Greensburg Record-Herald

Green County’s Kelsea Mitchell, the National Guard Player of the Game
against Somerset, receives her award here from Staff Sergeant Adam Garmon.
She was later honored as a member of the 2010 Touchstone Energy
All “A” Classic All-Tournament Team.

By Leonard VanMeter
Sports Writer

After playing well and defeating Somerset in its opening game of the All “A” Classic last Wednesday, Green County committed 33 turnovers against Newport Central Catholic two days later and was ousted from the competition. The highly ranked Lady Thoroughbreds and eventual tournament champions turned the ball over only 10 times in posting a 51-35 victory over a banged up Lady Dragon team. Newcath defeated Louisville Holy Cross 56-40 in the championship game Sunday.
Green County, the 2009 All “A” Classic’s runner-up team, opened play with a 59-45 win over Somerset. Foul problems and injuries to key Lady Dragon players limited the options for the Region 5 representative in both games.
GCHS vs. Somerset
The Lady Dragons opened play in the tournament by outscoring Somerset 37-21 in the second half to earn a first-round victory. The teams traded the lead most of the first quarter, but the Lady Jumpers led all but briefly in the next eight minute segment. A 360-degree turnaround lay-in basket by Micah Jones gave Green County a short-lived 20-19 lead . A 5-2 scoring spurt by Somerset during the three minute span before halftime gave the Region 12 representative a 24-22 lead entering the break.
Green County center Kelsea Mitchell, the National Guard Player of the Game, tied the score at 24-24 with the first basket of the second half. Her back-to-back press-breaker hoops late in the third quarter gave the Lady Dragons a 35-32 lead that would be part of a 32-13 GCHS rally to close out the game.
A 7-0 offensive run by Green County to open the final period gave the Lady Dragons the game’s first double-digit lead. A pair of free throws by Raegan Deaton just before the final buzzer gave Green County a 14 point advantage, the largest by either team.
Mitchell led all scorers with 20 points. The athletic GCHS post player also contributed eight rebounds and eight blocked shots. Jones added 11 points to the Green County offensive total, and she tied Deaton as the team’s assist leader with six. Rachel Marr joined Mitchell and Jones in double-digit scoring with 10.
GCHS vs. Newport Central Catholic
Turnovers were a problem for the Lady Dragons from the game’s start. Eight GCHS miscues in the first four minutes of play helped Newcath take an early 7-0 lead and to quickly stretch that advantage to 12-2. Although they would later tie the score at 21-21 and at 26-26, the Lady Dragons would never be able to wrest the lead from their Region 9 opponent.
An 11-7 mini-rally by Green County in the second quarter and their 5-3 scoring advantage to open the third allowed the Lady Dragons to catch up for the final time. A 25-9 offensive run by the Lady Thoroughbreds to close out the contest not only gave Newcath the win, but it also gave them the game’s largest lead. Despite the loss by Green County, nobody played the eventual tournament champion any closer than did the Lady Dragons.
GCHS point guard Micah Jones, playing despite a sore ankle, led the Lady Dragons in scoring and rebounding. She tallied nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds. In post-tournament activities, Mitchell was named to the 2010 All “A” Classic All-Tournament Team.

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Dragons suffer loss at Central Hardin

Photo by Leonard VanMeter

Green County’s Justin Givens denies the entry pass on this
Central Hardin offensive set in the second half.

By Leonard VanMeter
Sports Writer

Green County traveled to Cecilia on Jan. 26 and walked into a den of hungry Bruins. After winning only three of their 12 games during the 2009 portion of their schedule, Central Hardin appears to have emerged from hibernation in 2010. The Bruins’ 67-49 win over the Dragons last week was their fifth victory in their last six games.
Green County’s home game against Metcalfe County scheduled for Friday night was cancelled due to weather concerns.
After leading Central Hardin by three points on two different occasions early in the game, Green County failed to answer a CHHS rally that spanned two quarters, and the home team rolled to an 18 point victory. A 19-2 scoring blitz by the Bruins during the final four minutes of the opening period and the first two minutes of the second gave Central Hardin a sufficient lead to outdistance the visitors the rest of the way.
A put-back basket by Skyler Shively before halftime reduced the GCHS deficit to six points, but a 4-2 scoring advantage by the Bruins to close out the period sent the home team into the intermission with a 31-23 lead. Shively played a strong inside game in both halves, but with his 6’5” teammate Dustin Curry unavailable for duty due to an ankle injury, the junior forward had the unenviable task of trying to control the area around the basket against taller opponents.
A pair of baskets by Grayson Bills early in the third quarter cut the CHHS lead to six points, but Green county could never get closer. A 17-7 offensive charge by Central Hardin to close out the game gave the Bruins the game’s largest lead at the final buzzer.
The Dragons, now 10-7, were led in scoring by Brock Milby’s game-best 23 points. Shively scored 10 for the visitors.

