Nine award-winning athletes will take their place in history Friday night when the inaugural class members of the Cougar Athletic Foundation are inducted in front of a huge crowd assembled for the second Clash of the Cats this season.
Long before the Russellville Lady Panthers and homestanding Logan County Lady Cougars tip off at 6 p.m., the Hall of Fame class and a few members of their family along with school leaders and long-time LCHS supporters will gather in the LCHS Auxiliary Gymnasium for a reception.
Then the group will move into the main gym for the ceremony before the Cougars and Panthers have at it.
The inductees are shown in the photo collage above prepared by Louise Holloman. From left on the top row are Mark Thompson wearing his major league baseball uniform, Brenda Chapman Strickler and Fred Tisdale in action for Western Kentucky University, and Terry Clayton playing for the University of Kentucky; on the bottom row are Joseph Jefferson wearing his Indianapolis Colts jersey, Bob Birdwhistell while coaching at Lewisburg High School, Katherine Neely Murrie hitting a golf shot on the way to state and national championships, Lillie Mason playing for WKU, and Lee Dockins celebrating after another successful gymnastics meet.
The following people who played big roles in their lives will present the inductees with their Hall of Fame plaques:
Al Chapman and Nell Lawrence to Brenda Chapman
Brenda Anderson Coursey to Lillie Mason
Coach Barry Reed to Fred Tisdale
Coach David Billingsley to Mark Thompson
Jason Murrie to Katherine Neely
Coach Les May to Joseph Jefferson
Coach Lee Proctor to Terry Clayton
Becky Silvey Young to Lee Dockins
Joe Milam to Coach Bob Birdwhistell
Many in the crowd will be there in support of one or more of the inductees. Trevina Ware Cage announced several days ago that tee shirts were being printed to honor Jefferson.
The boys game that will follow is important in the here and now. Coach Lonnie Mason’s Cougars are 5-0 in 13th District games, but if Russellville wins Friday, they most likely will finish in a tie for the top seed. Then a tiebreaker would be used to determine that position.
It would be appear to be advantageous to be the top seed to set up a meeting with number four Todd Central instead of number three Franklin-Simpson, even though the district will be played in Elkton. Franklin now has super sophomore Tavin Lovan available. He has missed most of the season with a wrist injury he suffered in an early-season game at LCHS, but is back now. He scored 35 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in a 68-66 loss to Russellville Tuesday,
The Panthers had trouble contending with the Cougars on Jan. 2. Logan won that game 72-52. But Coach Phil Todd’s teams have a history of improving as the season reaches February and March. They have won seven straight games since that loss to Logan to improve their record to 11-9. The Cougars are 15-6.