By MARK MAYNARD — The Independent
January 09, 2009 12:10 am
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The surprise team of the 16th Region is — drum roll, please — Menifee County.
Long a doormat in the region, the Wildcats are off to a 9-6 start that includes a 3-0 record against 61st District competition.
While the rest of the region is just now taking notice, coach Justin Moore saw it coming this summer.
“People talk about how important summer basketball is but for us it was much a predictor as anything,” he said. “We went out the first week and kind of struggled. The second week we started to realize we’re not too bad. The third week we walked out on the court expecting to win.”
That attitude has carried over into the season. The Wildcats have already tripled last year’s win total and they have two months remaining in the regular season.
Moore, who is in his second year, said the players bought into everything he’s told them.
“When I took the job, even in the (Menifee) county, they were saying we could never be any good and that we’d always be last in the region,” he said. “I was blessed and fortunate to have kids that said ‘Whatever you tell us to do, we’ll do.’ They’ve bought into everything I said wholeheartedly.”
Menifee County has done it with a high-powered offense that is averaging 74 points per game, scored in the 80s twice and outscored Wolfe County 114-110 in a dizzying victory.
Moore comes from good stock. He played basketball for Don Daniel at Rowan County, coached with Daniel at Rowan and with Mike Flynn at Bourbon County. Daniel and Flynn both are considered great defensive strategists.
For offense, Moore has turned to Menifee County superintendent Charles Mitchell, who coached a Tennessee high school team to a state championship.
“Offensively, I took a lot of stuff from him,” Moore said. “He and I talk basketball all the time.”
Menifee County has been to the 16th Region finals only once, in 1969, and has won only one district championship, in 1970, in its history. The Wildcats’ 60-200 record over the past 10 years is the worst in the region.
But the Wildcats are in the process of writing some new history.
“Our goal is real simple,” Moore said. “We want to run the table in the 61st District. Don’t get me wrong, we could lose all three (remaining) games and go out in the first round of the district. But if we can win the district, we’ll look at who we play in the region. We’d like to do something no other Menifee County team has done.”
Senior Blake Prewitt, who is 6-foot-6, averages 14 points per game and shoots 47 percent from 3-point range. Twins Blake and Patrick Greene, both juniors, are averaging around 14 apiece as well. Last year, both missed parts of the season with knee injuries. “They both went to the doctor the same day,” Moore said.
The point guard, David Meeks, averages 10 points and 4.5 assists. He scored 25, including a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, in an 88-78 win over Bath County in Owingsville last Saturday.
Sophomore Cody Peck comes off the bench with a hard-nosed attitude and contributes 10 points per game. Zach Stull, who is Peck’s cousin, brings the same kind of attitude, intensity and averages to the Wildcats. “They’re almost like my twins,” Moore said.
Keenan Hacker and Caleb Howard are both almost ready to come back from injuries while seniors Tim Lawson and Chris McDougal “do all the little things,” Moore said.
“I really felt like we could be a .500 team but am quite surprised at the situation we’re in,” he said. “The kids bought into the belief that we could be good and surprise people. Every time there was a gym opened — if I opened up, somebody else opened it or at a church gym — they were in the gym working on individual skills.”
The victories over district foes Rowan, Fleming and Bath was a mental hurdle that the Wildcats crossed, Moore said.
“The mental thing for Menifee County is such a big thing,” he said. “Last year we’d see the name across the chest and we’d already be down 15 or 20 points.”
Menifee County may get the chance to test itself against the region’s best. The Wildcats are hosts for the 16th Region All “A” Classic starting a week from Saturday. Menifee County plays the Fairview-Elliott County winner in the semifinals. Moore said if the Wildcats are matched up with Elliott County, they’ll be ready.
“We respect Elliott County but we’re not going to fear them,” he said. “Hopefully, the chips will fall in our direction.”
So far, so good.
MARK MAYNARD
can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.
com or (606) 326-2648.
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