Darren Doyle, story:
After a second quarter deficit, the Wildcats struggled to play catch up the rest of the night as they took their first loss of the season against Grayson County last night on the road, 56-50. 

Both teams looked a bit ragged in the first with several turnovers and missed shots as the scored was tied 8-8 at the end of the quarter. Grayson County found success by pressuring the ball, hitting the boards, and knocking down shots in the second quarter. The Wildcats had 11 turnovers at the half as they trailed 25-18. 

While it wasn't a blowout, Edmonson County was never able to get over the hump as Grayson kept the momentum in their favor throughout the second half. The Wildcats almost got a fire started with a 7-1 run with 2 minutes to go to cut Grayson County's lead to 48-44, but as Edmonson County was forced to foul to try to control the clock and the Cougars were able to hit free throws down the stretch for the win.

Unofficial stats for the game were:

Chaz Wilson 14pts-10 rebounds, Gavin Rose 8pts-2 rebounds, Daniel Woosley 7pts-7rebounds, Trace Taylor 6 pts-8 rebounds, Lane Lindsey 5pts-7 rebounds, Jon Smith 5pts-2 rebounds, Dylan Lindsey 3pts, Cole Saling 1pt.

Edmonson County is now 3-1 on the season and is scheduled to take on Metcalfe County tonight at ECHS in a G/B doubleheader with the girls game beginning at 6pm. The WildcatsLive crew will bring you the live video and audio streams only on the Edmonson Voice. 

Darren Doyle, story: Alyssa Doyle, photos:
At times it wasn't the prettiest, but the Wildcats were able to execute their game plan last night in Whitesville as they defeated the Trinity Raiders 63-47. 

A dominating start set the tone for the rest of the physical game, which is always expected when playing the Raiders. Edmonson County jumped out to a 19-4 lead in the first quarter thanks to their defensive pressure that turned Raider turnovers into Wildcat points.

While the competition would be fairly equal for the remainder of the game, the Raiders couldn't overcome the deficit they saw in the first quarter.

Chaz Wilson scored 15 points and grabbed 15 boards on the night while Daniel Woosley and Gavin Rose added 12 points each for the Wildcats. 

Jon Smith added 9 points, Trace Taylor had 7, Dylan Lindsey and Braden Wall had 3 points each, and Tyler Anderson added 2 points. 

Edmonson County was able to control a 15-point-or-so cushion throughout the rest of the game with three Cats in double figures, while nearly everyone that saw game action got in the scoring book. Every Wildcat notched at least one rebound as well.

Coach Mac discussed the win after the game.

"We played in spurts tonight," he said. "We had good spurts and we had sloppy spurts."

He discussed the defensive effort from his team.

"We've been working on it and we want to continue to do that as much as possible. It was key tonight that we play that type of defense because this was their (Trinity) first game tonight and we knew that if we got after them a little bit, cause some pressure, then it might cause some problems, but it was a typical Trinity team because they didn't quit."

"Everybody knew that these first games in the district were going to be big, so a big win on the road and I'm pleased with that," added McClintic.

Edmonson County is 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in District 12 play. They are set to face Bethlehem High School at home today at 12 noon. There will be no game coverage on the Edmonson Voice today but live video streams will be available for Tuesday's games against Metcalfe County at home in a G/B doubleheader beginning at 6PM. 

Darren Doyle, story: Alyssa Doyle photos:
It took three quarters to really get things moving, but once they did, the Lady Cats did it in a big way as they defeated the Trinity Lady Raiders in Whitesville Friday night 67-42.

Edmonson County outscored Trinity 34-11 in the final quarter to secure the district win, improving to 3-2 on the season and 2-0 in district play.

Led by Macie McCombs' 19 points and sophomore Lily Jayne Vincent's 16 points and 16 rebounds, Edmonson County scraped by for three quarters, as the score difference never reached above 6 points; however, the Lady Cats outlasted Trinity down the stretch and the rebounding became much more of a team effort, which snuffed out most all the Lady Raiders' second chance opportunities.

Coach Bart Weaver said it seems like this is a regular thing when coming to Trinity; fighting back-and-forth then getting it done at the end.

"I told them, you do this to me every time we come here. You let them in it, you let them hang around, then you finally take care of business," he said. "All I can say is that they did it again."

Edmonson County led 11-7 after the first and 21-17 at halftime. Trinity refused to go away after a couple of runs by Edmonson County and tied the score at 28 with just over a minute left in the third. Edmonson clung to a 33-31 lead going into the fourth but began to pull away about three minutes into the final quarter. Trinity began to foul towards the end of the contest but Edmonson County was efficient with their free throws to seal the deal. 

Katie Lindsey scored 17 for the Lady Cats while being held to only two points in the first half. She also added 6 assists and 3 rebounds. 

