Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle photos:
Edmonson County didn't get off on the right foot in the first quarter of the 12th District Championship game against Butler County, hosted at Butler County last night, as the Lady Bears claimed the title, 49-26.

Butler County started the game with three unanswered three-pointers and a free throw for a 10-0 start. The Lady Cats didn't get on the board until Hallie Cassady's put-back from a missed Lady Cat free throw with 1:40 to go in the first quarter. Butler County led 15-4 going into the second.

Points from offensive rebounds by Butler County and turnovers from the Lady Cats contributed to a 27-13 lead at the half.

Coach Bart Weaver said he thought his team had trouble handling the emotion of a big game early on and it hindered them from any offensive rhythm in the first quarter.

"We were just shell-shocked, I think to begin with," he said. "They shot us out of our zone quick, and they're pretty good at man-to-man, when you play them man-to-man, and that's why we normally don't. But when you get down like that you have to. But I thought we kept playing hard. Our kids always played hard and I take pride in that, just, the better team won tonight."

The Lady Cats were held to only 5 more points during the third quarter as Butler County (25-3) cruised to win their first district championship since 1993.

Edmonson County was led by junior guard Annie Kiper, who had 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. Hallie Cassady had 5 points and 4 rebounds, Paige Wolfe had 4 points and 3 rebounds, Cariann Williams had 4 points, 1 rebound, and 5 blocked shots. Lily Jayne Vincent added 2 points and 6 rebounds and Jenna Cook added 2 points and a rebound.

Weaver also noted that while they were continually trying to dig out of a hole, the girls didn't give up and fought until the end.

"It makes me proud of them," he said. "I kept telling them in the timeouts, 'we're not gonna quit, we're not gonna quit.' So, I'm proud of them. Like I told them in there a minute ago, nobody thought we'd be in the finals. With our season, you know? And I understand that, and man, they gutted that win against Whitesville the other night, and that's something to always hold onto, and you've got to get to the district final, because a lot of teams don't."

The girls are now set to travel to Owensboro next week to play in the Region 3 tournament at the Sports Center either Monday or Tuesday. Their first game will be determined in the draw on Saturday.

Madison Doyle, story and photos:
Multiple members of the Lady Cat basketball team and cheer team were honored with all-district awards Thursday night at Butler County High School after the girls' championship game.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle photos:
A very tough first quarter was too much of a setback for the Wildcats last night in the first round of the District 12 Tournament against Whitesville-Trinity as the Cats fell 61-55.

The start to the game was brutal for Edmonson County as everything went right for Trinity and wrong for the Wildcats.

The Raiders jumped out to a 21-5 lead after the first quarter.

Coach Brad Johnson discussed the rough start to the ballgame.

"That's on me," he said. "They've showed nothing but zone traps and zone stuff against us. All year long against man-to-man, we've said teams can't guard us man-to-man because of our cuts and everything, and we just kind of came out with a little stage fright and forgot to cut. We were very impatient with the ball and missed easy shots. But it's a good team. Sometimes you get beat by a good team. I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't have us more ready against man-to-man, and we fought so hard to get those white uniforms tonight and get that two-seed. I just hate it for the kids."

After the first, the comeback attempt was in full force as Edmonson County outscored Trinity 16-12 in the second and had cut the lead to 33-21 at the half. The Wildcats outscored Trinity 50-40 in the final three quarters, but unfortunately for the Cats, the first was too much to overcome.

Leading the Cats in scoring was Braden Wall with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Cole Saling followed with 15. Trace Taylor added 7 points and Braxton Highbaugh had 5 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Zander Bass added 5 points, Tyler Anderson had 4 points, and Evan Stice had 3.

It was the final game for six Wildcat seniors: Trace Taylor, Evan Stice, Cole Saling, Jarrett Prunty, Clay Clemmons, and Noah Parsley.

"I think we created a little bit of a buzz and positivity from going 0-2 in the district with two losses at home, to being a two-seed," Johnson said. "I can't go into Cee Bee or Dollar General without someone saying, 'man I like watching those kids play,' and even at halftime when I was raking them over the coals, I said that we were playing hard. I mean, the effort was always there. They're killed right now. We've got a good team coming back, but I hate it for those six seniors. Some of them didn't get to see the floor very much and I really wanted to take those guys to the Sports Center and to Moonlight and go out that way. But we appreciate the support, from you (the Edmonson Voice) and we had a good crowd out tonight here, and hope that everybody hangs with the girls and supports them, too."

