Week 2 Hot Stove: All “A” Regionals, surprises
Quite literally, a hot stove — a perfect place for half-cooked sports nuggets. (No stoves were hurt in this process.)
Murray sweeps First Region All ‘A’ for second-straight season
After opening the season with a 10-point loss at Webster County, the Murray Tigers motored in defense of their All “A” First Region basketball title this past week — rolling through Ballard Memorial (81-25 on Jan. 12), Hickman County (77-36 on Jan. 15) and St. Mary (61-42 on Jan. 16) for another trip to Richmond’s McBrayer Arena.
And Dior’s dudes — Curtis, that is — did to the Bombers, Falcons and Vikings what they may do against the rest of the First Region moving forward: make 3-pointers at an alarming rate.
In 12 quarters of tournament basketball, the Tigers tickled the twine quite effectively from the arc — shooting 26-for-51 (50.9%) as a team.
Contributions aplenty, it was understandably sophomore guard Grant Whitaker leading the way in scoring, when he went 24-for-34 (70.5%) from the field and averaged 21.3 ppg in the stretch.
Speaking of splashing 3-pointers, the Murray Lady Tigers needed a terrific barrage from senior Makenzie Turley this past Sunday to earn a 10th-straight First Region All “A” title — avenging an opening-season loss to Mayfield by topping the feisty Lady Cardinals 47-40.
Turley showed shades of her older sister, Macey, by going an unconscious 7-for-10 from deep, en route to a season-high 27 points.
Clearly, she was long overdue at the arc…as she came into the championship game shooting 3-for-19 from there before unleashing mayhem on Mayfield.
Lady Falcons firing from afar
Murray nearly didn’t make it to the championship, however, as First District foe Hickman County almost ended the Lady Tigers’ excessive grip on the First Region All “A” before falling 43-38.
Now at 3-1 on the year, coach Shayne Midyett has gotten some exceptional shooting from his daughter, Justice, and returning senior Kadey Wilkey. The duo combined to go 8-for-15 from the arc against the Lady Tigers, and on the season, Wilkey (12-for-27), Midyett (8-for-20) and junior Rancey Skaggs (14-for-29) are all hitting more than 40% of their threes.
That kind of sustained precision could be enough to repeat as First District champions, and it almost was enough to push into the First Region All “A” final against Mayfield. No reason, however, to count out the Carlisle County Lady Comets (2-1) as tough district foes, however, who had to bow out of the 2021 First Region All “A” Tournament due to COVID-19 protocols.
Lady Eagles lone undefeated in First Region
Now at 6-0 after Week 2 wins against Calloway County, Community Christian Academy and Caruthersville, Missouri, the Graves County Lady Eagles remain as the lone-standing undefeated team in the First Region.
The 3-point shooting still hasn’t come around entirely, with Nealey Jackson (9-for-22) as the only one shooting above 40%, but the Lady Eagles are shooting 51.6% from two after 24 quarters.
The next three games — Henderson County (Jan. 22, home), McCracken County (Jan. 26, home) and Marshall County (Jan. 29, away) — should provide a terrific, terrific test for Lyndon Dunning and his ladies.
Remain undefeated after that rough of a gauntlet, and it’ll be time to start thinking about what the First Region postseason might look like.
Surprises of the Week: Calloway County Lakers, St. Mary Vikings
Brad Cleaver and the Lakers now sit at 2-2 after a strong 75-74 win against Fourth District foe Marshall County on Jan. 15 at “The Jeff” — a layup from senior Evan Garrison with less than three seconds to go sealing the deal.
Shooting 12-for-18 from the arc (Matthew Ray, 4/5; Jackson Chapman 5/7, Jarrett Darnell 2/2) certainly helped matters and was certainly needed, as the Marshals got 33 points from one of the nation’s top-30 players in point guard Zion Harmon and another 15 points from Colby Schroader.
But it was a 29-18 rebounding edge, while holding the Marshals to 5-for-23 from the arc, really keying the victory.
The Lakers now have wins over the Marshals and St. Mary, as well as losses to Carlisle County and Graves County, in what is beginning to look like a very, very interesting battle for a Fourth District regular-season No. 1 seed.
Meanwhile, first-year head coach Chase Denson and St. Mary pulled their own stunner this past week, in an edge-of-your-seat 61-59 win over the Mayfield Cardinals in the All “A” First Region semifinals.
Carson-Newman baseball signee and senior forward Bryce Haas had the game-winning layup, while fellow senior Parker MacCauley showcased how he could be a top-10 regional player with 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting.
After averaging 8.6 ppg a year ago behind leading scorer Colin Doss (15.3 ppg, Webster University), MacCauley is averaging 18.0 ppg through five games and his shooting a strong 44% from the arc. He had 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting against the Tigers in Saturday’s First Region All “A” championship game, and it’s time to take his nearly 10.0 ppg improvement quite seriously.
Haas’ game-winner vs. Mayfield
New Faces: Lyon County Lyons, Crittenden County Lady Rockets
A pair of fresh foes were crowned Second Region All “A” champions this past weekend, when the Lyon County Lyons ended a 12-year drought and upended Caldwell County, 88-60, and the Crittenden County Lady Rockets edged the Lyon County Lady Lyons, 41-35.
Averaging 26.2 ppg on 53.2% shooting from the floor heading into tipoff with the Tigers, freshman sensation Travis Perry erupted for 31 points to help the Lyons pull away early.
And averaging a shade of 9.0 ppg coming into the contest, senior forward Nahla Woodward stitched together 25 points — including 14 in a pivotal fourth-quarter swing.
Even more impressive, Lyon County (5-0) and Crittenden County (6-0) remained undefeated with their efforts.
for those who inquired. 