Even without his best player for the majority of the season, Chris Stallings and his Bullitt East High School girls basketball squad have prospered.
The Chargers are No. 16 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings and had a 19-5 record entering Thursday’s 24th District Tournament championship game against Mercy.
The Sixth Region’s coaches took notice, naming Stallings the region’s Coach of the Year. Stallings received five votes, and Mercy’s Keith Baisch was the runner-up with two.
“It’s a testament to our players and the rest of my staff,” Stallings said. “We put in a lot of hard work, so it’s rewarding to be honored like that. … We’ve had to overcome some obstacles, so it’s just an honor for all of us.”
ALL-SIXTH REGION TEAM | Click here
ALL-SEVENTH REGION TEAM | Click here
Champ Ligon Jr., whose No. 3 Male squad beat Assumption in the 26th District final on Wednesday, was named Seventh Region Coach of the Year after receiving five votes. Manual’s Jeff Sparks was the runner-up with two votes.
Stallings’ Bullitt East squad received a blow in November when star junior guard Lindsey Duvall had surgery to remove a grape-sized tumor from just below her left knee.
Duvall originally was declared out for the entire season but returned to the team Feb. 12 against North Bullitt. She’s averaging 17.8 points and 7.3 rebounds in four games since returning to the team.
After a 1-2 start, Bullitt East was solid for the remainder of the regular season. One highlight came in December when the Chargers won the Queen of the Palms Tournament title in Fort Myers, Fla.
“You’re never able to full absorb playing without someone like Lindsey all year,” said Stallings, who is in his 17th season as the Chargers’ head coach. “But we feel we’ve built a good program, and you have to have good players to do that — a lot of them. They were able to find different ways to compete each night.”
Ligon’s Male squad is 27-2 and will seek its second straight Seventh Region title next week. The Bulldogs won tournament titles at Bullitt East and in Destin, Fla., in December and were the runners-up to Butler in the Louisville Invitational Tournament.
“This season we’ve gone from being the hunters trying to get to the top to being the hunted,” said Ligon, who is in his third season at Male. “I think the girls struggled with that a little bit at the beginning of the season … and reality hit them in the face a few times. But they’ve stepped up from that.”
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.