Whatever the reason Highlands has establishesd a trend of under achieving in the regionals.

Whatever the reason Highlands has establishesd a trend of under achieving in the regionals.

 

Can you provide examples of what you mean by "underachieved". To me underachieving means you are the favorite coming in and you didn't win it. Or you are losing to teams that many feel are not as good as you on a consistent basis. So it may be helpful to understand how they "underachieve" if you explained why you feel that way. I understand that may be your opinion, but there must be reasons you have that perception.

Highlands has come in a the favorite in the past. I'm thinking Allens senior year? I'd imagine if Coach Richey looks at her coaching career so far and the tems she has had. she would admit that they should have won a regional by now. Now I didn't see the game agains HC but the final leads me to believe Highlands underachieved in that one. Really the goal would to be overachieving in March and I don't think we can say that has happened.

At Half it was 15-12 which is ridiculous from both teams with that much talent. Again not saying HHS isn't good because they are, they blew a lot of teams away this year and wasn't challenged and the teams that did challenge them they lost to. This is a question and I don't know every team they played but do you think they played a good enogh school with the talent they had, from my point of view no. I don't think they were battle tested at all, the games they lost in they turned the ball over. Whatever you say happened during that game that the HHS girls and fans know but you won't share I can only assume came from the coach and if that's the case shame on the coach to have done that to those girls. I watched the game and to be honset it seemed to me HC was never threatened and yes it was a 3 point game but to see how it was being played it was only a matter of time. It looked like HHS gave up to early, they started fouling early because the game was out of hand or they wouldn't have. HC defense was extended to take away the 3 and it worked causing turnovers say what you want but they were in their heads and if they did nothing different than the last time they played you then again shame on the coaches for not having somehting else planned that is poor coaching if you ask me. I know your not going to say anything about the coaches but if that's the case that's not doing your job.

Highlands has come in a the favorite in the past. I'm thinking Allens senior year? I'd imagine if Coach Richey looks at her coaching career so far and the tems she has had. she would admit that they should have won a regional by now. Now I didn't see the game agains HC but the final leads me to believe Highlands underachieved in that one. Really the goal would to be overachieving in March and I don't think we can say that has happened.

 

So there isn't a "trend" then right. Your one example was a team that played about 5-6 years ago. And no, they did not play well the other night, but they did lose to a team that was ranked ahead of them and is very good. Did they underachieve or just play bad?

So there isn't a "trend" then right. Your one example was a team that played about 5-6 years ago. And no, they did not play well the other night, but they did lose to a team that was ranked ahead of them and is very good. Did they underachieve or just play bad?

 

To me if the game was close then fine they didn't underachieve but to get beat that bad in a regional semi final to a team that all year you said there was much seperation from the 2 I would say underachievement for them.

To me if the game was close then fine they didn't underachieve but to get beat that bad in a regional semi final to a team that all year you said there was much seperation from the 2 I would say underachievement for them.

 

sorry meant wasn't much seperation.

At Half it was 15-12 which is ridiculous from both teams with that much talent. Again not saying HHS isn't good because they are, they blew a lot of teams away this year and wasn't challenged and the teams that did challenge them they lost to. This is a question and I don't know every team they played but do you think they played a good enogh school with the talent they had, from my point of view no. I don't think they were battle tested at all, the games they lost in they turned the ball over. Whatever you say happened during that game that the HHS girls and fans know but you won't share I can only assume came from the coach and if that's the case shame on the coach to have done that to those girls. I watched the game and to be honset it seemed to me HC was never threatened and yes it was a 3 point game but to see how it was being played it was only a matter of time. It looked like HHS gave up to early, they started fouling early because the game was out of hand or they wouldn't have. HC defense was extended to take away the 3 and it worked causing turnovers say what you want but they were in their heads and if they did nothing different than the last time they played you then again shame on the coaches for not having somehting else planned that is poor coaching if you ask me. I know your not going to say anything about the coaches but if that's the case that's not doing your job.

 

Not disagreeing with anything you put here. I will say that HC did exactly the same thing in the first game. We had a double digit lead in the first half against them. They had an outstanding third qtr and tied it up. Then we played even with them. So knowing the HC did nothing different in the first game and you watching this game and how out of sync the Birds were (again, everyone in the gym knew they didn't look like they did all year), there was something that must have been different on the Birds side. If anyone on here has watched them at all, they knew something was up with them. They were not who they were all year and they didn't execute like they did all year.

 

As for the schedule...it was down IMO. A lot of that had to do with the teams that they typically play and have good programs, were down. So I agree their schedule wasn't overly challenging. But when Sacred Heart, South Oldham, NCC, Conner, Boone and ND are all down in the same year, then that's what you get. Heck, even SK is down and they won their region. HHS beat them by 21. They also beat Mason Co who won their region by about 17. And lost to Owensboro Cath in OT who lost in the finals of their region by 2. Just a lot of down programs this year. But your right...looking back, the schedule turned out to not appear very strong.

