High school notebook: Postseason revisions kind to Lexington football districts

The KHSAA recently approved the cross-bracketing table used for playoff scheduling in Class 5A and 6A through the 2018 season. Class 6A’s District 7 and District 8 — in which Lexington’s city teams compete with Clark County, Madison Central and Scott County — have something to smile about. In two of the next three seasons, the path to the finals will not include a potential matchup with any of the traditional Louisville power trio — Male, Trinity and St. Xavier.

The 2017 postseason is the only time a large school in the area could meet any of those “Big 3” before the finals, and the soonest it could happen that year is the semifinals; that year Districts 7 and 8 are paired against Districts 3 and 5, guaranteeing a local team a spot in the penultimate round.

Trinity, currently in District 4, couldn’t meet a local team in the next three postseasons until the finals. Male and St. Xavier are in District 3.

Male, Trinity and St. Xavier have combined to win 18 of the past 19 state titles in the largest class (6A since 2007, 4A before then). Only Scott County, which defeated Meade County in the 2013 finals, has put a blemish on Louisville’s dominance of the division during that stretch.

In the upcoming season and 2018, the area could produce two state semifinalists. District 7 is paired with District 5 and District 8 with District 6 in 2016; those pairings are reversed in 2018. For playoff purposes, Districts 5 and 6 — the Northern Kentucky districts — each bring in the worst-performing Louisville schools from Districts 3 and 4.

Potential opponents won’t be cakewalks — Simon Kenton, Cooper, Ryle and Conner have all fielded top-10 programs in recent years — but they sure beat the alternatives.

District 7 is comprised of Bryan Station, Henry Clay, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Scott County. District 8 consists of Clark County, Lafayette, Madison Central and Tates Creek.

The yet-to-be named Fayette County high school, scheduled to open in August 2017, has been placed in District 7 until the next wave of major realignment occurs for the 2019 season. That school has not been placed into the alignment for other sports.

You can view the full playoff bracketing, which also includes adjustments to the Class 5A slate, at Bit.ly/1Wdi1bI.

All-City basketball teams

Taveion Hollingsworth and Kiara Pankins, both juniors, were the Lexington Players of the Year based on All-City voting by the boys’ and girls’ coaches.

Hollingsworth, the Paul Laurence Dunbar star who was named MVP of the boys’ Sweet Sixteen this season, received 74 of a possible 80 points in the polling of boys’ coaches. Pankins, who nearly averaged a double-double at 20.7 points and 9.2 rebounds this season for Lafayette, earned 75 of a possible 80 points in the girls’ vote.

Complete All-City teams accompany this column. First- and second-team players are listed in order of the number of votes received. Coaches were asked to nominate players and then to vote on their top 10 based on that pool of individuals.

Kentucky-Ohio All-Star Games

The Kentucky-Ohio All-Star Games will be played Saturday at Thomas More. The girls’ game begins at 5:30 p.m., with the boys’ contest to follow about 7:30. Taylor County’s Rich Gatewood and Franklin County’s Joey Thacker are coaching the Kentucky boys’ and girls’ teams, respectively.

Deandre Dishman (Bryan Station), Malik Frank (Frankfort) and Darius Williams (Paul Laurence Dunbar) are on the boys’ roster, and Sydney Anderson (Clark County), Malaka Frank (Franklin County) and T’laya Lyvers (Henry Clay) will suit up for the girls. Mr. Basketball winner Carson Williams (Owen County) and Xavier signee Quentin Goodin (Taylor County) will play for the boys, while Jenkins sensation Whitney Creech will compete on the girls’ side. A complete roster is available at Bit.ly/1q7plJz.

Goodin won’t be the only player in the all-star game who will play hoops in Cincinnati next season. Manual star I’Liyah Green signed with Cincinnati’s women’s team. So has Lakota East’s Sam Rodgers, whom she’ll play against Saturday. Jarron Cumberland, a 6-5 forward who averaged 29.6 points and led Wilmington (Ohio) to its first state semifinal since 1927, has signed with the Bearcats men. Jalen Tate of Pickerington Central (Ohio) won’t play too far from the Queen City; he’ll team up with Kentucky’s Carson Williams at Northern Kentucky next season.

Three Michigan signees are on the Ohio roster: Mr. Basketball winner Xavier Simpson (Lima Senior), Ibi Watson (Pickerington Central) and Jon Teske (Medina). Nick Ward, a Michigan State signee, will play for Ohio, too. He’s rated as the state’s second-best senior prospect behind Villanova signee Omari Spellman, a five-star guard ranked 16th in the country by ESPN. Spellman won’t play in the game.

