The Best Seat in the House

Devin Conley of Garrard County has been invited to try out for the Kentucky-Indiana Junior All-Stars series.

Conley is the only Advocate-area player among 40 girls and 42 boys invited to try out for the Kentucky junior all-star teams March 23-24 at Georgetown College. The list of invitees was determined by a voting process made available to all coaches in the state.

The two-game series was added last year to the program that features games between the Kentucky and Indiana senior all-stars. The juniors’ game in Kentucky will be played June 7 in Louisville at a location to be announced. The two seniors’ games will be played June 14 at Freedom Hall in Louisville and June 15 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

News and notes from day 2 of the girls 12th Region Tournament at Pulaski County:

• Lincoln County defeated Somerset 62-43; Mercer County defeated McCreary Central 57-51. Lincoln (25-5) plays Mercer (25-8) in Monday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinal.
• The anticipated semifinal showdown between Lincoln and Mercer is set, but only after two first-round games that were closer than expected. Lincoln didn’t begin to pull away from Somerset until late in the third quarter, and Mercer never could shake McCreary.
• The semifinal will be a rematch of a semifinal last year, which Lincoln won 54-50 on its way to the Girls Sweet Sixteen. The Lady Patriots have won eight of the last nine games in the series, including this year’s regular-season meeting, a 64-55 win on Feb. 5.
• The Lincoln and Mercer wins also ensure that an Advocate-area team will go to the Girls Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive year and the third time in five years.
• Lincoln’s lead over Somerset on Thursday was just 32-27 with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter, and it was 35-29 before the Lady Patriots went on a 20-2 run that started with a string of seven straight points and also included another eight in a row and left them with a 55-31 lead.
• Lincoln players hit two buzzer-beaters in the first half, a 3-pointer by Emily Fox to close the first quarter and a basket by Kelsi Honaker to close the first half. Each team had scored only four points in the second quarter before Honaker’s bucket gave the Lady Patriots a 23-17 halftime lead.
• Fox led Lincoln with 19 points, and Sydney Harris scored 12. Virginia Scott led Somerset with 17 points, and Maranda Mills added 10. They are among three returning starters who will return for the Lady Jumpers, who finished 13-18 in their first season under coach Erin Walker.
• Mercer fought off McCreary down the stretch, surviving an epidemic of missed free throws and 3-point shots to win. The Lady Raiders had a chancce to tie or take the lead with 53 seconds to play, but they gave up an offensive rebound and a turnover in the remaining time. Raegan Freeman came up with a turnover and got the ball to Heidi Huffman for a layup at :32 that made it a four-point game, and Catheryne Claunch hit two free throws at :13 to finish the Titans’ win.
• The Titans struggled at the free-throw line, especially in the fourth quarter. They made seven of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter, and Claunch, a 63 percent shooter at the line, was 5 for 12. Mercer was also just 1 for 20 from 3-point range, where it was shooting 32 percent entering the regional.
• Defense didn’t fail Mercer, however, as the Titans forced 23 turnovers by McCreary and had 18 steals. Claunch and Kandace Gash had four steals each, and Huffman and Cassidy Martin had three each.
• There were nine ties and seven lead changes, and McCreary led for large portions of the second and third periods. Neither team led by more than six points. Mercer took the lead for good at 39-38 when Freeman hit two free throws 19 seconds into the fourth quarter, and Carli Souder followed with the Titans’ only 3-point goal.
• Martin scored 17 points, Claunch had 15 and Huffman had 12 for Mercer. Kaylee Cotton led McCreary with 22 points, but she picked up her fourth and fifth fouls early in the fourth quarter, fouling out with 6:11 to go.
• The girls regional is off until Monday, but the boys regional resumes tonight with the semifinals. Wayne County (25-7) faces West Jessamine (18-11) tat 6 p.m., and Mercer County (17-13) plays Somerset (19-9) at 7:30. Wayne defeated West Jessamine 66-61 on Feb. 8; Mercer and Somerset have not met in at least 15 years.