To me if the game was close then fine they didn't underachieve but to get beat that bad in a regional semi final to a team that all year you said there was much seperation from the 2 I would say underachievement for them.

 

You say beat that bad because you look at the final score. HC had 25 points at the beginning of the 4th. I think they might have only had 3-4 field goals in the 4th qtr. So why was it a blowout, because HHS took the strategy to start fouling midway through the fourth. They played the odds of fouling a free throw shooter that isn't the greatest. But on the night, she shot them like Larry Bird. Then is was all or nothing. HHS could have played the same game and not fouled and sped themselves up the the score wouldn't have looked anywhere near as bad. But they played the odds and lost the gamble because McClendan was lights out at the line. When you give them free opportunities to score and you are struggling to score, thats the result. It wasn't like HC all of a sudden caught fire, stepped up their game and blew them out of the gym. The lead was extended at the free throw line by a young lady that stepped up and did her job. Kudos to her!

 

HC had 25 thru 3 qtrs and scored 49. The majority coming from the free throw line.

I would have thought they would have played in some tuffer tournaments this year with the team they had, I think that hurt them as well and yes HHS looked none exitent for whatever reason. If you can't get up for these games and play hard then something internally has to be wrong, Richy has to much talent to let these season's go by. I know its hard to win the region soemtimes the best teams don't always look at NCC boys perfect examble but in my opinion there's is a coaches issue to. Not saying HHS was the best team in the 9th, i believe the best team won it, i think HHS was the 3rd best team in the 9th. They should be solid next season but Holmes will be the favorite to win it for sure.

So there isn't a "trend" then right. Your one example was a team that played about 5-6 years ago. And no, they did not play well the other night, but they did lose to a team that was ranked ahead of them and is very good. Did they underachieve or just play bad?

 

Nah. just go to and look at season records for the past decade. HHS has had some excellent teams. Take a look at the teams that have knocked them out of the rgionals and then go back and take a look at what happened in the regular season. You might have seen some of this 1st hand. Whip NDA on the road in mid January, and then lose by double digits to the same team in March. Some big time talent on that team. Didn't you sort of think that team was going to do it that year? I did.

Nah. just go to and look at season records for the past decade. HHS has had some excellent teams. Take a look at the teams that have knocked them out of the rgionals and then go back and take a look at what happened in the regular season. You might have seen some of this 1st hand. Whip NDA on the road in mid January, and then lose by double digits to the same team in March. Some big time talent on that team. Didn't you sort of think that team was going to do it that year? I did.

 

Not sure what year we whipped ND on the road and then lost to them. Maybe before I was following them. I'm not sure.

 

Did I think they had a chance this year...absolutely! But I also know that they were in a region that had 3 teams ranked in the top ten of the state the majority of the year and winning the region was going to be a chore for anyone. It's a year where you put any of the big three in a different year of the region and they most likely walk through it. Luck has it that three top 10 teams landed in one region this year. That has nothing to do with a trend of under achieving.

 

Again, under achieving to me means they were the clear favorite going in and didn't win it or consistently lost in the region to teams that were underdogs to them. And even is Allen's team was the favorite (that was before my time watching), then that's one year. Not a trend like you say. There are a ton of good teams and programs that haven't won the region.

 

So are you saying Holmes underachieved this year then?

For you to say that the big 3 you call them would have walked through the regional in previous years is a big statement, especially with the last 2 teams who have won the regionals ND and NCC. I don't think anyone of these teams beat either team.

Looked at it wrong. They lost to NDA. Any way just looking back at some of the really good players and teams that have come through, I would have thought they would have won the region a couple of times. Here's a little side note to chew on I maintain that if thye had played NDA straight up instead of stalling the one year, the experience of "competing" in a Finals would have went a long way for the next years team. I say it would have made them more competitive and perhaps the big game experience would have propelled them past NDA the next season. Congrats to HC. Good luck down state!

For you to say that the big 3 you call them would have walked through the regional in previous years is a big statement, especially with the last 2 teams who have won the regionals ND and NCC. I don't think anyone of these teams beat either team.

 

It's tough to match teams YOY. Were either of those teams ranked anywhere near the top ten for the majority of the year? ND had an outstanding run two years ago and they were very good. So maybe not that year. But HHS beat NCC last year, so they weren't that far ahead of everyone. Again, it's very difficult to match year to year. It's this team or this player was better because blah blah blah...You can't compare when they don't play head to head. Those teams you mentioned were good, but so are these three. Those teams barely were ranked in the top 25 most of the year when they played. It's just my opinion that these 3 teams THIS YEAR are better than most that have won it in the past. ND that year may be the exception. They were very good and underrated in the state that year.