CALLING THE SHOTS

 In Bill Crook’s column this week, he talked about some good old memories of the four schools that made up Whitley County High School. Being from a small school (Eminence) I remember my middle school years in basketball when we played New Castle, Pleasureville, Campbellsburg, Eastern and Sulphur. They are now consolidated into Henry County High School.

Those communities still exist, but if you blink your eyes you might miss them. I have great memories of those days as well with me being the city boy at that time. Those other communities were considered country hicks or river rats to us that live in Eminence.

But, this is not about my childhood; it is about the memories I am making here at the News Journal. There have been many, like the back-to-back region titles by Tony Pietrowski’s Redhounds or the region title several years ago by the Corbin baseball team.

As 2010 winds down, what about the memories of this year.

February: Of course, first of all was the outstanding finish by Dusty Brown and the Whitley County Colonels in the state wrestling tournament. You might not think that is an important deal, but it is to those wrestlers as they build a very competitive program at Whitley County. Out of 78 schools, the Colonels finished 14^th. That’s quite an achievement for a school that had dropped the sport and picked it back up five years ago.

March: The Redhounds capture their second 13^th Region basketball title in a row as Corbin had to survive a quadruple overtime win over Bell County, 88-82 in the first-round. Corbin defeated Clay County, 50-45, before rolling past North Laurel 65-42. The Redhounds were beaten 68-49 by Scott County in the first round of the state tournament. Former Redhound coach Billy Hicks saw his team stop the Corbin win streak at seven games. Corbin had won 23 of 24 games prior to the Scott County loss.

Madison Johnson and Isaac Wilson were honored with college scholarships for their four years of play at Corbin.

June: The Corbin nine, better known was the baseball team won its way to a 13^th Region title game against Clay County. Corbin defeated Harlan County (6-4), North Laurel (8-4) before losing to the Tigers 14-2.

The regional loss saw an injury to Travis Smith early in the game that demoralized the Redhounds. Corbin finished the season 24-17 in Ron Ledington’s first season as head coach of the Redhounds.

October: The golf teams at Corbin and Williamsburg had a fantastic finish. The Lady Yellow Jackets ended the season in sixth place at the Leachman/KHSAA State Tournament in Bowling Green. Williamsburg’s Becky Sharpe was named to the all-state team after finishing in the top 10. The junior tied for 10^th.

Other members of the region runner-up were: Kaylee Akins (freshman), Bethany Hamblin (eighth grade), Julia Higginbotham (freshman) and Deavon Lynch (sophomore). As you can see everyone will be back next season.

In the boy’s state tournament, Corbin finished in a tie for 5^th with Greenup County. Chandler Maguet led the Redhounds, tied for 22^nd. The junior had a 74 in the second day of competition, which was good enough to tie for 8^th that afternoon. Others playing the state finals were: Conner Maguet (freshman), John Hamilton (junior), Cody Ellis (sophomore) and Eric Jones (junior). Again, all of these golfers will return to make a run at the 2011 state title.

The Corbin soccer team played their way to the 16^th Region final, losing to South Laurel, 2-0. What made the run exciting was the fact that the Redhounds went into the post-season with a 6-9 record and battled their way to the championship game.

Several of their key players were seniors Drew Farley, Cameron Lambert and Brody Freeman. Most of the team was made up of freshmen and sophomores, pretty much giving Coach Armondo Cima high hopes for the next several years.

Although Whitley County lost to North Laurel in the first-round of the district, the Colonels made history in its first year under Bosko Cupac. The Colonels finished the season with a 7-7-5 record.

I will have fond memories of Shawn Harris (keeper), Micheal Branham, Briston Smith and Jeff Couch. They really set the tone for players to come.

December: The Corbin Redhounds made a believer out of me. I don’t know if you would call it over-achieving getting to the Class 2A semifinals or not. I’ve come to expect the Redhounds to go a long way in the playoffs.

I do think coach Steve Jewell deserves the Coach of the Year for Class 2A. And I certainly hope Matthew Taylor makes the All-State teams. Taylor did surprise me with his outstanding play as well as some of the other Redhounds such as Josh Jewell, Josh Coppock, Mitchell Frederick, Wes Tipton and Gant Gigsby.

Wes Tipton is a story itself, a soccer player for many years comes along and shows that he can make the transition to the hardest hitting sport, football. He had two interceptions, a fumble recovery and 15 tackles and even scored four points with his kicking ability.

You also have to give Whitley County and Williamsburg an ovation for a fine season. People were trying to write off the Colonels from the get-go, but fought through a lot of adversity to make the playoffs.

You have to give Justin Goins, Jordan Singleton, Cody Bramlett, Jordan Chute, Samuel and Soloman Vanover, Boston Bryant and Travis Inman a big pat on the back.

At Williamsburg, Coach Jerry Herron’s Yellow Jackets won the district, which is not an easy feat with the likes of Campbellsville and Lynn Camp in that district.

Give a pat on the back to Kevin Hoffman, Chris Lowrie, J.P. Payne, Ethan Powers, Travis Thomas, Andrew Root, Cody Perkins and last but not least, Logan Hamblin.