Bethel Basketball Players Make All-KIAC and All-Region Teams

Matt Rooks was named First Team All-KIAC for the third time, and First Team NAIA Division II East Independent All-Region. Rooks, a 6'3 senior guard from Cincinnati, Ohio, was named Honorable Mention All-NAIA for the second consecutive year. Rooks finished his career as the third leading scorer in Bethel history.

Myron McCrary was named to the NAIA Division II East Independent All-Region Second Team. McCrary, a 6'3 sophomore forward from Jackson was voted the MVP of the NAIA Division II East Independent Tournament in which the Wildcats earned their first trip to the NAIA National Tournament. McCrary also earned All-KIAC honorable mention status for his outstanding play.
Steve Smith was named honorable mention All-KIAC and NAIA Division II East Independent Region. The 6'8 senior center from Brownsville, Kentucky was an All-KIAC player during his junior season.

Kayla McSweeney and Jaquilla Pigue were both named First Team All-KIAC and NAIA Division II East Independent All-Region. This is the second time both McSweeney and Pigue were named to the All-KIAC first team.

McSweeney, a 5'8 sophomore guard from Graves County, Kentucky, was the leading scorer for the Lady Cats. She was among the KIAC leaders in scoring, three-point shooting, and assists. Pigue, a 5'11 senior forward from Trenton was among the leaders in scoring, rebounding and free throw shooting. Pigue was one of the top free throw shooters in the NAIA each of her two seasons at Bethel.

Becky Hanks, a 6'1 sophomore center from Dyer and Kelli Rich, a 5'10 junior guard from Huntingdon were named All-KIAC Honorable Mention.
   

Brian Winston was the winning pitcher for the Rebels while Dusty Boyd took the loss for the Rockets. Leading hitters for the Rebels were Chris Wall, who had two hits for three times at bat and Winston who had three hits for three times at bat. Winston had two doubles for the day and struck out 13 Rockets in the victory.

Friday afternoon, the Mustangs traveled to McKenzie for an afternoon game at McKenzie Recreation Park and again the Rebels gained the victory in a much closer contest. The Mustangs took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning and then improved their margin to 7-0 in the top of the third. The Rebels countered with four runs of their own in the bottom of the third to narrow the lead to 7-4. The Mustangs scored three and the Rebels four in the fourth inning, leaving the score at 10-8. Huntingdon then improved their margin to 11-8 in the top of the fifth while the Rebels failed to score in the bottom of the inning. In the top of the sixth inning, the Stangs were scoreless while the Rebels scored two to narrow the margin to 11-10. In the top of the seventh, the Stangs were again scoreless and the Rebels added two additional runs for the 12-11 victory. In the final inning, Wall led off with a single while Hall walked and then Taylor hit the double to score Wall. An error allowed Hall to cross the plate while Winston was at bat with one ball and one strike against him.

Rebel senior Mitchell Hall picked up the victory while Hunter Hastings took the loss for the Mustangs. Leading hitters for Huntingdon were Andrew Maddox with two hits, Corrin Tippitt and Matt Spellings with three hits each, Adam Parish and Tippit each with a double and Brian Nellett and Spellings each with a homerun. Jay Taylor had a double with his two hits for the Rebels while Taylor Holland Chris Wall, Hall (who also led in RBI's with four) and Nathan Young all got two hits each.

The Rebels scored 12 runs on 11 hits while the Stangs scored 11 runs on 10 hits.
The Stangs walked nine batters while Hall walked only four Mustangs.

McKenzie improved to 2-0 while the Mustangs dropped to 1-2 for the season so far.