News and notes from day 1 of the girls 12th Region Tournament at Pulaski County:

• Casey County defeated Burgin 62-38; Boyle County defeated Southwestern 51-48. Casey (14-15) plays Boyle (18-13) in Monday’s 6 p.m. semifinal.
• Casey had little trouble pushing past Burgin to reach the semifinals for the third consecutive year and the fifth time in six years. The Lady Rebels scored the first nine points of the game and were never threatened.
• Casey reached the semifinal round for the third consecutive year and the fifth time in six years. Burgin was making its third consecutive regional appearance but has not escaped the first round in any of those three years.
• Lakken Miller and Christin Terry scored 14 points each and Tiara Cochran added 11 for Casey. Summer Burke and Taylor Sanders led Burgin with 13 points each.
• Burgin finished 14-16 under coach Ray Daniels, who took the reins of the program only five days before the start of the season. The Lady Bulldogs lose three senior starters to graduation.
• Boyle lost its first game of the season to Southwestern by 27 points, but the Lady Rebels avenged that loss with a ferocious comeback in their first-round game. They fell behind 13-3 in the early going and trailed 19-8 after one quarter, then pulled within 24-21 early in the third quarter. Southwestern responded with 11 straight points to take a 35-21 lead, and was still up 43-32 when the fourth quarter began.
• The Lady Warriors had hit five 3-point shots in the third quarter, but they had only one field goal in the final period. They struggled to get the ball into the frontcourt against Boyle’s pressure and burned through their last three timeouts in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. The Lady Rebels scored eight straight points to tie the game at 45-all with 3:30 left, and Kalin Bottoms’ basket gave them a 47-46 lead with 1:42 to play, their first lead since they scored the first basket of the game. Chelsea Gill answered two Southwestern free throws with a layup, and the Lady Warriors’ Adison Corder was called for charging on their next possession. Hannah Harris and Dee Foster each went 1 for 2 at the free-throw line in the closing seconds for Boyle, with Foster coming up with a key offensive rebound. Southwestern’s desperation shot to tie the game was wide right.
• Harris led a balanced Boyle scoring attack with 13 points. Bottoms had 10 points, Marlee Smith had nine, Gill had eight and Lauren Richards had six. Corder and Samantha Fitzgerald led Southwestern with 14 points each.
• Southwestern had 17 turnovers, including seven in the fourth quarter, when Boyle outscored it 19-5.
• The win was Boyle’s first in a regional tournament since 2001, when the Lady Rebels defeated Wayne County and Somerset in the first two rounds before losing to Lincoln County in the championship game.
• The first-round concludes tonight when defending champion Lincoln County (24-5) faces Somerset (13-17) at 6 p.m. and Mercer County (24-8) plays McCreary Central (16-14) at 7:30. Lincoln defeated Somerset 60-42 on Jan. 28; Mercer and McCreary did not meet during the regular season.

News and notes from day 2 of the boys 12th Region Tournament at Lincoln County:

