State Champion Shelby Valley Wildcats... The Early Years

[King James]

I saw this posted on another site and wanted to post it here. This is the starting five for SV from their middle school days. Ashley Hatfield, Taylor Newsome, and Tyler Newsome played for Virgie, while Cody Varney and Elisha Justice played for Dorton. Pretty interesting to look back now and see how it all came together. I knew those five kids could play, but I can't say I really expected them to win a Sweet 16...

 

 

[NKYSportsfan41]

I believe Virgie won the 7th grade championship and lost in the semifinals of the 8th grade state championship to Highlands, who went on to win the championship. Glad to see them finish their high school careers with the state championship.

[King James]

I believe Virgie won the 7th grade championship and lost in the semifinals of the 8th grade state championship to Highlands, who went on to win the championship. Glad to see them finish their high school careers with the state championship.

 

Virgie won the 8th grade championship the year before (when Hatfield and the Newsomes were 7th graders), then lost to Highlands in the semifinals as 8th graders. Dorton lost in the quarterfinals as 7th graders, and went 1-1 as 8th graders. Cody Varney set the single game scoring record for the KBA tournament that season with 35 points (averaging 29 points per game over the 2 games). This picture is from the BCI in Florence where Virgie defeated Dorton 46-35 in the championship. Dorton had defeated Lexington Catholic in double overtime, Highlands (who won the KBA that year), and Sebastian (who was KBA runner-up to Highlands) on their way to the finals. Virgie had defeated Conner, Scott County, and Ockerman to get to the final. It was obvious then that these were two special groups, but I don't think we realized how special they would become. Middle school success doesn't always translate to success in high school (just look at Sebastian/Breathitt County as an example).