December 20, 2007

No school for Christmas vacation, look for menus next week.

Powell County High School Sports
By James Cook, Times Editor

Pirates drop two, hope to rebound in holiday tourneys

The past week has not been a very merry one for the Powell County Pirates. Jumping right into 56th District play before the holidays, the Pirates had hoped to set the tone for the season and establish a presence in the district. Instead they are now in a 0-2 hole in district play. Powell fell to Lee County, 70-67, last Tuesday in a game that had a little extracurricular activity. Then fell to Estill County, 68-57, on Saturday in their first home game of the year.
The Engineers came to town hoping to pick up a district win and they did not disappoint their fans who made the short trip to Stanton. Despite falling behind early, the Engineers built up steam and dominated he second half enroute to the easy 68-57 win.
Powell, playing without starting guard Daniel Kinser who was out due to a one game suspension after being ejected at Lee County early in the week, could not shake Estill early. The teams remained close throughout the first quarter. Powell did manage to get a little breathing room when Christian Brewer hit a long distance trey from near 70 feet away at the buzzer. The Pirates held a 22-18 lead.
The Pirates used that momentum to slowly build a lead. Powell went up by as many as four, 33-29, but the Pirates could not shake the visitors, despite the numerous turnovers Estill suffered. The Engineer’s Tristan Cackling and Trey Wiseman kept it close. A put back with :04 to go in the second period pulled Estill closer. Powell held a very slim 33-31 halftime lead.
The second half looked like a totally different ball game. Estill’s defense began to apply a lot of pressure and Powell’s chances of getting an offensive rebound kept dropping much like the temperatures outside the gym. Powell looked a little sluggish, as the Engineer’s defense became more tenacious. The result was a third quarter filled with seven lead changes. Wiseman’s and Cackling’s scoring was quickly matched by Powell’s Cory Brewer inside and David Hawkins’ three pointer. Powell took a 41-40 lead when Brewer hit a sliding baseline lay up with 4:08 to play in the quarter.
Estill answered quickly. Cackling picked up three quick steals on the Pirates next three possessions and scoring easy lay ups to push the Engineer’s ahead 46-41. Both teams traded scores and Estill held the lead, for good, at the buzzer 48-42.
Powell would get no closer. The Pirates stayed within striking range for most of the final frame. But the Engineers had built up their steam and rolled along like a locomotive, building up a 62-50 lead. Powell kept hanging around and scoring when opportunity allowed, but the Engineer’s had already claimed the glass as being theirs. Powell got very few second chances at a shot and the foul line became the visitors’ friend. Estill connected on 17 of 25 from the charity stripe for 68 percent, most of those came late in the game as Powell was trying to stop the clock. But the Engineers had boarded the train and rolled to the 68-57 lead.
Estill (4-2) was led by Cackling’s game high 24 points, followed by Wiseman with 15. Chris Hoover also had a good night for the Engineers, scoring 14 points in the district win. Powell (2-2) was led by Cory Brewer with 23 points and a quiet performance by Jeremy Banks, who tossed in 12 points. Five other Pirates also scored, while three other Engineers reached the scoring column as well.
In the JV game Powell took home a 48-41 win behind the shooting of Christian Brewer. Brewer had 26 points to lead the Pirates and was the only Powell player in double figures. Estill was led by Riley Birchfield with 10 points and Chris Coffey with nine.
The varsity loss was Powell’s second of the week. The Pirates fell to the Lee County Bobcats on Tuesday in a close, hard fought game. Lee, favored to win the district with their more experienced team, held a slim lead throughout the game. Powell tried to stay close, in hopes of getting a late surge, but it was not meant to be.
“It was good game, they just hit one shot more than we did,” Powell Coach Kyle Lively said of the Bobcat game. “We played well and were able to handle some of the things they (Lee) brought at us, but they are experienced and countered some of our stuff too. It was really good game.”
The game was a little costly. In the third quarter tempers flared between the players on the floor. Looking like a scuffle was about to break out, Powell’s Daniel Kinser stood between some of the players involved and used his hands to block a Bobcat player from getting to one of his Pirate teammates. The referees saw it differently and ejected Kinser. “I guess I didn’t make the right choice,” Kinser said before the Estill County game.
“We have to understand we have to make good decisions. I can understand what he (Kinser) was doing, he believed he was protecting one of his own and I can’t blame him for that,” Coach Lively said. “But we have to remember they are young men and may not always make the choice we would hope they would. It was understandable and he’ll be OK and the team will be OK.”
Powell traveled to Pulaski County on Tuesday for the annual Dave Fraley Game. Fraley was long time Pirate coach back in the 1970’s, including coaching the 1974 Pirates who became the first PCHS basketball team to go to the state tournament.
The Pirates will then travel to Clinton County to take part in the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic. The tournament runs from tonight (Thursday) through Saturday. Powell will then return to the hardwoods to host the Red River Run and Gun. The tournament starts Dec. 27 and runs through Dec. 29.