• Mercer County defeated Southwestern 56-54 in overtime; Somerset defeated Boyle County 51-50. Mercer (17-13) plays Somerset (19-9) in Friday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinal.
• Another great night of regional basketball, finishing off an exception first round. Both games were close from start to finish; both came down to the final possession. There was no lead larger than nine points in either game. The four first-round games Monday and tonight were decided by an average of 4.25 points, with three of them decided by three or fewer.
• Mercer appeared to be beaten in regulation when Southwestern’s Isaiah Collier scored on a layup with two seconds left. The Titans called timeout at :01.9, called another at midcourt at :01.3 immediately after the inbounds pass, then caught a break when Blake Pennington was fouled by Adam Isaacs on the second inbounds play. Pennington hit two free throws to force overtime.
• The Titans led 55-51 with 21 seconds left in overtime, but the Warriors’ David Kapinga hit a 3-pointer at :15. Will Hager then made one of two free throws for Mercer, and Southwestern’s Isaacs missed a 3-point shot from the right corner ahead of the buzzer.
• Mercer made 10 of 14 free throws, including five of six in overtime.
• Hager had 17 points, Pennington had 16 and John Ingram had 12 for Mercer. Justin Edwards led Southwestern with 21 points; Kapinga added 13.
• Southwestern’s loss means the defending champion was knocked out in the first round for the second consecutive year. 2011 champion Wayne County lost a first-round game to East Jessamine last year.
• Somerset won despite scoring only three points in the final 3:17. Ryan Dishman scored on a putback with 1:52 left, then hit two free throws at :54 to make it a four point game. Boyle’s Chapman Bean hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left, then forced a turnover by Dishman with 15 seconds left. The Rebels’ Hagen Tyler was fouled with 5.3 seconds left, but he missed the front end of the bonus. Boyle’s Micah Miniard rebounded, but Dishman stripped the ball from him, and the Rebels couldn’t foul Dishman before time expired.
• Somerset scored the first nine points of the game, but Boyle led by eight points midway through the third quarter and was still up by six midway through the fourth.
• Boyle, which shot an area-best 73.3 percent at the free-throw line through the district tournaments, made only three of 11 foul shots. Somerset was 8 for 12 at the line.
• Dishman led Somerset with 15 points, followed by Ryan Weddle with 12 and Cam Cheuvront with 10. Tyler had 14 points, Bean had 11 and Brett Jones had 10 for Boyle.
• The girls 12th Region Tournament opens Wednesday at Pulaski County. The first-round doubleheader begins with Casey County (13-15) facing Burgin (14-15) at 6 p.m., followed by Southwestern (19-11) facing Boyle County (17-13) at 7:30. Casey defeated Burgin 63-46 on Feb. 14; Southwestern defeated Boyle 61-34 on Nov. 30.

The regional review returns, with nightly nuggets from the boys and girls 12th Region Tournaments. Tonight, here are news and notes from day 1 of the boys regional at Lincoln County:

• Wayne County defeated Pulaski County 57-54; West Jessamine defeated Lincoln County 79-69. Wayne (25-7) plays West Jessamine (18-11) in Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal.
• The Pulaski-Wayne game was, in a word, terrific. It was a memorable battle between two teams good enough to win this region that came down to a final shot. Wayne took a 55-54 lead on Jason Perkins’ 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining, a basket that followed two missed free throws by Tyler Goins of Pulaski, whose team was just 1 for 7 at the foul line. The Maroons turned the ball over with 11 seconds left, and Perkins hit two free throws at :07 to make it a three-point game. The Cardinals had a foul to give, but they chose to keep it in their pocket. Pulaski’s Taylor Gover got a good look for a 3-point shots from the left side, but neither it nor a tip-in attempt by Sean Ross would go down before time ran out.
• Neither team led by more than five points before Pulaski went up 31-24 midway through the third quarter, but Wayne wiped out that lead in less than three minutes, and the teams were never separated by more than three points in the final 10 minutes.
• Kody Johnson of Pulaski led all scorers with 28 points, more than half of his team’s total. Corey Stearns scored 15 points to lead Wayne, and Perkins and Dagan Shelton had 13 each for the Cardinals.
• Youth won out over experience. Wayne starts two freshmen, a sophomore, a junior and a senior; Pulaski starts four seniors and a sophomore.
• The second game was shaping up to be just as close until West Jessamine pulled away from Lincoln in the third quarter. The Colts led by two points at halftime, eased out to a six-point edge, then scored nine straight points at the front end of a 13-2 run that left them with a 50-32 lead with less than 90 seconds left in the period. The Patriots made one last run in the closing minutes when they scored eight straight points to pull within 75-68, but that was as close as they got.
• Chase Fain scored a game-high 26 points for West Jessamine. Daulton Peters scored 19 points and Will Henderson added 13 for the Colts. B.J. Hoover and Timmy Taylor scored 18 points each for Lincoln, and Luke Hill had 14 points.
• Lincoln loses only one senior (Hill), while West Jessamine is older but not that old. The Colts have five seniors, but only two start.
• The first round concludes Tuesday when Southwestern (22-8) faces Mercer County (16-13) at 6 p.m. and Boyle County (15-12) faces Somerset (18-9) at 7:30. Southwestern defeated Mercer 84-57 on Feb. 14. Boyle and Somerset did not meet during the regular season.

