Preps off-season anything but

What to watch? KHJSAA transfer dust-up

By Mike Fields

mfields@herald-leader.com

Another high school sports season has come to an end, which means it’s time to shut down this weekly notebook until mid-August.

The off-season promises to be interesting. The legal battle between the KHSAA and Scott County over the eligibility of basketball stars Dakotah Euton and Chad Jackson will be an attention-grabber. Which side will win? If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on somebody other than Tiger Woods in the British Open and PGA Championship.

■ Louisville Central had the most memorable year in high school sports. The Yellowjackets’ football team went 5-5 in the regular season but won the 3A state title. The boys’ basketball team went 10-11 in the regular season but got hot and made it to the Sweet Sixteen in Rupp Arena.

■ By my count (caution: I’m lousy at math), only three schools had at least 10 wins in football and at least 20 wins in boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball and softball: Anderson County, Lexington Catholic and Manual.

■ A hot topic at the state baseball tournament: Who’ll be the new baseball coach at Paul Dunbar? Mickey Marshall, who led the Bulldogs to state titles in 2003 and 2007, was suspended in early May pending an investigation into allegations of financial misconduct. Fayette County schools spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said this week that Marshall’s future is up in the air. “The situation is still pending, the investigation is still ongoing, and (Marshall) is still on suspension.” Deffendall noted that all coaches in Fayette County public schools are on one-year contracts that expire June 30.

■ The inaugural Best of the Bluegrass East-West All-Star Football Game drew only a few hundred fans to rain-soaked Papa John’s Stadium in Louisville on Friday. Game director Jimmie Reed blamed the poor attendance on the awful weather. Reed said there will be a game next year, in Western Kentucky’s refurbished stadium in Bowling Green. One of the keys to making the game an attractive event is the participation of high-profile Division I signees. But some colleges don’t want their recruits to risk injury by playing in all-star games, which really hurts the gate.

■ Total attendance was fewer than 8,000 for the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star basketball rivalry last weekend. About 5,000 fans were in Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday, the smallest crowd Indiana has had in more than a decade. Only a couple thousand fans showed up at Louisville Gardens for the rematches on Sunday. The Indianapolis Star reported that Pete Smith is stepping down after one year as the Hoosiers’ game director. Smith said his successor will face challenges to “rebuild the event to its former prestige.” It’s a fact of life that summer All-Star games, regardless the sport, aren’t going to draw what they did in the good ol’ days. Higher ticket prices and skyrocketing gas prices can’t help, either.

■ State baseball champ Pleasure Ridge Park (38-4) was No. 9 in the nation in USA Today’s final ratings.

■ PRP’s Bill Miller has won four state baseball titles (2008, ’96, ’95, ’94), tying him with Owensboro’s Jack Hicks for the second-most championships in state history. Ralph Kimmel led Manual to five titles between 1947 and ’59.

■ When PRP and Apollo met in the state semis, each had two starters who played in the Little League World Series. PRP’s Zach Osborne and Alex Horback were members of the Valley Sport team that won the 2002 title. Apollo’s Luke Daugherty and Dalton West were on the Owensboro Southern teams that made it to Williamsport, Pa., in 2004 and ’05. After PRP won the state title Saturday night, Osborne said it was “great to know the feeling of winning a championship again.”

■ Lexington Catholic star Nick Maronde didn’t win Mr. Baseball honors. Zack Cox of PRP did. But Maronde, who has signed with Florida, gets my vote as the most dominant pitcher that’s come through Lexington in the last 30 years. The left-hander finished his career with a 37-2 record. He came close to being 39-0. He threw a one-hitter but lost 2-0 to Dunbar in the 2007 region finals. He had a three-hitter but lost to Lexington Christian 2-1 this spring. As a sophomore Maronde led the Knights to the state title.

■ The East-West All-Star baseball games are this weekend at Louisville’s Patterson Stadium. The seniors play Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m. The juniors play Sunday at 1 and 4.

■ The high school football season kicks off in two months. The openers for Lexington teams: Aug. 29 — Bryan Station at Dunbar; Campbell County at Tates Creek; North Bullitt at Lafayette. Aug. 30 — Henry Clay at Bowling Green; Campbellsville at Lexington Christian; Indianapolis Bishop Chatard at Lexington Catholic. The 61st Recreation Bowl in Mount Sterling on Aug. 30 will have the same matchups as last year: Fleming County vs. Harrison County, and Clark County vs. Montgomery County.