Edmonson County finishes the season with a record of 15-13.

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It was a physical, slow-paced game last night in Butler County for the first round of the girls' District 12 Tournament as Edmonson County's defense and keeping Trinity away from the offensive glass was credited for holding the Lady Raiders to only 24% shooting in a 37-33 Lady Cat win. That win not only allows them a chance for their fourth district title in five years, but also allows them to play in the region tournament next week.

Heading into the game, Coach Bart Weaver said that he was going to focus on three things in order to defeat the Lady Raiders, which were out-rebounding them, shooting 65% or more from the free throw line, and keeping the turnovers at 15 or below. Edmonson County didn't do any of that, yet they still found a way to defeat Trinity, who had beaten the Lady Cats twice before during the season.

"These girls play defense every single night," said Weaver. "Tonight, we made a little adjustment."

He said that Lily Jayne Vincent had been chasing Trinity's leading scorer Cassidy Morris (17.8ppg 10rpg) on a triangle-and-two defense all night, however, Vincent was still recovering from a 6-day stomach bug. He said that junior guard Annie Kiper suggested that Kiper chase Morris and let Vincent help in the middle. Kiper was able to cause problems for Morris while Vincent was better able to shore things up elsewhere.

"She (Kiper) did a great job on her, and Hallie, Cariann, and LJ did a great job on the triangle of help, Paige did another great job on Josie Aull and held her to not very many points, so that's the story of the game," Weaver said.

Knowing that the first round game of the district tournament is do-or-die, senior Hallie Cassady shared what the players were discussing before the game.

"I said, you know girls this is it. If we don't come out with a win tonight then we're going home," Cassady said. "Coach Weaver said yesterday in practice that tomorrow night, half the teams in Kentucky are going home, and I said in the locker room, I don't want to be one of those teams and they all agreed with me. I think we definitely showed up tonight and we gave it all we had. We're not going home tonight and we're going to be ready to play Thursday."

The Lady Cats got off to a rough start in the first quarter with a missed shot and three straight turnovers. They committed 20 turnovers for the game, compared to 10 for Trinity. They trailed the entire first half and was down 19-18 at halftime.

Annie Kiper pump-faked a shot and banked in a layup at the beginning of the third to give the Lady Cats their first lead of the game at 20-18. Both teams went on scoring droughts for the remainder of the quarter but Edmonson County led 25-21 going into the fourth. Edmonson's defense held Trinity to only two points in the third.

Trinity scored the first two baskets of the fourth and tied the score at 25 with 6:36 to go. The Lady Cats then scored five unanswered as Paige Wolfe scored on both a layup and a big three-pointer with 5:15 left in the game for a 30-25 lead. Edmonson County would never lose the lead again, despite some spotty free throw shooting here and there. The Lady Cats shot only 46% from the free throw line for the game.

Annie Kiper led the Lady Cats with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, and Paige Wolfe also had 10 points.

Cariann Williams had 8 points and 6 rebounds, Hallie Cassady had 7 points and 7 rebounds, and Lily J Vincent had 2 points and 7 rebounds.

The Lady Cats improve to 11-19 on the season and are scheduled to take on Butler County in the finals on Thursday night. Butler County defeated Grayson County last night 48-36. The Lady Bears defeated the Lady Cats at home recently on a last-second shot where the clock malfunctioned during the play. The basket was counted good despite the clock not working. 

Thursday's tip off is scheduled for 7PM. The game will be streamed live on the Edmonson Voice beginning around 6:45PM.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
Normally a 7-point performance in high school basketball doesn't turn many heads, but when the points all come at crucial moments in a double overtime victory against a district opponent on the road, including a three-pointer that ties the game in the final minutes, it becomes a bit more noticeable.

That's exactly what happened in the grueling back-and-forth contest last night in Whitesville. Senior Cole Saling didn't see a ton of playing time last night and his stat line was 7 points and 1 rebound, but they were the biggest seven points of the night for the Wildcats.

With the Cats down 55-58 with 1:20 left in the second overtime, senior Trace Taylor threw a pass to Saling, who was in the left corner. He buried a three-pointer to tie the score at 58. It was his first points of the game.

