Russell 56 Elliott County 52

[Wireman]

Got to agree with that statement, it would have been a very boring game without some of those calls :ylsuper:

Referees got caught up in the moment and let Elliot get real physical in the 4th when they had too, and Russell was not allowed to do anything on the other end. Russell made some dumb plays do to keep it exciting, but the only call Elliot probally has a legit gripe on was the technical on Weddington.

The worst call I saw all year was when Blair jumped up and stole the inbounds pass, threw the ball over his head to Van Hoose who was all alone

making a layup and was called for fouling Weddington:confused:

 

It sounds like it was a poorly officiated game both ways. I wish that the quality of officials could be improved for a championship game. You just have to be consistent and you also have to step up and make some of those calls.

[GOREDDEVILS]

The Dodd Squad again was great. You must give credit where credit is due. Coach Dodd has made a major impact on those young men these last few games. Coach Parsley praised Dodd tonight at the pep rally and I thought that was nice. Yes, we all have been down on the coaches at different times, but when Coaching really counted, it was now. The coaches have worked hard to revive and I think that have done an incredible job BUT our BOYS Each & Everyone of them played as a TEAM and they are absolutely AWESOME. I think the lessons they have learned about team playing will stay with them a life time. The Milan Maddox letter was such an inspiration and it should be a lesson to some adults also. I recently had an incident where I was cheated out of something that was definitely due me, and it is a horrible feeling to have that happen, not in basketball but in business for me, but I know the cheaters, I now know that they are not people of their word, and that has made me a better player...I will beat them at their game because their weakness is money....for that is what they cheated for.The ref's tried to cheat for our victory..But our boys, coaches, and fans made us proud. You know you cannot do wrong and get by with it - we prevailed because we played hard and our boys were not doing all those fouls...Two of our tops fouled out....We held together and WON.....We are Russell and We are Proud. I admire those boys....

:thumb:

[duck1220]

In my opinion, it was a poorly officiated game with a lot of missed calls and calls that should have been called but were ignored.

 

Agreed!!!

 

But, I saw things a little different than you did.

[Wireman]

Agreed!!!

 

But, I saw things a little different than you did.

 

Let's agree to disagree - Elliott got shafted in the first half and Russell got shafted in the second.

 

Work for you?

[UKCATSFAN]

IF it was poorly officiated, Elliott certainly benefited by it more than Russell did...As someone already stated, they lived at the line...Give us all a break!!! Elliott WAS NOT hurt by officiating tonight...There is no way anyone from Elliott could say the refs cost them the game tonight...

 

Elliott played their butts off in trying to get back into the game and had their chances...Russell played really well for 3 quarters & was fortunate enough to hang on for the victory without Vanhoose & Blair for the last couple of minutes...Give the Lions credit for not folding...Their crowd would not let them quit...

 

Elliott has a nice young nucleus of players to build around for the next few years...Reminds me of the Russell group of a couple years ago when Vanhoose, Blair, & Clark were freshmen...Hopefully for Elliott fans they'll be able to keep it together...

 

Great Post. Elliott deserves a lot of credit and respect.

[UKCATSFAN]

I didnt think either team took an inordinant amount of bad calls, but the sequence at the end of the half certainly changed the outcome of the game.

 

Elliott got a steal and the ensuing layup would have cut the lead to 7. Instead the following sequence led to a Russell 16 point halftime bulge: Weddington going for the layup had the ball stripped from behind by Vanhoose. A potential foul but instead the ball went out of bounds and given to Elliott. The outside official stepped in and a discussion ensued and the call reversed giving the ball to Russell. After seeing the change Weddington slaps the floor on the opposite side from the two officials involved in the decision to reverse the call. The third official assesses a Technical. Russell hits both FT and then a 3 at the buzzer for the 16 point lead.

 

The only thing I feel strongly about in that sequence was the T shouldnt have been called. Is slapping the floor any more demonstrative than a player jumping up in the air and spinning around after being called for a foul? Or a player jumping up and down and setting the ball down 10 feet out of bounds, or players pulling their jerseys over their head after getting a foul? All of which happened tonight without getting T'd up.