Also scoring for Edmonson County were Hallie Cassady, 7 points-6 rebounds, Paige Wolfe, 5 points, Kaylee Ann Sanders, 3 points. 

Edmonson County is scheduled to take on Monroe County today on the road at 3pm; however, no game coverage is available today on the Edmonson Voice. The next broadcast will be at home against Metcalfe County in a G/B doubleheader on Tuesday, January 19 at 6PM.

​Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Former Grayson County Coach Ed Smart was named Head Football Coach at Edmonson County High School earlier today.

Smart, who was head of the Cougar football program from 2004 to 2019, had a 84-94 career record at Grayson County. He also served as head coach at McLean County from 1997 to 2004. During his coaching career he was also named District Coach of the Year four different times, has 100 total career victories, was a two-time MAC Coach of the Year, and was the winningest coach at Grayson County where he also had the most playoff wins and most winning seasons for the school's football program.

"I'm excited to be here because I played against Edmonson all those years," said Coach Smart. "I know the kids here always played hard and were well disciplined, which are things that I like. I like having more similar teams here because anyone with a good team has a chance to win the district it and that's appealing. They like football here. The administration has been great to me here so far, everyone here has been friendly and I'm excited to get started."

Coach Smart said his duties begin immediately after all the proper documentation is filed and he's going to get guys into the weight room as soon as possible.

ECHS Athletic Director Kyle Pierce, who coached against Smart for years, discussed the high school's decision for the new hire.

"We are excited to hire Coach Smart as our head football coach," he said. "He's a great coach and person and had a great run at Grayson County for 16 years. I was fortunate enough to coach against him for my 12 years here. I always knew it was going to be a battle because he always had his teams well prepared."

Smart's coaching career dates back to 1990, where over the years he also served as assistant football coach at Greenwood, Warren East, Hart County, and at Morehead State, where he served as a grad assistant.

"He just seemed to have most of what we were looking for in a head coach," Pierce said. "He's not only had head coaching experience, but he's had very successful experience at a rural-type school. He's coached our type of kids his whole career, which is important to us.  He's experienced all the ups and down and knows how to handle both. His teams were always well conditioned, strong, disciplined, and they played hard. Plus, he's a great X-and-O type coach that knows how to teach his players."

Pierce said the school had 15-20 people interested in the coaching job, but Smart's name continued coming up in conversations.

"Sometimes in a situation like this, where a guy retires, then comes back to coaching, it's a big deal about the money. That's not been the case here. Not once did he ask about the money. He's asking us about when can he start and when can he work with the kids. That says a lot about him."

Coach Smart described a bit of what football fans will see from the next Wildcat football team.

"We're going to run the ball and we're going to play good defense," he said. "We're going to be physical and we're going to get after people. That's always been my philosophy. You can't control how fast we are or how tall we're going to be, but we can control how strong we're going to be and we're going to be very aggressive. I'm an old-school kind-of-guy where we want to physically beat our opponent." 

He replaces Nathan Smith, who served 5 seasons as Edmonson's head coach, where he had an overall record of 24-29 and won the Class 2A District 3 Championship in 2019. He was also named KFCA District 3 Coach of the Year for the 2020 season. 

Darren Doyle, story: Alyssa Doyle, photos:
The Cloverport Aces were several cards shy of a winning hand in the season opener for Edmonson County's boys in a lopsided 88-21 Wildcat blowout on Monday night in Cloverport. The 67-point win for the Wildcats was the team's largest margin of victory dating back to the beginning of statewide KHSAA digital stats, which was the 1997-98 season. It beats the 54-point victory over London Christian Academy from Canada in 2007 under former head coach Darryl Travis.

The Aces were outmatched in every way last night as the Wildcats forced an array of turnovers for easy buckets. Edmonson County swiped the boards clean with 42 team rebounds. Not only did all Wildcats on the roster get in the game, but all players also scored and pulled at least one rebound. 

Edmonson County established a 26-7 lead after the first quarter and they never looked back. They led 50-9 at the half and were able to keep players fresh, in-and-out of the contest.

The Wildcats were led (unofficially) by senior Chaz Wilson's 17 points and 10 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures were seniors Gavin Rose with 14 points (4 three-pointers), Lane Lindsey with 12 points, and Daniel Woosley with 10 points.

Also scoring for the Cats were: Tyler Anderson 9, Trace Taylor 8, Jon Smith 7, Cole Saling 5, and Dylan Lindsey and Braden Wall with 3 each.

Coach Mike McClintic said he was very pleased with the intense start and the effort throughout the contest.

"At the half we only had 5 turnovers," he said. "They played a zone, but I thought we handled it pretty well and moved the ball well. The best thing I thought about tonight was everyone was so unselfish."

Coach Mac was also pleased with the rebounding effort but said the schedule moving forward would be much more difficult, where rebounding and team play would continue to be essential.

"I'm really happy with the way we looked, but yes, we're going to have to step it up as the season goes on."