Wayne County stats:

 

Woods: 17 points, 4-17 FG, 2-10 3FG, 7-12 FT, 3 rebounds

 

Stearns: 8 points, 4-10 FG, 3 rebounds

 

Gillespie: 2 points, 1-4 FG, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks

 

Perkins: 13 points, 5-9 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-5 FT, 3 rebounds

 

Blevins: 24 points: 8-21 FG, 3-9 3FG, 5-9 FT, 3 rebounds

 

Team stats:

 

25-70 FG-35.7%

 

6-26 3FG-23.1%

 

18-30 FT-60%

 

32 rebounds(15 offensive), 3 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks, 4 turnovers

McCracken County stats:

 

Armstrong: 11 points, 4-4 FG, 3-4 FT, 3 rebounds

 

Rodgers: 5 points, 1-3 FG, 3-6 FT, 1o rebounds

 

Burnett: 23 points, 7-10 FG, 1-1 3FG, 8-10 FT, 4 rebounds

 

Chumbler: 19 points, 3-6 FG, 13-15 FT, 6 rebounds

 

Stonecipher: 20 points, 5-10 FG, 4-7 3FG, 6-6 FT, 6 rebounds

 

Team stats:

 

21-41 FG-51.2%

 

5-11 3FG-45.5%

 

34-43 FT-79.1%

 

41 rebounds(4 offensive), 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 13 assists

How bout them Mustangs!

There was no fluke about how many times McCracken got to the foul line. It was their game plan right out of the gate, and they executed it beautifully. They had Wayne in serious foul trouble in the 1st quarter. After a couple of nice 3's to get rolling and grab a nice early lead, they just kept taking it to the basket relentlessly. Makes you wonder why all teams don't use this strategy the entire game.

 

There's a tendency for most teams in the early goings wanting to have open pretty shots drop and don't immediately look to cause their opponent foul trouble. It may not be pretty to start a game this way, but pretty or not it worked wonders for McCraken.

 

No matter how much Wayne answered, McCracken just stayed true and focused on their game plan, and kept executing knowing that the time to let down would be after the final horn sounded.

 

Lots of teams start this strategy later in the game or as a last resort. Why? McCracken showed how using as the first resort gets the murder of your opponent started early and then you just keep on stabbing them to ensure that they die.

 

This is smart B-Ball that I rarely ever see teams execute as wonderfully as McCracken did.

 

I very much enjoyed watching them show us all how it's done. :thumb:

4 offensive rebounds? is that a typo?

So Woods shoots 24% & Blevins shoots 38%. Blevins got up 21 shots and didn't even play the whole game?

 

Is McCracken really good defensively or did Wayne miss a lot of good looks? Wayne does live and die by the 3. If they had either a big or a slasher type player, they'd be at a much higher level.

 

"There was no fluke about how many times McCracken got to the foul line. It was their game plan right out of the gate, and they executed it beautifully. They had Wayne in serious foul trouble in the 1st quarter. After a couple of nice 3's to get rolling and grab a nice early lead, they just kept taking it to the basket relentlessly. Makes you wonder why all teams don't use this strategy the entire game." -- I've thought all year that one of Wayne's weaknesses was D. They do play hard but tend to overplay on the perimeter IMO, especially given that they don't have an eraser around the rim. If you had a team that can put the ball on the floor, I thought that could be exposed. Maybe that's what happened today - along with a poor shooting performance from Wayne.

 

Regardless, a great year for Wayne.

I listened to the game. Sounds like it was a little of both; good game by the Mustangs, off game for Wayne.

 

This.

Congrats to McCracken. Maybe one of our friends from out west can shed some more light on what they bring to the table.

Congrats to McCracken. Maybe one of our friends from out west can shed some more light on what they bring to the table.

 

They have strong guard play with Chumbler (Sr.) Burnett (Sr.) and Stonecipher (Jr.) all starting. Vega is a solid guard off the bench. Bryce Rogers is very good in the paint and he's great on the boards! They go very deep. Played some strong teams in out of state tournaments. Covington Holmes is the best team they played in Kentucky and Holmes handled them fairly well, but this team has jelled very well down the stretch, winning 11 of their last 12 (I think). They played very well at one of the Warren Co. holiday tournaments. They will be an underdog on Friday.

Someone forgot to tell McCracken County what they were supposed to do.

I said in the prediction thread that people that thought McCracken would get rolled over were in for a surprise. First and foremost in order to beat McCracken you better be able to protect the paint. McCracken is just a very physical team period. Bowling Green will have rim protectors and likes to play physical also. Not nearly as good a matchup for McCracken as Wayne. McCracken struggled against athletic teams like Holmes this year. BG and the Mustangs did play a scrimmage game before the season and I believe it was pretty even although BG was missing some football players. I think it will be a good one.

31-1 and going to the house. Reminds me of 2002 when Wayne County came in with a similar record and got beat by Whitesburg in the first round.

12 missed free throws for Wayne. That's very unlike them. If they didn't lead the state in ft% they had to be very close. Shot something like 75% for the year.

Western Ky. don't doing too badly so far.

I fully realize a team can have an off game.

 

However, for those of us who questioned how strong Wayne Co was based upon their schedule this game does nothing to move us off of that potentially incorrect way of thinking.