 

This didnt win or lose the game for either team, it changed the course of the game without question.

 

Congrats to Russell and to my buddy Duck. Enjoy the bright light of Rupp. Good Luck Devils.

 

On a last note, does the former Red Devil who left during the season regret not getting the chance to pull on the sneakers and play in the temple called Rupp?

 

 

I truely enjoyed your post, you were right on point................. Until you took a cheap shot at Kasey. I'm sure he wishes he was playing in the tournament, any kid who loves to compete as much as Kasey does would like to be out there but he is happy and content about his decision, OK. He was cheering this team on every game. He came to the game painted from head to toe. He was one of their biggest supporters.

[russellrooter]

The team that showed up for Russell for these three games in Morehead was the team most people thought they would see all year to include:

Coach Dodd "expertly" using 8 hard nosed, unselfish kids to each contribute in their own way. Led by Vanhoose with excellent ballhandling, outside shooting and "Riddick" like drives to the basket. Blair with his physical all around game. Gill, maybe the best athlete in the 16th region, playing with heart & pain to lead the devils in scoring and rebounding 2 of the 3 games, Lavender coming alive with energy on both ends of the floor, Sizemore's defense & "sweet looking" shot, Simpson's tenacious defense and senior leadership, Turner's presence in the post and nose for the ball, and Frazier's timely buckets under pressure. And the rest of those kids who leave it all on the floor in practice and truly make it a team sport. I for one am glad we got to see this group perform like the team they deserved to be! Let's go to Rupp

[Ms Liberty]

Elliott got a steal and the ensuing layup would have cut the lead to 7. Instead the following sequence led to a Russell 16 point halftime bulge: Weddington going for the layup had the ball stripped from behind by Vanhoose. A potential foul but instead the ball went out of bounds and given to Elliott. The outside official stepped in and a discussion ensued and the call reversed giving the ball to Russell. After seeing the change Weddington slaps the floor on the opposite side from the two officials involved in the decision to reverse the call. The third official assesses a Technical. Russell hits both FT and then a 3 at the buzzer for the 16 point lead.

 

The only thing I feel strongly about in that sequence was the T shouldnt have been called. Is slapping the floor any more demonstrative than a player jumping up in the air and spinning around after being called for a foul? Or a player jumping up and down and setting the ball down 10 feet out of bounds, or players pulling their jerseys over their head after getting a foul? All of which happened tonight without getting T'd up.

 

This didnt win or lose the game for either team, it changed the course of the game without question.

 

No doubt this was huge. I was sitting on the end that the reversial happened and the 1st ref got the call right. Than Mr. Big Call comes in and changes it. What could have been a 7 point lead late in the half went on to be a 12 point lead on the next trip.

 

Also how is slapping the floor any different than throwing your arms up in the air, jumping up and down, and spinning when a foul is called on you? Weddington was just mad at himself and when he slapped the floor at leat he walked away and did it, not in the face of the calling official. Is it also as bad as diagreeing with a call and walking 10 feet away and sitting the ball down?

 

Another is the actions of the Russell bench. If I am not mistaken assisant coaches and not allowed to stand. Than why was at least one of the Russell assisant coaches up all night? Why is this rule not enforced?

[shooterx3]

The team that showed up for Russell for these three games in Morehead was the team most people thought they would see all year to include:

Coach Dodd "expertly" using 8 hard nosed, unselfish kids to each contribute in their own way. Led by Vanhoose with excellent ballhandling, outside shooting and "Riddick" like drives to the basket. Blair with his physical all around game. Gill, maybe the best athlete in the 16th region, playing with heart & pain to lead the devils in scoring and rebounding 2 of the 3 games, Lavender coming alive with energy on both ends of the floor, Sizemore's defense & "sweet looking" shot, Simpson's tenacious defense and senior leadership, Turner's presence in the post and nose for the ball, and Frazier's timely buckets under pressure. And the rest of those kids who leave it all on the floor in practice and truly make it a team sport. I for one am glad we got to see this group perform like the team they deserved to be! Let's go to Rupp

EXACTLY!:thumb:

VERY ACCURATE POST

[Incognito]

Congrats Russell! Good Luck at Rupp!

