Beacon Hoops: March 7, 2023

 James Collier

The Ashland Beacon

BOYS 16^th REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

ASHLAND 77 MORGAN COUNTY 54

   Ashland withstood Morgan County’s best shot in the first eight minutes of the opening game in the Boys 16th Region Tournament. The Cougars led the Tomcats, 21-18 after one but the four-time defending champs left no doubt who the defending champ is with a 26-12 second quarter to cruise to a 77-54 win.

   Ashland forced 17 Morgan County turnovers and converted those into 19 points. Ashland also claimed 11 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second chance points in the win.

   Zander Carter led the Tomcats with a game-high 30 points—22 coming in the first half—while splashing home four triples. Rheyce Deboard added 17. Tristin Davis had 11 points and eight boards.

RUSSELL 71 FLEMING COUNTY 60

   Fleming County fired the first shot at Russell. Russell delivered the final blow to avenge a regular season loss to the Panthers for a 71-60 opening round win.

   Fleming County grabbed a four-point edge to open the contest only to watch Russell respond for a six-point lead after one capped off by Damon Charles triple to end the quarter for a 20-14 lead. Fleming County countered with a 21-15 second quarter to even the contest at 35-35 at halftime but Caleb Rimmer’s jumper with 3:52 to play in the third put Russell ahead for good.

   Rimmer led the Devils with 25 points while going 12 of 15 from the field. Charles added 13 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. Carson Blum netted 11 points. Elijah Neel kicked in 10 points and five dimes.

BOYD COUNTY 60 EAST CARTER 51 OVERTIME

   Boyd County simply could not shake East Carter in the Lions opening round contest. After grabbing a 13-point lead before halftime, Boyd County found itself starring defeat in the eye after East Carter erased the deficit with a free throw for the lead with 5.9 seconds to play in regulation out of a Boyd County timeout.

   Evan Goodman’s second toss did not fall and the Lions secured their most important rebound of the night to push the contest into overtime. However, once the ball went in the air in the extra period, the Lions took full control behind a pair of 3s to hold off East Carter, 60-51.

   Jacob Spurlock led the Lions with 19 points while going 5 of 8 from downtown. Cole Hicks had 17. Jason Ellis added seven points and grabbed a team-high 16 rebounds.

Family Harmony and Celebration with Mosteller Family Ministries

Grace Phillips

Ashland Beacon

Avid music lovers from our area can agree on one thing….there is nothing sweeter than family harmony.  Every once in a while you run across a group whose sound is so unique you just know they have to be family even if you have never heard them or known their name.  The Mosteller Family Ministries from Madison, WV, is one of those.   Everyone in the tristate area will have the opportunity to hear this amazing family on March 5^th at the Mavity Free Will Baptist Church located just past the Flying J at Cannonsburg. 

 For the past nine years, the family has been traveling and singing together as it is today.  The group consists of Jeff Mosteller, his wife Allison, her twin sister Ashley, and now Ashley’s son Andrew who just turned 14.  Allison and Ashley grew up singing with their parents and when Jeff came into the family it was a natural progression for him to join in.  Their parents no longer sing with them, but their legacy continues with the next generation.

Jeff is multi-talented.  As well as singing he plays the piano for the group and is also is an ordained minister.  For the past seven years he has also pastored Hilltop Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in Madison, WV as well as working full-time as an administrator at Boone Memorial Hospital. 

“At one time we were doing about 20-25 revivals a year, but I have cut back to one or two a month in the past few years.  It became harder to be on the road all the time as the children got older and were in school, even though we home schooled.  Add to that pastoring a church… I had to cut back a little.”   Jeff and Allison have 2 boys, Ashton and Ethan and currently are fostering to adopt a 12-year-old daughter, Mikalya who attends a Christian school.

As we talked for a while, Jeff began to talk about some of the things they have experienced along the way.  “There are so many stories of the lives we have seen changed by God, but every now and then something just happens out of the blue when it is least expected” he continued, “About three weeks ago, it was just a regular Wednesday night service at our church, and the next thing you know 11 people had been saved that night!” 

