#1- Royals Roll

 

Mason County hosted the Mike Murphy Classic this past week & Chris O'Hearn's team established itself as a bona fide contender in the 10th. After cruising to a first round victory over St. Patrick the Royals focused their attention on the Augusta Panthers in a rematch of last year's much-talked about 39th District Tournament game in which the Panthers were victorious. On this night Mason County established its dominance early & came away with a convincing 86-69 victory. Senior standout Shawn Johnson was superb, scoring a team-high 27 points, while pulling down 17 rebounds, handing out 7 assists, & swatting 6 blocks. In the Saturday title game, the Royals shook off a shaky first quarter and outscored Russell County 25-7 in the 2nd quarter, en route to a 59-45 triumph. The Royals starting front line of Johnson and juniors Dorian Henry & Jake O'Mara were each named to the All-Tournament Team.

 

#2- Jenkins leads Harrison County to 3rd place finish

Harrison County also took part in the Mike Murphy Classic & the Breds came away with a solid performance. In their opening contest the Breds dispatched Cooper 54-42 behind 22 points from point guard D.J. Jenkins. In the Friday night semi-final Larry Kendall's bunch trailed Russell County by double figures for 3 of 4 quarters and by as many as 19, but then issued a strong 4th quarter rally. The Breds closed to within 4 of the Lakers, but ended up falling 69-63 despite 18 from Jenkins. In the third place game on Saturday, Harrison County jumped out early & then held off feisty Augusta for a 75-68 win. Jenkins notched another 22 points, including steady play in the final quarter, but had much more help in the consolation game. Senior swingman Dillon Pulliam tallied 22 points & grabbed 12 rebounds, while junior forward Trenton Thompson added a double-double of his own, with 21 points & 10 boards. Jenkins & Pulliam were named to the All-Tournament team.

 

#3- Montgomery County wins 5

 

The Region's top squad kept its record unblemished last week, as Jason Holland's Indians answered the bell five times. Montgomery started the week with a 39-point shellacking of Bourbon County behind 19 points from DeAnte Cisero and then traveled to Berea where it won four games in three days. The Indians defeated Webster County 65-48, Madison Southern 65-52, and then doubled up Powell County 72-36. Montgomery County then battled a team it had already faced once this season in Madison Central. Leading 52-46 with just under 4:00 left and battling foul trouble, MoCo finished the game outscoring Central 15-1 en route to a 67-47 win.

 

#4- Campbell County finishes .500 for the week

The Camels started the week with their toughest battle to date, hosting 9th Region power Covington Catholic on Monday night. The visiting Colonels, behind 26 points from Nick Ruthsatz, came away with a 64-59 victory. Dre Jackson led Campbell with 17. Aric Russell's team then played three games in Raceland's Derby Classic, first scoring a 75-73 triple overtime win over Betsy Layne. Sophomore big man Matt Wilson answered the call for Campbell, who was playing without star guard Corey Holbrook, by scoring 23 points & clearing 16 rebounds. Holbrook returned in the second game, but his 21 points coupled with Jackson's 25, were not enough as Lawrence County was victorious 83-80. Campbell County did manage to close the week with a 70-60 Sunday win against the host Rams.

 

#5- Lack of size, depth troubles Panthers

 

Augusta head coach Jason Hinson entered the season knowing his team's two primary deficiencies were size and depth. Both weaknesses caught up with the Panthers this week in the Mike Murphy Classic. Augusta took care of business in the tourney's opening round with a 73-54 win over Lewis County, but then ran into the buzz saw known as Mason County in the Friday night semis, where the Royals front court dominated Hinson's undersized Panthers. Augusta then fell behind early, mounted a furious 4th quarter comeback, but fell to Harrison County 75-68 in the Saturday consolation game. The bright spot for Augusta continues to be Brent Bach, as the 6'1" senior scored 39 points against Lewis and then had a pair of 33 point outings against Mason & Harrison.

