Thanks for Your Prayers

Before I get back to blogging local sports, I want thank everyone for their prayers following the June 11 automobile accident involving my wife, Glenda, and two of my daughters, Danielle and Erica. There is no way I could have made it through this experience without your prayers. I still need your prayers. Everyone has returned home, but Glenda and Danielle still have a long road to full recovery. The accident has humbled me and made realize what is important in life.
A lot of my life has been focused on sports. I plan to continue to cover sports, but I need to remember my priorities are God, family and friends. God is good and I've experienced many blessings during these difficult times. Thanks again for your prayers, cards, money, food and friendship.

Lewis Seven Receptions, One Touchdown

After starting at quarterback last week, Harry Lewis returned to the wide receiver position last night and had seven receptions for 96 yards and one touchdowns, and the Lexington Horsemen beat the Bloomington Extreme 40-34. Lewis scored on a 49 yard touchdown reception in the third quarter. Lexington (6-5) plays the Evansville BlueCats Saturday night in Evansville, IN.

Mason County Team Camp Day 2

Mason County won all three of its games Saturday in the Mason County Team Camp.

Here are the scores:
Mason County 61, East Brown 39
Mason County 66, Lexington Catholic 37
Mason County 49, Simon Kenton 39
Lexington Catholic was missing several players.

Mason County plays in the Madison Central Camp Monday and Tuesday and the Bluegrass Championships Thursday through Saturday.

Mason County Team Camp Day 1

Here are a couple of pictures (Mason County's press and St. Patrick's huddle) from today's action at the Mason County Team Camp at The Fieldhouse. Mason County, playing without Darius Miller, Trevor Setty and Keith Downing, beat Johnson Central 55-48. The Saints, playing without Chris Owens who broke his right hand in practice, lost to Newport Central Catholic, Huntington, Ohio and Johnson Central. There's a full schedule of games Saturday. Scroll down to an earlier post for the schedule.

West over East 12-7, Wells West Defensive MVP

The West beat the East 12-7 tonight in the second annual East-West Senior Bowl in Mt. Sterling.
Former Mason County Royal Richard Wells was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player for the West team. Three other former Mason County players- Stephen Howell, Chris Marshall and David Robb- also played defense for the West.

All Area 7 Track and Field Team

Mason County junior De'Sarae Chambers was named the All Area 7 Track and Field Female Athlete of the Year. Chambers was also named First Team All Area 7. Other Mason County athletes recognized include:

First Team All Area 7 Girls

Rachel White
Beri Wallingford
Blaine Menke
Valerie Rice

First Team All Area 7 Boys

Brent Sparks
Tyreese Scott
Daniel Reed
Chase Crawford

Second Team All Area 7 Girls

Elizabeth Levay
Kasey Litzinger
Keller Menke
Ashley DeAtley

East-West Senior Bowl

The second annual East-West Senior Bowl will be played tonight at 7:30 at Cunningham Field in Mt. Sterling. Four former Mason County players- Stephen Howell, Chris Marshall, David Robb and Richard Wells- are playing for the West team. Mason County assistant coach Chris Ullery is an assistant coach for the West team. Mason County Middle School head coach Tom Posey is the game coordinator.

Darius Miller Is Taking His Game To Italy

Mason County rising senior Darius Miller is headed to Italy with Team Reebok USA. The team of high school all-stars flew out of New York City today and will be in Italy playing against some of Europe's best young players through June 17. The team will play in the RbK Eurocamp 2007 in Treviso Sunday through Tuesday. A sightseeing trip to Venice is scheduled Wednesday.
Team Reebok USA will play in Tournament Domegge June 15-17. The team is scheduled to arrive back in New York City June 18. Miller and at least three of his teammates will go the NBA Players Camp June 19.

