Eagles

LEXINGTON - Kentucky took a punch, but Alex Poythress helped the Wildcats fight back. The freshman forward scored 20 points, and grabbed eight rebounds to help lead the eighth-ranked Wildcats to an 81-70 triumph over a feisty Morehead State squad Wednesday night at Rupp Arena. In an unexpected tangle between the two instate schools, the Eagles used a 16-0 scoring spree in the first half to build an 11-point lead before Kentucky rallied back and led 32-31 at the break. Poythress helped spark the comeback in the first frame, scoring eight points, all during an 18-6 Kentucky run to close out the half.

Asbury College forward and West Jessamine alumnus Brett Johnson scored 21 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked six shots in the Eagles' 81-64 win over Alice Lloyd Tuesday at the Luce Center. The win was the 11th in a row for the Eagles, who are now 20-7. The Lady Eagles fell to Alice Lloyd Tuesday, 72-55, as they struggled with low shooting percentages. Lindsey Wood led Asbury with 15 points. Now 11-12, the team's senior day is Saturday when they host Indiana University-Southeast at 6 p.m.

Dear Editor: Fraternal Order of Eagles 4394 wants to thank the following for their support and donations throughout 2005, which have helped us have a great year: Wal-Mart, Kroger, Cutters Restaurant, Virginia Godbey and Red Dog who made a great Santa Claus for the kids at the Christmas Party. Also, we want to thank all the bands who played for us with a special thanks to Kickin' It Up, which brought 2006 in for us. Mary Jean Abrams, secretary Karin Bernard, entertainment committee Fraternal Order of Eagles 43904

The Asbury College volleyball team, who had its three-game winning streak snapped against Brescia last Thursday, hosted a Lindsey Wilson team Saturday that had already beaten them 3-1 earlier in the season. The Eagles played much better than before, but still fell 3-0. Asbury (8-20) came out flat, losing the first game 30-20, and could not find a way to stop the powerful front line of Lindsey Wilson (13-5). The next two games were more competitive as the Eagles looked sharper to put points on the board.

The Clark County Eagles, an eighth-grade team comprised of middle school students at Clark Middle, made history in the Bluegrass Conference Middle School baseball tournament. The Eagles won the title with a 2-1 triumph over Powell County in six innings on a sacrifice bunt by Wes Curtis that scored Darius Skinner from third with the bases loaded. Curtis was substituting for Jordan Miller, who was injured in the semifinals. Curtis came through when it counted and helped send the Eagles to their first-ever title on the diamond.

By finishing the season winning eight of their final 10 games, the Eagles have a shot at doing what no women's basketball team has done before in school history - finish at .500. Now all they have to do is win the conference championship this weekend. Asbury (14-16, 4-5 KIAC), enters the tournament as the fourth seed, which means the Eagles will be matched up with top-seeded Indiana University-Southeast if they make it to the semifinals. Asbury has not beaten the Grenadiers this year, most recently losing by 24 points on the road Feb. 12. Head Coach Bart Flener said with the streak his team is on, he can see them doing some damage in the tournament, which is being held at Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, Ky, especially now that the players are stringing together good stretches of basketball.

With a 4-2 victory over Indiana Southeast Saturday, the Asbury softball team laid claim to the KIAC championship. The win cements the best season in Asbury softball history with a 24-12 season. Not bad for a club coming off a five-year hiatus. Asbury (24-12, 13-6) hosted the KIAC tournament in their first season back, and despite rain forcing the normally double-elimination tournament to a single-elimination tournament, the Eagles were a perfect 3-0. As far back as spring of last year, Asbury Head Coach Larry McCullough believed a shot at the KIAC title was an attainable goal for a first-year program.

The Eagles needed to be on the smiling side of one of these close games. After enduring four losses in its six games decided by two possessions or fewer, the Asbury women's basketball team finally eked out a tight one, upending visiting Transylvania University 58-57 Tuesday night in Wilmore. Asbury (9-15, 1-3 KIAC) led by as much as 10 in the second half, but the Pioneers (15-5, 9-2 HCAC) used several small runs to claw back, and they eventually tied it at 55 on a free throw by Holly Milburn with 2:26 left.

Kentucky coach John Calipari knows what to expect from Morehead State. He just hopes his team is prepared for the Eagles. “They'll scramble and if the game is allowed to be physical they will turn us over a bunch, but it's what we need,” he said Tuesday. “It's not, how much have we worked on press attack, we're still trying to get them to play hard. We're trying to get them to play a full possession. We started working on situations (Monday) and that was just very average, what we did. We have to continue from this point on, working on some specialty things but we still have the basics we have to get better at. “The only way you create habits is do something every day. Well, if you do everything that we have to improve on every day, we'll have a nine hour practice.

