[Stardust]

Magoffin's hometown weathers tornado

Magoffin County (28-4), which will take on Ashland Blazer (29-6) at 7:30 p.m. EST Thursday, is in Salyersville, which was hit hard by a tornado Friday.

“It was miraculous that no one was killed, but it completely destroyed the middle school and grade school,” said coach Steve Miller, adding that the high school received minimal damage. “The storm hit the main vein up the highway and destroyed about 95 percent of the businesses.”

The storm postponed the 15th Region championship game until Monday, with Magoffin County beating Paintsville 49-40.

“Basketball is way down on the list when something of this magnitude takes place,” Miller said. “At the same time it became a rallying cry for us to win the last two games of the regional tournament and give the people of Magoffin County and the surrounding counties something to smile about in these bleak times.”