EC - 18 13 17 20 - 68
PC - 22 11 9 15 - 57
EC – Blake 3, Cackling 24, Napier 6, Roberts 6, Hoover 14, Wiseman 15;
PC – Banks 12, Co. Brewer 23, J. Mays 2, Crowe 2, Hawkins 8, Rice 2, Ch. Brewer 8

Lady Pirates tour continues; pluck the Owls, 67-33

The Powell County Lady Pirates rejoined their tour and traveled to Booneville last Friday night to play the Owsley County Lady Owls in a district match up. Owsley entered the game ranked fifth in the 14th Region and with a 2-0 district record. Powell held an overall 2-1 record and was looking for a district win. The Lady Pirates jumped out to an early lead, taking the home crowd out of the game, and coasted to the 67-33 victory.
The Lady Pirates had to take the court without Courtney Jones. Jones, a four year starter, has been sidelined with a foot injury. Her absence could have been a little concerning, as she averages 10 points per game. But Powell was just too much for the Lady Owls.
Powell opened up a nine point lead, 21-12, and never looked back. Using a total team effort, the Lady Pirates dominated all aspects of the game. Powell had four players who scored in double figures and were never threatened.
Powell continued to build their lead and was on top, 29-19 at the half. The homecoming game for the Lady Owls became a nightmare, as Powell’s defense held them to single digit scoring in three of the four quarters. To make it even better, sophomore Meghan Mays got her first varsity start and made the most of it. “Meghan did a good job in her first varsity start. Picking up four points, a couple of assists and played some good defense,” Powell Coach Ken Jones said.
But the Lady Pirates took advantage of the Lady Owls inside as well. Shelby Barnett took over at point guard and scored 16 points and had seven assists. Senior Ashley Lacy picked up a double-double, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. “She really showed the type of leadership that our young team needed,” Jones said.
Two more sophomores also had big roles in the victory. Kendra McFarland, who is becoming a force to be reckoned with inside, tossed in 14 points and seven boards to the cause. Stevie Rogers chipped in 15 points and five assists to the team effort. “Our subs got a lot of playing time and gave us some valuable minutes,” Jones added. “Everybody picked up some district experience. It was like a tournament atmosphere playing at ‘The Palace’ (Owsley’s gym) with a big home crowd on hand for their homecoming game.”
The Lady Pirates defense was phenomenal again. They held Owsley to 20 points below their season average and their leading scorer, Kendra Combs, to only six points. Combs is averaging 14 points per game, but on this night she was held scoreless in the second half.
The Lady Pirates improved to 3-1 on the year and will now prepare for the Lady Cat Classic at Bath County. Powell began play on Tuesday, as they took on Morgan County. On Wednesday, the Lady Pirates played Menifee County and tonight they will round our pool play as they go up against Nicholas County at 5 p.m. The tournament final games will be based on who won each pool.