Meeting UK junior Cassidy Rowe Wednesday was a special moment for Rockcastle County junior Macy Spivey. (Joe Spivey Photo)
About a year ago Macy Spivey was devastated after tearing her ACL in the 12th Region Tournament and could not play in the regional semifinal loss to Danville Christian Academy.
On Wednesday she was in Lexington where the girls state tournament is being played for the Rise Up Sports awards ceremony honoring the top female players in the state and was named the 606 Player of the Year after averaging 16.6 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game for the Rockets, who lost in the regional final to DCA.
Spivey said her “heart was really beating” when her name was called as the award winner.
“You could probably see my heart was shaking. But I was like, ‘Oh, wow,’ because you look around and these girls are committed and overcame a lot of stuff. I thought, ‘What am I doing here with them?’ So this was all more than I could have ever imagined.”
Her father, Joe Spivey, said not only was his daughter “over the moon” being in the same room with so much talent but was star-struck meeting UK junior guard Cassidy Rowe.
“Meeting Cassidy was unreal for her,” Joe Spivey said.
The Rockcastle junior, who has scored 1,194 points in the last three years, said she was proud of what her team did going 24-9 and reaching the regional final after being soundly defeated by North Laurel and Madison Central by a combined 50 points in the second and third games of the season.
“We lost a lot of our team from last year. When we started winning, I was like, ‘We got this.’ and then we made it so far in the region,” she said. “I’m so proud of my team but I’m more sad about losing my seniors. Obviously I wanted to win the (regional title) game, right? But I love my team more than anything.”
Spivey still remembers that day just over a year ago when the doctor told her she had a torn ACL and feared her career was over before changing her perspective.
“I started building up my confidence, and I was like, ‘You know what? God does have me?’” she said. “Having the games I had this season reflected that he does have me, he will have me, and he has a plan for me.”
Spivey, a straight A student, also missed the 2024 softball season after hitting .317 in 32 games as Rockcastle’s center fielder in 2023. She’s trying to figure out her softball schedule/travel basketball schedule now.
“One of my main focuses is to play AAU basketball this season because it’s my junior season and I know it’s important to play after not getting to last year,” she said. “I am more into basketball but I missed softball and I want to be back out there with my team, so we are just trying to figure out how to make it all work.”
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Spivey’s high school basketball coach, Chrysti Nobel, will be recognized at the state tournament today as the National High School Basketball Coaches Association Wooden Legacy Award winner.
The award goes to a coach that has exemplified excellence on the floor, in the classroom and in the community and embodies the characteristics of legendary coach John Wooden.