Saling wasn't finished playing hero for the Wildcats. After a couple possessions from either team without scoring, the Wildcats committed a turnover which allowed Trinity a contested layup attempt in transition. That shot missed and Saling pulled the rebound. His only one of the game. He was fouled as he was clobbered to the ground and would have two free throws coming to him, per the double-bonus.

With 33 seconds left, Saling calmly hit both free throws to give the Cats a 60-58 lead. Trinity's next possession ended up with a blocked shot by Edmonson County's Zander Bass with Taylor grabbing the loose ball. Saling was fouled again after he caught the pass from Taylor. Saling was not able to connect on the next two free throws with 17.9 second left, but after Trinity rebounded his second miss, the Raiders' Bailey Wright traveled with 6.7 seconds on the clock. Saling caught the inbound pass on the next play and was fouled immediately.

He iced two free throws with 6.2 on the clock. Trinity missed a shot on their final possession as the Wildcats grabbed the rebound as time expired.

Coach Brad Johnson became emotional as he spoke of not only Saling's performance, but also the way he handled himself.

"Cole Saling, the senior, sat on the bench and had minutes taken from him," he said. "He was a starter. He sat there, sat there, sat there, and didn't pout about it--no negative body language. He comes in and nails a three when we were dead. Then makes the free throws. That's what it's all about, man."

Edmonson was up 23-17 at the half but the third quarter started miserably for the Cats with 6 turnovers on their first 6 possessions. The ended up with 24 turnovers for the game while Trinity had 20 of their own. Trinity was able to put together a 14-0 run from the end of the second through part of the third to take a 26-23 lead. Each team was able to put together runs throughout the 4th quarter.

The Cats led 49-46 with 20 seconds left but Trinity's Landon Huff tied the score on a three with 4.7 seconds left. Confusingly, Edmonson County did not get a shot off in the final seconds, which forced the first overtime. Each team exchanged baskets in the first overtime and Trinity had a 54-52 lead. Senior Evan Stice nailed a three to give the Cats the 55-52 lead with 38 seconds to go. Trinity drew a foul on their next possession and hit one of two free throws to tie the game with 32 seconds left.

Edmonson's Braden Wall was fouled on a shot attempt with 4.5 seconds left. His first free throw was off the back of the rim and his second one was in-and-out. Trinity's shot at the buzzer was no good to force the second overtime where Saling took care of the rest.

Wall led the Cats with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Tyler Anderson added 14 points and 8 rebounds. Stice had 6 points and 2 rebounds, Braxton Highbaugh had 6 points and 7 rebounds, Taylor added 4 points and 5 rebounds, and Zander Bass had 3 points and a rebound.

The Cats host Russellville at home tonight for the final home game of the season. They are scheduled to travel to Green County on Thursday before the district tournament begins on Tuesday at Butler County, where the Cats will face Trinity again. Since each team is tied in the district standings at 3-3 and 1-1 against each other, a coin toss will determine who is the home team in that game.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
The Lady Cats struggled in the final quarter in Whitesville last night in a 34-25 loss to the Trinity Lady Raiders in the final regular season district game of the season.

Trinity held the Lady Cats to only three points in the fourth quarter after the score was tied 22-22 at the end of the third.

Edmonson County struggled all night with creating offense as they shot 8-36 from the field for 22%. The woes continued from the foul line as they made only 4 of 12, for 33%.

Trinity didn't fare any better with their shooting percentage (also 22%), but simply took more shots (11-49). Some of those were offensive put-backs as they out-rebounded the Lady Cats 33-28.

Edmonson County was led in scoring by senior Paige Wolfe with 10 points. Annie Kiper finished with 6 points and 5 rebounds, Cariann Williams added 5 points and 7 rebounds, Lily Jayne Vincent had 3 points and 5 rebounds, and Hallie Cassady finished with 1 point and 9 rebounds.

The Lady Cats finish the district standings at 2-4 on the year and will be a three seed in the district tournament. They will have to face two-seeded Trinity again in the first round of the district tournament on Monday, which will be hosted by Butler County.

They are now 10-17 on the season and will face Daviess County at home on Thursday night and Ohio County on the road on Friday night for the final regular season game of the year.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
Butler County went on a 16-0 run during the final quarter against the Wildcats last night at ECHS to come back from a 10-point deficit in a 69-63 win.

