Event director Ira Combs has put together an exciting slate of games for today's event:  1:00 p.m. Frankfort vs. Lincoln County, 3:00 p.m. Louisville Male vs. Lexington Catholic, 5:00 p.m. Franklin County vs. Clay County, 7:00 p.m. Newport Central Catholic vs. Bowling Green, and 9:00 p.m. Paducah Tilghman vs. Madison Central.  Some of the featured players today are 6-3 Sr. Brett Jones (Paducah Tilghman), 6-3 So. Michael Bush (Male), 6-3 Sr. Brendon Woody (Lexington Catholic), 6-4 Sr. Jeremy Asher (Clay Co.), 6-1 Sr. Ronny Dawn (Newport Central Catholic), 6-3 Sr. Eric Broomfield (Madison Central), 6-3 So. Chris Current (Frankfort), 6-5 Sr. Larry O'Bannon (Male), and 6-6 Jr. LaVar Carter (Male).

Game No. 1  Frankfort (13-5) vs. Lincoln County (11-8)

Frankfort coach Scott Chalk started the following lineup:  5-11 Sr. Bryan Auxier, 6-3 Jr. Ben Hall, 6-3 So. Chris Current, 6-0 Jr. Kevin Gordon, and 6-3 Jr. Kevin Hill.  Lincoln County coach Mark Upchurch countered with 6-1 Sr. Brandon Smith, 6-5 Sr. Patrick Durham, 6-7 Sr. Brent Bradshaw, 5-10 Sr. Keith Withrow, and 5-10 Sr. Daniel Renner.

Frankfort took an early advantage and enjoyed a 64-49 lead at the end of three quarters, but had to withstand a late charge to defeat Lincoln County by a score of 71-65.  Frankfort was led today by sharpshooting Chris Current with 30 points.  Bryan Auxier and Ben Hall provided capable support with 15 and 10 points respectively.  Lincoln County was led by Keith Withrow with 24 points.  Brandon Smith added 20 points and was a force on the boards.
 

Frankfort	24	21	19	7	-	71
Lincoln County	21	13	15	16	-	65

Frankfort	(71) -	Auxier 15, Hall 10, C. Current 30, Gordon 0, Hill 8, Jaques 4, Hatchett 2, Dungan 2.
Lincoln County	(65) -	Smith 20, Durham 3, Bradshaw 9, Withrow 24, Renner 4, Reed 4, Brummett 1.

Game No. 2  Louisville Male (21-2) vs. Lexington Catholic (15-6)

Male coach Bryce Hibbard started the following lineup:  6-5 Sr. Larry O'Bannon, 6-3 So. Michael Bush, 6-6 Jr. LaVar Carter, 5-11 Jr. Johnny Mathies, and 5-11 Jr. Adam Burks.  Lexington Catholic coach Danny Haney countered with 6-3 Fr. Demetrius Green, 6-4 Jr. Ryan Morton, 5-9 So. Brian Smith, 5-11 Sr. Clay Wolford, and 6-3 Sr. Brendon Woody.

Male led 55-51 at the end of three quarters but the wheels came off for Lexington Catholic in the final period as Male outscored them 22-6 to gain a 77-57 victory.  Lexington Catholic actually led 51-50 in the third period but Male went on a 27-0 run to gain a 77-51 lead before Catholic finally got on the scoreboard.  Male utilized a tight man-to-man defense that forced Catholic to bomb away from outside and once the shots quit falling the game was over.

Male was led today by Michael Bush and Larry O'Bannon with 21 and 18 points respectively. O'Bannon and Bush were also effective on the boards with O'Bannon pulling down 10 rebounds and Bush snaring 8 rebounds.  Lexington Catholic was led today by Brendon Woody with 18 points and 6-5 Sr. Jack Heissenbuttel came off the bench to add 11 points.
 

Male	15	22	18	22	-	77
Lexington Catholic	15	19	17	6	-	57

Male	(77) -	O'Bannon 18, Bush 21, Carter 9, Mathies 12, Burks 5, Haury 7, Ballard 4, Shumate 1.
Lexington Catholic	(57) -	Green 10, R. Morton 7, Smith 3, Wolford 0, Woody 18, Heissenbuttel 11, H. Morton 5, Wilson 3.

Game No. 3  Franklin County (13-5) vs. Clay County (13-6)

Franklin County coach Gary Moore started the following lineup:   6-1 Sr. Daniel Scott,  6-0 So. Daniel Moore, 6-0 Sr. Nick Sheridan, 6-2 Sr. Brandon McKee, and 5-9 Sr. Gordon Miles.   Clay County coach Mike Jones countered with 6-3 Jr. Richard Walker, 6-1 So. Kevin Collins, 5-9 So. Angelo Smith, 6-4 Sr. Jeremy Asher, and 6-1 Sr. Josh Mathis.

Franklin County raced out to a 25-8 lead after the first quarter behind a 13 point outburst by Daniel Moore.  The Flyers had to withstand a late rally by Clay County before closing out a 71-66 win.  Franklin County was led today by Daniel Moore with 19 points and Gordon Miles with 16 points.  Clay County was led by 6-3 270 pound Richard Walker with 18 points.  Walker works hard, takes up space, and keeps coming after you.  6-1 230 pound Kevin Collins added 12 points.   Angelo Smith provided an outside game with 17 points.
 

