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.

 

Game wasn't really that close. Wayne co went cold but played a region strong schedule. Wayne could not guard MC. Maybe a little tougher schedule would help.

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.

 

 

Nope. You are exactly right.

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.

 

 

Wayne missed all the shots they normally make from start to finish. McCracken took it to them from the jump and they had no answer. Very disappointing end to an outstanding season.

Game wasn't really that close. Wayne co went cold but played a region strong schedule. Wayne could not guard MC. Maybe a little tougher schedule would help.

 

I hate that statement. Did McCracken

Did McCracken's December schedule help them win?

Every shot that Wayne took was challenged. Mccracken took it right at them.

 

Another observation. McCracken ran some nice sets and when they broke down they took at Wayne.m

Wayne did nothing on offense but one on one.

Every shot that Wayne took was challenged. Mccracken took it right at them.

 

Another observation. McCracken ran some nice sets and when they broke down they took at Wayne.m

Wayne did nothing on offense but one on one.

McCracken County is very well-coached and their kids play like it. They have some nice fluidity offensively.

Congrats to McCracken. They had a great game plan and stuck to it. Wayne was never really a threat and was "off" the whole game. Part of that is McCraken's defense, but Wayne missed free throws they've made all year. I said in the prediction thread that I was worried about Wayne being cold.....I've seen that story too many times. When I saw Woods hang his head after a few missed shots I knew we were pretty much done. Oh well, a great season for sports for a relatively small school in southern Ky.

Oh well, a great season for sports for a relatively small school in southern Ky.

Congrats to Wayne on a very nice season.

 

Welcome to BGP, BoydC!

1. McCracken is a better team than their record would indicate and if you scrutinize their schedule you realize that most of their eight losses came early and that once the coach was able to get all of the players on the same wavelength the talent & depth carried over from the original three teams (that formed the newly merged school) paid off. And I very much liked what their coach said about their approach to playing in the State (businesslike).

 

2. Wayne played a strong schedule and beat some excellent teams. Regarding their 12th Region and District foes, it was high quality - Southwestern & Lincoln were certainly good enough to compete in at the State level and Boyle also. Someone commented earlier about playing in-Region, Wayne played fewer 12th Region teams than any of the top teams in the 12th and defeated all that they did play.

 

3. What McCracken did was execute Wayne's game plan precisely and do to Wayne what they had done to everyone else all season. Control the tempo & shot selection, their opponent's shot selection, drive and score or elicit fouls (creating open threes which they convert) and then convert on those fouls at that time and after the bonus & double-bonus kicks in.

 

4. The game was anybody's until the foul situation for Wayne made it untenable defensively (no longer able to aggressively guard the opposition) and when they did starters fouled out and Wayne was playing with only three and then only two starters. While in the game Stearns was able to score at will, but he only played 14 minutes and Perkins was helping to make up for the other starters lack of contribution early with 13 points but he only played 18 minutes (plus Wayne lost his defensive prowess).

 

5. McCracken made 34-43 free throws (most every one earned-a few questionable & key fouls, but certainly not enough so as to blame the loss on them), took 29 fewer shots from the floor (!), had only 4 offensive rebounds (but who needs more when your opponent shoots 37.1% from the floor and you shoot 43 free throws) while Wayne shot 60.0% from the free throw line including some big misses on the bonus attempts when the game was tight. Gee, what McCracken accomplished sounds identical to a vast majority of Wayne's wins throughout the season!

 

As Wayne's coach said, throughout the season the team had maintained an unusual ability to play at a high level of play with a few bad quarters sprinkled here and there, and only once can I remember that they had more than one bad quarter in a single game (against Knott County Central) but yesterday between the fouls and bad judgment they far & away had their worst game of the season.

 

Credit McCracken for forcing them into playing uncomfortable and drawing fouls that 32 previous opponents all season had not been able to accomplish. McCracken outplayed Wayne and I wouldn't think that the loss will be forgotten by Wayne when they begin preparing for next season.

 

Congratulations and best of luck to McCracken and congrats to Wayne on an outstanding season.

1. McCracken is a better team than their record would indicate and if you scrutinize their schedule you realize that most of their eight losses came early and that once the coach was able to get all of the players on the same wavelength the talent & depth carried over from the original three teams (that formed the newly merged school) paid off. And I very much liked what their coach said about their approach to playing in the State (businesslike).

 

2. Wayne played a strong schedule and beat some excellent teams. Regarding their 12th Region and District foes, it was high quality - Southwestern & Lincoln were certainly good enough to compete in at the State level and Boyle also. Someone commented earlier about playing in-Region, Wayne played fewer 12th Region teams than any of the top teams in the 12th and defeated all that they did play.

 

3. What McCracken did was execute Wayne's game plan precisely and do to Wayne what they had done to everyone else all season. Control the tempo & shot selection, their opponent's shot selection, drive and score or elicit fouls (creating open threes which they convert) and then convert on those fouls at that time and after the bonus & double-bonus kicks in.

 

4. The game was anybody's until the foul situation for Wayne made it untenable defensively (no longer able to aggressively guard the opposition) and when they did starters fouled out and Wayne was playing with only three and then only two starters. While in the game Stearns was able to score at will, but he only played 14 minutes and Perkins was helping to make up for the other starters lack of contribution early with 13 points but he only played 18 minutes (plus Wayne lost his defensive prowess).

 

5. McCracken made 34-43 free throws (most every one earned-a few questionable & key fouls, but certainly not enough so as to blame the loss on them), took 29 fewer shots from the floor (!), had only 4 offensive rebounds (but who needs more when your opponent shoots 37.1% from the floor and you shoot 43 free throws) while Wayne shot 60.0% from the free throw line including some big misses on the bonus attempts when the game was tight. Gee, what McCracken accomplished sounds identical to a vast majority of Wayne's wins throughout the season!

 

As Wayne's coach said, throughout the season the team had maintained an unusual ability to play at a high level of play with a few bad quarters sprinkled here and there, and only once can I remember that they had more than one bad quarter in a single game (against Knott County Central) but yesterday between the fouls and bad judgment they far & away had their worst game of the season.

 

Credit McCracken for forcing them into playing uncomfortable and drawing fouls that 32 previous opponents all season had not been able to accomplish. McCracken outplayed Wayne and I wouldn't think that the loss will be forgotten by Wayne when they begin preparing for next season.

 

Congratulations and best of luck to McCracken and congrats to Wayne on an outstanding season.

 

Well said. Excellent post. Keep those boy's heads up and we'll see you guys next year.