Two area girls teams with the best records in the region drew into the same bracket Sunday for the Girls 12th Region Tournament, which opens Wednesday at Pulaski County.

Defending champion Lincoln County and Mercer County, each of whom has 24 wins, could meet in the semifinals next week if they get past their first-round opponents.

The regional draw held Sunday at Somerset revealed that Lincoln will play Somerset, one of three teams in the field with a losing record, in the first of two first-round game Thursday, and Mercer will play McCreary Central immediately afterward.

Lincoln, the 45th District champion, defeated 47th District runner-up Somerset 60-42 on Jan. 28; Mercer, the 46th District winner, and McCreary, the 48th District runner-up, have not met this season.

Lincoln is 15-0 against 12th Region foes, including a 64-55 win over Mercer on Feb. 5 in Stanford. The Patriots’ ledger this year also features wins over Southwestern and Casey County, the other two district champions in the field. They defeated Southwestern 65-50 and beat Casey 55-40.

The other two sub-.500 teams in the regional field, 47th District champion Casey County and 45th District runner-up Burgin, will meet in the opening game of the tournament Wednesday. Their game comes just 13 days after Casey defeated Burgin 63-46 in Liberty.

Boyle County, the 45th District runner-up, will meet 48th District champion Southwestern in Wednesday’s second game. Southwestern defeated Boyle 61-34 in the Rebels’ season opener Nov. 30 in Somerset.

The winners meet in semifinal games March 4, with the championship set for March 5. The regional champion will play March 14 in the Girls Sweet Sixteen in Bowling Green. Here’s the full schedule for the boys regional, with district winners listed first in the first-round matchups:

12th Region Tournament

GIRLS

At Pulaski County

First Round

Wednesday, Feb. 27

Casey County (13-15) vs. Burgin (14-15), 6 p.m.

Southwestern (19-11) vs. Boyle County (17-13), 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 28

Lincoln County (24-5) vs. Somerset (13-17), 6 p.m.

Mercer County (24-8) vs. McCreary Central (16-14), 7:30 p.m.

———

Monday, March 4

Semifinals

Casey County-Burgin winner vs. Southwestern-Boyle County winner, 6 p.m.

Lincoln County-Somerset winner vs. Mercer County-McCreary Central winner, 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 5

Championship

Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.

The boys 12th Region Tournament opens with a must-see game, and there will be plenty of good basketball after that in what figures to be a wide-open event next week at Lincoln County.

Pulaski County plays Wayne County in the first first-round game Monday, a battle between the teams with the two best records in the region — Pulaski is 23-6; Wayne is 24-7 — and a rematch of a tight game Jan. 18 that Wayne won at home 74-72.

The second game in a stacked upper bracket is also a rematch, as West Jessamine will face Lincoln County. The Colts won 64-62 at Lincoln on Dec. 11. And Tuesday’s lower-bracket card also opens with a rematch, as Southwestern faces Mercer County just 12 days after the Warriors spanked the Titans 84-57 at Southwestern.

The only first-round game that isn’t a rematch is the last one, which pits Boyle County against Somerset in Tuesday’s second game. The teams haven’t met since December 2008.

The Rebels appear to have gotten the best draw among Advocate-area teams, having avoided the tougher of the two brackets and steered clear of playing any of the region’s powerhouses in the first round. On the other hand, they face a possible semifinal matchup with Southwestern, which beat them in last year’s regional final.

Pairings for the girls regional will be drawn Sunday, as there are still titles to be decided tonight in the 47th and 48th districts. Here’s the full schedule for the boys regional, with district winners listed first in the first-round matchups:

12th Region Tournament

BOYS

At Lincoln County

First Round

Monday, Feb. 25

Pulaski County (23-6) vs. Wayne County (24-7), 6 p.m.

West Jessamine (17-11) vs. Lincoln County (15-17), 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 26

Southwestern (22-8) vs. Mercer County (16-13), 6 p.m.

