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Griffin Joiner hammers two home runs in UK softball win

Former Christian County standout Griffin Joiner had two home runs and six RBIs to help Kentucky beat #24 North Carolina 18-0 Tuesday in Lexington.

True freshman Katie Henderson pitched a no-hitter in her first home game for the Wildcats.

Joiner's two round-trippers marks the 19th time in school history a player has hit two homers in a single game and her six RBIs marks just the fourth time ever a UK player has ever had six runs knocked in and is the first since Rachel Riley vs. Austin Peay in 2011

UK's 18 runs ties the most runs scored in a game in school history.

Kentucky's 19-4 record ties the best 23-game start in program history.

Video highlights of the game courtesy of ukathletics.com

 

Jeff Gordon's test drive prank

I will preface this post by saying I'm not the biggest Jeff Gordon fan in the world. However, Jeff pulls off a heck of a joke here.

 

Pepsi did the same thing last year with Cleveland Cavaliers' guard Kyrie Irving on a basketball court.

 

Maybe the craziest buzzer beater you'll ever see

This one comes to us from New York where New Rochelle trails Mount Vernon by two points with two seconds left.  All Mount Vernon has to do is inbounds the ball and run out the clock, right?

 

 

Two things stand out.  First, the bizarre scene where both teams are celebrating thinking they had won the sectional title.

Second, the official at the bottom of the screen runs off the floor at the end and has to be called back for the ref huddle to determine whether the shot counted. 

When I watched this buzzer beater, the first thing that popped into my head was the finish of the 1994 Murray/Beechwood Class 1A state football championship game. 

Beechwood was trying to run out the clock and threw the football in the air in their own end zone.  The Murray player caught the ball before it hit the ground, but the officials had already blown the call dead and declared the game over.

 

Hopkinsville beats Henderson County 59-46 for region title (video)

Hopkinsville beat Henderson County 59-46 Saturday to win their second straight region championship and sixth in school history.

Hoptown hit 23-of-31 free throws in the fourth quarter as Henderson County was forced to foul to get the basketball back. The Tigers hit all three of their fourth quarter field goal attempts -- two of those were dunks.

For the game, Hopkinsville was 13-of-29 (45%) from the field and 30-of-43 (70%) from the free throw line.  Trey Edwards led Hopkinsville with 20 points, while Jaqualis Matlock scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter on 10-of-10 free throw shooting.  He also grabbed nine rebounds.

Henderson County (26-6) hit 7-of-16 from behind the 3-point arc in the second half and hit 9-of-22 for the game.  Rick Armstead hit six 3-pointers to finish with 18 points, while Kaleb Duckworth added seven points and 10 rebounds.

For Henderson County, it's their eighth straight loss in a region title game since their last championship in 1999.

Henderson County controlled the tempo throughout the game but could not manage much offense through three quarters against Hopkinsville 1-2-2 point drop defense.  Hopkinsville scored 21 points off 16 Henderson turnovers.

Hopkinsville, now 31-4, has won 23 straight games and has not lost since right after Christmas.  It's the second time in school history that Hopkinsville has won consecutive region titles (1985-86).

Hopkinsville will play 8th Region champion South Oldham (24-7) in the first round of the Sweet 16 Wednesday night at 8pm (ET) at Rupp Arena.

Game boxscore

Hopkinsville head coach Tim Haworth talks about the win

 

Henderson County 70 Trigg County 60

Henderson County showed why basketball is a game of two halves as they defeated Trigg County 70-60 Friday night in the Second Region semifinals at Hopkinsville.

Trigg County ended the first half on a 17-2 run to take a 40-32 lead into halftime.  However, the Wildcats did not make a field goal in the third quarter and were outscored 16-3 in the quarter and never regained the lead.

The Wildcats did not have an answer for Henderson's Kaleb Duckworth, who had 23 points and 15 rebounds.  David Simmons added 16 points and eight rebounds for Henderson County (26-5), who will advance to Saturday night's region title game against Hopkinsville.

Trigg County (20-9) got 21 points from Deonquez Nance, who finishes his Wildcat career with 1,989 points. David Wease added 16 points and eight rebounds.

After getting outrebounded by 40 in their opening round win over Caldwell County, Trigg saw Henderson own a 41-20 advantage on the glass, including a 24-10 mark in the second half.

The loss was Trigg County's 11 straight vs. Henderson County dating back to 1976 but their closest game with the Colonels since 1977 (10 games).

Mike Wright talks about his final game as Wildcat head coach

Game boxscore

Hopkinsville 63 Madisonville 62

Jordan Majors hit one of two free throws with 2.8 seconds left to give Hopkinsville a 63-62 win over Madisonville in the semi-finals of the Second Region Tournament at Hopkinsville.

The lead for either team never reached double figures in a game that featured five ties and eight lead changes.

Majors was fouled 20 feet away from the basket as he attempted to drive into the lane in the game's waning seconds.  Madisonville's long pass was picked off and assured Hopkinsville (30-4) of their 22nd straight win.  Majors finished the game with 18 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Jaqualis Matlock added 17 points and five rebounds.

