Many All 'A' Classic visitors not only enjoyed a fun-filled week of basketball, but also enjoyed some Richmond hospitality served the down-home way.
With the tournament nearly over, many of the town's visitors have taken time during the week to enjoy the friendly atmosphere and food offered by area restaurants.
Saturday night was no exception. After a long day at the tournament, a group of people from Campbell County stopped in at Hooters Family Restaurant.
Judy Burks of Campbell County was in town supporting the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds. She said her stay in Richmond has been very pleasant. "We have had such a great time here," she said. "I just love coming to Richmond. The people are so accommodating and very pleasant to talk with. It's just a friendly place to visit."
Philip Horan, 14, of Campbell County, said he enjoyed being on the Eastern Kentucky University Campus during the tournament.
"The games were awesome," he said, "We've had a great time here in Richmond. I've met so many nice people while I've been in town. And being on the EKU campus has been really fun. It's a great place. I know I'd like to attend college there someday."
Fifteen-year-old Jonathan Hellmann was also visiting from Campbell County. He said the best part of his visit to Richmond was attending the basketball games.
"We have seen some really exciting games this week," he said. "This is a great town to hang out in, and the people have been very nice to us. It was also a lot of fun to be on the college campus. It looks like a great place to attend college."
Hooters Assistant Manager Dave Lickiss said business increased nearly 30 percent during this past week.
"Our merchandise sales have doubled during the week also." he said. "We've had a lot of people from the games stop by for dinner," he said. "It's great to get families in here. Many of them are from small towns and some have never had the opportunity to visit a Hooters restaurant. Many of them purchased items and asked the girls for autographs. It's been a great week for business and for meeting new people."
It will take a lot to top the memories Stephen Sizemore made for himself in Richmond Sunday.
The future Eastern Kentucky University football player drilled a pair of free throws with 14.7 seconds to play and altered a shot on the next possession to help lift Hazard to their first state championship in 49 years, 43-38 over Bishop Brossart in the All 'A' Classic championship game.
"(Richmond) is my favorite city right now. I'm getting ready to go to school down here and this is a good way to start it out," Sizemore said. "Unless we win the national title (in football at EKU) It will be hard to top this. Once you get on top, there's no feeling like it."
After Sizemore's free throws gave the Bulldogs a 41-38 lead, the Mustangs raced down the court and found Steve McCarthy on the right wing, behind the three-point line, open and alone. As the guard was spotting up for a possible game-tying three pointer, Sizemore ran towards him, using his entire 6-foot-5 frame to bother the attempt. The long-range shot fell short and bounced out of bounds off the hand of Brossart's Kevin Smith with six seconds left.
"I don't think he blocked it, but he sure did bother the shot. He just jumped so high causing the shot to have a lot of air under it and it fell short." Hazard coach Kevin Spurlock said. "It's the little things that win ball games and that little thing helped get us this championship."
Derrick Rhoden had the chance to put the Mustangs on top when he was fouled in the paint with 15.6 seconds to go with his team trailing by a point.
The seven-footer finished with a game-high 16 points, but it was the two that he didn't score that proved costly. Rhoden clanked two free throws off the back of the rim, the second one snatched by Sizemore, and the Bulldogs center was immediately fouled by Smith.
"It was really nerve-racking. I was praying they'd go in," Rhoden said. "I thought I'd make the first one for sure but it went long and the second one, I knew it wasn't going to go because when I threw it, I threw it wide." His coach can sympathize with pressure of the situation.
"I was in that same spot when I was in high school on a pretty good team and neither of the free throws I shot even hit the rim. They both were airballs," Bishop Brossart coach William Schlarman said. "He doesn't have anything to hang his head about. (The noise) went up about 10 decibels right before he shot the ball. It was incredible."
The game was exactly what Spurlock expected - a physical game where points were hard to come by. Brossart shot a paltry 30 percent from the floor and Hazard didn't fare much better - only hitting 15-of-43 for the game.
"We told our guys this was going to be a strong, physical game right down to the wire, and which ever team got the rebounds at the end and made the biggest play was going to win," Spurlock said. "Whoever was the toughest team at the end was going to win because it was going to be a battle."
Williams led the Bulldogs with a double-double - 13 points and 10 rebounds - on his way to being named the tournament MVP. The 6-foot-5 senior was forced to guard Rhoden with Sizemore in foul trouble throughout the game and despite giving up more than half a foot.
"Lamar (Williams) stepped up," Spurlock said. "Steve (Sizemore) got in foul trouble and he had to guard the big kid (Rhoden). Actually it was a blessing in disguise because he had the quickness and the long arms to make it rough on him."
