10thRegion.com has selected Ella Johnson from Bracken County as the inaugural “Miss 10th Region.” This award will be given to a senior in the 10th Region who has excelled in two or more sports. Johnson played basketball and softball for the Lady Bears.
Ella played for Bracken County’s girl’s basketball team her freshman year in the 2020-2021 season. She averaged 10.2 points and with 3.8 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, she averaged 12.7 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Her junior year, Ella averaged 10.4 points and 4.0 rebounds. She scored 23 points with 4 threes in the first round of the district tournament vs. Mason County, which helped Bracken County win their first district championship since 2012. In that game she also had 11 rebounds and went 7 of 10 from the free throw line.
Her senior season, she averaged 10.6 points and 5.2 rebounds, helping Bracken County to back-to-back district championships. For her career, Ella scored over 1,000 career points with over 450 rebounds.
Ella Johnson began her pitching career as a seventh grader with 4 strikeouts in 2019. She did not play her eighth grade season in 2020 due to the pandemic. She started as Bracken County’s ace pitcher her freshman year in 2021. She threw 97.1 innings with 127 strikeouts and a 2.66 ERA.
As a sophomore in 2022, she helped Bracken County win the 10th Region All “A” Classic and 39th District title while making a run to the 10th Region semifinals. She threw 169 innings with 315 strikeouts and a 1.66 ERA. The Lady Bears had a record of 21-11
As a junior in 2023, she helped the Lady Bears repeat their success as All “A” and district champions, again making it to the regional semifinals. She threw 179 innings with 318 strikeouts and a 1.88 ERA. Bracken County won 24 games and lost 13 and also made it to the All “A” Classic state semifinals.
The Bracken County softball team won 26 games this past season — the most in school history. For her senior year, Johnson threw 167 innings with 268 strikeouts and a 2.18 ERA. She struck out her 1,000th batter vs. Bourbon County on May 17th, making her the only player in Kentucky high school history to score 1,000 career points in basketball and strike out 1,000 career batters in softball. As a hitter, Johnson had 116 career hits and 16 home runs with a .314 batting average.
Ella Johnson will continue her softball career at Kent State in Kent, Ohio.
