OPINION NOTEBOOK: Johnson catches Bolus' attention ... and other notes (09/25)

Not-so-random thoughts on our world of local sports while deciding I must have been duped on eBay into buying front-row tickets at Yankee Stadium for the postseason.

A year riding the pine pony? No biggie.

North Hardin senior GREG JOHNSON was academically ineligible to play basketball last season, but he kept working on his game and had an extremely strong summer.

And someone important took notice.

Rick Bolus, widely regarded as the state’s top high school scout, tapped Johnson as the seventh-best prospect when his High Potential Basketball Recruiting Service state rankings came out earlier this month.

Johnson’s teammate, LAROD KING, was tapped 17th overall and the fifth-best player in the 5th Region behind Johnson, Adair County’s Darren Ballou (ninth overall), Taylor County’s Leonard Macon (10th) and Taylor County’s Chase Cox (12th).

ALSO ON THE HARDWOOD

n Central Hardin has changed the format of its annual SHIVELY SPORTING GOODS SHOOTOUT. Instead of being a Christmas break tournament with two pools, the event has become a one-day classic featuring four games on Dec. 6.

Joining the host Lady Bruins are John Hardin, Marion County, Christian Academy of Louisville, Lexington Paul Dunbar and Inez Sheldon Clark.

 n Area rivals Central Hardin and Meade County will join host LaRue County for the Hawks’ post-Christmas NATIONAL GUARD HOLIDAY CLASSIC. Also in the tournament – which runs Dec. 27, Dec. 29 and Dec. 30 – is Trimble County.

ON THE VOLLEYBALL COURT

n LaRue County sophomore setter MOLLY KENNEDY was chosen as the Kentucky High School Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 7-14 in a joint American Volleyball Coaches’ Association-Kentucky Volleyball Coaches’ Association effort.

In two matches, Kennedy had 16 assists, six aces, one dig and a 20.8 hitting percentage.

ON THE DIAMOND

n Former North Hardin baseball standout NATHAN ADCOCK, who pitched for Class A Wisconsin in the minor leagues this season, was tapped as the Seattle Mariners’ 15th best prospect by Jason A. Churchill in a Sept. 12 article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

IN THE BOAT

n On Friday, BassFan.com came out with a feature on Elizabethtown’s own KEVIN SNIDER, who has fared extremely well in the Eastern FLW Series.

It can be read at www.bassfan.com/news.asp or by keying in ID 3064 at the site.

ON THE COURSE

n John Hardin junior MAGGIE MATTINGLY is the only area runner in this week’s state cross country rankings, which are on Page C2 of today’s edition.

Mattingly is ranked third in Girls’ Class 3-A.

ON THE GRIDIRON

n Three of this week’s four Army Iron Man Award Week 4 nominees are from the area in Elizabethtown senior teammates CHRIS GOHMAN and TREVOR DENEEN and LaRue County’s ALEX LEE.

 Deneen caught five passes for 78 yards and grabbed one interception in Elizabethtown’s 56-10 win over Fort Knox, while Gohman had nine receptions for 178 yards and one touchdown and also had one interception in the same game. Lee had 85 rushing yards, 48 yards and one touchdown receiving, and a 75-yard kick return for a touchdown as LaRue County beat Glasgow in double overtime, 56-48.

Lynn Camp’s Tyrone Person is the other nominee.

Voting ends at 8 tonight at www.TheSportsFlash.com and the winner will be announced online Friday morning.

n Although we do not refer to them when we at the paper write our articles, only one area team is ranked in the top 10 by www.BluegrassPreps.com.

John Hardin (4-0) is third in Class 5-A.

There is a link to the rankings on the Web site’s front page.

Nathaniel Bryan is a sports writer for The News-Enterprise. He can be reached at 505-1758 or at nbryan@thenewsenterprise.com