Boyle County (15-12) vs. Somerset (18-9), 7:30 p.m.

———

Friday, March 1

Semifinals

Pulaski County-Wayne County winner vs. West Jessamine-Lincoln County winner, 6 p.m.

Southwestern-Mercer County winner vs. Boyle County-Somerset winner, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 2

Championship

Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m.

If this basketball postseason has taught us anything thus far, it is that there is virtually no difference between most of the teams seeded second and third in four- or five-team districts. And that’s something we already knew.

Still, that maxim has been underscored once again this week in the 12th Region, where four of the six district tournament games played between Nos. 2 and 3 seeds have been won by the lower seeded team.

The following No. 3 seeds have already taken down No. 2s this week: Boyle County boys (over Lincoln County, 45th District), Boyle County girls (over Danville, 45th), Mercer County boys (over East Jessamine, 46th) and Burgin girls (over East Jessamine, 46th).

Seeding has held in two other matchups: Somerset boys over Rockcastle County (47th) and Southwestern boys over McCreary Central (48th), with two girls 2-vs.-3 games scheduled for tonight.

If you’re looking for a surprise among teams that have qualified for next week’s regionals, the closest thing you’ll find is probably the Boyle girls, whose win over Danville on Wednesday was only their second in the last eight meetings between the archrivals and who might not have been expected to duplicate their January win, especially after Danville crushed them in their most recent showdown.

The field for the boys 12th Region Tournament is full, but there are still three spots open in the girls field. Both semifinals in the 47th District and one in the 48th will be played tonight.

Here’s the full list of regional qualifiers, listed in order of their district seeds:

Boys

• 45th District: Boyle County (14-12), Lincoln County (15-16)
• 46th District: West Jessamine (16-11), Mercer County (16-12)
• 47th District: Pulaski County (22-6), Somerset (18-8)
• 48th District: Wayne County (24-6), Southwestern (21-8).

Girls

• 45th District: Lincoln County (23-5), Boyle County (17-12)
• 46th District: Mercer County (23-8), Burgin (14-14)
• 47th District: No qualifiers.
• 48th District: Southwestern (18-11)

All four boys district finals will be played Friday. The girls finals are spread out over three days, beginning with the 46th tonight, the 45th on Friday and the 47th and 48th on Saturday.

The boys regional begins Monday at Lincoln County; the girls regional begins Wednesday at Pulaski County. Pairings for the boys tourney will be drawn Saturday, the girls drawing is Sunday, and the results of both draws will be posted here.

It still isn’t certain that this is the final year of operation for the financially troubled Monticello school district, but it still isn’t looking good there.

That means that the school’s boys and girls basketball teams will probably play their final games this week in the 47th District Tournament, or perhaps next if they advance to the 12th Region Tournament, which isn’t likely. The two teams have only nine wins between them this season, and both are the No. 4 seeds in their respective districts.

It’s fitting, however, that the Trojans and Lady Trojans will apparently go out at home. They’re hosting the 47th District tourney this week in their little bandbox, with the Monticello boys playing Wayne County in a semifinal tonight and the girls playing Southwestern on Wednesday.

The locals will talk about the sad end of an era and cheer their teams one last time, but the tourney also offers a final opportunity to take in the history of a school and a gymnasium that are both more interesting than the average fan realizes.

Did you know, for example, that the Monticello boys have more regional championships than any other past or present 12th Region school? The Trojans have won 16 of them, the first in 1922 — the first year of the state tournament as we know it today — and the last in 1987. No one else even comes close, with Somerset (9), Danville (8), Wayne County (8) and Laurel County (7) next on the list.

The Trojans also rank among the top 10 teams in the state in wins — they have been around for more than 100 years, after all — and if they close this year, they’ll still be on that top-10 list for at least four or five more years.

Then there’s that gym, which has been my favorite gym in the 12th Region since the first time I walked in the door 20 years or so ago. It certainly isn’t the biggest or the nicest, but it is the oldest, and you’d be hard-pressed to find many other gyms still in use in Kentucky that have more character or history than theirs. It’s so good, I think it could easily have served as the setting for some faceless visiting team in “Hoosiers” if that movie had been shot in Kentucky instead of Indiana.

