Injuries hit Grant Co. hard in holiday tourneys

[chucktaylors]

Injuries have hit Grant County hard in the holiday tourneys. First, they were missing starting forward Lucas Sharp after breaking his hand on December 10th game with Williamstown, now their backcourt is injured. Boston Howe sprained his ankle in the first quarter of the Owen County game at the Christmas tourney in Henry County after scoring 23 against Oldham County (8-1) the night before. He missed the South Oldham game which the Braves lost. Boston back to about 75-80%. Roger Blackburn may have suffered the worst injury when he went down in the 1st quarter of the 3rd place game at the holiday tourney in Phoenix with a knee injury. Will have MRI on Tuesday to determine if sprain or tear.

 

Grant played well in Phoenix Cactus Jam although going 1-2. Beat Alameda California which has enrollment of about 2000 kids and a nice team. Lost to eventual tourney champs St. Mary's of California by 2 in semifinals. St. Mary's made two free throws with 5.2 seconds to go for the win. Grant missed a 3 at the buzzer for the win. St. Mary's is Division IV state runner-up from last year. They do not rebuild they reload. Looked alot like the current Holmes team. Last year sent 2 players to DI and 1 to D2, including Larry Gurganeous who plays about 10 minutes a game for Gonzaga as a freshman.

 

Grant lost the 3rd place game to Mercyhurst Prep out of Pennsylvania a strong parochial school. Grant was up 16 - 6 when Blackburn went out. Roger and Boston had scored 12 of Grant's first 16 when he went down. Although losing Roger, Grant was down only by 3 with under 2 minutes to go. Mercyhurst held on for the 6 point win.

[RoundLeather]

This is why I started a thread on playing too many consecutive games in these holiday tourneys. IMO, I don't like the idea of playing 3 and 4 games in just a few short days. This thread proves my point.

[CrestwoodKnowitall]

This is why I started a thread on playing too many consecutive games in these holiday tourneys. IMO, I don't like the idea of playing 3 and 4 games in just a few short days. This thread proves my point.

No offense...playing 3 or 4 games doesn't mean an injury will occur! Teams know what their getting into with these types of tourneys...They can also pull teams together!!

[RoundLeather]

No offense...playing 3 or 4 games doesn't mean an injury will occur! Teams know what their getting into with these types of tourneys...They can also pull teams together!!

So you're saying by playing 4 games in a row cannot cause fatigue and lead to injuries, hmm.. interesting.

[colfan80]

So you're saying by playing 4 games in a row cannot cause fatigue and lead to injuries, hmm.. interesting.

 

I don't think it's that much more likely that someone will get hurt playing 3 or 4 games in a row.... plus that is how it will be in the region/state tournaments so teams need to have some experience with it if they want to have a shot in those....

[Jim Schue]

This is why I started a thread on playing too many consecutive games in these holiday tourneys. IMO, I don't like the idea of playing 3 and 4 games in just a few short days. This thread proves my point.

 

I guess you don't like the current Sweet 16 format then?

[Play 2 Win]

I was in Phoenix last week. I wish I had known there was a KY team playing out there. I would have been a Grant County fan for the week.

[RoundLeather]

I guess you don't like the current Sweet 16 format then?

Sure don't! I think it should be spread out from one Monday till the next, but they won't listen to me. I'm contacting my Congressman :mad:

[Sandman]

So you're saying by playing 4 games in a row cannot cause fatigue and lead to injuries, hmm.. interesting.

 

Does your team practice on non-game days?

[RoundLeather]

Does your team practice on non-game days?

Kids push theirselves harder in game situations as in practice. Pracitice is repetition and kids try hard, but in game situations they feed off of adrenaline and their bodies are pushed harder. When I played we had one or two injuries in practice all year but seemed like every other game someone came up lame. Maybe not a bad injury but bruises, bangs, cramps, ect.. Nobody gets my point so I'm surrendering :bunny: I think they should play 82 games a year like the NBA only give them 3 months to do it in. We should even have a 7 game playoff at Rupp. Where you at Chuck? You started this thread and got me in this mess and now you've walked away :walk: and left me hanging.

[Sandman]

Kids push theirselves harder in game situations as in practice. Pracitice is repetition and kids try hard, but in game situations they feed off of adrenaline and their bodies are pushed harder. When I played we had one or two injuries in practice all year but seemed like every other game someone came up lame. Maybe not a bad injury but bruises, bangs, cramps, ect.. Nobody gets my point so I'm surrendering :bunny: I think they should play 82 games a year like the NBA only give them 3 months to do it in. We should even have a 7 game playoff at Rupp. Where you at Chuck? You started this thread and got me in this mess and now you've walked away :walk: and left me hanging.

 

 

There's your problem, you guys took practice off. You can't practice at one speed and try to play at another. Good teams play and practice at the same speed, and the kids play hard every day.

[CatFanatic]

Any word on the Blackburn kid as to the extent of his injury?

[RoundBaller]

Any word on the Blackburn kid as to the extent of his injury?

Today's Post recap of Grant's game with Lex Cath included the following:

"Grant County struggled against a powerful Lexington Catholic offense without starting senior point guard Roger Blackburn who is out for the season with a tear of his ACL."

 

This is a tough blow for Roger and his mates. Mr. Blackburn is a fine young man.

[CatFanatic]

Sorry to hear that. I enjoyed watching him play, and from what I have heard from his opponents, he is a class act on the floor. Good luck to the Braves down the stretch, I know this is a hard hit for Kinman and the boys.