For Hazard, the state championship was long overdue - and one that will be enjoyed by the small Eastern Kentucky community that has supported them all season.
"It's a tradition at Hazard they they're going to meet us at county line and we're going to go in with the biggest parade," Spurlock said. "And we're going to meet at Memorial Gym and we're going to get with those ghosts (of Hazard teams past) and those alumni and we're going to have the biggest party you've ever seen."
Three players from Hazard and Bishop Brossart headed the all-tournament team. For Bishop Brossart, Evan McDole, Kevin Smith, and Derrick Rhoden were named while Robert Lyttle, Stephen Sizemore, Lamar Williams were chosen from Hazard.
Walton Verona's Mike Afterkirk and Nick Dorman and Newport Central Catholic's Mike Krebs and Michael Zimmerman were named to the team. Caverna's Boris Siakam, University Heights' Joshua Mack and Barbourville's David Vance were also named to the all-tournament team.
For Clinton County's Amber Guffey, there was nothing to be nervous about. The junior point guard stepped to the free-throw line with only 4.6 seconds on the clock, in a 56-56 tie in the All 'A' Classic championship game, undaunted and unafraid.
"It was just like practice," Guffey said. "I wasn't scared."
The tournament MVP drilled both free throws to give the Lady Bulldogs back-to-back All 'A' Classic titles in a 58-56 thriller over Whitesburg.
The Lady Jackets never got off a shot as the horn sounded just before the ball left Whitney Hogg's hands more 25 feet away from the basket. "I believe (Amber Guffey) was 34-for-35 (from the free throw line) for the tournament. I'm pretty confident when they go to the line," Clinton County coach Ronnie Guffey said. "We did just enough to hang on."
The Lady Bulldogs led by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter, but Whitesburg refused to go away. The Lady Jackets relentlessly pounded the ball inside to Camille Cook during the final quarter, fouling out Clinton County's best low post defender, Dorothy Papineau, with 2:54 to play. Whitesburg's junior center scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out with 32.3 seconds to play.
"It takes so much energy when you get down that far to catch up," Whitesburg coach Dickie Adams. "Catching up is not as hard as getting ahead. You have to convert every possession when you get down that far."
After a pair of free throw misses by Clinton County's Leslie Brown on Cook's fifth foul, the Lady Jackets raced down the court looking to come all the way back and tie the score.
In a game full of heroes,
Autumn Morris took her turn.
After rebounding Hogg's missed shot and being fouled by Paige Guffey, the Lady Jackets' point guard found herself at the line with the opportunity to tie the game with 15.4 seconds to play.
She did just that, calmly hitting a pair of free throws to tie the game at 56.
But it was Amber Guffey who would be in the spotlight last.
With the clock winding down and the ball barely over half court, Morris reached in on Clinton County's point guard and was whistled for the foul that led to the game-winning free throws.
"It takes a lot of good things to win a state championship. I don't know I haven't won one." Adams said. "We had a chance right there at the end but things just didn't go our way."
With all the defensive attention being given to the Guffey twins, a pair of Jessica's made the Lady Jackets pay for giving them open looks. Jessica Curry and Jessica Cummings buried two three pointers each as the Lady Bulldogs built a 26-17 first-half cushion. Cummings scored 11 points for the game while Curry finished with six.
"(Curry and Cummings) played the first half like they practiced most of the time. In practice they shoot real well," Ronnie Guffey said. "Today they hit two big ones. Cummings came out and hit two big three and Curry was two-for-two. I think that got us off to a good start and it loosened them up a bit."
The Guffeys were held to a combined eight first-half points, but got going in the second. Paige scored 15 of her team-high 17, while her twin sister added 10 of her 16 in the second half.
"First half, I couldn't shoot anything," Paige Guffey said. "Well I couldn't. I just started taking it to the basket more. I was taking bad shots in the first half and I wanted to get to the line."
Hogg scored 14 points and pulled down four rebounds for the Lady Jackets. Ashley Stidham added nine points while Cassie Whitaker and Autumn Morris finished with six each. Clinton County's Dorothy Papineau, along with Whitesburg's Cassie Whitaker, Whitney Hogg, Camille Cook, and Ashley Stidham were named to the girls' all tournament team. Also named to the team were Kristen Blake and Meredith Marsh from Louisville Christian Academy; Brittany Bass from Covington Holy Cross, Taylor Christman from Paris; Sara Eilers from Louisville Holy Cross; and Kim Clark from Betsy Layne.
