Bluegrassrivals

Game 6

Marion County

Region: 5th

Record: 31-4

Enrollment: 980

Coach: Trent Milby (166-35), sixth year

Starters: Makayla Epps (5-11, jr., 17.2 ppg); Patrice Tonge (5-7, jr., 5.5); Bre Elder (5-9, sr., 10.3); Kyvin Goodin-Rogers (6-1, jr., 13.7); Logan Powell (5-9, jr., 8.5)

Top reserves: Haeli Howard (5-1, 7th, 2.6); Alexus Calhoun (6-0, so., 3.4); Emily Fenwick (5-9, sr., 1.9)

Against Sweet Sixteen teams: 4-1

Sweet Sixteen history: Seventh trip and third in a row.

Road to the Sweet Sixteen: In district, beat Campbellsville 74-25, beat Adair Co. 70-47; in region, beat Hart Co. 73-50, beat North Hardin 57-37, beat Elizabethtown 56-39.

Walton-Verona

Region: 8th

Record: 29-6

Enrollment: 439

Coach: Mark Clinkenbeard (29-6), first year

Starters: Molly Clinkenbeard (5-9, jr., 5.6 ppg); Jenalee Ginn (5-5, sr., 5.7); Kara Taulbee (5-5, sr., 11.5); Courtney Sandlin (5-11, jr., 14.5); Michelle Judy (6-0, jr., 8.5)

Top reserves: Lizzie Hoffa (5-6, sr., 3.2); Shelby Mullikin (5-4, so., 1.2); Katie Slavey (5-6, sr., 6.1)

Against Sweet Sixteen teams: 2-2

Sweet Sixteen history: Second trip, the first coming a year ago.

Road to the Sweet Sixteen: In district, beat Williamstown 79-40, beat Simon Kenton 80-66; in region, beat Collins 51-42, beat Owen Co. 55-47, beat South Oldham 52-47.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/03/06/20982...rylink=cpy

MARION COUNTY

Coach: Trent Milby.

Last trip to State: 2011 (lost to Manual 56-54 in semifinals).

What to look for: The Lady Knights are in the Sweet 16 for the third straight year and are heavy favorites to reach the championship game from the bottom half of the bracket. Epps and Goodin-Rogers are two of the state’s top juniors and already have committed to the University of Louisville. Elder (Dayton signee) often gets overlooked but is a steady senior, and Tonge is a lockdown defender who normally guards the opposing team’s top guard. Milby said Powell has developed into a dependable fourth scorer.

Key player: There’s plenty of talent on this team, but Epps makes the Lady Knights go. She can shoot the three, drive to the basket and make pinpoint passes. She’s also a single-handed press breaker.

Coach-speak: “I think they get to the game a little more focused than they used to,” Milby said of his team. “They pay better attention to the game plan. … This group has been together through middle school, and this is (Elder’s) last time. She’s been playing really well.”

Starters

3-Makayla Epps
5-11, Jr., 17.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg

12-Patrice Tonge
5-7, Jr., 5.5 rpg, 4.1 rpg

30-Logan Powell
5-9, Jr., 8.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg

32-Kyvin Goodin-Rogers
6-1, Jr., 13.8 ppg, 8.7 rpg

24-Bre Elder
5-9, Sr., 10.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg

Key reserves

21-Alexus Calhoun
6-0, So., 3.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg

33-Emily Fenwick
5-9, Sr., 1.9 ppg

10-Haeli Howard
5-1, 7th, 2.6 ppg


WALTON-VERONA

Coach: Mark Clinkenbeard.

Last trip to State: 2011 (lost to Bowling Green 58-32 in first round).

What to look for: The Bearcats won the All “A” Classic in January and are 10-2 since then. They haven’t missed a beat after Clinkenbeard replaced Cory Miller as head coach before the season (he had coached most of the players on the AAU circuit). Walton-Verona is averaging 16 three-point attempts per game and shooting 35.7 percent from beyond the arc. Five players have made at least 13 threes. To survive the first round against Marion County, the Bearcats will have to shoot it well.

Key player: Clinkenbeard said Taulbee is getting looks from several NCAA Division III schools but has yet to decide. She’s the top 3-point threat, having hit 82 of 201 (40.8 percent). “She’s an incredible shooter, and she shoots a lot of them,” Clinkenbeard said.

Coach-speak: “After the pressure of winning the All ‘A,’ I don’t think we felt that pressure again the rest of the season,” Clinkenbeard said. “During the regional when teams would make a run, I think we were able to handle the pressure because we had been in those elimination-type games in the All ‘A.’ ”

Starters

33-Kara Taulbee
5-5, Sr., 11.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg

12-Molly Clinkenbeard
5-9, Jr., 5.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg

44-Michele Judy
6-0, Jr. 8.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg

25-Courtney Sandlin
5-11, Jr., 14.6 ppg, 8 rpg

23-Jenalee Ginn
5-5, Sr., 5.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg

Key reserves

21-Katie Slavey
5-6, Sr., 5.7 ppg

22-Lizzie Hoffa
5-6, Sr., 3.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg

15-Shelby Mullikin
5-4, So., 1.4 ppg
http://saxo.highschoolsports.net/section...le?site=B2

Marion County

Marion Co wont have any problems in this one.

Marion rolls

Marion Co. by 18

There was a week in December when Walton-Verona girls’ basketball coach Mark Clinkenbeard did not know if he would be able to finish the season on the bench.

Clinkenbeard began suffering chest pains and checked himself into a hospital. Doctors gave him a physical and asked him to take a couple of games off from coaching. He missed two games as assistant Dan Sullivan led the team.

“It was a tough week, but everything’s good,” said Clinkenbeard. “They gave me a clean bill of health.”

The Bearcats (29-6) are in good shape, too.

They won the All “A” state tournament in Frankfort for the first time, followed by a third consecutive district title, a second straight Eighth Region tournament crown and a program-record 29 wins. Their reward is a 2:30 p.m. date with Marion County (31-4) in a state tournament game Thursday at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green.

It’s one of three first-round marquee matchups involving teams ranked in the top 20 of the statewide Litkenhous Ratings. Marion County is ranked second. Walton-Verona, the smallest school in the tournament, is No. 14. The winner advances to Friday’s 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal against Thursday’s Hopkinsville-Marshall County winner. The semifinals and final are Saturday.

“Everybody’s really excited, but we’re going to have to play well,” said junior forward Courtney Sandlin, who leads the Bearcats with 14.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.

Clinkenbeard said the Knights deserve their ranking.

“They have three players going to Division I colleges, so it’s going to be a challenge,” the coach said.

Marion County senior Bre Elder, a playmaking guard, is headed to the University of Dayton. Makayla Epps, a 5-foot-10 junior guard and 6-1 junior forward Kyvin Goodin-Rogers have verbally committed to the University of Louisville. Epps is the daughter of former Kentucky men’s basketball player Anthony Epps. Goodin-Rogers is the daughter of former Louisville player Tick Rogers.

“It’s pick your poison on defense,” Clinkenbeard said. “We need to make them shoot from the outside.”

Epps leads the Knights with 17.2 points per game. Goodin-Rogers averages 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds. Elder averages 10.3 points. Epps and Goodin-Rogers take the most shots from 3-point range, but Elder, at 35.3 percent, is the most accurate. The Knights ranked ninth in the state in scoring (63.1 points) and 11th in victory margin (17.6).

“On defense, we have to keep them out of the paint,” said guard Jenalee Ginn, one of five Bearcats seniors.

“I’m not even thinking this might be my last game because hopefully we’ll shut them down.”
http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/201...news|text|

Congrats on the w