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Cougars give Foulk 500th win

Kenton Ridge scores 100 points to help head coach reach milestone.

Kenton Ridge's Mariah Harris puts up a shot through Stebbins' defense on Saturday. Harris finished with a triple-double of 23 points, 17 rebounds and 10 steals in the win. Contributed photo by Randy Hilt

randy hilt Kenton Ridge's Mariah Harris puts up a shot through Stebbins' defense on Saturday. Harris finished with a triple-double of 23 points, 17 rebounds and 10 steals in the win. Contributed photo by Randy Hilt

ENLARGE PHOTO

Contributed photo by Randy Hilt Kenton Ridge coach Ed Foulk.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Foulk’s 500th win a credit to his players

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By Andrew Smith, Contributing Writer Updated 1:32 PM Sunday, December 18, 2011

SPRINGFIELD — The Kenton Ridge High School girls basketball team experienced two significant achievements on Saturday night, but when they each scrambled to sign the game ball afterward, it was for just one of those reasons.

The Lady Cougars scored 100 points and never trailed in their 100-33 win over Stebbins, and saw three different players score 20 points, but the postgame recognition was for head coach Ed Foulk, who registered the 500th win of his 36-year coaching career.

“That’s just a lot of great athletes who came through the system here,” Foulk said. “I’ve had a lot of great assistants, and a very understanding wife. All those things come into consideration.”

Fans lingered after the game to offer Foulk their congratulations, and the team presented him with a commemorative plaque during a brief, on-court ceremony. Everyone gathered afterward in the school lobby for cake and pictures with the longtime coach.

“It’s a big moment for all of us, and especially for him,” Cougars senior Lindsey Fenwick said. “We were definitely playing our hardest tonight for him.”

In 28 years at Kenton Ridge, Foulk has won 14 Central Buckeye Conference championships, five district championships, two regional tournament championships and two state championships.

There was no shortage of statistical superlatives in the game itself either, as Paige McCrary led all scorers with 25 points, Arika Roush had a career-high 21 points and Mariah Harris registered a triple-double — 23 points, 17 rebounds and 10 steals.

The Lady Cougars also had a 45-9 advantage at halftime, and led 35-0 midway through the second quarter.

Though Foulk was reticent to compare this year’s team with previous iterations, he said the team has improved measurably on defense and is learning to play more consistently.

“(This is) one of the better teams. You know, we’ve had some good teams come through here,” Foulk said, pointing out that his teams have scored 100 points 56 times in his career, including five times reaching the century mark in the third quarter. By comparison, this team has scored 100 points twice in the last four years.

“This team hustles to score, (though) they’re not quite in the same group scoring-wise as some other teams,” Foulk said. “But they work hard, I’m very pleased with them this year.”

Focus on high school girls basketball Kenton Ridge 100, Stebbins 33

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