 

#6- Bishop Brossart adds two more to the win column

 

The 37th District's top squad took to the road on Friday & Saturday, first visiting Ft. Thomas for a battle with 9th Region foe Highlands. The 'Stangs jumped out to an early 17-3 lead & fought off the 'Birds late and came away with a 51-42 victory. Alex Trentman led the winners with 20 points & 4 rebounds. The 6'7" senior connected on 5-7 FG's and was 10-13 from the charity stripe. Saturday night was a much easier task for Brossart, who defeated Calvary Christian 76-26. Trentman again led the Mustangs with 14 points, while Erik Rieger & Drew Burns both chipped in with 12.

 

#7- GRC plays 3, loses 3

George Rogers Clark's competition stiffened in three outings last week, all of them away from Winchester. On Tuesday night the Cards battled 11th Region opponent Woodford County and again received solid games from Damion King, who scored a team-high 18 points and Khmarkis Blanton who added 16. But Eli Boggess' 25 points lifted the home standing Yellow Jackets to a 64-55 win. GRC then battled host Rowan County in the Kentucky Bank Challenge and came up short again, this time by a score of 66-60 despite 21 points from freshman wing Jerryd Jones. Scott Humphrey's crew suffered its most lopsided defeat of the year when it fell 64-38 to 8th Region power Collins on Saturday.

 

#8- Scott goes 2-2

 

Tuesday saw Brad Carr's Eagles ride 23 points & 13 rebounds from senior Ben Osborne on the way to a 73-47 win over Covington Holy Cross. Two nights later Scott placed three players in double figures--Blake Schneider (21), Andrew Trame (17), & Jake Ohmer (13)--as the Eagles upended Silver Grove 89-60. On Saturday the opposition was more imposing, as Scott was handed a 20 point loss (88-68) by 14th Region upstart Cordia in North Laurel's Legacy Nissan Classic. The Eagles fell once more on Sunday to East Jessamine 69-54.

 

#9- Silver Grove finding some success

The aforementioned 89-60 loss to Scott not withstanding, B.J. Aldridge's Big Trains have been on a bit of an uptick lately. After dropping its first three games of the season, Silver Grove has been victorious in 4 out of its last 5 contests. Sandwiching the loss to Scott was a 17-point win at home against Calvary Christian on Tuesday and a surprising 77-69 home win over Nicholas County on Saturday. For the season, the Trains are at .500 (4-4) & play a pair of games in Middletown, Ohio on the 27th & 28th before finishing 2013 with a December 30th home contest with St. Patrick.

 

#10- Polar Bears go 2-1 at Bellevue tourney, but experience tragedy

 

Bracken County entered Bellevue's Swauger Tournament with a 4-1 record, but fell in the tourney opener to eventual champ Beechwood 63-50 on Friday night. The Polar Bears led at the half, but the Beechwood defensive pressure was too much in the end. Freshmen Austin Crawford (22 points, 6 assists, & 5 rebounds) & Jacob Hamilton (11 points) led the Bears. Bracken bounced back on Saturday with a couple of victories over Dayton (75-46) & Williamstown (49-44). The wins were marred by tragedy, however, with the awful news that Trevor Persinger, the 28-year-old first cousin of Bracken County head coach Chad Persinger & younger brother of team statistician Bradley Persinger, had been killed in an early-morning automobile accident in Louisville on Saturday. On a personal note, Randy Parker has been blessed to be able to call a number of people friends. Polar Bears basketball coach Chad Persinger is one of my best friends in the world. I ask that you would keep him and his many family members in your thoughts & prayers over the next several days as they grieve the loss of a fine young man.

Edited December 24, 201312 yr by Randy Parker
Changes to Scott

Nice work!

Good work, RP.

 

I saw the Persinger obit in the paper today but knew others could shed more light than me. Thoughts and prayers to the Persinger family.

Made a small change to this, updating Scott's information.