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Things are looking fairly solid for the Little Kanawha Conference when it comes to basketball.
It appears, for both boys and girls, there's a strong chance of once again having programs on both the LKC West and East dancing in Charleston.
Kudos to St. Marys senior Grant Barnhart, who last week moved past Mike "Moose" Morris to the top of the all-time scoring list for the Blue Devils. Barnhart's 19th point out of his game-high 30 in a 66-45 win at Trinity eclipsed Morris' total of 1,271.
Unfortunately, it seems like positive COVID-19 tests continue to be an interruption for winter athletic teams.
Along with individual student-athletes missing time, there also have been various teams that can't compete because of quarantine, thus leading to postponed or canceled events. Test results are affecting sports at all levels. Anyone who follows the sport of tennis knows about the Novak Djokovic saga at the Australian Open. The drama continued into Wednesday as the world No. 1 player caught heat from major media for how he conducted his life.
Long story short, his RT-PCR test results didn't come back positive until after he already had done a daily antigen test on separate days that each produced negative results.
Djokovic is attempting to capture his 21st career Grand Slam, which would break the tie he's in with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Pete Sampras is still the top American with 14. And, tough news to see Greenbrier East girls basketball coach Jim Justice -- the Mountain State's governor -- testing positive for COVID-19.
"I'm thankful to the Lord above that I've been vaccinated," he said. "I've been boosted."
What might be a problem for some, but definitely not for coach Justice and others, is attending events while being up to date on boosters.
Depending on what part of the country one is in the rules vary. Wednesday morning it was announced San Jose approved a booster mandate for all city workers and city-owned properties. That includes the SAP Center where the Sharks play.
Meanwhile, and speaking of playing, it's good to see the Parkersburg Big Reds having some recent success.
First-year girls coach Chris Murray appears to have things going in the right direction.
I was able to sit down and talk with red and white boys boss Bryan Crislip following Saturday afternoon's win against Hurricane.
He was stoked to get the victory and have the chance to get to .500 on Monday, which the Big Reds did by winning at Marietta.
Now, PHS will try to push above the .500 mark with a road trip this evening to St. Albans, which just lost 50-44 on the road to the Redskins.
Following nearly 350 best guesses in our annual season long Friday Grid Picks, the bowl season concluded and 10 games separated the top four spots. Although runners-up Jordan Holland and Josh Hughes, who each finished 245-101-1, had a shot to win going into the bowl season, I managed a 16-4 effort to finish at 251-95-1. Mike Morrison rounded out the top four at 241-105-1.
Also of note, Mid-Ohio Valley fight fans looking for something to do should plan on making the trek to Spencer on Saturday night for Dawghouse Promotions' Roane County Raider Rumble.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com