Madisonville got 23 points from freshman Javieon Eaves, who buried a couple of deep 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the Maroons in striking distance. Daylyn Jones added 20 points for Madisonville, whose season ends with a record of 18-13.

The game was the region tournament's first one-point game since 1999 when Henderson County beat Caldwell County 76-75 in two overtimes.

Game boxscore

Student sections at Trigg County, Hopkinsville make their presence known

If you have been to many high school basketball games in the area this year, it's safe to say the student sections at Trigg County and Hopkinsville rank amongst the largest and most vocal.

And why not? Trigg County has put together back-to-back 20-win seasons, and Hopkinsville is the heavy favorite to repeat as region champions.

At Trigg County, the Black Hole has been a usual fixture at football and basketball games for the past five years, but it has grown in size and verocity this year.  TCHS senior Kullen Garner is self-appointed ringleader of the student section that was the largest in size at the first round of the Second Region Basketball Tournament.

At Hopkinsville, senior Jack Gardner, who also plays golf and baseball for the Tigers, has taken on the role of leading the HHS Heathens at each Tiger basketball game.  The Heathens took it to a different level last year as both Hopkinsville basketball teams advanced to the state tournament.

Both Garner and Gardner have used social media, especially Twitter, to let their followers know about game themes and other information. They have also used Twitter to take good-hearted (?) swipes at each other and other student sections.

Kullen Garner and Jack Gardner talk about their roles as student section leaders

 

Trigg County's Big Black Nation

 

 

 

 

HHS Heathens

 

Trigg County looks to end losing streak to Henderson County tonight

Trigg County looks to end a long losing streak to Henderson County when the teams meet tonight in the semifinals of the Boys Second Region Basketball Tournament at Hopkinsville.

Trigg has dropped 10 straight games to Henderson County dating back to 1976.  Four of those ten happened in the region tournament, including Trigg's last trip to the region semifinals in 2009.  Overall, Henderson County has won 13 of the 17 career meetings.

Trigg County (20-8) moved into the semifinals with a 66-64 overtime win over Caldwell County on a last-second putback by David Wease. Trigg was outrebounded 67-27 in the game and will have to contend with a Henderson County team that outrebounded Christian County by 14 rebounds in their 63-56 win.

Mike Wright talks about the challenge of facing Henderson County

Henderson County (25-5) is 9-1 against region teams this year and features a deep squad that gave Christian County trouble Tuesday night.

Henderson County coach Tyler Smithhart scouts Trigg County

Airtime tonight on WKDZ 100.9 FM and online at www.wkdzradio.com is 7:15pm.

In tonight's first game, Hopkinsville (29-4) plays Madisonville (18-12). These teams played back on January 3rd with Hoptown winning 74-66. Madisonville played without two starters that night.

Hoptown coach Tim Haworth discusses the keys to tonight's game

Tonight is the 110th time these schools have met since 1930 with Madisonville leading the series 60-49. However, Hoptown has won the last five straight.

Girls Second Region semifinals set

The girls' Second Region Basketball semifinals are set after three district winners have moved on from the first round.

On Wednesday. Madisonville hammered Livingston Central 63-35, scoring the first 11 points of the game and never looking back.  Freshmen guards Adarian Gray and Shaniya Whitsell each scored 15 points as the Lady Maroons improved to 16-16.

Hailee Lampley, who scored 32 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the Fifth District Championship game, was mired in foul trouble and finished with five points and five rebounds. Livingston Central, the only district champion in the region field to lose their first round game, ends their season with a record of 14-15.

Madisonville will play Henderson County, who scored the first 18 points of the second quarter in downing Christian County 66-37.  Henderson improves to 24-2 and will play the Lady Maroons Monday at 6pm at Caldwell County.

Thursday night, University Heights Academy picked up their first region tourney win in school history with a 57-42 victory over Lyon County.

DeNayia Holmes led UHA (23-7) with 21 points, while Kacie Freeman led Lyon County (11-20) with 22 points.

UHA will get a rematch with Webster County, who rallied to beat Caldwell County 48-44.  Webster edged UHA by one point in the championship game of the All-A region tournament in January.

On Thursday, Webster (23-5) trailed by nine points entering the fourth quarter but held Caldwell (20-10) without a field goal in the fourth quarter.

UHA and Webster will play Monday at 7:30pm.

 

Corey Wilford drains eight 3-pointers in SEMO win

Corey Wilford set a Dunn Center record with eight 3-pointers in Southeast Missouri's 108-91 win at Austin Peay Thursday night.

The former Christian County standout hit his first six attempts and had 20 points in the first 11 minutes of the game.  He finished with 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting from behind the arc.

He missed setting the SEMO record for 3-pointers made in a game by one.

As a team, SEMO hit a school-record 20 3-pointers in 33 attempts.

Wilford, a senior, is averaging nearly 15 points a game for the Red Hawks this year.