bluegrasspreps.com basketball rankings

Here are this week's high school basketball rankings from Bluegrasspreps.com

BGP Boys Top 20

1. Scott County
2. South Laurel
3. Warren Central
4. Mason County
5. Pleasure Ridge Park
6. Lexington Catholic
7. Male
8. Jeffersontown
9. Madison Central
10. Ballard
11. Doss
12. George Rogers Clark
13. Holmes
14. DeSales
15. Covington Catholic
16. Bryan Station
17. Lafayette
18. DuPont Manual
19. Henry Clay
20. Trinity

BGP Girls Top 20

1. Lexington Catholic
2. Scott County
3. North Hardin
4. Elizabethtown
5. Paul Dunbar
6. Franklin Simpson
7. Iroquois
8. Henry Clay
9. Sacred Heart Academy
10. Rose Hill Christian
11. Central Hardin
12. Butler
13. Boone County
14. Perry County Central
15. Clay County
16. Henderson County
17. Rockcastle County
18. Magoffin County
19. Marshall County
20. DuPont Manual

Trigg County 79 Providence 35

Trigg County got their first win of the 2006-07 basketball season with a 79-35 win at Providence Monday night.  The win was Trigg County's 13th straight over the Lady Bulldogs dating back to the 1997 basketball season.

The 79 points was the most scored by Trigg County since a 79-11 win over Providence in 2001.

Ten Lady Wildcats got into the scoring column, led by Laquisha Boyd's 21 points.  Melanie Want added 13 points, and Janada Acree scored 11.

Eighth grader Bria Copeland led Providence (0-1) with 17 points.

Trigg led 43-17 at halftime and coasted to their first win in three games this year.

The Lady Wildcats return to action Friday night at home against Crittenden County in their first district game of the year.

Kentucky moves EKU game to Dec. 30

Kentucky's basketball game, originally scheduled for Dec. 29, has been moved to Dec. 30 at 11am because of UK's appearance in the Music City Bowl.

Kentucky will play Clemson in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 29 at 1pm in Nashville and will host EKU in a basketball game the next day at 11am.

Corkey Stiger off to fast start in Kansas

Former Christian County all-state guard Corkey Stiger is adjusting nicely to her new role and her new school, Division II Washburn College in Kansas.

Stiger, a 5-9 junior guard, is averaging 13.3 points a game for the Lady Blues, who are the second-ranked team in this week's Division II Poll.

Stiger transferred from Trinity Valley Junior College where she scored 17.1 points a game and earned second-team All-American honors.

Stiger was a second-team All-State guard at Christian County, helping the Lady Colonels advance to the Sweet 16 twice.

Trigg County at Providence

Trigg County looks for their first win tonight when they travel to Providence to face the Lady Bulldogs in a 6pm contest.

The Lady Wildcats are 0-2 on the season while Providence opens their season tonight.

Trigg won the only meeting between the schools last year 54-26 and lead the all-time series 30-16 and have won 12 straight games against Providence dating back to 1997.

There will be no radio coverage of tonight's game.

Kentucky is Music City bound

One of the worst kept secrets was confirmed Sunday when Kentucky accepted a bid to the Music City Bowl in Nashville to be played Dec. 29.

Kentucky plays Clemson (8-4), the fifth place team in the ACC this year.

Word out of Lexington is that Kentucky fans have already purchased their 20,000 ticket alottment through the school and will have to buy their tickets through the bowl game itself.

Kentucky played in the Music City Bowl in 1999, losing to Syracuse.

Kentucky headed to Music City Bowl

Kentucky is most likely headed to the Music City Bowl in Nashville after South Carolina has let it slip thay they are headed to Memphis to play in the Liberty Bowl.

Kentucky's likely opponent is Clemson in a rematch of the 1993 Peach Bowl, won by the Tigers 14-13 when an apparent game-clinching interception by Marty Moore was fumbled back to the Tigers, who scored in the game's final minute to win.

If not Clemson, Maryland could be Kentucky's opponent.  UK last played the Terps in 1979 -- a 14-7 UK win.

Marshall County 74 Trigg County 47

Trigg County couldn't repeat their third quarter magic against Marshall County, losing to the Marshals 74-47 in the HoopFest Friday night in Draffenville.

After outscoring Dawson Springs 30-12 in the third quarter of their Thursday win, the Marshals broke open a 33-23 halftime advantage with a 22-7 third quarter and coasted to the win.

Jonathon King led the Wildcats with 15 points, while Rodney Davis added 14 points, Dustin White 9 points, and Zack Wright scored four points.

