Darren Doyle, story and photo:
Edmonson County Softball named a new head coach tonight; a familiar face that has been part of past successful teams in Edmonson County. Alex Jane Massey (formerly Clemmons) has accepted the role and discussed her plans for Lady Cat Softball.

"I'm very excited for the opportunity to be a part of Edmonson County softball again," she said. "Softball helped me become the person I am today and I want the same for our girls here in Edmonson County."

Coach Massey is a 2007 graduate of ECHS where she was part of the 2006 District Championship team as a player. She also served as an assistant under her father, Kevin Clemmons, in 2012 - 2014.

She played at the collegiate level at two different schools: WKU for one year and Campbellsville for three years.

"The opportunity came available and I feel like it's a great time for both me and my family and our players," she said.

Edmonson County has struggled over the past three seasons, going 33-50 after winning the 12th District Championship in 2016. Coach Massey talked about the opportunity to rebuild.

"The good part is, we can start with a clean slate," she said. "Yes, it's a rebuild, but we'll start with the basics. Fundamentals and team basics is where success begins, so we'll start there. Our girls have to have confidence and we'll start working on that. We plan to show pride in our county and team--on and off the field. We'll win as a team and lose as a team. We'll have respect for the county and respect for the game."

ECHS Athletic Director Kyle Pierce said the school's decision to bring back Massey was based on several things.

"We're excited to have her back," he said. She saw success years ago as both a player and assistant coach. We felt like she was coming into her own as an assistant a few years ago. As a school, we always look for opportunities to bring our own back to our programs and we wouldn't have asked her if we didn't feel like she'd be successful."

While huge question marks currently loom over fall sports, schools across the nation are hoping for normalcy of some sort by the spring.

"Of course, there are lots of things that are up in the air right now," said Pierce, "but we're glad to have Alex Jane back in Lady Cat Softball and we're looking forward to the spring."

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Edmonson Voice Sports: photos, @CoachToddWebb, via Twitter:
An Edmonson County High School graduate and former athlete has led a Georgia girls basketball team to a state championship.

Todd Webb, a 2004 ECHS grad, is the head coach at Brookwood Academy, a private class AAA school in Thomasville, Georgia. Brookwood won the AAA Girls' State Championship on February 29, 2020 over Deerfield-Windsor 53-48.

Todd is a former basketball, football, and track athlete from Edmonson County. This is his second year as coach for the Lady Warriors of Brookwood, where he also serves as assistant athletic director.

​He is the son of Todd and Michelle Webb of the Otter Gap community.

Darren Doyle, story: Alyssa Doyle, photos:
A poor shooting first half put the Lady Cats in an uphill climb that was too much to overcome in the second half as Breckinridge put an end to an otherwise successful season for Edmonson County last night at the Owensboro Sportscenter at the Region 3 Tournament.

It seemed as though the basket had lid fastened down during the first quarter for Edmonson County as the girls managed only two field goals and one free throw. Breckinridge suffered some of the same, but managed to take a 9-5 lead after one; however, Edmonson's offensive troubles continued in the second while the Lady Tigers capitalized on some Lady Cat turnovers and were also able to connect on some three-point shots.

Edmonson trailed 26-16 at the half. While the Lady Cats had a much better showing in the second half, they simply traded baskets with Breckinridge, which wasn't enough to overcome the early deficit.

Coach Bart Weaver said there were a few things that didn't go their way and it resulted in the end of their season. 

"I was really disappointed in the first half," he said. "There are times when we don't shoot well and we make up for it with defense and rebounding, but it just seemed like we weren't going for loose balls in the first half. We weren't going for rebounds. This may sound crazy, but we were worried about blocking out and the ball was coming down and we just weren't grabbing it. It's just little things like that. We played them even in the second half, and Chad (Moorman, coach) had a good game plan, but our Achilles heel the whole entire has been shooting, and he went zone on us and made us shoot. We were able to get it inside some, but I had my wings and they wouldn't shoot. That's why people play you zone."

The Lady Cats were led offensively by Emma Rose Vincent with 10 points and 6 rebounds. She became the third member of the team to accumulate 500 career rebounds, joining Madison Harrison and Lauren Ballance.

