Somerset —
Pulaski County High School senior Taylor Gover has enjoyed a remarkable prep career for the Maroons over the past four seasons to say the very least.
Gover has won district tournaments, been named the Most Outstanding Player of several tournaments over the past few years, and is the two-time Commonwealth Journal Player of the Year for his play as a sophomore, and again last season as a junior. Last season, Gover played in the Junior Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Game.
But, even with everything he’s accomplished during an outstanding high school basketball career while at Pulaski County, even Taylor Gover would be hard pressed to have a better two-day stint than the one he enjoyed at the end of last week.
It all began last Thursday for Gover, when it was announced that he was one of only 10 players from the state of Kentucky that had been nominated to play in the upcoming McDonald’s All-Star Basketball Game.
When you consider that players the likes of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, and Earvin “Magic” Johnson just to name a few, have taken part in this Who’s Who of basketball all-star events, it becomes clear just how truly a special accomplishment it is just to be nominated to play in the McDonald’s All-Star Game.
And with last Thursday’s announcement that Gover was one of 10 kids from the Bluegrass to be nominated for this year’s game, it just added another crowned jewel to the achievement list of a player who already has had an extraordinary high school career.
“Honestly, when I saw the list, the Harrison twins (Aaron and Andrew) were in the very next sentence after I saw my name,” stated Gover, in talking about the number two and number four ranked players in the country that have already signed with the University of Kentucky. “After I saw that, the first thought that went through my mind was to wonder if I was dreaming or was this really happening to me. It’s overwhelming — I didn’t really know at that point whether to break down and cry or just start laughing.”
Being nominated for the McDonald’s All-Star Game is just half of Gover’s accomplishments from last week.
On Friday night, Pulaski County’s all-time leading scorer added another milestone to his career, thanks to a 31-point performance on the road at Wayne County.
With those 31 points, Gover surpassed the 2,000 point plateau for his career — becoming the first Maroon player to join the 2,000 point club.
Gover, who now has 2,015 points for his career, says that joining the 2,000 point club is great, but he’s quick to point out that for himself and the rest of his teammates, there’s only one goal that matters for the Pulaski County Maroons in 2013 — a 12th Regional championship.
“It’s a huge accomplishment and I’m truly blessed,” remarked the Maroons point guard.
“The Lord has blessed me with a lot of abilities, and he’s given me the platform of basketball and I try to use it to glorify him,” added the PC senior. “I couldn’t have done this without my teammates and my coaching staff pushing me every day to get better. It’s not really about individual awards however, but it’s more about the team. The team’s got one goal in mind and that’s to get to Rupp Arena.”
As for the man who has had the privilege to coach Taylor Gover during a remarkable career at PC, Al Gover — who is also Taylor’s uncle — says that he’s seen a lot of great players over the years, and he would put his nephew up there with just about anybody he’s seen play the game of basketball at the high school level.
“He’s as good of a high school basketball player as I’ve seen come along in a long, long time,” stated coach Gover.
“I think he’s only going to get better,” continued the Maroons coach. “You know you can talk about all his scoring, but before his career here is over here at PC, he’s going to end up with close to 600 assists, which is a really, really impressive number. You’re talking about a player with well over 2,000 points and 600 assists — that’s pretty strong.”
What about being nominated for the McDonald’s All-Star Game coach?
“I guess I was kind of like everybody else when the news came out last week — I thought to myself this is pretty amazing,” stated coach Gover.
“I know there were 10 kids from the state of Kentucky that was nominated, so I think that shows there are some people out there that are pretty high on him as a player,” added the PC coach.
For Taylor Gover, there’s still work to be done in this his last year at Pulaski County High School.
Yes, he has won three 47th District Tournaments in three years, and he’s been part of a senior class that has absolutely owned and dominated their two cross-town rivals.
The Maroons — with Taylor Gover as the starting point guard since his freshman season — have posted an 8-1 record against Southwestern, and are a perfect, 8-0 against the Somerset Briar Jumpers.
But, there’s one thing missing and that’s a 12th Regional Tournament championship.
For Taylor Gover, he’s says that’s what this season is all about — bringing an elusive regional title back to PC.
That goal has yet to be accomplished, but as for his high school basketball career as a whole, there’s no denying that Taylor Gover is one of the all-time greats — not only at Pulaski County High School — but from our community in general, regardless of what era you’re talking about.
Whether or not he makes it all the way to the McDonald’s All-Star Game to play alongside the nation’s top players is yet to be determined.
One thing is for certain though. On the court or off the court, Taylor Gover is truly an All-Star in every sense of the word.
His play on the hardwood and the life he leads away from the game of basketball is a true reflection of just how special a player and person PC’s leading man really is.
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Pulaski County High School senior Taylor Gover was one of only 10 players from the state of Kentucky who had been nominated to play in the upcoming McDonald’s All-Star Basketball Game. Steve Cornelius Photo
Gover nominated as a McDonalds’ All-Star
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Eight is Great!