The Wildcats held the Bears scoreless at the start of the fourth, as they scored 10 straight. They led 63-53 with 5:15 to go after a three-pointer from junior Braden Wall (10 points, 6 rebounds), but that would be the last points put on the board by the Cats as Butler County snuffed out Edmonson's offense for the remainder of the game.

Butler County capitalized on a couple of turnovers from the Wildcats to help start their run. The final ten possessions for the Wildcats resulted in two turnovers, a missed shot, two more turnovers, then 5 missed baskets in a row on 5 possessions.

"It was tough in every way," said Head Coach Brad Johnson. "Tough physically. Sometimes it feels like a wrestling match a little bit, but we kinda knew that coming in. You gotta be physical with the ball. You gotta be the more physical team. And you know what? There were a lot of plays where we weren't the more physical team, to be honest with you. We made some uncharacteristic turnovers. From up ten, or whatever it was, we played bad basketball. We felt like we could do some things that they have trouble guarding us, but you can't do them if you're throwing it away before you get into that stuff. I'm disappointed. We lost our composure there a couple of times. It's mid-February, you can't say you're young anymore, you know, we've been through a season. To be successful two weeks from now, we gotta be smarter than that."

Trace Taylor led the Cats with 16 points, Braxton Highbaugh had 12 points and 8 rebounds, Evan Stice had 12 points, Braden Wall had 10 points and 6 rebounds, Tyler Anderson added 6 points, Cole Saling had 5 points, and Zander Bass added 2 points.

Edmonson County is now 13-11 on the season and 2-3 in the district. They are scheduled to play Whitesville Trinity on Monday. If the Wildcats win, it would place them in a tie for a two-seed in the standings (both would be 3-3 and 1-1 against each other), and there would be a coin toss to determine the 2 and 3 seeds.

If the Wildcats lose to Trinity on Monday night, the Cats would be tied with Grayson's district record of 2-4. Since Edmonson and Grayson split their contests this season, a coin toss would then determine the 3-4 seeds between the two.

Butler County is guaranteed the number one seed, even if Trinity wins over Edmonson on Monday. Although their district records would be tied at 4-2, the top seed would go to Butler County as they defeated Trinity twice during head-to-head competition this season. The Wildcats have the possibility of playing either Butler or Trinity in the first round, but they cannot play Grayson in the first round under any scenario.

Madison Doyle, story and photos:
Last night at Edmonson County High School, several Wildcat and Lady Cat seniors were recognized across four different winter programs, including band, cheerleading, girls basketball, and boys basketball.

The following seniors were honored at center court along with their respective families:

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
The Lady Cats fought until the bitter end last night against Butler County, and the end was certainly bitter as it concluded with a controversial call on the final shot.

With the score tied 42-42 and one second on the clock, Butler County had the ball under their own basket. After two timeouts for either team to determine their respective game plans on the final play of regulation, Butler County in-bounded the ball to Taylin Clark, who turned, shot, and banked it in for what appeared to be the game winner. However, there was a clock malfunction and the clock never started.

Fans on either side would agree that it appeared as though Clark got the shot off in time, so it would've counted; however, the officials' ruling was  unconventional to say the least. Without the clock starting, how can the officials be sure? The officials briefly discussed the situation with the scorer's table, who indicated there was a malfunction. They then convened briefly among themselves and motioned that the basket was good. Game over.

The officials had two options last night. One was the choice they made, by judging that Clark's shot definitely left her hand before one second and it was good, or two; realize the clock did not start and replay the in-bounds by Butler. We couldn't find anything specific in the KHSAA rules, but NCAA rules basically leave an end-of-game clock scenario up to the officials. Officials in various forums seemed to be split on the issue, according to what we found, but Coach Bart Weaver's argument was that the officials couldn't be sure that the shot was made in time if the clock wasn't running. He said he specifically asked the officials as to why they made their decision.

"Neither one of the three (officials) could give me an answer," he said. "They just told me, 'there's no time. No time on the clock.' And it's a hard pill to swallow."

"I said, 'then you explain to me what went on in that 30-second meeting with all three of you,'" he said. "'Just tell me what you said and I can get over it, but tell me what you said,' and they couldn't tell me. They just said 'oh, you know, we were just discussing to make sure, you know, uh, that, uh there's no time on the clock,' so there it is."

