This past Saturday, the Whitley County Colonels and Lady Colonels basketball teams were able to advance to the final days of competition in this year’s Kentucky 2A Sectional Championship Tournaments, which were hosted by Bell County High School.
First up Saturday was Head Coach Ronnie Collier’s Lady Colonels, who faced McCreary Central in their first round matchup. Season leading scorer Maddy Hopkins scored 19 points for Whitley County in what ended up being a 55-32 victory that improved the team to 5-6 overall. Jaylee Cox and Jonna Rice scored 18 and 13 points, respectively. All three players are in their junior seasons at WCHS.
The Lady Colonels just recently returned home from a trip to Tennessee to play in this year’s Smoky Mountain Classic. When asked about the experience, Hopkins said, “We played against some tough competition, and I think that it really pointed out some of the things that we need to work on. We really tried to use that in today’s game.”
Rice, who scored her 1000th career point on Saturday, commented that the team had good practices leading up to their 2A Sectional encounter with McCreary Central. “Any time that we can get in the gym, it’s always an opportunity to get better, and we have,” she said.
The Whitley girls have faced their share of adversity in recent years, losing players to transfer and injury and playing under three different head coaches in the past three campaigns. When asked about this, Hopkins said, “This group has just stuck together, and our coaching staff this year really believes in us. They want what’s best for us, and have been pushing us really hard. I think the team has really responded well to that, and we have been able to come through it all.”
Saturday’s win over McCreary Central set up a semifinal round matchup between the Lady Colonels and the tournament host Bell County Lady Cats on Monday night. Coach Collier’s crew was not able to advance to this year’s sectional title game, falling 57-29, but they will still have the opportunity to compete for third place overall when they play Harlan County in a consolation game Thursday evening at 6 p.m.
When asked about what the team needs to do the rest of the way this season to achieve their goals in the 50th District and 13th Region, Hopkins said, “We need everyone to fill their role. If everybody can fill their role, then we should be pretty solid for the rest of the year.”
Specifically, Hopkins pointed out Jaylee Cox for her ability to rebound and score on put backs. She also mentioned freshman Aubrey Fore’s defensive capability and the energy that sophomore Lydia Hale brings with her to the court.
Rice added, “We have been improving each and every game, so I think that will carry on. We are excited to get to play in our district and get some more wins. Staying together as a team and playing good defense is going to be our keys [to victory].”
Whitley boys win 2A thriller over Harlan County
After the Lady Colonels took care of business Saturday, it was the Whitley County boys’ turn to try and advance in this year’s 2A Sectional Tournament when they faced the Harlan County Black Bears for the second time this season.
The Colonels and the Bears squared off in Harlan County back on Dec. 6, with Whitley coming out on top in a close one, 76-71. Ironically, Saturday’s rematch at Bell County High School ended with almost the exact same score, as Head Coach Eric Swords and company were able to advance with a 76-69 win.
With the win, the Colonels improved to 11-3 on the season and advanced to the 2A Sectional championship Tuesday night against the Bell County Bobcats. They fell in the title game, 79-43.
Sophomore Riley Fuson had a huge game Saturday against the Black Bears, leading all scoring with 38 points. Henry Bowling, who is one of three seniors on this year’s team, along with Dee Parker and Garrett Sharp, scored 13 points.
“It feels great,” Bowling said after Saturday’s win. “We knew going in that it was going to be hard, but I think that our team responded really well. Riley has a really good game. Everyone saw that. He can do that on any given night.”
Whitley led Harlan County by ten points at halftime of Saturday’s game, but a run by the Black Bears to open the third quarter allowed them to momentarily take the lead before the score was eventually tied up at 54-54 going into the final quarter of regulation. The Colonels battled it out and did what they had to do in that final quarter to secure the win and advance in the tournament.
“We’re still a young team, and sometimes you just have to play through it,” Coach Swords said when asked about how his team handled the adversity on the court. “I think we have a high ceiling, but for us to get to where we need to be we have to be able to fix some things without taking time outs and having to be walked through everything. I thought our guys did a tremendous job of locking in and stopping that run themselves. I think our guys handled that, and showed a little bit of maturity that we haven’t shown yet.”
So far this season, sophomore Bryson “Tootie” Mahan has led the way for Whitley County in terms of offensive production. While the team was on a recent trip to Orlando to play in the KSA Holiday Tournament, he recorded 58 points in three games. This included his 1000th career point.
When asked after Saturday’s win over the Black Bears what he thinks about the team’s progression up to this point in the season, Mahan said, “We’ve really been bonding in practice. We try to talk each other up as much as possible to get ready for big games like today’s. Tuesday we’ve got the championship, so we’re going to do the same thing. Just hold each other accountable and lift each other up.”