The Mosteller family has sung in many churches throughout several states and has been featured on Evangelistic Outreach with Calvin Ray Evans.  Brian Baer, Assistant Pastor at Rubyville Community Church stated, “I have been privileged to listen and worship with some of Heaven’s finest singers and preachers.  From the first note out of Jeff Mosteller and his family’s voice, my life was changed.  Never have I seen a family make such an impact on a worship service at the Rubyville Community Church.”  He went on to say, “Jeff is also an anointed preacher, who has a unique discernment to follow the voice of God.  I have been challenged by his preaching and also been greatly encouraged by their gifted singing.”

With all the stories of ministry and seeing lives changed, there are also the unexpected crazy things that happen along the way.  Allison and Jeff laughed as she recalled a funny series of events.  “I guess we are just clumsy or something because three weeks in a row we knocked things off and broke them.  One church had a vase of flowers on the piano, another one on the pulpit and a third one had an angel…. we managed to break them all.   We said pretty soon churches wouldn’t let us come back because we always broke things.”

Although they have many calls to share their talents and for Jeff to preach, he is very modest. When asked if he had anything else he would like to share about their family, he replied “No, not really…we’re just plain people, just singing for the glory of God and want to see people saved.”  That’s the type of people God uses.

The Mosteller Family will be singing at Mavity Free Will Baptist Church on Sunday evening, March 5^th at 6pm.  Mavity’s Pastor, Brandon Depriest told us, “We are looking forward to a wonderful service and hosting the Mosteller family for the first time at our church.   Everyone is welcome at Mavity, and we look forward to seeing new faces in our service.” Mavity is located at 15596 Laurel Haven Drive, Catlettsburg, KY just past the Flying J at Cannonsburg and across from the Boyd County Convention Center. 

One Last Shot

Local Archers Get Final Local Tune-Up

Jarrod E. Stephens

The Ashland Beacon

   At the beginning of any competitive sports season goals are put into place for teams and individu-als. Archery is a sport where you can truly compete against yourself as you try to improve your personal best score, but as is the case for many other sports, winning for the team means so much more.

   Archers begin preparations for the season in October and for several months they hone their skills for one of the most difficult competitions you can find. Last week at Paul Blazer High School hun-dreds of local student archers put forth their best efforts to improve their state rankings for a chance to go to the State NASP (National Archer in the Schools Program) Tournament.

   The overall top elementary school was the Raceland-Worthington Elementary team. They finished with a score of 2,963. This team swept the region and earned first place at every tournament this season. Second place went to Summit Elementary with a score of 2,870. Cannonsburg Elementary took third place with a team score of 2,652.

   Carson Holbrook from Summit Elementary took the top spot in the elementary male division with a score of 260. Jayden Corbin from Raceland-Worthington Elementary earned second place with a score of 256 and 7 tens. Third place overall elementary male was Maverick Helton from Elliott County with 256 and 6 tens. Fourth place elementary male went to Easton Seasor from Summit Elementary. Rounding out the top five elementary males was Gryffen Terry from Ponderosa Elementary.

   In the female division it was a clean sweep in the top three by Raceland-Worthington Elementary. Josie Kate Ison took the overall elementary female award with a score of 264. Calli Bentley was second place with a score of 256 and Kendall Moore was third with a score of 252. Abbriella Adkins from Summit Elementary took fourth place and Emmalee Vanderhoof from Raceland-Worthington Elementary took fifth place.

   Raceland-Worthington Middle School was the the highest ranking team with a score of 3,164. Like the elementary team, the Raceland-Worthington Middle School team placed first in every tournament that they competed in this season. The second-place team was Wurtland Middle School with a score of 3050. The third-place middle school team was Russell Middle School with a team score of 3029.

   The overall first-place middle school male was Caden Smith from Raceland-Worthington Middle School with a score of 286. Andrew Newell from Rose Hill Christian was second place with a score of 285 and 18 tens. Aaron Williams from Russell Middle School was in third place with 285 and 17 tens. Fourth place was awarded to Thomas Gibson from Wurtland Middle School and fifth place went to Gatlin Stephens from Raceland-Worthington Middle School.

