Coach Dawn Kinner and her Lady Tigers had Pikeville on the ropes in the 15th Region All “A” Classic, but failed to deliver the knockout punch. Pikeville pulled out a 2-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-14) win to claim the 15th Region All “A” Classic championship.

Who: Paintsville (2-1) at Pikeville (2-0)

The 15th Region All “A” Classic is underway this week, and multiple teams from the area have been seen action on the volleyball court. Paintsville hosts the tournament this year, and look to improve on last years finals loss against Pikeville.

The Paintsville Tigers are now 2-0 after defeating Harlan Friday in a 48-6 beatdown.

Boys:

Who: Harlan (0-1) at Paintsville (1-0) 

SALYERSVILLE — Coach Joe Chirico and his Paintsville Tigers made the trip to Salyersville Saturday evening to take on the Magoffin County Hornets in scrimmage action. This was the first time this season teams have been able to put on the pads and play in a competitive nature against other teams.

The community is rallying together in support of a Mingo Central High School football player who collapsed during the opening day of practice on Monday, July 30th. 

Football officially got under way for area schools as most teams held their first practice signifying the start of the upcoming season. The Miners of Mingo Central hadn’t been on the field very long when during routine sprints, sophomore Dustin Ferguson, 15, started complaining of numbness in his legs. 

PAINTSVILLE — The Johnson Central High School football program is preparing to host media day and its annual Black/Gold scrimmage.

Under the direction of head coach Jim Matney, Johnson Central has advanced to three straight Class 4A state title games. The Golden Eagles finished runner-up to Franklin-Simpson in 2017. One of the state's top high school football programs, Johnson Central captured the 2016 Class 4A championship. 

LEXINGTON — The Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association (KVCA) has announced the 2018 KVCA Team Academic Award winners. Paintsville, under the tutelage of head coach Dawn Kinner, is among the honorees. 

Through a Signature Affiliate Partnership with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), the teams being recognized were able maintain academic excellence for the entire 2017/18 academic school year. To qualify, teams must maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. Nominations for the award took place throughout the month of June and were accepted by the AVCA.

BOWLING GREEN — Former WKU Basketball star Justin Johnson became the latest Hilltopper to join the professional ranks Monday when he signed with Italian program Cagliari Dinamo Academy.

Cagliari Dinamo Academy competes in Italy’s Serie A2 league.

NORFOLK, Va. – Three Centre swimming and diving individuals have earned Scholar All-America honors from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA), it was announced this week.

Senior Brad Nordin (Paintsville, Ky.) and sophomores Chloe Grove (Bucyrus, Ohio) and Annie Holmes (Louisville, Ky.) each garnered the award, given to students that have achieved a grade point average of 3.50 or higher and competed at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Paintsville pitcher Jase Kinner heads to first base after connecting on a South Central pitch.

Paintsville captured the 2018 District 7 9-10 Year Old Division Championship at Prestonsburg Sports Park on Saturday and is now preparing to compete in the state tournament.

201 Speedway had a capacity crowd Friday night in the 2018 Paul H. Salyer Memorial Late Model feature. 

Drivers from all over the area came out to try and claim the $10,000 prize for the winner, but when the dust settled, it was Cross Lanes’ own Zack Dohm receiving the big check after dominating the field.

Johnson County captured the Cal Ripken Baseball District 3 12U Division championship on Friday, defeating Pike County 9-3 in the title game at Prestonsburg Sports Park. Two Johnson County pitchers combined to limit Pike County. Dawson Montgomery started on the mound for Johnson County before reliever Ethan McCarty closed out of the contest. Toby Kelly and Brady Adkins each hit a home run for Johnson County in the district championship-clinching victory. 

Kentucky 8, Tennessee 6

University of Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart speaks at the Billy Johnson Stage in downtown Pikeville outside of the East Kentucky Expo Center during the Big Blue Caravan Friday afternoon. Players, coaches, cheerleaders and dance team members showed up to sign autographs and meet …

Paintsville head coach Landon Slone talks things over with the Tigers during a timeout Monday during the UPike summer basketball team camp where the Tigers faced off against Richlands.

Allie Wells just recently made school history at Johnson Central.

Wells finished as the 15th Region single runner-up in tennis and qualified of KHSAA Tennis State Tournament. 