During last night’s 48th District Softball Championship game, Southwestern had a sign on their dugout wall that read “The third time’s the charm.”
That statement held true for Jim Woodall and the Lady Warriors, as the they defeated McCreary Central when it mattered most, which was in last night’s title game at Wayne County High School.
After falling to the Lady Raiders of McCreary Central twice in their pair of regular season match-ups, Southwestern, with a 12-7 victory last night, tallied their eighth district championship in a row. -
Somerset downs Pulaski to claim title
For the last four years Somerset High School and Pulaski County High School have battled it out for the 47th District baseball championship . Counting Tuesday night, three out of the four years the Briar Jumpers have brought back the gold. Somerset defeated the Maroons 7-4.
Of their 7 runs scored, the Briar Jumpers tallied 5 of those runs off homers. Somerset freshman Logan Ramsey hit a three-run homer in the first inning and sophomore Chandler Purcell hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning. -
Warriors blast past Wayne Co., 14-9
When Southwestern is hitting the ball solid, they are a very dangerous baseball team.
Wayne County received a first-hand look at just how much damage the Southwestern bats can do on Tuesday evening at Warrior Stadium, as the homestanding Warriors tallied 14 runs on 16 hits in a 14-9 victory over the Cardinals in the 48th District Baseball Championship game. -
Lorman, Henderlight keep Pulaski alive
Facing a four-run deficit and down to their last three outs, elimination looked inevitable for the Pulaski County High School baseball team on Monday night in the opening round of the 47th District Baseball Tournament at Charlie Taylor Field.
But a Pulaski last-inning rally capped off by a Henry Lorman bases-loaded clearing double off the left field wall and a Chris Henderlight walk-off RBI base hit propelled the Maroons to a 7-6 comeback win over Rockcastle County High School. -
Warriors down Monticello, 11-1
It takes five wins to make it to the Forcht Bank/KHSAA Baseball State Tournament.
The Southwestern Warriors are one-fifth of the way there now, as they took down Monticello in the first round of the 48th District Baseball Tournament on Monday night at Warrior Stadium. With the five-inning, 11-1 victory over the Trojans, the Warriors advanced to the championship game and next week’s regional tournament.
Alex Eaton’s ball club did exactly what they needed to do to make it back to the regional tournament once again. The third-year Southwestern coach is hoping that his squad can come away with the program’s first regional title since 2004. -
Lady Warriors advance to finals; looking for 8th straight district title
So far in the 2013 high school softball season, McCreary Central has had their way with Southwestern in their two regular season match-ups.
The Southwestern Lady Warriors will get a chance to get a little revenge against McCreary Central, as the two teams will meet up in the 48th District Softball Championship. -
Somerset cruises to 15-1 win over Rebels
After a slow start in the first two innings, the Briar Jumpers put it all together with a 10-run third inning en route to a 15-1 (5 inning) win over Casey County High School in the first round of the 47th District Baseball Tournament at Charlie Taylor Field.
The Rebels scored in their very first at-bats, and the Jumpers countered with a three runs of their own in the bottom half of the first after Jumpers’ junior Charlie Dishman blasted a three-run homer to left field to plate Jacob Pelston and Addison Thompson. -
Mills, Cheuvront, Goldson win state titles
Local track and field athletes turned in one of the all-time best efforts at the state level in Saturday’s Class A and Class AAA Kentucky High School Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships at the University of Louisville’s Owsley Frazier Cardinal Park.
Somerset High School garnered two state crowns in the Class A state meet, as junior Cam Cheuvront won the 100-meter dash and sophomore Maranda Mills won her second consecutive triple jump state crown.
Later in the day in the Class AAA state meet, Pulaski County High School junior Jimmy Goldson ran away with the 800-meter state title. -
Sammy Jo Bullock places 7th in nation
Shopville Elementary fifth-grader Sammy Jo Bullock fired a 284 in the National Archery in Schools National Championships to place seventh in the girls elementary division. Bullock, who peirced the center circle 16 times, was third n the nation among her fellow fifth-graders.
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Pulaski downs Corbin on Senior Night
On Tuesday afternoon at PC Field, the Pulaski County Maroon baseball team bid farewell to Taylor Gover, Eric Jones, Dustin Vaught, Henry Lorman, Tyler Wesley, and Tyler Hail on senior night before Danny Masten’s club took on a Corbin team that had earned a shutout victory over PC earlier in the year.
On Tuesday however, it was the Maroons that would not be denied on senior night, and it was those seniors that lead the way for Masten and company.
Taylor Gover notched two doubles and drove in a career-best six RBI in the game, while fellow senior Henry Lorman hit the first homerun of his varsity career and drove in three more runs. - More Local Sports Headlines
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