Kyle Macy Conducts Shooting Clinic For Lady Royals

Former Kentucky great Kyle Macy conducted a shooting clinic for several members of the Mason County Lady Royals basketball team this morning at The Fieldhouse. Hopefully the girls listened to Macy, who went on to play in the NBA after his college career. Macy hit a school record 89% of his free throws during his three seasons at UK. He made 91.2% of his free throws in 1980. He shares the single-season record with Travis Ford.

Mason County Team Camp Friday and Saturday

The annual Mason County Team Camp, hosted by the Mason County boys' basketball team,
will be held Friday and Saturday. Here is the schedule of varsity games:

Friday at the The Fieldhouse

10 a.m. Bracken Co. vs. West Union
11 a.m. Scott High vs. Lewis Co.
12 p.m. St. Patrick vs. Newport Central Catholic
1 p.m. St. Patrick vs. Huntington, Ohio
2 p.m. Newport Central Catholic vs. Ashland
3 p.m. Madison Central vs. Scott High
4 p.m. Harrison Co. vs. Grant Co.
5 p.m. Pendleton Co. vs. Huntington, Ohio
6 p.m. Ashland vs. Madison Central
7 p.m. Johnson Central vs. Mason County

Friday at the Tom Browning Boys and Girls Club

12 p.m. Ashland vs. Lincoln Co.
1 p.m. Pendleton Co. vs. West Union
2 p.m. Grant Co. vs. Bracken Co.
3 p.m. Huntington, Ohio vs. Lewis Co.
4 p.m. Johnson Central vs. St. Patrick
5 p.m. Newport Central Catholic vs. Lincoln Co.
6 p.m. Huntington, Ohio vs. Harrison Co.

Saturday at The Fieldhouse

9 a.m. Eastern Brown vs. Mason Co.
10 a.m. Bracken Co. vs. North Adams
11 a.m. Lincoln Co. vs. Scott High
12 p.m. Grant Co. vs. West Union
1 p.m. Madison Central vs. Newport Central Catholic
2 p.m. Lexington Catholic vs. Madison Central
3 p.m. Lincoln Co. vs. Eastern Brown
4 p.m. Pendleton Co. vs. North Adams
5 p.m. Mason Co. vs. Simon Kenton
6 p.m. Holmes vs. Lexington Catholic
7 p.m. North Adams vs. Harrison Co.

Saturday at the Tom Browning Boys and Girls Club

10 a.m. Grant Co. vs. Johnson Central
11 a.m. Bracken Co. vs. Eastern Brown
12 p.m. St. Patrick vs. Lewis Co.
1 p.m. North Adams vs. Johnson Central
2 p.m. Ashland vs. Scott High
3 p.m. Mason Co. vs. Lexington Catholic
4 p.m. Ashland vs. Simon Kenton
5 p.m. Eastern Brown vs. Harrison Co.
6 p.m. Pendleton Co. vs. Ashland
7 p.m. Holmes vs. Simon Kenton

The schedule is subject to change. Junior Varsity games will be played at the Mason County Girls' Gym and at Straub Elementary School.

Tolle Makes Two Visits, Three More Planned

Mason County rising senior Jackson Tolle has made recruiting visits to Eastern Kentucky and Indiana State in recent days. He worked out at linebacker at Eastern Kentucky and at the bandit and safety positions as well as long snapping at Indiana State. Tolle is scheduled to visit Western Kentucky Sunday, the University of Kentucky on June 15, and William and Mary June 24.

Lofton to Tryout for USA's Pan American Games Team

Tennessee guard Chris Lofton has accepted an invitation to the USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games Team Trials next month. Check out the UT website for the details including the Trials Roster.

Grutza Gets Haircut, Donates Hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths

University of Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Dustin Grutza of Maysville got his first haircut in more than a year Monday. Grutza is donating his hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. Pantene Beautiful Lengths creates real-hair wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer. Grutza got his haircut at Nippert Stadium by stylist Crystal Carpenter of Shear Elegance. There's a video of Grutza getting his haircut on the Bearcats' website.

