SPARKS AND RECREATION: Lions continue their glory road trip

Jan. 11—Boyd County sends a pair of teams to their first Kentucky 2A state tournament on Friday but it's not the program's or the coaches' first taste of the big stage.

The Lions are in good hands with Pete Fraley and Randy Anderson. The duo have 1,059 wins between them and guided their respective schools in several high-pressure games during their tenure.

Fraley, the 16th Region's all-time winningest coach, has collected six region girls titles, four in the last seven seasons. The current Boyd County roster has several players who competed at the Sweet Sixteen in 2022 and Fraley knows the environment that awaits his team this weekend.

The site of the 2A state tournament is the Owensboro Sportscenter. It's a small facility but it can get very loud. Fraley also coached there with the Kentucky All-Stars during the summer.

Fraley hopes the wealth of experience can assist the Lions to win three games in three days.

"You rely on that but the bottom line is we have to go out there and play," Fraley said. "We open up with Bell County. I have watched film and they are solid. They have three bigs and we will have our work cut out for us."

After traveling to Mount Washington, in the Louisville area, for the Queen of the Commonwealth Tournament and to northern Kentucky for a pair of games during the holiday break, Boyd County spent another two hours on a bus to Pikeville to claim its first Section 8 title last week.

"We played back-to-back nights there and we go to Owensboro and will spend a couple of nights there and hopefully play three days in a row," Fraley said. "At the state tournament in March, sometimes if you get there and don't draw the Wednesday game, you get Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Anything you do that can be parallel to the region and state tournament, it's good."

Anderson picked up his 500th coaching win in the boys team season opener. The Lions will attempt to claim their first 16th Region title since 2018 in two months and a trip to Owensboro can give them an early look at state-caliber games in January.

"We've tried to tell them that," Anderson said. "It's not the Sweet Sixteen, but it's the next best thing to it. It can put you in a great position to play good teams in great arenas and atmospheres. They had a great atmosphere, a great band and a great student section in the Section 8 final (at Pike County Central). Crowd was great. Our kids really enjoyed it."

The Kentucky 2A Tournament started during the 2018-19 season and is currently in its fifth year of existence after missing a year due to COVID-19.

Fraley, who also serves as Boyd County's athletic director, had early reservations about entering the 2A fray but received positive feedback from area coaches, and decided it would be a positive for both programs to be a part of the group.

"When it first came out, I was a little hesitant," Fraley said. "Then it was a chance to play some good 15th Region teams. There are many solid teams there plus it gave us some extra games. Everybody around that who had been in it, including (Rowan County's) Matt Stokes and (Lawrence County's) Travis Feltner, encouraged us to join. They said it was a great experience. Any time you can put your kids in a tournament atmosphere and play for a championship, it's what you want because that experience can be valuable down the stretch."

"Coach Fraley wanted to give it a try," Anderson added. "There have been years when we really struggled to get 30 games and get people to play. If we can take care of our business in this tournament, it's four or five games we can play."

The Boyd County girls team plays on Friday at noon in Owensboro. The boys team follows at 1:30. Both teams play Bell County.

The 2A state tournament girls semifinals are scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 2:30 and 4. The boys play at 5:30 and 7. The championship games are slated for Sunday at noon and 2.

Section 6 champion Fleming County competes against LaRue County in the boys opening round on Friday at 5:30.

Big-time Ballers—East Carter's Evan Goodman became the 12th member of the Raiders' 1,000-point club at a tournament in Tennessee over the holiday break. He was honored before East Carter's rivalry win over West Carter on Jan. 4.

—Cole Christian continued his stellar wrestling season with another individual win at the Appalachian Duals at Knott County on Saturday. He was also named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the event as Ashland earned the East Division championship. Elijah Maynard (120 pounds), Carson Gillum (150 pounds) Bryce Helms (157 pounds) and Branden McGee (175 pounds) each won an individual title.

3-point shot—Boyd County's Jasmine Jordan and Audrey Biggs were among 724 names in consideration to play in the McDonald's All-American Game at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on April 2. The final 24-player roster for the boys and girls team will be announced on Jan. 23.

—Lawrence County will be honoring and celebrating its 2023 Hall of Fame class on Jan. 26. The honorees include Dontae Wright, Spencer Harris, Steven Blevins, Michael West, Jennifer Vansickle, Randy Keeton, Doug "Bulldog" Vanhoose, Don West, Bob Williams, Terry Young and Harold Kazee. The ceremony will be held in the high school cafeteria at 5.

—The 16th Region All "A" Classic championship games will be played at Elliott County. The boys final between Menifee County and Raceland takes place tonight at 7. The girls title game matches the same two schools on Friday at 7.

Reach MATTHEW SPARKS at msparks@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2671. Follow @SparksWillFly35 on Twitter. (X).