Certain thoughts don't always come to be when confronted with a decision, and that was just the case for East Jessamine's Jarod Rocco on Monday. Rocco, a four-year starter for the Jaguars' soccer team, signed with Asbury University with high school teammates and friends, Timmy Bradshaw and Taylor Harper. Despite family ties to the Eagles' program, Rocco couldn't see himself ending up so close to home. Growing up, I had always told myself I wasn't going to end up at Asbury because I lived about five minutes away,” Rocco said, “but I went to one of their fall training sessions and recruiting trips and the bond the team shares as a family just brought me in.” East soccer head coach Tom Morgan called him “a rock for our team.” His comments were backed up with Rocco's performance as goalkeeper on the pitch, which helped lead the team to a 28-8-7 record in his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Madison Southern scored six runs in the first three innings and held on for a 7-6 victory over George Rogers Clark Tuesday afternoon at Cardinal Heights. The Lady Cardinals, returning from a week-long break, rallied with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but left the tying run at third and the potential winning run at first base following a strikeout to end the contest. Clark collected three of its 11 hits in the contest in the final frame. Kolbi Mitchell produced an RBI double in the inning, while Whitney Conkwright and Erin Carrus each had a single.

Winchester resident Jackson Wells Rowady was awarded Scouting's highest achievement during his recent Eagle Scout Investiture ceremony at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, which sponsors Troop 56. More than 80 friends and family members were present to honor Jackson, including City Commissioner Rich Beach; Dr. William Davis, a fellow Eagle Scout; Nancy Turner, Winchester-Clark County director of tourism; Troop 56 Scoutmaster Clay Rose; Father Norman Fischer,...

The Lincoln County Middle School eighth-grade Eagles capped off a sensational 35-7 season by finishing as runners-up in the Kentucky Basketball Academy (KBA) 8th-Grade State Tournament this past weekend in Lexington. Seventy-six of the top middle school teams in the state converged on the KBA to participate in the tourney, and the Lincoln squad overcame a shaky start to finish second overall. Lincoln, led by head coach Eric Ralston and assistant coach Danny Griffin, dropped its first game in pool play but rebounded to pick up six straight wins before falling 51-44 to Southern Pulaski in Sunday's championship game.  The members of the state runner-up squad are: Devin Alcorn, Noah Young, Tristan Helton, Garrett Clem, Noah Horton, Tanner McAninch, Ryan Montgomery, Trey Miller, Hayden Gifford, Blake Eldridge, Chase Phillips and Nick Noland.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky took a punch, but Alex Poythress helped the Wildcats fight back. The freshman forward scored 20 points, and grabbed eight rebounds to help lead the eighth-ranked Wildcats to an 81-70 triumph over a feisty Morehead State squad Wednesday night at Rupp Arena. In an unexpected tangle between the two instate schools, the Eagles used a 16-0 scoring spree in the first half to build an 11-point lead before Kentucky rallied back and led 32-31 at the break. Poythress helped spark the comeback in the first frame, scoring eight points, all during an 18-6 Kentucky run to close out the half.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky took a punch, but Alex Poythress helped the Wildcats fight back. The freshman forward scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds to help lead the eighth-ranked Wildcats to an 81-70 triumph over a feisty Morehead State squad Wednesday night at Rupp Arena. In an unexpected tangle between the two instate schools, the Eagles used a 16-0 scoring spree in the first half to build an 11-point lead before Kentucky rallied back and led 32-31 at the break. Poythress helped spark the comeback in the first frame, scoring eight points, all during an 18-6 Kentucky run to close out the half.

Kentucky coach John Calipari knows what to expect from Morehead State. He just hopes his team is prepared for the Eagles. “They'll scramble and if the game is allowed to be physical they will turn us over a bunch, but it's what we need,” he said Tuesday. “It's not, how much have we worked on press attack, we're still trying to get them to play hard. We're trying to get them to play a full possession. We started working on situations (Monday) and that was just very average, what we did. We have to continue from this point on, working on some specialty things but we still have the basics we have to get better at. “The only way you create habits is do something every day. Well, if you do everything that we have to improve on every day, we'll have a nine hour practice.

Nicholasville's Erik Seitz has the lofty goal of becoming an Eagle Scout, and like many candidates, he has to complete a service project. Seitz, a history aficionado, said he wanted to do his service project centered around the Camp Nelson Heritage Park but said nothing was immediately coming to mind. That all ended last September after a trip to last year's Civil War Days at Camp Nelson. “They had a service in front of the (Perry) House, and me and my grandfather were standing there, and when we turned around, we saw that the paint was starting to fall off,” Seitz said.

Ale-8-One Bottling Company and Kentucky Eagle signed a distribution agreement to expand Kentucky's soft drink to restaurant and bar accounts. The limited agreement covers approximately 300 bar and restaurant accounts in Fayette, Madison and Scott counties currently served by Kentucky Eagle. Ale-8-One trucks and personnel will continue to cover grocery, discount and convenience store accounts. Fielding Rogers, president fourth generation owner of Ale-8-One, said the agreement made sense for the bottler.