The game was back-and-forth all night long and the Lady Cats had a solid performance as they out-rebounded the Lady Bears 33-28 and shot better from the field (41% to 28%). However, they committed 17 turnovers (compared to BC's 14) and failed to make a three-point basket (0-8). The Lady Bears made 6 of 18 three-point attempts (33%). They also struggled from the free throw line once again, hitting only 6-13 for 46%.

While the Lady Cats are 9-16 on the season and 2-3 in District 12 standings, Coach Weaver felt like it's still anybody's game when it comes district tournament time, which will be hosted at Butler County.

"I told their coach, 'we'll see you in the finals,'" he said. "And that's not taking anything against Whitesville (Trinity). We have to play to beat anybody, but I'd love to have another chance at them for the nets. It would be unbelievable."

According to Butler County's 21-2 season record and a perfect 6-0 in the district, most would favor them to win the district; however, some critics might also point out that 19 of their victories have been against opponents with a record under .500.

Leading in scoring for the Lady Cats were Annie Kiper with 10 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals, and Paige Wolfe with 10 points and 2 rebounds. Lily Jayne Vincent had 8 points and 7 rebounds, Cariann Williams had 8 points and 8 rebounds, Hallie Cassady had 4 points and 8 rebounds, and Leah Ballance added 2 points.

The Lady Cats are scheduled to take on Adair County today at 3:30 on the road and will finish up the regular season next week with games at Trinity on Monday, at home against Daviess County on Thursday, and at Ohio County on Friday.

Edmonson Voice Sports: Alyssa Doyle photos:
Edmonson County won their second game in a row last night as they topped Logan County on the road 65-51.

The Wildcats were able to keep their turnovers down while out-rebounding the Cougars.

Edmonson County was paced by Braxton Highbaugh's 20 points and 4 rebounds.

Trace Taylor had 16 points and 4 rebounds and Evan Stice had 12 points and 4 rebounds.

Braden Wall added 8 points and 4 rebounds, Cole Saling added 5 points and 3 rebounds, while Tyler Anderson, Zander Bass, and Wil Alexander had two points each.

Edmonson County is now 12-10 on the season and is scheduled to travel to Whitesville-Trinity on Friday for a girl/boy District 12 match, weather permitting.

Timely three-point shots from Edmonson County in the second half led to some offensive runs that helped the Cats notch a 67-52 victory over Allen County-Scottsville last night at ECHS.

Edmonson County pressured ACS throughout the game, which led to turnovers for the Patriots; several of which turned into points for the Cats.

The 3-pointers from the Cats snuffed out a couple of run attempts by the Patriots.

Edmonson County never trailed during the game. ACS narrowed the margin to 5 with 2 minutes to go in the third but a three from Braxton Highbaugh extended the lead. Highbaugh had 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocked shots.

From that point, Edmonson County went on a 19-5 run that included threes from Evan Stice, Highbaugh, Zander Bass and Tyler Anderson, that wouldn't allow the Patriots a chance to get close again.

Trace Taylor paced the Cats with 20 points. Braden Wall was the third Cat in double figures with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Evan Stice had 8 points, Bass had 6, Anderson added 5, and Noah Parsley and Clay Clemmons added one each.

Edmonson County improves to 11-10 on the season and will travel to Logan County for a JV/V match beginning at 6pm. The game will be live streamed on the Edmonson Voice.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle photos:
Some untimely turnovers from the Lady Cats and aggressive dribble-drives from the Lady Patriots played major roles in an Edmonson County 54-40 loss last night to ACS.

Defense and rebounding are two elements that are always on the top of Edmonson County's priority list, but the girls struggled at times with both as ACS out-rebounded them 24-21 and the lack of help defense at times from EC helped the Lady Patriots in the paint.

Edmonson County also shot poorly from three-point range, hitting only 1 of 12 for 8%. They shot 43% for the game on 15 of 35 from the field. They committed 17 turnovers compared to only 10 from ACS.

Leading the Lady Cats was Cariann Williams with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a blocked shot. Hallie Cassady added 10 points, and 3 rebounds, Paige Wolfe added 7 points, Lily J. Vincent added 6 points and 8 rebounds, and Annie Kiper added 2 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds.

Edmonson County falls to 8-14 on the season and will host North Hardin tonight at ECHS for a JV/V match.