Wells won her opening game match over South Oldham’s Molly Dean 6-7, 6-4, 11-9. The win at the state tournament was the first for Johnson Central for the girls’ program.

Johnson Central’s Reece Collins, Boat captain Kevin Collins and Kenneth Powers placed 16th out of 80 boats that competed in the State Bass Fishing Tournament. Two more Johnson Central Anglers were able to place as well with Dawson Burton and Jacob Spriggs coming in at 57th place.

Paintsville’s great season came to an end Saturday evening in Lexington.

The Tigers have had a successful season. Paintsville won the 57th District title and the 15th Region championship. 

The Tigers followed that with a 3-1 win over Christian County in the opening round of the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA State Baseball Tournament. 

Paintsville looked to repeat its showing in the 57th District championship Saturday afternoon against Johnson Central in the 15th Region championship game.

The Tigers did just that picking up a 5-2 win over the Golden Eagles.

Paintsville got things going early in the game with four straight singles. Tanner Smith got things started for the Tigers and was first to hit a single. John Walker Phelps followed with a single. Seth Williams drove home the game’s first run with an RBI single to score Smith. Ben Daniels followed the Williams single with an RBI single of his own to score Phelps and to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead after the first half inning of play.

Pikeville didn’t waste anytime getting out to a quick start against Johnson Central Friday night in the 15th Region semifinals. 

Pikeville scored six runs in the first inning en route to a 9-0 win over the Lady Golden Eagles.

With the loss, Johnson Central finished the season with a 19-11 record and the 57th District title.

Paintsville and Shelby Valley remained gridlocked in the opening round of the 15th Region Tournament, until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Tigers scored four runs to pull out a 6-2 win.

With the win, Paintsville (23-12) advanced to the 15th Region semifinals. The Tigers and Bulldogs were scheduled to play Thursday evening, but the game was pushed back to Friday because of rain. Last night’s contest, if played, finished too late to be included in this edition of the Paintsville Herald. For full 15th Region coverage of weekend action, see Wednesday’s Paintsville Herald.

PAINTSVILLE — Johnson Central pitcher Macy Daniel pitched a perfect game as the host Lady Golden Eagles shut out upstart Floyd Central 10-0 in five innings in the opening round of the 15th Region Softball Tournament on Wednesday. 

With the win, Johnson Central improved its record to 19-10 on the season and advanced to the 15th Region Softball Tournament semifinals.

Floyd Central ended its season with a 12-21 record with the loss. 

PAINTSVILLE — After plating a half-dozen runs in the 57th District title game against crosstown rival Johnson Central, Paintsville was limited offensively throughout the opening round the 15th Region Softball Tournament. Paintsville was held hitless on Monday as Lawrence County pulled away to win 6-0 in the opening round of the 15th Region Softball Tournament at Johnson Central.

With the loss, Paintsville ended its season with a 21-13 record.

Johnson Central soared to a win over Pike Central Monday afternoon to advance to the 15th Region Tournament semifinals after picking up a 5-1 win over the Hawks thanks to solid pitching by Trevor May and Tate Meade.

Johnson Central jumped out early in the top of the first when Ryan Sartin-Slone was able to score off a double by Blake Delong putting the Golden Eagles up 1-0.

Johnson Central and Paintsville bested 57th District rivals Sheldon Clark and Magoffin County to place themselves in the 57th District championship game Thursday night at Charlie Adkins Field. Paintsville proved that they were the top team in the 57th District by dismantling the Golden Eagles in an 8-1 game that never saw Johnson Central make a threat after the first inning.

The Tigers made their way to the championship after knocking off Magoffin County 12-2 Wednesday evening in the opening round of the 57th District Tournament.

The 57th district baseball and softball tournaments kicked off Monday evening and concluded with Johnson County having much to smile about as both Paintsville and Johnson Central’s softball teams won their respective games, as well as Johnson Central’s baseball team coming home with a big win after an exciting game.

Paintsville Lady Tigers 11, 

Sheldon Clark 1

Johnson Central was able to score first and hang with Boyd County, tying things up at 2-2 in the third inning, but the Lady Lions were too strong, pulling away to a 6-2 win against the Lady Golden Eagles