   In the middle school female division Lilah White from Raceland-Worthington Middle School was first place with a score of 285. Also from Raceland, Brooklynn Witt was second place with a score of 279. Carmen Callaway from Rose Hill Christian scored 273 and was third place. Fourth place was Hadley Singer from Simms Middle School and Mattie Westfall from Wurtland Middle was fifth place. 

   Russell High School won first place in the high school division with a team score of 3,239. Second place went to Rose Hill Christian with a team score of 3,238. Fleming County High School scored 3,219 and earned third place.

   Eden Flatt from Elliott County won first place overall high school male with a score of 291. Fleming County’s Logan Darnell scored 286 and earned second place. Third place high school male was Brennan Stephens from Rose Hill Christian with a score of 283. Isaac Adkins of Boyd County was fourth place and Cody Wolfe of Greenup County High was fifth place.

   The first-place high school female was Destiny Watkins from Fairview with a score of 285 and 19 tens. Kennedy Logan from Raceland-Worthington High School was second place with a score of 285 and 17 tens. Third place was Trinity Flora from Fleming County with a score of 280. Fourth place was Miko Lester from Boyd County, and fifth place went to Lacey Isgett from Russell High School.

   Teams and individuals will continue to compete in various events across the state and wait for their opportunity to register for the state tournament. The top 100 elementary schools in the state will be invited to attend the state tournament. The top 125 middle school teams will be invited to as well as the top 150 high school teams. Archers, good luck in the weeks to come and good luck at the state competition in March.

Colon Cancer Awareness Month: Screenings should start at age 45

   Colon cancer screenings save lives. In fact, an estimated 60% of colorectal cancer deaths could be prevented with timely screening. So, when should you start the screening process? It is now recommended that colon cancer screening begin at age 45—or possibly younger if you have a family history.

   More than likely, you’ve heard of the colonoscopy as a screening tool for colon cancer. It is, after all, known as the “gold standard” of testing. Colonoscopies are recommended every five to 10 years for those at average to low risk. During the test, a physician (usually a gastroenterologist or general surgeon) uses a long, thin, flexible, lighted tube to check for polyps or cancer inside the rectum and colon.

   “A colonoscopy is the most thorough screening option available, as it allows a physician to view your entire colon,” said King’s Daughters Digestive Health Nurse Navigator Deena Stewart, RN, CGRN, BSN. “The physician can remove any polyps that are found as well as some cancerous lesions.”

   If you’re not at high risk for colon cancer, there are a few at-home screening options available, including one called the FIT test and another that looks for DNA in the stool. FIT tests must be performed annually and use antibodies to detect blood, which can be an early sign of cancer. Stool DNA tests must be performed every three years and detect DNA markers associated with colon cancer and blood in the sample. 

   A positive FIT or stool DNA test will require a follow-up colonoscopy.

   “Colon cancer is currently the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and women in the United States, but the good news is that the disease is preventable, treatable and beatable,” said Stewart. “Early detection is key, so the best screening is the one you get done.”

Family History

   Family history plays a large role when determining when you should be screened for colon cancer. About a third of all colorectal cancers in the U.S. are diagnosed in people who have a close relative – mother, father, sister, brother – who have been diagnosed with the disease. And the risk increases as the number of affected relatives goes up.

   Another risk factor? Age at diagnosis. If that relative was diagnosed before the age of 50 – the personal risk is even greater.

   If you have a parent, sibling or two secondary relatives (grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc.) who have/had colon cancer or precancerous polyps (adenomas), subtract 10 years from their age of diagnosis to determine when you should be screened. For example, if your mom was screened at 47 and they found adenomas, you will need to get screened by 37.

   “Family history isn’t the only potential risk factor, so it’s important to talk with your provider to determine if early screening is necessary,” said Stewart.

   For more information or to schedule a colon cancer screening, call King’s Daughters Digestive Health at 606.408.8200. Screenings are covered by most insurances for those 45 and older. A referral is not required for screening colonoscopy.

   King’s Daughters also offers a free online Colon Cancer Risk Assessment at KingsDaughtersHealth.com/HRA to help patients evaluate their personal risk for colon cancer.