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7th graders win 6th straight

Photos by Leonard VanMeter

GCMS seventh grader Noah Slinker hit this basket to give his team a 2-2 tie against Larue County. The Dragons rolled to an easy 62-29 victory.

By Leonard VanMeter
Sports Writer

The Green County seventh graders got their sixth win in a row on Jan. 26 at Campbellsville Middle School, That streak surpassed their previous best of five straight earlier in the season. The eighth grade Dragons also won their game, and Green County completed a trio of victories for the night with a win by their sixth grade dominated team. The GCMS makeshift squad consisted of all sixth grade players and a few seventh grade reserves.
The Dragons opened the week on Jan. 25 at Hodgenville with a split of their games with Larue County. The seventh graders picked up an easy win, but the GCMS eighth graders suffered a one point loss to a never-say-die Hawk team.
GCMS at Larue County
The seventh grade Dragons pushed their season record to 14-4 with an easy 62-29 victory over Larue County Middle School. A 13-2 GCMS rally to close out the first period of play gave Green County their first double-digit lead of the game.
Larue County scored five consecutive points early in the second quarter, but the Dragons responded with a run of six straight of their own to regain the game’s momentum. The visitors took a 30-17 lead into halftime.
The GCMS defense stymied the Hawk offense in the second half. The home team never managed to score consecutive baskets - free throws or field goals - following the mid-game break. Baskets by Jared Polston and Chad Emmons to close out the conference rivalry gave the Green County seventh graders a 33 point lead - the game’s largest.
Colton Bush led the Dragons in scoring and in rebounding with 21 and nine respectively. Levi Murphy led the visitors in assists with four.
The Green County eighth grade Dragons came up a basket short of going 3-0 against the Hawks this year. An unsuccessful GCMS shot attempt just ahead of the buzzer left Larue County with an exciting one point victory.
A valiant 13-5 fourth quarter comeback by the Hawks earned the home team their first victory of the season against either GCMS middle school team. Green County led by as much as eight points in the first quarter and by seven entering the final six minutes of play. A 9-0 rally by Larue County to close out the game allowed the Hawks to pull off the one point win.
Although the Dragons were superior from the field throughout the game, the Hawks were more accurate from the free-throw line where they enjoyed a double-digit margin. Green County shot their way to a 3-1 advantage from three-point range - two of them by Toby Estes.
Bush, who earlier scored 21 points in the seventh grade game, tallied 17 for the GCMS offense in the nightcap. His eighth grade teammate, Estes, netted 11.
GCMS at Campbellsville
The sixth grade Dragons went 1-0 in their only game of the season by defeating the Eagles 21-20. Jackson Edwards and Dominique Compton, both sixth graders, led the way for the visitors. Edwards scored a game-best eight points, and he also led in rebounds with seven. Compton scored seven points.
The Green County seventh graders completed their regular season with a 28-25 win over the home team. Compton led the GCMS team in scoring with 12 points, and Bush’s six rebounds represented a team best for the Dragons. Murphy led the visitors in assists with three. Green County carries an impressive 15-4 overall record into this week’s Central Kentucky Middle School Athletic Conference post-season competition.
Although the Green County seventh graders led at the end of each quarter at Campbellsville, they were never able to pull away from the home team at any point throughout the game. The Eagles actually outscored the Dragons 16-15 in the second half.
The GCMS eighth graders took an early lead over Campbellsville and roared to an easy 49-16 conference win. A three-point basket by Estes in the first period and two more in the second fueled the Dragon offense. Estes, the game’s leading scorer, also added a pair of two-point baskets as part of his 13 point night.
Green County eighth grader Kenny Banks grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds - ten of them in the second half. He also scored six points. Christian Goodin and Nick Moss each added a three-point basket to the GCMS side of the scoreboard.

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