By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
When the invitation from C103 Radio to their annual Basketball Kickoff Dinner arrives, it signals two things, the end of the fall sports and the beginning of high school basketball in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference high school basketball. All of the coaches and athletic directors in the conference, along with invited media, got together on Friday, November 1 for a night of good-natured fun that also involves setting up the match ups for the two SHAC Basketball Previews.
One of the tasks of the coaches at the Kickoff Dinner is to rank the teams in the conference according to their expectations and those rankings are used by SHAC Commissioner Michelle Gleim to put the preview schedules together.
The SHAC Girls Previews will be held on Friday, November 15 at Manchester High School, with the action beginning at 5 p.m. The preview will follow its traditional path, with each game consisting of two quarters, an early opportunity for local hoops fans to get a glimpse of their 2024-25 squads.
The girls 5 p.m. match up will see two county teams face off, as the host Manchester Lady Greyhounds, led by Coach Jordan Johnson, battle Coach Sidney Pell and her Peebles Lady Indians.
At 6 p.m., it will be second-year head coach Jacob Stout and his West Union Lady Dragons facing Coach Brian “Rabbit” Littleton and the Ripley Lady Jays. The 7 p.m. contest will see the Fairfield Lady Lions, led by Coach Jennifer Blue matching up with Coach Kevin Pickerill and the Eastern Lady Warriors.
At 8 p.m., it’s Coach Ron Harris and the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats battling the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs, guided by Coach Whitney Lewis.
The 9 p.m. final match up of the previews will be the two teams that the SHAC coaches picked to win the small and big school divisions of the conference. It will be Coach Tori Rummel and the Fayetteville Lady Rockets and the North Adams Lady Devils, led by Coach Rob Davis in his 25th season at the helm, easily the SHAC’s longest-tenured girls coach.
Admission for the girls preview will be $7 for adults and $5 for students and those tickets are good for the entire night. No passes will be accepted.