Franklin County	25	19	7	20	-	71
Clay County	8	19	17	22	-	66

Franklin County	(71) -	Scott 3, D. Moore 19, Sheridan 0, McKee 6, Miles 16, Hayden 9, Thomas 9, Durham 4, Assibey-Mensah 5.
Clay County	(66) -	Walker 18, Collins 12, Smith 17, J. Asher 4, Mathis 8, Parks 2, Griffin 5.

Game No. 4  Newport Central Catholic (17-4) vs. Bowling Green (14-5)

Newport Central Catholic coach Ron Dawn started the following lineup:  6-4 Sr. Jeff Colson, 6-3 Sr. Seth Lynn, 6-5 Sr. Corey Myers, 6-0 Sr. Aaron Dawn, and 5-10 Sr. Vince Bonhaus.  Bowling Green coach Ernie Simpson countered with 6-5 Sr. Terrez Dewalt, 6-6 Jr. Jason Stonebreaker, 6-0 Jr. Kyle Sledge, 5-11 Sr. Brandon Wardlow, and 5-11 Jr. Seth Wilson.

Bowling Green was without the services of 6-5 Sr. Josh Carrier who was out with the flu.  Newport Central Catholic was missing the services of an injured star of their own, 6-1 Sr. Ronny Dawn.  Bowling Green overcame a 39-35 deficit at the end of three quarters to pull away to a 57-47 victory.  Bowling Green was led tonight by Brandon Wardlow with 17 points.  Terrez Dewalt added 15 points, nine coming in the final quarter.  Newport Central Catholic was led by Corey Myers with 18 points and Jeff Colson added 10 points.
 

Newport Central Catholic	15	9	15	8	-	47
Bowling Green	13	15	7	22	-	57

Newport Central Catholic	(47) -	Colson 10, Lynn 6, Myers 18, A. Dawn 8, Bonhaus 5..
Bowling Green	(57) -	Dewalt 15, Stonebreaker 8, Sledge 4, Wardlow 17, Wilson 7, Ray 2, Krutza 4.

Game No. 5  Paducah Tilghman (18-4) vs. Madison Central (13-7)

Paducah Tilghman coach Bill Chumbler started the following lineup:  6-3 Sr. Rashaud Wilson, 6-4 Jr. Orlandus Hill, 5-9 Jr. Ches Gibson, 6-3 Sr. Brett Jones, and 6-1 Jr. Brian Hamilton.   Madison Central coach Allen Feldhaus, Jr. countered with 6-2 Sr. Josh Land, 6-3 Sr. Eric Broomfield, 6-4 Sr. Joe Cornett, 6-0 Sr. Nick Stephens, and 6-4 Fr. Shawn Ballard.

Paducah Tilghman was without the services of 6-5 Sr. Kyle Miller for tonight's contest.  Madison Central erased a 36-34 halftime deficit to win by a score of 74-63.  Shawn Ballard led Madison Central with 21 points.   Eric Broomfield added 18 points and had a solid defensive effort against Brett Jones.  Joe Cornett also had a big effort, scoring 10 points and managing to neutralize Tilghman's inside threat Orlandus Hill.   Rashaud Wilson led a balanced Tilghman attack tonight with 13 points.  Brett Jones was held to seven field goal attempts and ended up with nine points.
 

Paducah Tilghman	13	23	14	13	-	63
Madison Central	11	23	21	19	-	74

Paducah Tilghman	(63) -	Wilson 13, Hill 12, Gibson 2, Jones 9, Hamilton 10, Clarke 6, Daniels 2, Perry 9.
Madison Central	(74) -	Land 9, Broomfield 18, Cornett 10, N. Stephens 13, Ballard 21, Walker 2, Gayheart 1.

Conclusion

While it was disappointing to miss the opportunity to see Josh Carrier and Ronny Dawn it was a good day of basketball.  This was a good win for Scott Chalk and the Frankfort squad and a good chance to see a fine player like Chris Current perform.  Also look for Frankfort in the future -- they only had one senior on the roster.  Lincoln County's 5-10 Sr. Keith Withrow doesn't get enough publicity -- he can play.  Male is as good as advertised and Lexington Catholic played them tough for three quarters.  Male's 6-3 So. Michael Bush makes the game look too easy.  Gary Moore has been tinkering with his starting lineup at Franklin County and got a nice win today.

Clay County's Richard Walker is a 270 pound "energizer bunny" -- he just keeps attacking, attacking, attacking the basket until something good happens -- a great work ethic inside the paint.  Newport Central Catholic and Bowling Green both have nice squads and could meet again in the state tournament.  Paducah Tilghman has a good team and the return of Kyle Miller gives them another scoring threat.  Madison Central has an excellent chance of winning a well balanced 11th region. Eric Broomfield should also be a strong contender for player of the year in the region.  Coach Feldhaus has another nice one in Shawn Ballard, and he is only a freshman..

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to Mr. Ira Combs, who, despite personal losses in his family this year, managed to put together another fine event.  Mr. Combs is also the editor of "Kentucky Hoops Review" which provided me with some enjoyable and informative reading this weekend.

Please feel free to send your comments and questions concerning the tournament, teams, or players to me at  prephoops@yahoo.com .