23rd CFIT

 The 23^rd Annual Cumberland Falls Invitational is scheduled to get underway Sunday at Gilliam Gym at Corbin High School. Seven teams will be in town for the annual event with two former champions, Corbin and Franklin County in the lineup.

Corbin, of course, will be led by seniors Madison Johnson, Isaac Wilson and Aaron Manns. The Redhounds will face Todd Central Central in the first-round. The Rebels, coached by Terry Nofsinger, are off to a 3-6 record with wins over Meade County, 53-46 and Logan County 68-64. They have lost to University Heights, 80-46. The Blazers will also be in the CFIT. Other losses have been to Edmonson County (75-63), Glasgow (81-42), Russellville (74-61) and Mercer County (89-64).

The tournament will get underway at 2 p.m. with the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets taking on the Fighting Irish of Norte Dame Academy (Chattanooga, Tn). The Redhounds will play Todd County Central at 4 p.m. In the lower bracket, University Heights of Hopkinsville will play the Franklin County Flyers at 7:15. The final game will match Brynes, SC., against Pontotoc, Mississippi, at 9 p.m.

Williamsburg’s foe in the first-round, Notre Dame started the season winning three of their first four games. Although a young team, Rashawn Avery, a freshman, has had a couple of big games. He scored 25 points in a win over Hamilton Heights and has had a season high 38 points in an earlier game. Freshman DJ Bowles is capable of having a big night as well. He had 19 points in a recent win as well as junior Nick Ellis.

Randy Worley, the chairman for the 2009 Cumberland Falls Invitational said there are a lot of out-of-town teams, but feels the fans have the opportunity to see some great match-ups with some outstanding players and teams coming in.

“We are going back to the traditional tournament where we have some teams from out-of-state with a mix of Kentucky teams,” said Worley. “We will have University Heights playing Franklin County. University Heights won a state championship, they are one of the small type schools, a basketball factory.”

“We expect University Heights to be very good,” said Worley. The Blazers are currently 5-5, fresh off the Toyota Christmas Classic where they defeated North Oldham (84-76) and Clarksville Northwest (78-74). They suffered losses to Muhlenberg County (77-70) and Louisville Moore (77-56). UHA also has wins over Todd County Central (80-46), Daviess County (85-43) and Caldwell County (86-51).

They led coached by the legendary Randy McCoy, who has coached on the college level as well as some big Kentucky High Schools.

“Corbin will open with Todd County Central,” said Worley. “They have a new head coach and have had some early season struggles, but they are a building program. They should be a good test for us.”

“The premiere first-round game will probably be Byrnes (SC) and Pontotoc (Miss),” said Worley. “We know Byrnes is a football factory, but one of the largest schools in South Carolina and Pontotoc is suppose to be one of the better basketball schools in Mississippi this year.”

“Pontotoc is suppose to be a very athletic team,” said Worley.

“Notre Dame is out of Chattanooga. They are a growing private school that has put a lot of emphasis on basketball,” he added. “They will play Williamsburg in the first game and that sets up a possible Corbin-Williamsburg game in the semifinals.”

“We have a very diverse field,” said Worley. “You will see a lot of different styles of basketball. Two or three teams like to get it up and down the floor, some that are going to try and slow the game down.”

“All in all, fans are going to see a lot of different things,” added Worley. “Last year was a special year to have a lot of local teams, but a lot of local teams were really good last year. I think fans would like to see that again, but not every year are you going to have that local flare of teams that are that good.”

“I think Corbin will be right there with the good teams coming into the tournament,” said Worley. “I would like to see them in the finals. I’m sure they will be one of the favorites with the start they have had.”

“I think it is going to be a really good tournament from top to bottom with our teams this year,” he concluded.

Update: The Corbin Redhounds rolled past the Todd Central Rebels Sunday, 70-48. Senior Madison Johnson poured in 27 points as the Redhounds moved on to Tuesday’s match with the Irish of Notre Dame. Notre Dame came from 12 pints down to beat the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets, 75-73. D. J. Bowles scored a game-high 34 points in the Irish victory. Bowles hit seven three-pointers in the win.

See Tuesday’s results in the A-section of the December 30 issue of the News-Journal.