■ Who’ll generate the most buzz for Mr. Football? The obvious candidates: Trinity linebacker Jordan Whiting, who has committed to Ohio State; St. Xavier running back Deuce Finch; Male speedster Justin Green; and Clay County quarterback Zach Lewis, who has a shot at Tim Couch’s state record for career passing yards.

■ Boyle County’s Jordan Aumiller, a 6-4, 200-pound tight end, has been offered a scholarship by UK, according to the Danville Advocate-Messenger. Aumiller caught 23 passes for 392 yards last fall before he moved to quarterback midway through the season.

■ Jay Bordas is the new boys’ basketball coach at Bourbon County. He replaces Mike Flynn, who took an administrative job in Northern Kentucky. Bordas is a Henry Clay graduate who returned to the Blue Devils as an assistant. “Bourbon County is a great place,” Bordas said, “and the 10th Region is awesome.” Bordas credited Kirk Chiles, who coached him his senior year at Henry Clay and later hired him as an assistant, for teaching him the most. Current Devils coach Daniel Brown encouraged Bordas to go for the Bourbon County job, a position he held before coming to Henry Clay. Former Bourbon County star Preston LeMaster will be Bordas’ top assistant.

■ Artie Braden, who guided John Hardin’s boys to the 2006 Sweet Sixteen, left to become coach at Nelson County. Mark Wells, an assistant to Braden, will take over at John Hardin.

■ Amy Gammon, one of the few women to coach boys’ basketball in Kentucky, has stepped down after five years at Fort Campbell. She had an overall record of 59-66.

■ Greg Hilvers is the new boys’ soccer coach at Lexington Catholic, replacing Steve Shehan, who left for a job in Florida. Hilvers has taught at Lexington Catholic for six years and was on Shehan’s staff. Also, Lexington Catholic hired Diana Hendrix as its girls’ golf coach.

■ Lexington Catholic grad Ben Revere, Mr. Baseball last year, is tearing it up for the Twins’ Class A team, the Beloit (Wis.) Snappers, and played in the Midwest League All-Star Game this week. Revere leads the league with a .413 batting average. He has 31 runs, 22 stolen bases, 13 doubles and six triples in 44 games.

■ Henry Clay alum Collin Cowgill, Mr. Baseball in 2004 who went on to star at UK, has signed with the Diamondbacks and is playing for the Class A Yakima (Wash.) Bears. Cowgill was drafted in the fifth round by Arizona.

■ Taylor Payne, a shortstop/pitcher and four-year starter at Boyle County, will play baseball at Georgetown.

■ Joseph Griffitt, a pitcher/outfielder who helped West Jessamine win the 12th Region title, signed with Kentucky Wesleyan.

■ Cooper, a new high school in Boone County, hired Tim Sullivan as its first boys’ basketball coach. Sullivan was an assistant at Holmes the last two years. He previously served as an assistant at Mason County, and head coach at St. Patrick.

■ When Montgomery County hosted the boys’ 10th Region basketball tournament in March, it was the first time in almost 40 years the event wasn’t played at the Mason County Fieldhouse. The 10th Region might not return to Mason County next year, either. The Maysville Ledger Independent reported that the 2009 tourney probably will be played in the new Bank of Kentucky Center at Northern Kentucky University. The 9,400-seat arena plans to host the 9th and 10th regions next March.

■ Haley McDowell of Blue Grass Baptist in Lexington has signed to bowl and play basketball at Union College. McDowell was Miss Basketball for the Kentucky Christian Athletic Association.

■ Former University Heights basketball star Josh Mack has transferred from Coastal Carolina to Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn.

■ Gatorade named Ballard senior Lutisha Bowen and Male junior Justin Green as its girls’ and boys’ track and field athletes of the year. They led their teams to 3A state titles.

■ In a news release about the newest members of the Dawahares/KHSAA Hall of Fame, Jeff Perkins was mistakenly referred to as the all-time leading scorer in Somerset football. James Fletcher is the top scorer.