Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

What’s hot and what’s not? August might have started slow but it ended with a bang as golf, volleyball, soccer and football seasons all got underway. That means some of the teams started hot and some not so hot.
HOT: The Whitley County Lady Colonels volleball team. Before the season started coach Dereck Lowery didn’t know what to expect from the year’s team since he had lost all of his starters to graduation. He knew coming into the season that they were working well together and he said “teamwork” would be a big key.
Little did he know that 10 games into the season Whitley County would be one of few teams undefeated in Kentucky. Give credit to seniors Stacey Perkins, Paula Powell and Kayla Grubb and Amanda Monhollen.
They have made a big impact on the team and Whitley County figures to be one of the top teams going into district and regional play early next month.
HOT: Williamsburg football. The Jackets are back, they are 2-0 after last week’s win over the McCreary Central Raiders. Juniors Thomas Frazier, Chase Hamblin, Tommy Helbig along with seniors Richie Moses and Andrew Middleton are making it happen. Here is another coach that didn’t even know if he would have enough to play this season after the graduation of 13 seniors on a team of 26 last year.
HOT: Jimmy Chaffin, the Lynn Camp senior had a big day against the Middlesboro Yellow Jackets two weeks ago. He ran for over 100 yards caught a couple of passes for over 100 yards and had returns totaling over 100 yards. And, he had plenty of help with the likes of quarterback Nick Scalf, running backs Josh Reynolds and Joe Roskopf along with the line play of Anthony Walters and JC Keith.
NOT SO HOT: The gas prices. It’s so bad that some schools in Kentucky had cancelled road trips in football, one of the major sports. Schools are talking about going to 4-day weeks if the prices continue to soar. Just think, it took us 50 years to 1.75 and less than a year to reach $3.
MILD HOT: The Corbin soccer teams. The boys are 3-4 but have played some good competition while the girls were 3-3 as of this writing. Seniors Chase Pugh, Trey Monaco and Max Sisson are the key to the Redhounds. Everytime they push to a new level the team does as well. This team will be capable of winning the district and region come tournament team. That’s if they listen to the leadership of coach Armondo Cima. He has been around long enough to know the competition and what this team needs to do to capture the big trophies. Right now they are a solid second in the region and catching up with South Laurel quickly.
The girls have a very knowledgeable coach in Daniel Hamblin. I can see this program reallyh growing under his leadership. I’ve already seen a lot of growth from the Madison Southern game to the Bryan Station game. Corbin looked like two completely different teams. Hamblin has a great mix of talent that should really click come tournament time. Senior Danielle Barton, junior Hannah Goins, sophomore Erica Clark and freshman Melanie Head look to be the leaders of their respective classes.
NOT SO HOT: Louisville in the second half. Give the Wildcats credit for a tremendous comeback. Kentucky should have won that game. Louisville looked like anything but a top 12 team in the second half. The Cardinals may be in for a much longer season than I expected. And UK, well it is the SEC.
IN THE OVEN: Who says the three Whitley County schools can’t get along in sports? At a recent softball coaches meeting for the new 50th District, Corbin coach Gary Akins, Whitley County coach David Halcomb/Laura Herron and new Williamsburg coach Jim Black and I were talking about tournaments and the idea came up about all three hosting one together. Out of the conversation, the Cumberland Falls Classic emerged with each team hosting three out of town teams. Since Williamsburg wasn’t sure they could host it at Briar Creek Park because of Cumberlands schedule, they decided to co-host with Whitley County.
The tournament was put on the Kentucky Prep/Coaches Association website and two weeks later it was full. Even my alma mater, Eminence HIgh School, is going to make the trip here. Bullitt Central, Harrison County Prestonsburg and Bell County are the other out of town teams. There were other teams interested. I can see this tournament growing into one of the state’s finest.
The district teams (South Laurel included) did decide to seed next year and will play each other home and away. Whitley County will host the first district tournament next year with Williamsburg, Corbin and South Laurel to follow. Corbin will host the 13th Region Tournament next year. I think with the addition of North and South Laurel it will be an exciting event.