Lynn Camp earns first All ‘A’ title

Published 12:15 pm Friday, January 19, 2018

MIDDLESBORO — Dinky Phipps is no stranger when it comes to winning 13th Region All ‘A’ Classic championships. He won six titles during his coaching tenure at Barbourville, and now he can add another after his Lynn Camp Wildcats captured the boys basketball program’s first-ever 13th Region All ‘A’ Classic championship by defeating Williamsburg, 70-47.

The Wildcats entered as the tournament favorite, and they showed why Thursday.

Lynn Camp (15-1) dominated by using a 9-of-13 shooting effort in the first quarter to jump out to a 21-6 lead over the Yellow Jackets while never looking back during their 23-point rout.

Email newsletter signup

“When I came to Lynn Camp, people said I was crazy and told me we couldn’t win here. Well, guess what? We’re going to Richmond,” Phipps said. “The key for us is getting the kids to believe in themselves. The administrators at Lynn Camp believed in me, then I put it into the kids, and then they showed it tonight.

“This is my third year at Lynn Camp and we’re Class A champions, and we’re 15-1,” he added. “We’re not 1-15, but 15-1. The season isn’t over, and we’ve got to get focused Monday, and get ready for next week. This is a special time. Tonight is the best team effort I’ve seen all year.”

Five players scored in double figures for Lynn Camp with tournament MVP Tanner Boggs leading the way with 16 points while Matt Disney (14 points), Jacob Bundy (13 points), Josh Overbay (12 points) and Jacob Belew (10 points) followed. Each player was also named to the all-tournament team as well.

“I’m happy for my team,” Phipps said. “We came out and we were hungry tonight. I gave them a little speech before the game that all of the hard work we put in during June and all of the conditioning we’ve done on the track in August and September — it all paid off.

“I’m really happy for the school, too. This is the first time in the history of the school the basketball program has won anything, and this school deserves it. We’re going to Richmond, and the lights might be out when we get up there, but hey, we’re going to Richmond.”

Williamsburg coach Nick Napier thought the first quarter proved to be key in his team’s loss. The Wildcats came out knocking down 9-of-12 shot attempts while Williamsburg was 2-of-12.

“The first quarter — they played harder than us, and I thought that was the key to the game,” Napier said. “They came out and jumped on us early, and we could never really get back into the game. They shot the ball well and hustled more than us. They just really outplayed us in the first quarter. They’re a very good team. They’re dangerous and they’re a team to watch out for. They’re going to make some noise in the district and region.”

Caleb Rose led the Yellow Jackets with 17 points while Slaht Hunter finished with 13 points. Both Rose and Hunter were all-tournament team selections, along with Jeremie Purdie.

“We will regroup and go forward,” Napier said. “We’ve got some things we need we need to continue to work on. We’re going to keep improving as a team every day.”

Williamsburg managed to cut its deficit to 33-21 at halftime before seeing Lynn Camp put the game out of reach in the third quarter. The Wildcats forced the Yellow Jackets into seven turnovers during the period while connecting on 9-of-13 shot attempts, increasing their lead to 55-34 heading into the fourth quarter.

“The key for us tonight was our defensive play,” Phipps said. “We played hard on the defensive side of the ball. We played sloppy at times, but overall I’m very proud of our effort. We came out and took care of business.”

Lynn Camp sealed the game in the fourth quarter and finished hitting 27 of 49 shot attempts while limiting Williamsburg to 16-of-54 shooting from the floor.

“This was a total team effort tonight,” Phipps said. “I can’t say enough about each one of the kids. They wanted it tonight, and it showed on the court tonight.”

The Wildcats will face the 9th Region champion during first round action of the All ‘A’ Classic State Tournament on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. The tournament will be held at Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena.

“We will take one game at a time,” Phipps said. “We’re going to go up there and play hard. Hey, what do we have to lose?”