Lily Jayne Vincent had 9 points and 6 rebounds, Macie McCombs had 8 points, Ballance added 6 points and 9 rebounds, Katie Lindsey had 4 points, and Harrison had 3 points and 5 rebounds. The Lady Cats shot 41% from the field, 50% from the free throw line, and only 18% from three-point range.

It was the final game for four seniors: Madison Harrison, Lauren Ballance, Emma Rose Vincent, and Mia Goad, who missed the majority of the season with an ankle injury.

The first round loss was obviously not the result the Lady Cats wanted last night; however, the team's success speaks for itself over the last few years, specifically the past two.

The Lady Cats lost two of their all-time leading scorers at the end of the 2017-18 season in Caitlin Simon (#1--2,564 points) and Peyton Martin (#4--1,740 points) and their head coach Kevin Jackson, which left doubts for the following season; however, the addition of coach Bart Weaver yielded positive results last year as Edmonson County continued winning with a 24-8 record and repeated as District 12 Champions for the first time since 1995. 

This team won it's third consecutive district title this year, which is the first time in school history a Lady Cat basketball team has done so. 
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"I've always said I'm truly blessed," Weaver said. "I'm blessed to be in Edmonson County and I'm blessed to have these girls for two years. "You know, these seniors--I'll tell you what--they've had four appearances in the region and back-to-back-to-back district champs."

​Weaver also went on to note that this year's seniors have had a combined number of 96 team wins, going back to their freshman seasons.

"I just can't say enough about them and their character. I told them I'd have never left my buddy Mac if it weren't for the character of these girls. I knew they could be good when a lot of people doubted them and they're unbelievable students. It's just been a blessing for me and it's going to be hard to say goodbye to these four girls."

Darren Doyle, story: Alyssa Doyle, photos:
For the first time in school history, the Edmonson County Lady Cats are back-to-back-to-back District 12 Champions after defeating the Lady Cougars of Grayson County 55-41 on their own home court.

Led by junior guard Katie Lindsey's 27 points, Edmonson County fought a back-and-forth match during the first half, while overcoming a first quarter deficit. The Lady Cougars got the tip and nailed a three-pointer and Edmonson fans wondered if it would be a repeat of the boys' game on Tuesday night; however, that wouldn't be the case.

Edmonson County scratched back on top just before halftime, capped off by junior Macie McCombs huge three with two seconds left. The Lady Cats led 23-19 at the break. 

Edmonson County would not lose the lead again, despite a run by Grayson County to start the fourth quarter. A three-pointer from the Lady Cougars cut the Lady Cat lead to 39-33 with 6:52 to go but both teams went on a drought for the next minute and a half. With about five minutes left in the game, Edmonson began to pull away, which forced Grayson County to foul.

Edmonson County shot 67% from the free throw line, a number much better than they've shown as of late, which included 11/13 attempts from senior Lauren Ballance, who finished with 15 points. She hit 8 consecutive free throws down the stretch and also pulled 7 rebounds.

Lindsey described what it was like to be part of the third consecutive district championship team.

"This is unreal, this is the first time we've ever done this in history," she said. "I mean, it's just unreal. I can't believe we've managed to do that."

After last week's 31-point blowout over the Lady Cougars at ECHS, both Lindsey and Ballance said they weren't looking for the same result, but they were prepared for tonight's championship game.

"We weren't overconfident," said Lindsey. "We didn't overlook them by thinking we were just going to come in here and win but we were ready to play."

"They're in their home gym, we knew they would make runs," Ballance added. "Madison (Harrison) was on the bench (with foul trouble) but we knew we'd have to weather the storm and that was our game plan."

The Lady Cats were uncharacteristically out-rebounded by the Lady Cougars, 20-25, but Edmonson's defense caused problems for Grayson County all night and they were able to turn Grayson County turnovers into points in the second half. Edmonson County only committed 5 turnovers as a team.

Coach Bart Weaver talked about how proud he was of his entire team and credited a team effort for the win. 