(pictures courtesy of Katie Hunter)

Danny Hay Memorial Golf Scramble

The 15th annual Danny Hay Memorial Golf Scramble will be played Friday, June 22 at Kenton Station Golf Course. The scramble, sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police, Limestone Lodge #5, begins at 1 p.m. The cost is $45 and includes green fees, cart, meal and refreshments.
For more information, call 759-7154.

Mason County Royals Basketball Camp

The Mason County Royals Basketball Camp will be held June 19-22 in The Fieldhouse.
The hours are 9:30 a.m to 12 p.m. for grades 1-4 and 1 to 3:30 p.m. for grades 5-8.
The cost of the camp is $50 per camper. If you pre-register, you save $5.
Registration on June 19 will be from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. for grades 1-4 and from 12 to 1 p.m. for grades 5-8. Registration forms are available at the schools.

Summer Basketball Begins Monday

Summer basketball games for local high school teams begin Monday. The Mason County boys' freshmen, junior varsity and varsity teams will be play in the Lexington Catholic team camp Monday through Wednesday. The Mason County team camp is Friday and Saturday.
St. Patrick is among the teams playing in the Mason County team camp.

Lewis and Horsemen Fall to River City

Harry Lewis started at quarterback for the Lexington Horsemen and completed 10 of 21 passes for 92 yards and one touchdown in a 38-31 loss to the River City Rage tonight in United Indoor Football. Lewis threw one interception. He rushed for 62 yards on nine carries. Kewan Newberry took over at quarterback in the second half and completed six of eight passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis had two receptions for 11 yards. The Horsemen (5-5) host the Bloomington Extreme next Saturday night.

State Track and Field Meet Day Two

Mason County junior De'Sarae Chambers finished third in the girls' triple jump today at the state track and field meet. Chambers had a jump of 34-08.50. The Mason County boys' 4x100 meter relay team of Brent Sparks, Tyreese Scott, Daniel Reed and Chase Crawford finished fourth with a time of 44.78. The Mason County boys' 4x200 meter relay team of Sparks, Scott,
Crawford and Ryan Foley finished sixth with a time of 1:34.42. The Mason County girls finished 14th in the team rankings. The Mason County boys finished in 19th place. Paducah Tilghman won both the girls and boys Class AA titles. Here is a link to the complete results.

State Track and Field Meet Day One

Mason County junior De'Sarae Chambers finished second in the girls' long jump today at the state track and field meet in Lexington. Chambers had a season-best jump of
16-10.25, but was edged out by Paducah Tilghman sophomore Natalie Shumpert, who had a jump of 16-11. It's the third straight year that Chambers has finished second. Mason County junior Daniel Reed was sixth in the triple jump with a personal best mark of 42-04.
Mason County's boys'4x100 and 4x200 relay teams advanced to Saturday's finals.
The 4x100 team consisting of Brent Sparks, Tyreese Scott, Daniel Reed and Chase Crawford had a time of 44.98 seconds. The 4x200 team of Sparks, Scott, Crawford and Ryan Foley had a time of 1:34.92. Sparks was 10th in the preliminaries of the boys'200 meter dash (23.80) and failed to qualify for the finals.
Here is a link to today's results.

Harry Lewis to Start at QB for the Horsemen

Former Mason County standout quarterback Harry Lewis will start at quarterback for the Lexington Horsemen tomorrow night against River City. Lewis, one of the top receivers in United Indoor Football, has been the back-up quarterback. He threw for a touchdown on a receiver pass earlier this season. I recorded a phone interview with Lewis today.Gabcast! Harry Lewis #1





Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. in Rupp Arena.

River City Super Regional Championship Cancelled

The River City Super Regional Championship, an AAU basketball national qualifier tournament, scheduled this weekend in Maysville has been cancelled. Late notice for the tournament is the apparent reason for the lack of interest of teams. It's been less than a month since the dates for the tournament were announced.