Cumberland, Simpson, Ward and Kentucky’s Goodin are all ranked in ESPN’s top 100 recruits for the class of 2016.

▪  Transylvania University will host the Kentucky Basketball Coaches Association East-West All-Star Games on April 16. The girls’ game is scheduled for 6 p.m., with the boys to follow at 8. Those games feature the KABC Players of the Year and runners-up for each of the 16 regions. Those rosters are available at Bit.ly/1VBxPEK.

LexCath’s goodwill

While Lexington Catholic’s girls’ basketball season didn’t go as the Knights would have hoped — they finished under .500 for the second time in four seasons — like all teams, they created memories that will last a lifetime.

Among their recollections will be a trip to the Bahamas, during which they visited Ranfurly Homes for Children, a privately funded orphanage catering to 12- to 18-year-old children who were victims of abuse. While there, the team learned the facility was in need of pillows, blankets and sheets. Upon their return to Lexington, the girls made blankets and collected sheets for the orphanage. Lexington-based Tempur Sealy donated 35 pillows, and Lectrodryer in Richmond helped cover shipping costs beyond what the girls and their parents were able to raise. The package arrived at the orphanage this week.

“It has been amazing to watch how a team, with the help of parents and some very generous corporate sponsors, can have an impact on children’s lives thousands of miles away,” Coach Scott True said.

Catching up

▪  The Townsville Fire defeated the Perth Lynx 80-70 to win their second straight game in a best-of-three series for the Women’s National Basketball League championship in Australia. Natalie Novosel, who led Lexington Catholic to state titles in 2005 and 2006 before starring at Notre Dame, had 18 points, five rebounds and four steals in the series-clinching win.

Novosel, 26, became a key contributor in the latter part of the Fire’s season after returning from an ACL tear suffered during the 2014-15 season while she was a member of the Adelaide Lightning. Since winning the title, Novosel has said she’d “absolutely love to come back” and help the Fire vie for a third straight championship.

▪  Former Assumption standout Emily Bean, now a sophomore at Mississippi, set a school track and field record with a time of 33:39.36 in the 10K race at the Stanford Invite on Saturday. She and junior teammate Mary Alex England, who ran a 33:47.91, became the first women in school history to break 34 minutes in the event. While at Assumption, Bean was part of four cross country title teams and a 2012 track and field title team. She won the Class 3A 3,200-meter race at state in 2013.

▪  Victoria Decker, a Campbellsville University senior who played at Grayson County, went 4-0 last week to earn Mid-South Conference softball pitcher of the week honors for the third straight week and fourth time this season. Decker is 18-4 on the season and boasts a 0.99 ERA, sixth-best in NAIA. Campbellsville, ranked fifth in NAIA Division I, was 33-7 entering Friday.

▪  Former Eastern standout Amber Foukes was named MSC softball player of the week after batting .500 and hitting home runs in three straight games for No. 9 Lindsey Wilson.

Etc.

▪  Tate Creek’s Commodore Classic for track and field has been moved to Monday due to cold weather expected Saturday. Events will begin about 5:30 p.m.

▪  Lexington Catholic junior Legend Brumbaugh, who threw for 834 yards and seven touchdowns on 64-for-93 passing in an injury-shortened season, will transfer to Trinity Christian in Florida. Brumbaugh, a three-star quarterback who was among the top juniors in the state, according to 247Sports, is the son of UK defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh.

▪  East Jessamine sophomore Hannah James threw 16 strikeouts in a perfect game against Muhlenberg County in Florida on Tuesday. The Jaguars won 5-0, with James driving in two of those runs on a triple and a homer. East Jessamine was 11-1 entering Friday, its only loss a 3-2 decision at Scott County to open the year.

▪  Tates Creek’s Jaren Shelby, a UK commitment, and Grant Deaton were named player and pitcher of the week, respectively, by Prep Baseball Report Kentucky, becoming the first teammates to sweep the awards since the outlet began naming weekly winners. Shelby went 8-for-11 with five homers and 12 RBI during Tates Creek’s trip to Florida last week. The Commodores went 4-0; Deaton came away with one of those wins after throwing a no-hit, one-walk complete game in a six-inning 10-0 finish against Carlisle (Ohio).

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "High school notebook: Postseason revisions kind to Lexington football districts."