The walls echo with the noise of great games played before packed houses throughout the building’s 80-year history, and they display banners that tout the exploits of some truly great teams and individuals that have played there during that time, including 19 regional championship teams (16 boys, three girls) and one boys team that reached the state finals in 1960.

Gyms like that remind you of a time when the local high school basketball game was all that mattered on a cold Friday night. If you were a fan, you knew you’d better get there early for a game against a rival or a postseason game. If you were an opposing coach or player, you knew you were in for a long, hot night.

I’ve made only four or five trips to Monticello’s gym during my time in Danville, but I always looked forward to them, and I wish I had time to go back once more this week. If you can’t make it either, at least read Mike Fields’ excellent story from Sunday’s Lexington Herald-Leader that takes a good, long look at the school, the team and the gym. And if you do go this week, of course, get there early.

Ready or not, the postseason is here.

Most area basketball coaches would probably say they’re not, because most don’t think their teams are ever truly ready, and the start of district tournament play this week is probably catching a few fans by surprise as well.

Today is the earliest postseason start date I can remember in more than 30 years of watching high school basketball. The districts will be over by Feb. 22, the regionals are wrapped up by March 5, and both state tournaments will be in the books by March 16. Couple this with a later-than-usual end to the college basketball season — the NCAA tournament doesn’t start until March 19 — and it seems as if the high school season is ending in a hurry.

Yet it isn’t much different from last year, when the district tourneys also started on Presidents Day (Feb. 20), or from the past several seasons.

Still, here it is. Two of the districts that include local teams, the 45th and 46th, open play tonight, while the 47th tips off Tuesday.

Here are the schedules for all three tournaments (seeds and records are in parentheses), along with the anticipated dates for the regional tournaments:

BOYS

45th District

At Boyle County

Monday, Feb. 18

Garrard County (4; 6-21) vs. Kentucky School for the Deaf (5, 5-21), 7:45 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 19

Boyle County (1; 13-12) vs. Garrard County-Kentucky School for the Deaf winner, 7:45 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 20

Danville (2; 10-15) vs. Lincoln County (3; 14-16), 7:45 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 22

Championship, 7:45 p.m.

46th District

At East Jessamine

Monday, Feb. 18

West Jessamine (1; 15-11) vs. Burgin (4; 9-17), 6 p.m.

East Jessamine (2; 23-7) vs. Mercer County (3; 15-12), 7:45 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 21

Championship, 7 p.m.

47th District

At Somerset

Tuesday, Feb. 19

Pulaski County (1; 21-6) vs. Casey County (4; 14-16), 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 20

Somerset (2; 17-8) vs. Rockcastle County (3; 7-21), 7 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 22

Championship, 7 p.m.

* * *

12th Region Tournament

At Lincoln County

Feb. 25-26, March 1-2

========

GIRLS

45th District

At Boyle County

Monday, Feb. 18

Garrard County (4; 16-7) vs. Kentucky School for the Deaf (5; 0-24), 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 19

Lincoln County (1; 22-5) vs. Garrard County-Kentucky School for the Deaf winner, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 20

Danville (2; 18-9) vs. Boyle County (3; 16-12), 6 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 22

Championship, 7:45 p.m.

46th District

At East Jessamine

Tuesday, Feb. 19

Mercer County (1; 22-8) vs. West Jessamine (4; 5-18), 6 p.m.

East Jessamine (2; 17-8) vs. Burgin (3; 13-14), 7:45 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 22

Championship, 7 p.m.

47th District

At Somerset

Thursday, Feb. 21

Casey County (1; 11-15) vs. Pulaski County (4; 12-17), 6:30 p.m.

Rockcastle County (2; 16-11) vs. Somerset (3; 12-16), 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 23

Championship, 7 p.m.

* * *

12th Region Tournament

At Pulaski County

Feb. 27-28, March 4-5