Sports

This past weekend, the Mountain Tennis Circuit’s second annual Whitley County Open took place at the WCHS tennis courts in Williamsburg. Over 40 players showed up to participate in the event, which was split into nine separate competitions. Winners for each competition are as follows… Nikhil Krishna (Corbin) in men’s open singles, Hannah Thomas/Peyton Hamblin (Williamsburg/Corbin) in mixed B-C doubles, Alex Smith (Barbourville) in boys’ 12 singles, Drew Wilson (Barbourville) in boys’ 15 singles, Kenneth Gray (Barbourville) in men’s B singles, Tommy Fox/Danilo Garcia (Waco) in men’s open doubles, Sydney White (Corbin) in girls’ 18 singles, Baylie Brunsma/Jane Millett (Middlesboro) in women’s open doubles and Kenneth Gray/Drew Wilson (Barbourville) in...

To update the previous report on Area Little League All-Stars tournaments, the Corbin Red 9-10 year-old team was able to defeat North Laurel 1 Tuesday evening by the final score of 2-1, making them champions of Area 2 in 2016 and advancing them to this year's District 4 tournament, which will get underway this weekend at Rotary Park. North Laurel went up 1-0 in the top of the first inning Tuesday, and they held onto that lead until Corbin evened things up in the bottom of the third thanks to a Bradric Helton RBI that scored teammate Jeremiah Gilbert. The score remained knotted up at 1-1 until the bottom of...

Last week, four Little League All-Stars baseball tournaments got underway that involved teams from Corbin and Williamsburg. The following is a breakdown of all the action leading up to the contests that are scheduled to take place this week… 9-10 year-old Area 2 tournament, played at Rotary Park in Corbin Corbin Gray All-Stars – Ean Baker, Cayden Barton, Clay Botner, Elijah Bridges, Judah Bridges, Lucas Brittain, JP Carmichael, Will Freeman, JT Gentry, Payton Hamilton, BJ Jackson, Cooper McCauley, Isaiah Mills and Jaxon Storms The Corbin Gray team kicked off play in the 9-10 year-old Area 2 tournament on Tuesday, June 28 against North Laurel A. It was a rough debut, as four...

With summer now in full swing, it won’t be long before the annual NIBROC festival returns once again to downtown Corbin. The yearly celebration always includes several sporting events, and in 2016 the News Journal’s 3-on-3 basketball tournament will be returning for it’s fourth installment. A total of eight teams participated in the inaugural tournament in 2013, with Team Buckets (Tyler Wagner, Isaac Wilson, Travis Raper and Madison Johnson) being crowned the first-ever champions, receiving plaques and $150 dollars in prize money. Interest grew between 2013 and 2014, with an additional ten teams showing up to compete in the second annual 3-on-3 tourney. Team Buckets (Wagner, Johnson, Wilson, Travis Cowden and...

On Tuesday, Randy Crider was introduced as the new varsity girls basketball head coach at Williamsburg High School. A press release from WHS said, “Randy Crider has accepted the position of head girls basketball coach at Williamsburg High School. He becomes the tenth coach in modern program history.” “The Burlington, KY native is a graduate of Conner High School, and earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees from the University of the Cumberlands.” “Crider has served this summer as the interim coach, and has been tabbed by the school’s search committee from fourteen applicants. Prior to these assignments, coach Crider had worked in the Lady Jacket program as...

Last year, the annual Woodbine Rebels Softball Shootout was plagued by bad weather. Tournament manager Jimmy Hendrickson and his crew were able to get all of the games in and crown a champion, but lightning and frequent heavy downpours put things in doubt on a couple of occasions. Thankfully, this year’s Shootout tournament was contested under bright and sunny conditions. Temperatures were a little on the warm side, but that is to be expected in mid-June around these parts. “We had great weather,” said Hendrickson after the completion of the tournament Sunday evening. “Now everybody gets to rest, and in 365 days we’ll be getting ready to do it again.” The Rebel...

Each summer, local high school basketball teams get the opportunity to take the court for a few weeks and compete against other squads in a series of offseason scrimmages. During this time, coaches get the chance to see their respective players in action and consider which areas of need will be the most pressing when preseason preparations begin in earnest later in the year. Earlier this week, the Corbin Redhounds hosted the first-ever Tim Short Auto Mall Summer Shoot-Out, which also featured the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets, the Whitley County Colonels, the South Laurel Cardinals and the Harlan County Black Bears. The event kicked off Monday with pool play, and then...

This portion of a From the Sidelines column appeared in the June 15, 2016 edition of the News Journal: When I heard the news a couple of weeks ago that Saint Catherine College would be closing its doors for good, the first thought that ran through my mind was, “What about the Wilson sisters?” In case you’re not aware, Kayla and Miranda Wilson, who are two of the best players to ever wear a Lady Hounds basketball uniform, have been playing at Saint Catherine for the past two years. The Wilson twins helped make history at CHS before graduating in 2014, leading the girls basketball team to back-to-back 13th Region championship...

Another spring sports season is in the books, and several baseball and softball players in Whitley County have given praise-worthy performances over the course of the last few months. The list of talented athletes is long, but it has been narrowed down to those few who are deserving of special recognition for their recent efforts on the diamond. Here is the 2016 All-County Most Valuable Players list for baseball and softball… 2016 County MVP (baseball): Peyton Buford, senior outfielder from Corbin – Buford was one of four senior leaders for the Redhounds in 2016. Consistent at the plate, reliable defensively and with an overall high baseball IQ, he played an integral role...

Between Friday and Saturday of last week, several coverage area track and field athletes were able to come away with top ten finishes in the 2016 KHSAA state championship meets in Lexington. The Williamsburg Yellow Jackets and Lady Jackets competed in the Class A meet Saturday morning and afternoon. Top finishers for the Jackets include: Danasia Buchanon (100-meter hurdles, 4th – 17.01), Selena Mattingly (1600-meter run, 1st – 5:19.62), Mattingly (800-meter run, 1st – 2:23.17), Dakotah Dunn (shot put, 4th – 48-01.00), Dunn (discus, 10th – 136-06), Makayla Mack (pole vault, 8th – 7-00.00), Tanner Boggs (high jump, 3rd – 6-00.00), Dalton Dunn (pole vault, 10th – 9-06.00) and Chaz...