Cougars

The Conkwright Dancing Cougars brought home the first-place trophy in the Ultimate Battle competition. The Cougars won the junior high pom division and won first-place grand champion overall. The competition was held Feb. 28 at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington. Pictured are Monica Hernandez, Brittany Sandefur, Emily Hutchison, Kimberly Hager, Savanna Stone, Felicia Oesterling, Katrina Dechant and Baesha Young. The team is coached by Amanda Spicer and Ashley Moberly.

The Clark County Cougars' seventh-grade baseball team completed its season in second place after being defeated by Powell County Middle School in the championship game of the Bluegrass Middle School Baseball Conference Tournament. The Cougars easily defeated McNabb Middle School in the semifinals (8-2). Taylor Howard pitched the entire game for the Cougars, facing 21 batters. He had three strikeouts, allowed two walks, three hits and two runs. The squad came out swinging early, but didn't start scoring until the bottom of the second inning.

MOUNT STERLING -The Conkwright Cougars swept through the McNabb Diamond Classic this weekend with a perfect 4-0 record, bringing the championship home to Winchester. In the opener, Derek McKenzie pitched a complete game, striking out six, as the Cougars avenged an earlier season loss to Powell County, 4-2. The Cougars opened the scoring in the first with a walk to Dustin Bonner who went to second on a passed ball. Bonner stole third and later scored the Cougars' first run. Powell tied the score in the bottom of the first, but Blake Cartwright, Taylor Evans and Bonner each crossed the plate in the third to give the Cougars the lead for good.

For the first time in Clark County history, the two middle schools met on the baseball diamond last weekend to open spring break. Conkwright and Clark Middle competed in a doubleheader at Lykins Park. In the first game, Conkwright's defense held Clark Middle scoreless in an 11-0 rout. Southpaw Taylor Howard pitched for the Cougars, with two strikeouts, two walks, three hits and no runs. For the Eagles, Philip Heil went three innings and had four strikeouts, gave up nine walks, four hits and seven runs.

Clark Middle took a pair of games from Conkwright in the regular-season finale for both teams Thursday night at Central Elementary. In the seventh-grade contest, Malik Warner rushed for 88 yards and scored two touchdowns to spark Clark's offense in a 28-6 win over the Cougars. Christian Cooke added 50 yards, while Quinn Cornelius had a score for the Eagles. Zach Meyers also scored a touchdown. Cooke had a big night on both sides of the ball with four tackles and a quarterback sack.

Clark Middle completed a regular-season sweep of Conkwright Saturday by taking three games from the Cougars. In the eighth-grade game, Conner Blankenship scored 11 points and James Underwood tossed in 10 to pace the Eagles. Darian Skinner paced the Cougars with 11 points and Derek McKenzie just missed double figures with nine. In the seventh-grade contest, Wilson Martin tossed in 17 points and Riley Caudill added nine to lead the Eagles in a 45-43 triumph over the Cougars in overtime.

Dec. 15, 1985 The Conkwright seventh grade Cougars won the first of two meetings this season with the Belmont seventh grade 31-14 Thursday at Conkwright Gym. Members of the seventh grade Cougars are Chad Blackwell, Mitch Shearer, Tim Gibson, Wes Raney, Kevin Clark, Steven Griffett, Marvin Bishop, Ralph Payne, Stewart Sheckler, Carl Cline, Jason Cole, Kelly Harris, Eddy Shrout and coach Lee Cruse. BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Western Kentucky University’s regents have selected Dr. Samuel Kern Alexander Jr. of the University of Florida as the new university president.

Dec. 20, 1985 The Conkwright Junior High School Cougars placed both squads in the finals of their own Cougar Classic with a pair of wins Tuesday over Estill County at Conkwright Gym. Conkwright’s 7th grade beat Estill County 37-21 while the 8th grade Cougars downed Estill 71-57. Christmas music and an appeal for a community center highlighted Tuesday’s meeting of the Winchester Kiwanis Club at Bud’s Beef ‘n’ More. Dr. Gale Price directed a portion of the George Rogers Clark High School’s select chorus in a variety of Christmas songs.

Asbury lost an eight point halftime lead and fell to the Cougars from Cincinnati-Clermont 74-71 on Monday night. The Eagles lost their touch after intermission and allowed UCC to go to the free thrown line 23 times where they connected on 19. Asbury (5-4) shot 37 percent in the second half compared to 47 percent in the first half, and they hit only two-of-nine three point attempts in the second half compared to five-of-12 in the first half. The Cougars shot 54 percent from the field in the second half and were 28-of-37 from the line in the game.

Asbury couldn't find the back of the net as Spring Arbor defeated the Eagles in the season opener 2-0 Monday. The Cougars used a counter attack in the 12th minute to score first with Ali Nichols beating Asbury keeper Melanie Dickson after a pass ahead from Jessica Clarke. Asbury came out firing in the first 10 minutes of the game getting off three shots but that left the door open for Spring Arbor's counter. Asbury struggled the rest of the half as the Cougars out-shot the Eagles 7-5 after the goal.

Actor Josh Hopkins, a Lexington native, has a lot going on professionally, but nothing is more important to him this week than Kentucky and Louisville playing Saturday in the Final Four in New Orleans. Hopkins, a life-long Kentucky fan, is not like some UK fans who are apprehensive over playing Louisville for a second time this season - UK won 69-62 on Dec. 31. “What's not to love? Cats, Cards. Cal (John Calipari) and Rick (Pitino). Puts the state on a national stage. I-64 has never been so famous.