Travis Spiceland led Marshall County (2-0) with 24 points, and Corey Smith added 10 points as ten Marshals got into the scoreboook.

Trigg County dropped their 11th straight game to Marshall County and falls to 1-1.  The Wildcats return to action Tuesday night against Hopkinsville at Wildcat Gym in a 8pm tipoff.

Football odds and ends

A few football odds and ends to wrap up the high school season...

• Congratulations to former Trigg County quarterback Marty Jaggers, who coached Mercer County to a 15-12 win over Russell in the Class 2A championship Friday in Louisville.  While a lot has been made of Mercer County's merger with Harrodsburg in the spring, there wasn't much the KHSAA could do since it would involve last-minute scheduling changes and re-drawing districts, which would also cause more scheduling problems.  Mercer County will play in Class 5A next year.
• Don Gilmore of Hopkinsville was the line judge for the Mercer County/Russell game.
• The private schools (1A - Newport Central Catholic, 3A - Covington Catholic, 4A - Trinity) took three of the four state football titles.
• Alcoa won their third straight Tennessee 2A state title with a 31-3 win Friday over Goodpasture.  Alcoa finished the season at 13-2.  Only 2,022 watched the game on the campus of MTSU, bringing us to.....
• Attendance for the Kentucky 1A game was 4,396.  The 2A game drew 6,814.  The 3A title game drew 7,379, and the 4A game Thursday drew 10,623.  Totals for the four games was 29,282 compared to 39,734 last year.

Mackins glad to be back at Cairo

Interesting comments from former Trigg County basketball player Russell Mackins in The Southern.com, a regional newspaper for southern Illinois.

Mackins, who transferred to Trigg County his sophomore year, played in just nine games his sophomore season before suffering an ACL injury.

He played in 14 games last year before abruptly moving back to Illinois in January.

The one quote that sticks out to me is...

"We said, no matter what, we'd always come back our senior year no matter where we were at.  I really wanted to finish up in Cairo," Mackins said. "I wanted to come back and graduate here and be around my friends at the same time."

If that was the case, and it was known before the move, it makes one wonder why he moved here in the first place.

Trigg County at Marshall County

Trigg County returns to action tonight at Marshall County in the HoopFest at Reed Conder Gymnasium in Draffenville.  The Wildcats play the host Marshall County Marshals tonight at 8:30pm in the third game of the night.

Tickets for the game are $10, which gets you into all four games.

Marshall County (1-0) went on a late run to beat Vienna, Ill. 37-30 Thursday night in the first session of the HoopFest.

Trigg and Marshall last played in 2003, with the Marshals edging the Wildcats 65-62 in the Marshall County Holiday Tournament.

Marshall County leads the all-time series 12-4 and has won the last ten games against Trigg County, dating back to 1982 when Trigg last won.  Trigg County has never won in eight career games at Marshall County.

Airtime tonight on WKDZ 106.5 FM is 8:03pm with the pregame show.

Trigg County 84 Dawson Springs 65

Jeff Embrey got his first win as Wildcat head coach, although it took a half for Trigg to get on track as the Wildcats beat Dawson Springs 84-65 at Wildcat Gym.

Down 35-28 at halftime, the Wildcats opened the second half on an 8-0 run and outscored Dawson 30-12 in the third quarter to take control of the game.

Rodney Davis scored 20 of his game-high 36 points in the third quarter, while Jonathon King hit four 3-pointers in the first half and added 23 points and nine rebounds.

Trigg County has won seven straight season openers and 11 straight games against the Panthers dating back to 2000.

SCORING

Rodney Davis - 36 points, 5 steals

Jonathon King - 23 points, 9 rebounds, 6/12 three-pointers

Zack Wright - 7 points, 8 rebounds

Dustin White - 5 points

Ryan Eubanks - 4 points, 7 rebounds

Justin Phillips - 4 points

Jalik Alexander and Zeke Wright - 2 points

Brad Davis - 1 point

Jesse Robinson scored 17 points to lead Dawson Springs (0-2), while Aaron Duke added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Trigg shot 38-percent from the field.  Dawson Springs shot 52-percent.

At the line, Trigg was 19-28 (68%), while Dawson was just 11-30 (36%).

Trigg outrebounded Dawson Springs 40-30 and forced 26 turnovers, scoring 26 points off the miscues.

Logan County 80 Trigg County 25

Trigg County traveled to Logan County and fell to the Lady Cougars 80-25 to drop to 0-2 on the season.

Logan (1-0) led 47-6 at halftime and coasted to the win in the first-ever meeting between the schools.

Scoring for Trigg will be posted later today.

The Lady Wildcats return to action Monday night at Providence in a 6pm contest.