The all area Team, has some good underclassmen for next season. Here is the article from the Independent
April 15, 2012
A little bit of everything
Rowan repeat garners another Coach of the Year selection for Thacker, Townsend named POY
Aaron Snyder
The Independent
ASHLAND — The 2011-12 version of The Independent’s All-Area boys basketball team, as voted by coaches, forms a formidable facade.
Coated with accomplishments and accolades galore, this combination of talents has an impressive appearance. And they can back it up on the court.
There’s Rowan County’s 16th Region repeat, involving All-Area Player of the Year D.J. Townsend and two-time Coach of the Year Shawn Thacker. How about a pair of 2,000-point scorers, in Fairview’s Mike Terry and Ashland’s Corey Gregg? Then there’s KABC (Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches) Co-Players of the Year Adam Wing, of Rowan County, and Derek Lawson, of West Carter.
The list goes on, or falls further below in Kyle Skaggs’ case. The junior, already a five-year starter, is on pace to shatter Russell’s career scoring mark.
So, for Townsend to carry the tag as Player of the Year, it’s an honor in every sense of the word for the Vikings’ point guard.
“It feels good to know that all the hard work’s paid off,” Townsend said. “Knowing that the coaches recognize that ... it’s a big accomplishment at the end of my career.”
Back-to-back regional titles seemed far-fetched when Thacker took over the Vikings in 2008. He recalled one area coach even telling him, “It’s going to be a long, long time.”
Four years later, Thacker has polished off another trip to Lexington, but he said it couldn’t have been done without his “Big Three.”
Townsend, Wing, an Evansville signee, and Jason Egan, were front and center as Rowan County marched to the state championship game a year ago, and then followed it up with yet a second consecutive regional title win over Ashland and a state quarterfinal appearance.
According to Thacker, being in the forefront wasn’t Townsend’s goal. Ultimately, the point guard’s apathy towards extra attention granted him more respect around the region.
“I think it’s a tribute to how he goes about his business,” Thacker said. “He plays in a first-class fashion. He understood his responsibility on this team. When he needed to try to score, he would.”
Townsend tallied 17.8 points per game to go with 4.5 assists. His numbers increased in just about every category this past season, which ended with a 67-57 loss to Southwestern at Rupp Arena.
“I had to step up defensively and rebounding-wise,” said the 5-foot-11 guard who added four boards a night. “Offensively, I was scoring, getting to the rim and also getting teammates shots.”
Townsend and Thacker, along with son and Viking sophomore Tyler Thacker, have a history that originated when Townsend and Tyler were young children.
“Growing up with (Shawn) and Tyler, Coach was almost like a second dad to me,” Townsend said. “Getting to Rupp was something (Tyler and I) talked about when we were younger. It was a dream come true.
“Doing it twice was an amazing experience that I will think about every day,” added the senior who has yet to decide where he’ll attend college in the fall.
Wing was a First-Team All-State selection as he scored 14.7 points per game and led the Vikings in rebounds (10.6). Egan topped the team in free-throw percentage (72.3) and three-point percentage (40.8). Overall, the Vikings finished top 10 in the state in three-point shooting, at 37.5 percent. Wing and Townsend each also shot better than 37 percent from long range.
Wing made his third straight All-Area team, joining Skaggs, Gregg and Terry. It was Terry’s fourth — the 6-7 guard/forward was selected as a freshman at Rose Hill Christian before transferring to Fairview and racking up three more.
Since becoming an Eagle, Terry continuously excelled and is still drawing Division-I interest. He helped the Eagles advance to the 2010 regional final and he also set a record with seven 3-pointers in a close loss to Rowan County in the first round of the regional tournament this past spring.
Terry remembered some of the past players by whom he’d been surrounded as an All-Area honoree.
“It’s pretty neat that I got to be with guys like (Ethan and Evan Faulkner, 2009 Elliott County graduates) and older players that were considered great in our region,” Terry said.
Not only did Terry and Gregg, also formerly of Rose Hill, post 2,000-plus points in their careers, but they also grabbed 1,000-plus rebounds apiece.
Gregg joined Cody Withrow and Ryan Whetsel to represent the only other school, along with Rowan County, to garner three selections. The trio also represented the Tomcats as All-Area football picks in the fall.
“It tells a lot about Ashland,” Gregg said. “We’re all team players. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t.”
Gregg and Skaggs (each at just fewer than 25 points per game) finished among the state’s top five in scoring for the season.
Joining Skaggs, who sprained his ankle and sat out most of the Red Devils’ first round regional loss to East Carter, was Luke Bailey from Russell. Bailey missed his entire junior season with a shoulder injury, but returned with a huge impact. The athletic 6-3 forward averaged 12 points and seven rebounds while also making an impressive 60 percent of his shot attempts, placing among the region’s leaders in that category.
East Carter turned a season riddled with ups and downs into a success, capped by a regional semifinal appearance. The backcourt tandem of Connor Robinson and Dylan Genung was considered of the best guard duos in the region.
The Raiders, in the 62nd District tournament, upset West Carter, which put together another tremendous season paced by junior guard Kyle Brown and Lawson. Brown led the area in free-throw shooting (83 percent) while posting 17 points per game. Lawson led the region with 12 boards a contest while chipping in 15.5 points per game.
Rounding out the All-Area squad is: Greenup County senior pair Darius Jackson and Hayden Stephenson, who together helped led the Musketeers to a 63rd District championship under first-year coach Jim Youngman; Fleming County super sophomores Darion Burns and Troy Steward; Boyd County senior Jacob Mayse; and Johnson Central sophomore Shane Hall, whose season ended in the first round of the State Tournament.
AARON SNYDER can be reached at
[email protected] or (606) 326-2664.
2011-12 ALL-AREA
BOYS BASKETBALL
Luke Bailey (Russell) Senior
Kyle Brown (West Carter) Junior
Darion Burns (Fleming County) Sophomore
Jason Egan (Rowan County) Senior
Dylan Genung (East Carter) Senior
Corey Gregg (Ashland) Senior
Shane Hall (Johnson Central) Sophomore
Darius Jackson (Greenup County) Senior
Derek Lawson (West Carter) Senior
Jacob Mayse (Boyd County) Senior
Connor Robinson (East Carter) Senior
Kyle Skaggs (Russell) Junior
Hayden Stephenson (Greenup County) Senior
Troy Steward (Fleming County) Sophomore
Mike Terry (Fairview) Senior
D.J. Townsend (Rowan County) Senior
Ryan Whetsel (Ashland) Senior
Adam Wing (Rowan County) Senior
Cody Withrow (Ashland) Senior
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
D.J. Townsend (Rowan County)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Shawn Thacker (Rowan County)
HONORABLE MENTION
BOYD COUNTY: Brandon Lowe; EAST CARTER: Kyle Stewart; ELLIOTT COUNTY: Logan Nickell; FLEMING COUNTY: Travis Taylor; LEWIS COUNTY: Brett Ruckel; MORGAN COUNTY: Jagos Lasic; PAINTSVILLE: Trevor Tiller; ROSE HILL: Andrew Wilhoit; RUSSELL: Jacob Porter