Lexington native Josh Hopkins co-stars in the current ABC-TV sitcom “Cougar Town” with Courteney Cox, but the actor still always finds time for his passion - following University of Kentucky basketball. Whether it's watching the Wildcats on TV or following the Cats through various blogs/Internet sites, Kentucky basketball is never far from his mind. He even finds a way to attend several games per year depending on his schedule.  Hopkins, the son of former Kentucky Congressman Larry Hopkins and Carolyn Hopkins, attended Sayre School and played varsity basketball before going to Auburn University.

Conkwright Middle School took two of three games from Clark Middle in a tripleheader Thursday night at Norton Gymnasium. The Cougars won the sixth- and seventh-grade games, while the Eagles avoided the sweep with a 56-31 victory in the final game between the two county rivals. In the eighth-grade game, Clark Middle outscored the Cougars 18-8 in the second quarter and led from start to finish. The Eagles connected on four shots from long range and were led in scoring by J.C. Cornelius, with a game-high 20 points.

East Jessamine's football season came to an end on Friday night with a 28-7 loss to Conner in the first round of the 5A playoffs. The Jaguars lone touchdown came on a 1-yard carry by Blake Hinkle in the second quarter. East trailed the Cougars 14-7 at the half. The East offense stuggled in the redzone, turning the ball over inside the 20-yard line twice. The Jags end the year at 5-6 overall after losing the final four games of the season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pikeville College went from unseeded to undisputed NAIA champion. Trevor Setty tied a career high with 32 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the Kentucky-based school completed an improbable run through the NAIA Division I men’s basketball tournament with an 83-76 overtime victory Tuesday night over Mountain State. The Bears won their first national title and became the first unseeded team in championship history to defeat five seeded teams in the tournament.

Clark Middle took three games from Conkwright Tuesday night at Norton Gymnasium. The Eagles won the sixth-grade game 31-23, followed by a 52-26 win in the seventh-grade contest. Clark Middle completed the sweep with a 56-26 victory in the eighth-grade contest. Sixth-grade CLARK MIDDLE — Owens 8, Kiniry 4, Bryan 4, Lowry 1, Doan 2, Carrington 8, Howard 1, Bordas 3. CONKWRIGHT — Back 2, Farris 4, Johnson 3, Jones 12, May 2. Seventh-grade CLARK MIDDLE — Glover 15, Israel 5, Finley 17, Cornelius 8, Wilson 2, Barrett 2, Bradley 2. CONKWRIGHT — Craft 2, Flynn 6, Grimes 2, Israel 2, Menchen 2, Riddell 3, Spoonamore 2, Tipton 2, Jones 1, Livingson 3. Eighth-grade CLARK MIDDLE — Israel 17, Green 7, Dawson 2, Williams 5, Sharrock 8, Shackelford 7, Barrett 4, McQuerry 4, Boggs 2. CONKWRIGHT — Bradley 4, Clarke 5, Crump 4, Ford 12, Stevens 1.

Dec. 20, 1985 The Conkwright Junior High School Cougars placed both squads in the finals of their own Cougar Classic with a pair of wins Tuesday over Estill County at Conkwright Gym. Conkwright’s 7th grade beat Estill County 37-21 while the 8th grade Cougars downed Estill 71-57. Christmas music and an appeal for a community center highlighted Tuesday’s meeting of the Winchester Kiwanis Club at Bud’s Beef ‘n’ More. Dr. Gale Price directed a portion of the George Rogers Clark High School’s select chorus in a variety of Christmas songs.

Dec. 15, 1985 The Conkwright seventh grade Cougars won the first of two meetings this season with the Belmont seventh grade 31-14 Thursday at Conkwright Gym. Members of the seventh grade Cougars are Chad Blackwell, Mitch Shearer, Tim Gibson, Wes Raney, Kevin Clark, Steven Griffett, Marvin Bishop, Ralph Payne, Stewart Sheckler, Carl Cline, Jason Cole, Kelly Harris, Eddy Shrout and coach Lee Cruse. BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Western Kentucky University’s regents have selected Dr. Samuel Kern Alexander Jr. of the University of Florida as the new university president.

Asbury lost an eight point halftime lead and fell to the Cougars from Cincinnati-Clermont 74-71 on Monday night. The Eagles lost their touch after intermission and allowed UCC to go to the free thrown line 23 times where they connected on 19. Asbury (5-4) shot 37 percent in the second half compared to 47 percent in the first half, and they hit only two-of-nine three point attempts in the second half compared to five-of-12 in the first half. The Cougars shot 54 percent from the field in the second half and were 28-of-37 from the line in the game.

So much has changed at Mercer County since the Titans last played Letcher County Central. But Mercer coach Bill Mason said the one thing that hasn't changed that much is Letcher. The two teams will meet Friday in Whitesburg in the first round of the Class AAAAA playoffs, 50 weeks after Letcher ended Mercer's 2008 season. "They remind me of the same caliber football team," Mason said. "They're big and athletic and really aggressive, they're good tacklers, they get after you. " The Cougars handed Mercer a heartbreaking 13-12 loss last year, kicking a field goal with one second left to win. Since then, the Titans have endured heavy graduation losses, a midsummer coaching change and an eight-game losing streak.