Holiday Classic is good competition

Friday, December 19, 2008

Christmas may be a few days away, but local high school basketball teams will be firing up the holiday basketball tournament schedule this weekend, highlighted by Hopkins County Central’s Holiday Classic.

The Classic begins at 6 p.m. today and continues through Monday for a total of 22 games. The Lady Storm (1-3) will kick off the event when they host Hopkinsville (1-3). The Storm will take on Christian-Academy Louisville following the girls’ contest.

Classic organizer and Central athletic director Nancy Oldham said she’s looking forward to some good competition in the event’s second year.

“You’ve got your basic format that you had last year, so all the things that maybe didn’t go so well last year, hopefully we have the kinks worked out, and we feel like we have some really good teams, and it will be a great tournament with some great games,” she said.

Both Central teams will be guaranteed four games and play opponents in a round-robin format.

Oldham said that style was chosen because as a former coach, she preferred to have locked-in games, but there are other advantages as the host school.

“Our kids get to play at home and sleep in their own beds,” she said. “The boosters don’t have to be out a lot of money sending the kids on the road. Parents don’t have to be away from home during this time and the basketball coaches are happy because they get games in.

“I know when I was a coach, during Christmas time, it seemed like that was when your team really started to come together, really started improving because you had the opportunity to play a lot of games in a short period of time.”

After each contest, certificates will be awarded to a player of the game and at the conclusion of the tournament trophies will be given to the top teams.

Last year’s tournament took place after Christmas, but with Central’s boys participating in the Fifth/Third Classic this year, the event was moved before the holiday.

For the Lady Storm, the Classic will be an opportunity to improve on their slow start, which has been marked by a high number of turnovers per game.

“Our main thing looking into these next four games is to slow the pace down and try to run at the half-court set and work our offenses,” coach Jennifer Flener said.

Central has struggled at point guard because starter Hannah Murphy has been out with an illness. Murphy, a junior, was diagnosed with mononucleosis this week and will be out at least three more weeks.

Freshman Shalara Wells will take Murphy’s starting spot and fellow freshman Kaitlyn Orten has been called up to the varsity roster as well.

Flener said she’s aware of Hopkinsville’s athleticism and shooters, led by guards Jessica Hobson and Sharae Wilson and has told her team to focus on one game at a time..

“We’re not preparing for Union or Central Hardin or Paducah Tilghman until the game we have the day before is over,” Flener said.

On the boys’ side, coach Matt Bell will lead the Storm against Christian-Academy Louisville to begin the weekend. Central has strung together three consecutive wins after a season-opening loss at Webster County.

Most impressive of Central’s wins was a 69-61 victory over Muhlenberg North.

The biggest tests for both the Central boys and girls will come Monday when the squads take on Lyon County and Paducah Tilghman, respectively, to end the Classic. Entering Thursday evening’s play, both Lyon and Paducah Tilghman had 3-0 records.

While Central will be hosting its own event, the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams of Madisonville-North Hopkins will be hitting the road.

The Maroons (3-2) will head to Fairdale and play at 9 p.m. Friday against Pleasure Ridge Park (5-1) while the Lady Maroons play a to-be-determined opponent in the Lexington Catholic Republic Bank Holiday Classic. The North girls will play 1 p.m. Saturday against Betsy Lane.

Following opponents for both teams will be determined by the outcome of their opening games.

For Dawson Springs, the Lady Panthers play at 9 a.m. Saturday against Trigg County at the Lady Wildcats’ 12 Games of Christmas and the boys will play at 11 a.m. Saturday against Larue County in the Kentucky Machine and Engineering Christmas Classic.

The Webster County Trojans will play at 7 p.m. at Ohio County in the Eagle Classic.