"This is something we've been talking about all year and it's been our ultimate goal," he said. "It just feels so good and I'm so proud of these senior girls that have put their heart and soul into this. Some of them have been playing six years. And the rest of the team, it was just a total team effort tonight and it makes a little more special to cut the nets here, too."

In addition to Lindsey and Ballance, McCombs had 7 points, Paige Wolfe had 3, Emma Rose Vincent had 2, and Madison Harrison had one point. 

"We were sitting in class today and someone said 'do you realize you have a chance to make history?' and we were like 'yeah, we're gonna do it,' and it's just the best feeling in the world," said Ballance. 

Lindsey said the team decided in the third quarter that it was time to get more aggressive. They outscored the Lady Cougars 14-10 in the quarter.

"We knew in the third that it was the most important time of the game, and we knew that was the time to put it away, in the beginning of the third."

While it wasn't the blowout like last week, it was enough for a third consecutive district championship. 

The Lady Cats will draw on Saturday to find out who they will face in next week's Region 3 Tournament at the Owensboro Sportscenter. Because they are a district champion, they will face off against a district runner-up. As of now, it looks as though they will play either Monday or Tuesday night. 

​Edmonson County improves to 20-10 on the season.

Click here for video interviews of players and Coach Weaver:

Season Ends With 73-62 Loss 

Darren Doyle, story: Alyssa Doyle, photos:
Edmonson County had trouble with offensive rhythm early while they struggled to keep the Cougars' dribble penetration under control in a first-round district tournament 73-62 loss last night at Grayson County High School. 

While the Wildcats kept their turnovers down (11) and out-rebounded Grayson County 21-19, the Cougars found success driving the lane for paint points as well as in perimeter shooting. Edmonson County also shot poorly against a tough man-to-man defense from Grayson County. 

Grayson County's Keegan Sharp started the contest with a 28-foot three-pointer and the Cougars kept control of the game from then on. The low-scoring contest saw Grayson County take an early 13-10 lead after the first quarter and a 30-23 lead at halftime.

Edmonson County increased their defensive pressure at the start of the second half, which resulted in some Cougar turnovers and points for the Wildcats in transition, but every time Edmonson started to put some offense together, the Cougars would seemingly respond with either a three pointer or would get the benefit of a call on an and-one. 

Edmonson County's Dalton Decker finished with a game-high 28 points, and two other Wildcats finished in double figures (Chaz Wilson 12, Mason Pierce 14) but Edmonson County never found their rhythm as the Cougars went on to win.

Head Coach Mike McClintic discussed the game, his seniors, and the entire season afterwards.

"Grayson County took us out of what we wanted to do early, both offensively and defensively," he said. "They penetrated, got in the lane, and either scored or kicked it out for an open shot, or we fouled--and we got into foul trouble early."

Coach Mac said his guys likely forced some shots early and that Grayson wanted it more, early in the game.

"But our kids fought back, they didn't just give up, and the effort in the second half and especially toward the end of the game was great, but it was just a little too late."

It was the final high school basketball game for seven seniors: Dalton Decker, Nick Clemmons, Eli Booker, Mason Pierce, Trent Taylor, Luke Meredith, and Houston Vincent. Coach Mac credited those seniors for their character on and off the court.

"I'm proud of our kids. I'm proud of the way we bounced back from the beginning of the season. I hate to go out this way, especially for our seniors, because they're a great group of kids," he said. "They're going to be fine people out in the community after they graduate. I told them all not to change. I love them all like my sons. They're going to be successful in life as long as they continue on the same paths they're on now."

In addition to Decker, Pierce, and Wilson, Eli Booker scored 3 points, Nick Clemmons and Daniel Woosley each had 2, and Trent Taylor scored one point. 

The Wildcats finish with a record of 12-15 on the season. Edmonson County's girls will take on Grayson County in the District 12 Championship game on Thursday night with a scheduled tip of 7PM. The Lady Cats will attempt to become the first girls team in school history to achieve three consecutive district titles for ECHS basketball. 

**update: The original article mistakenly left out senior Luke Meredith from the list. We apologize for the error and have added Luke's name to the list.