The Rowan County Basketball Vikings are ready to tip it off for season two under Coach Sean Thacker. In the sequel to the debut season of Coach Thacker the Vikings are looking once again to make a run to the 16th Region tournament and improve on their 11-17 record.
“We’re excited right now, the coaching staff and players, we return a lot of kids who got a lot of varsity minutes that last year,” Thacker said. “The players got a very valuable experience. Toward the end of the year we started playing a lot better. Just the experience of being out there and being in a varsity game and understanding what it takes to be a varsity level player is valuable.
“I think the biggest difference this year is the number is the number of kids that we’ve got to play. It’s going to be a benefit to us this year because it won’t be our first time around the block. They’ll be more familiar and know what more to expect. We have more familiarity with the system and the plays we run and things we do, everything is moving faster. It moves much faster as what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying accomplish. We feel good about just the overall experience of the kids.”
According to Coach Thacker, the guys in green will play to their strength of being versatile to help them this year.
“We can play a big lineup, we can play a small lineup or we can play a quick lineup. It’ll take us a month or so to start settling in on how we can do something in our games. We feel like we have a lot more options available to us this season.”
Thacker said the Viks were competitive in his first season but will be competitive if they can get rid of some of the turnovers that plagued them in his year one.
“We have to definitely take care of the basketball,” Evans said. “I don’t think we can continue to turn the ball over at the rate and pace that we did a year ago. A lot of it was decision making but we’ve got to handle pressure better than we did last year. It’s not a secret. People are going to come and get us until we prove we can take. All of our kids are stronger and they’re not just going to walk us out of stance, they’re not going to bully us and take it from us.”
The Vikings open up the 2009-2010 season Dec. 1 at Fleming County. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Rowan County Sports
Preview: Rowan County Vikings
- Rowan County Sports
-
-
In The Post: VIDEO - Viking senior night exclusive
The Rowan County Vikings had a successful senior night as they defeated the Fleming County Panthers 75-64 on Monday.
Following the game, The Morehead News spoke with the Viking seniors about the win.
Click headline for video.
-
Viking seniors celebrate with Panther hunt
A pre-game ceremony marked the accomplishments of four years of hard work, determination and accomplishments for Rowan County basketball’s senior players, Adam Wing, D.J. Townsend, Phillip Hodge and Jason Egan.
-
Lady Viking seniors sail away with win
Rowan County celebrated its seniors with a girls/boys doubleheader against Fleming County on Monday night. The Lady Vikings were up first, as they held on for the win despite a late comeback effort by the Lady Panthers, winning 65-58.
-
In the Post: Coach Baldridge visits Baltimore
Former Morehead State football coach Bill Baldridge is a man of many friends, travels and talents. Baldridge holds a high school state championship, a Kentucky high school coach of the year honor and has even coached some of the game’s greatest players, such as NFL legend Phil Simms.
-
Hughes signs with Georgetown
It is every high school athlete's dream to play at the next level. For Viking senior kicker Rhett Hughes, this was a dream that came true as he signed on Thursday afternoon to handle field goal and kickoff duties for Georgetown College.
-
Cumberland’s Daniel joins 1,000 Point Club
University of the Cumberlands (UC) men’s basketball player Matt Daniel (Morehead) surpassed the 1,000th point of his career, scoring 16 points on Saturday, Jan. 14 against Shawnee State University in the O. Wayne Rollins Center in Williamsburg.
-
Middle school boys manhandle Morgan
Rowan County completed the clean sweep of Morgan County as the sixth, seventh and eighth grade squads all came out with wins in dominate margins of victory.
-
Vikings and Lady Vikings defeat Fleming
Rowan County's boys and girls varsity basketball squads came away with wins on Monday's double header senior night.
-
Rowan girls survive royal scare
Winning nine of its last 10 games, with a perfect record at home, the Lady Vikings came into Friday’s girl/boy double-header against Mason County looking to improve to 6-0 at Warren H. Cooper Gym.
-
Vikings kingly in Mason win
Friday night marked the Vikings’ second-straight home matchup against a 10th Region team in one week.
- More Rowan County Sports Headlines
-
