There was quadruple joy this weekend as Corbin & Ky. teams won and Duke lost

What a weekend for sports. As I said last week, this is my favorite month for sports because of the high school and college basketball tournaments. For the most part the tournament activity didn’t disappoint.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

The Corbin boys team lost last Thursday night, but after that it was more than anyone could expect. It was a thrill a day from the ladies.

The Corbin Lady Redhounds started the thrills off by upsetting team after team and winning the 13th Region on a last second shot by Raegan Walker over South Laurel Saturday. Now Corbin advances to the state tournament and will be playing in Rupp Arena Thursday evening.

Then Sunday afternoon the Lady Cats of Kentucky pulled off a stunning win over the nation’s number one team South Carolina and won the SEC tournament.

Some of the most exciting moments I had while broadcasting came when I was doing the play-by-play of girl’s basketball. Coach Willard Farris had the Lady Redhounds in the tournaments and I was there with the broadcasts.

But the most exciting came in 1985 when the Lady Colonels of Whitley County won the state championship in Bowling Green.

It was before the Williamsburg radio stations, owned by Paul Estes, could broadcast at night. That didn’t stop him though because he could use the local TV cable system for broadcasts.

Paul asked me if I would do the play-by-play  for the tournament games. Along with Jerry Hodges who did the color commentary, Paul would pick me up each evening in his van and take me to Bowling Green.

I knew Whitley County had a good team, but for any team to dream of winning it all is a far reach. However, this team did win it all and the excitement was at a very high level.

That was fun and it is one of my highlights of 30 years of broadcasting football and basketball games in this area.

Over the weekend there was more than just basketball. On my telephone I watched the Kentucky Wildcat baseball team take two of three games from nationally ranked TCU. The highlight of those games was watching Chase Estep, a former Redhound, lead the team.

Estep, no relation, but I kinda claim him, is leading Kentucky in about every category. He was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week this week.

Chase is leading the team in hitting with a .455 batting average. He has hit four home runs, six doubles, driven in 14 runs and stolen three bases in the first 12 games of the season. Kentucky baseball is off to a good start with a 10-2 record.

As if Corbin and Kentucky winning wasn’t enough, North Carolina beat Duke in Coach K’s final game at home. For us diehard Kentucky fans that produced a bit of enjoyment.

Now the big push starts for everybody including Corbin and Kentucky ladies teams and the men’s team in the SEC tournament. This week could be as much fun as last week.

A couple of things stood out to me in the Corbin girl’s team. There are some very young players that are very good. And Isaac Wilson, a former Redhound player and now the coach of the team, is doing an outstanding job.

The News Journal is proud to devote a section of this week’s newspaper to congratulate the Lady Redhounds. Thanks to all the businesses that supported this effort. Good luck in Lexington this week. We are proud of you!