Last week was a mighty long one for high school district basketball tournaments in Kentucky.
For starters,
Monroe County (Tompkinsville, Ky.) outlasted
Allen County (Scottsville, Ky.), 85-78, in a five-overtime marathon. Mike Fields of the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that the length was believed to have tied the state record for a postseason game that was set in 1994.
Senior guard
Keaton Rich paced the winners with 25 points.
Though many will want to witness the replay of the classic contest, it will be a somewhat shortened version, because the digital disk doing the filming ran out of room after the third overtime.
Chane Behanan
Photo by Jamie Dahl
Barely outdone,
Warren Central (Bowling Green, Ky.) nipped
Bowling Green (Ky.), 81-79, in a four-overtime thriller. Reserve guard
Norman Johnson made the decisive free throws with three seconds remaining.
George Fant, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound senior who has signed with Western Kentucky, paced the winners with 23 points and 18 rebounds. Highly-ranked senior
Chane Behanan (6-7, 235), a Louisville signee, was heroic in a losing effort with 27 points, 25 rebounds and five blocks.
* Unsigned superstar
Trevor Lacey poured in a regional-record 44 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as
Butler (Huntsville, Ala.) routed East Lawrence (Trinity, Ala.), 84-40.
Butler coach Jack Doss told MaxPreps, "I can't believe Trevor didn't make the McDonald's All-American team. He's the best there's ever been in this state. He's unbelievable; they've even written songs about him."
Doss said Butler High School will be closed in the spring of 2012 and he will not coach next year.
* A couple of young players to check out in the future: 6-8 eighth grader Horace Spencer II, Klinger Middle School (Southampton, Pa.); and 6-10 freshman
Cody Belter, Shelby Valley (Pikeville, Ky.).
* Kentucky scoring leader
Hobo McCoy scored 41 points – including the winning three-point play with 2.5 seconds left – as
Pike County Central (Pikeville, Ky.) edged Belfry (Ky.), 63-60.
* Division I college coaches are flocking to Sioux City, Iowa, where
Sioux City East has some tall timber. Juniors
Adam Woodbury (7-1) and
Mading Thok (6-11) have drawn at least 31 coaches to games or practices, according to the Des Moines Register.
*
Westwind Prep Academy (Phoenix) coach Gary Trousdale wants to transform his Class 2A state champions into the "Oak Hill of the West." A major step was taken recently when 6-5 sophomore point guard standout
Chris Thomas transferred from Princeton Day Academy (Lanham, Md.).
* Six-foot-one junior
William Stallworth exploded for a school-record 52 points recently as
Tulare Union (Calif.) routed Mission Oak (Tulare, Calif.), 95-68.
*
Chesaning (Mich.) sophomore point guard Josh Kunik tied a school record with 41 points – including 21 of 22 at the free throw line - during a 95-93 overtime loss to Freeland (Mich.).
* Calvary (Holland, Mich.) edged Potter's House Christian (Wyoming, Mich.), 90-86, in overtime despite
Patrick Barnhart's 43 points.
*
Washington (Norfolk, Va.) blocked 18 shots – seven by junior center Brandon Self – during a 65-47 victory over Landstown (Virginia Beach, Va.).
* John Valenzuela, age 48, retired as head coach at
Madison (San Antonio) with a 420-165 career record to become a full-time minister.
*Milestone coaching victories: Darin Lee of
Collinsville (Ill.) posted No. 500, while Joe Schoenfeld of
Elder (Cincinnati) earned No. 300.
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