CFIT Wrap-up

The Cumberland Falls Invitational Tournament of 2005 is history and the Barbourville Tigers of coach Dinky Phipps made short work of it. Coach Phipps’ team rode a very disciplined well prepared offense and a stifling zone defense to victory.
The Redhounds who have played six games over the last two weeks looked a step slow getting to loose balls and rebounds and did not appear quick on defense. It is still early in a very tough schedule and the ‘Hounds will learn from the experience of having played this type of schedule. I felt Josh Crawford and Ryan Tate each played very hard and very well. This is not the time of year to have your team peaking. Coach Tony Pietrowski will have them ready in late February and March.
The Lady Redhounds under Coach Jennifer Parsons are red hot as they ran their record to 11-1 by winning their tournament played in Frankfort this past weekend.
As I write this paragraph, 2005 has just melted into history, and it was quite a year for Redhound fans as they enjoyed the thrill of watching their Corbin Redhounds play in Rupp Arena in the Sweet 16. Players like Andrew Parks, Jordan Noble and Brad Lawson provided the Redhound faithful with great memories before taking their talents to the college level. Andrew is playing for Bellarmine, while Jordan is at Alice Lloyd. Brad is playing football at the University of the Cumberlands.
A good question comes to mind as I review the number of state championship trophies to which have been credited to South Laurel’s boys basketball program. In 1940 when Hazel Green won a state championship, ( not 1948 as reported in another local newspaper) should the Bullfrogs accomplishments be added to South Laurel? I think not. The old Hazel Green High School was located in an area where kids attend North Laurel, so if anybody is entitled to claim that particular title, it wold be North Laurel. Who is entitled to the Laurel County championship won in 1982? Who knows? and outside of Laurel County, who cares?
As i researched to find out exactly who did win the 1948 state championship, I came upon an interesting bit of information, and that was that Brewers High School under McCoy Tarry was the last if not the only high school team in Kentucky history to go undefeated at 36-0, and they won the 1948 state championship.
As I look to the future of the Redhounds in both football and basketball my fervant hope is that they can remain injury free. Tim French has been off crutches and on the heal for several weeks now and I spoke with Mike Campbell and he said he would be off his crutches soon. These kids are freshmen with worlds of potential in both football and basketball. When you team these young men with fellow freshman Josh Crawford, Josh Smith and sophomores Clint Cashen and Deke Barley, it reflects great hope for the future.
Team this group of underclassmen with an eighth grade class which also is blessed with tremendous amount of talent and the future looks even brighter.
I look at the body, the hands, the quickness and the speed of Josh Crawford and I add the beautiful passes of Clint Cashen and I see a combination similar to when the Mason County quarterback, James Deurtza, threw to Chris Lofton (the Mr. Kentucky basketball of 2004) and how successful they were.
Multi-sport athletes are must in a small school like Corbin, and it is good for the kids as well. Frank Selvy, Jerry Bird, Robert Barton, Bobby Terrell and Roy Kidd, all of who went on to play at the next level, as did Calvin Bird, Harold Queary, Billy Bird and the great Rodger Bird all played in whatever competition the school had to offer.
I believe it was Bill Hoover who once said, “if Corbin High School has a hatchet throwing team, I want my boys out there throwing.”
Speaking of multi-sport stars, I saw one from a distance at the Cumberland Falls Tournament, and that was Bob Croley, one of the Redhounds all time greats, I did not get to talk with Bobby, but he looked great, and I hope things are going well with him.
Well, we may have a surprise mayoral candidate in the making. Bill Poole, formerly of Corbin, emailed me to say that he remembers current major candidate Willard McBurney being a catcher for Wilder Hardwares entry in the Little League in the fifties, while the current Mayor, Amos Miller, was a catcher for Weed Laundry (by the way I was on that team). At that same time Bill Poole was a catcher for the Lions Club team, which I can only answer qualifies him as a mayoral candidate.