Fifth Region

By Taylor Hardin
Special to Bluegrasspreps.com

1. Elizabethtown came out of nowhere to win their first Fifth Region crown since 1998. And with four starters returning, Lady Panther head coach Tim Mudd fields the favorite to become the first region team to repeat as champion since Hart County (2000-02).

While E-town (22-7) graduated leading scorer KaBrenda Warfield, they do have plenty of offense returning around point guard Jenna Goblirsch. The 5-7 junior averaged 14.1 points and 4 assists a game last year.

Alex Jones, a 5-11 sophomore and daughter of former Louisville standout Charles Jones, averaged 8.5 points and 7.2 rebounds.

Jones will get help on the inside from 5-10 junior Alisa Dickerson (6.9 ppg., 4.7 rpg.) and 6-0 senior Angel Lucas (5.9 ppg.).

2. North Hardin - Elizabethtown’s heaviest challenge will come from North Hardin (18-10), who return Miss Basketball candidate Hope Brown.

The 5-6 senior point guard averaged 18 points and six rebounds per game, and led the Lady Trojans in assists, steals and was second in field-goal percentage.

Brown, who has topped 2,000 points in her career, gave a verbal commitment to Western Kentucky last year.

While Brown provides a senior presence, head coach Tony Perkins will also rely on a bevy of underclassmen that logged huge chunks of minutes and took eventual region champ E-town to the wire in the first round of the 17th District Tournament before losing by two in overtime.

Junior forward Mic’a Prince is one of the region’s top rebounders, and sophomores Katie Edwards and Shameen Eure should contribute more with a season of varsity experience under their belts.

Senior guard Melinda Leavell and senior forward Erica Smiley also return for North Hardin, who picked up a pair of transfers from Fort Knox, including junior Linda Dixon who averaged 8.4 rebounds last year.

3. Central Hardin (29-4) won more games than any other Fifth Region team last year but lost to Elizabethtown in the championship game of both the 17th District and Fifth Region Tournaments.

They also lost most of their frontline to graduation, giving the Lady Bruins more of a perimeter team this year.

Junior guard Kylie Brady hit 38 3-point goals, while fellow junior Samantha Sheeran tossed in 52 goals from behind the arc.

CH head coach Terry Buckles will look for contributions from several underclassmen to get his team back to Bowling Green for the first time since 2004.

Central Hardin is also hosting the Shivley Sports Invitational in December that will bring several teams from around the state to Cecilia.

4. Hart County (21-11) survived a January slump that saw them lose six of eight games before rebounding to win the 18th District title.

5-11 Junior Megan Isaacs averaged 19.6 points and 13.7 rebounds in becoming the fastest player to reach 1,000 points in Hart County history.

Giving head coach Tommy Adams a nice inside-outside combo is sophomore guard Lindsay Highbaugh, broke her own school record with nearly 90 3-pointers last year.

5. Nelson County (24-6) claimed the 19th District championship and fell to eventual region champ Elizabethtown by three points in the second round of the region tournament. With four starters back, including one of the top inside players in the region, new coach Kelly Wood is hopeful the Lady Cardinals can claim the school’s first region title since 1990.

Wood, who is also the Nelson County baseball coach, will look to feed the basketball to 6-0 senior Amy Kurtz as much as possible. Kurtz suffered a knee injury in the district title game but should be ready to lead Nelson in scoring for a second straight season.

6. Adair County (16-12) returns the most experience in the region, with head coach James Turner returning all five starters from last year’s team that won the 20th District title.

7. Marion County (7-21) has a new coach – Trent Milby – who comes to Lebanon from Caverna. Also coming from Caverna is junior Tacarra Hayes, who averaged 22.2 points and 8.2 rebounds.

Top Players

1. Hope Brown (North Hardin)

2. Megan Issacs (Hart County)

3. Tacarra Hayes (Marion County)

4. Amy Kurtz (Nelson County)

5. Lindsay Highbaugh (Hart County)

6. Kylie Brady (Central Hardin)

7. Samantha Sheeran (Central Hardin)

8. Alex Jones (Elizabethtown)

9. Laura Walker (Adair County)

10. Mic’a Prince (North Hardin)