[goherd96]

Calling a spade a spade here...the officials helped Elliot back in the game last night. Don't get me wrong, not trying to take anything away from the young Lions' performance and Russell definitely helped too, but the refs certainly played a big part in it.

 

The second half, Elliot pressed and got VERY physical with Russell's ball handlers, yet the Lions were in the double bonus before the Devils got close to shooting any bonus free throws. As a matter of fact, Elliot was in the double bonus in both halves before Russell got in the bonus. When you press full court and reach,slap and shove to go for the ball, you will inevitably foul...that's a given. The officials to let it go and allowed the Lions' defenders to practically assault the ball handler which definitely helped inflate the second half turnover number for Russell. Another factor is both of Russell's top guards fouled out, yet the Lions didn't have a player foul out until the last seconds of the game. As has been mentioned already, Elliot lived at the line in the second half.

 

IMO, if you saw it any other way, you're flat out wrong...period.

[Ms Liberty]

:devil: To be the 3 top officials in the 16th they were not consistent at all. Missed calls all around. In the en the Devels won

[goherd96]

:devil: To be the 3 top officials in the 16th they were not consistent at all. Missed calls all around. In the en the Devels won

 

Definitely...:thumb:

[Nets]

To be honest, I thought the officiating in the end was balanced for both teams, in the beginning every call seemed to go to Elliott County, I felt they got some breaks early but couldn't capitalize. There was a series of calls in the 2nd half Russell fans were furious over...by judging from the crowd reaction. But overall, the officials are very good officials who do a very professional job and sometimes the style of play and sequences occuring on the court, gives different impressions and viewpoints to the fan who's over 100 feet+ away from the violation or non-violation. Sure, I was :creepy: at some things to, but then again I am far removed from the action;)

 

The officials called 2-3 walks on Russell's Marcus Frazier who I thought were the correct calls...they called a pushoff at midcourt on Russell guard who I thought was bumped around before the pushoff.

 

As far as the "T" situation, throughout the post-season some players would react very strongly to some calls and I wondered to myself if they were going to get it (Technical) perhaps something was said along with the slap...I don't know so I can't justify either way, but body language sometimes speaks volumes.

 

As for the game itself, Russell should have only had to win the game ONCE...however, they had to win the game two or three times in my opinion, builidng a huge lead and then seemingly playing "not to lose" nearly cost them...I told you all FREE THROWS would loom large, Ross Turner saved them and Scott Gill terrorized the Lions on the backboard...Russell forced Elliott to guard throughout the halfcourt and got what they wanted. I felt Elliott was out of sync offensively and struggled finding rhythem...their (Elliott's) rhythem is "transition" but had a hard time getting into transition.

 

Ronald Weddington was the heart and soul to this Elliott Co. team, his court vision and awareness were 2nd to none, he's strong and athletic...made big time "3" in the post season and was nearly impossible to stop when penetrating or posting up. Trying to replace him next season is going to be awfully hard to do.

 

Jonathan Ferguson has emerged as one of the top players in the region next season. Scary thought he has 3 more full seasons of H.S. basketball. Accompanied by Ethan and Evan Faulkner the Lions will be solid next season.

 

Does Tyler Maynard every miss a FT?, perhaps he can drive to Flatwoods on Monday for a break out session on how to make Free Throws every time without missing.

 

Russell fans need to get with it. Support your team and coaches, get to Rupp in bunches and enjoy your time...it's never a guarantee you'll get back to the promise land no matter how many starters you return the following season, etc.

 

Was a little disappointed in the Championship attendance...Elliott brought a nice crowd, but maybe I am just spoiled by knowing what Morgan County would have brought and brought all season to games at home and on the road.:confused:

 

Congrats to Steve Dodd and the Russell Red Devils, their Athletic Director Sam Sparks and community.

 

Congrats to Rick Mays and staff along with their players and community on a great season by a nice mix of youth and veteran's.

[BleedRed]

Congrats to the Russell Red Devils!

 

Good luck at Rupp!