From Kentucky Post 2.24.07
By Terry BoehmkerPost staff reporter
Simon Kenton basketball fans got a double dose of disappointment last season when their boys' and girls' teams lost in 8th Region championship games.
The Pioneers are considered top contenders for the boys' and girls' regional titles once again this year, but they're both going into next week's 32nd District playoffs with injured starters.
Josh Hurd, the leading scorer and rebounder on the Simon Kenton boys' team, is recovering from a separated right shoulder. The 6-foot-8 senior center might not play in the Pioneers' district opener against Williamstown on Monday.
"He's day-to-day depending on how his shoulder feels," said Simon Kenton boys' coach Trent Steiner. "If one of your horses can't go you've just got to adjust and move on."
Steiner will be counting on his other senior starters - guards Mike Hester and Eric Hopkins and forwards Josh Elbert and Justin Kohrs - to carry the Pioneers in their playoff opener.
Hester missed several games earlier this season with a broken bone in his left foot, but the four-year starter is back in the lineup for the playoffs.
"Big games is when he normally plays his best," Steiner said of Hester. We'll see what he's got (in the playoffs), but he's always been a pretty good player for us."
The Pioneers came so close to winning last year's regional championship that Steiner expects an extra effort from all of his players in the upcoming playoffs.
"I don't think I have to do a whole lot of motivating," Steiner said. "None of us liked losing in the regional finals last year. We want to finish the deal this time."
The Simon Kenton girls' team has the same attitude going into the playoffs, according to coach Jeff Stowers. "They know we fell short of what we wanted to accomplish last year so they're pretty hungry," Stowers said.
The Pioneers were one of the hottest girls' teams in the state over the past two months. They'll take a 16-game winning streak into Monday's district opener against Williamstown.
But Stowers would feel better about his team's chances of winning a regional championship if sophomore twin sisters Caitlyn and Lyndsay Figgins were still in the starting lineup. Lyndsay has missed most of the season with a torn ACL and Caitlin recently joined her on the bench with a broken nose.
The Pioneers' current starting lineup includes junior guards Lauren Conley and Jessica Farris, sophomore guard Chelsea Tolliver, sophomore forward Kayla Smith and senior center Kayla Stephens.
They won their final three regular-season games by such close margins that Stowers doesn't consider his team the regional favorite.
"We've been doing what we have to do to win, but I don't have that feeling right now," he said. "We're capable of winning it, but we'll have to play better than we have been lately."
Simon Kenton's leading scorer is Tolliver with a 15.8 average. Farris' scoring average has been climbing steadily since she moved into the starting lineup to replace Lyndsay Figgins.
But team defense and rebounding are what Stowers stresses the most in practice. The Pioneers limited their regular-season opponents to 40.1 points per game.
"We just try to lock people down with our half-court (defensive) set and be as efficient as possible on offense," Stowers said.
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