Published: March 11, 2009 01:50 am      

Faulkner pulls off only MVP 3-peat

MOREHEAD — Elliott County senior Ethan Faulkner accomplished a three-peat of his own Tuesday night.

Faulkner became the first player to ever win three 16th Region Tournament Most Valuable Player awards—taking the honor in 2007, 2008 and now 2009.



“It means somewhat,” Faulkner said of the achievement. “None of this could be done without the team. I’ve got the best teammates and I wouldn’t trade one of them for anybody in the state.”

Faulkner’s assist to Evan Faulkner in the third quarter against Lewis County gave him a triple-double average for the tournament, another likely all-time first.

Ethan cashed in with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in the semifinal win against Ashland and a well-rounded effort in the first round victory over Russell with six points, 11 rebounds and eight assists before putting up 17, 12 and 10 in the championship game.

The point guard’s pinpoint shooting matched his precise passing, as he converted 17-of-25 field goal attempts in the three-game span.

Faulkner also received the Best Defensive Player award and received all-tournament honors for the third time in his career.

All-Tournament

Elliott County seniors Evan Faulkner and Jonathan Ferguson joined Kelly Wells of Rowan County, Tyler Zornes of Boyd County and Ashland’s Matt Thomas in becoming only the fourth and fifth players to make the all-tournament team four times in a career.

Lewis County’s Terrence Smith, Koty Riley and Chris Thompson joined the all-tournament crew as well. Both Riley and Smith were crucial as they combined for 42 points in the 62-59 semifinal win over Bath County.

Evan Faulkner averaged 16 points and 4.1 assists per game for the tournament. While Evan is preparing to compete in the state tournament, his future school, Radford University, will get ready for the NCAA Tournament. Radford had a representative at the regional tournament watching the games.

The All-Tournament Team: Ryan Bonner (Ashland), Taylor Webb (West Carter), Caleb Collins (Fairview), Taylor Maze (Bath Co.), Zak Metz (Bath Co.), Chris Thompson (Lewis Co.), Terrence Smith (Lewis Co.), Koty Riley (Lewis Co.), Ethan Faulkner (Elliott Co.), Jonathan Ferguson (Elliott Co.), Evan Faulkner (Elliott Co.), Chris Knipp (Elliott Co.).

One-year wonder

Unfortunately for Lewis County, one of the Lions’ key pieces will depart due to graduation.

Thompson scored 28 points, grabbed 12 boards and dished out six assists on the biggest stage he’s seen in his basketball career.

Thompson moved to the area less than a year ago, and played just the one season with the Lions.

According to the 6-foot-4 senior, he is drawing some interest from colleges, and he knew how important his postseason performance would be.

“I knew there were going to be scouts (in Morehead) and I knew I had to lead my team,” Thompson said.

Thompson presents a threat both inside and out. He canned four 3-pointers in the championship game, and shot 12-of-20 overall. He averaged 17.7 points and 10.7 rebounds in the tournament.

“From the beginning (of the season), I’ve improved a lot,” Thompson said. “I could always shoot the ball, but never really shot much in games until this year.”

Record-breaking

The Sandy Hook special was bound to set some records in this year’s tournament.

Ferguson flourished throughout his career in postseason play and became the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 226 points, breaking Tyler Zornes’ record of 221 total points.

Ferguson tied the record with 14 points in the first half, and sank a free throw early in the third quarter to take the No. 1 spot. The senior guard tallied 71 points in the tournament, just two points shy of his personal best 73, which he accumulated as a freshman in 2006 when he was MVP.

Ferguson had already set records for all-time field goals made and attempted in career tournament play, and finalized that mark with 80 made out of 195 attempted.

“(Ferguson’s) probably the best to ever come out of this region scoring-wise,” said Ethan Faulkner.

The Lions shattered their own tournament record they set last year of most 3-pointers attempted with 88 attempts this season, and they blew by Boyd County’s 1999 squad with the most 3-pointers made in a single tournament with 29.