It is interesting that people are so big on Hinson. Coach Brian Kirk took a Brent Bachless Augusta team to the 10th region finals in his first year. That is extremely hard to do. They played 7 games against the 38th district and went 6 and 1. I'm sorry to say but when the Bracken County faithful puts so much input in to a senior dominant team and they only win 16 games!! That is a bit of a disappointmen.

 

I don't want to take anything away from Kirk but that was a Ferrari with the engine running and setting in drive when Coach Kirk got there. All he had to do was hit the gas. Those guys were Hinson's players after all.

I don't understand this at all. His team had a chance to win and had good looks at the basket most of the night.

 

Mason let them back into the game, being there the royals controlled the tempo the majority of the game especially in the second half. Hinson never made on adjustment to stop Dunnaway or Lofton. He was out coached for the 4th straight time against Biggs and the royals. His entire resume is built on 2 wins.

Engus or Engnes his points didn't add up to much.

I don't want to take anything away from Kirk but that was a Ferrari with the engine running and setting in drive when Coach Kirk got there. All he had to do was hit the gas. Those guys were Hinson's players after all.

 

That same team got beat in the district championship and lost in the first round of region without Bach a year prior?? Kirk is the most overlooked coach in the 39th and possibly 10th. Gets his guys to play extremely hard.

Mason let them back into the game, being there the royals controlled the tempo the majority of the game especially in the second half. Hinson never made on adjustment to stop Dunnaway or Lofton. He was out coached for the 4th straight time against Biggs and the royals. His entire resume is built on 2 wins.

 

I was wondering why they kept letting them get to the basket so easily.

If Bracken County makes just 2/11 threes in the 2nd half instead of 0/11 they win by 1 and this is an entirely different thread. Bracken got a lot of open looks the shots just didn't fall.

Great atmosphere at The Fieldhouse tonight. Bracken side was packed, Mason side close. 1,000+ would have been turned away at The Igloo tonight.

 

And the game was exciting as well. Mason up 14-12 after 1 and 31-28 at half. I think Bracken's biggest lead was 26-20. Once Mason extended the lead in the second half it became clear that it would be all Crawford, all the time and he didn't disappoint.

 

Was the technical deserved? By the letter of the law; yes. Could the official turned the other cheek? Possibly. No denying that it was huge.

 

Mason had what looked like an insurmountable (at least 10) lead with less than a minute left, largely on the strength of Dunaway's shooting at the line. Then things got interesting. A silly foul under Mason's basket, two unforced turnovers, some missed charity tosses; and Bracken had a chance to tie it with a Crawford triple. Two defenders in his face forced the miss, and Kumler's freebies iced it.

 

Kudos to Tyrion Fox and Jaylen Lofton for keeping the Royals in it in the first half before Dunaway took over late; both had success driving and scoring in close or from the line against Bracken's bigs. Holding Jones to 4 points was big as well, coming off the big night against St. Patrick. In a game this close, though, everybody played key roles. Staying out of foul trouble allowed Coach Biggs to stick to his starting 5 and 2 off the bench when a starter got gassed. Hard-fought, entertaining game to watch from ol' pap's customary endzone front-row spot.

 

Like many others, I really thought that this was Bracken's best chance to capture their first district title in the 21st century, but it was not to be. I've got a lot of friends over there and I feel for them.

 

Congrats to the Royals on yet another district title (but that may not mean a lot in terms of the regional draw), and also to the Polar Bears for leaving it all on the floor.

 

THIS! Very valid point.

Bracken faithful still rolling with excuses.

I saw that it was mentioned above that Hinson's resume was based off two wins and I am just going to have to disagree with that. He is the only coach in Saint Pat history with a winning record. After he was coaching Augusta and upset Mason County twice he still had to beat a decent Bracken County team after that. And they still beat Brossart in the Class A with out Brent Bach.

 

I've always said if I had to rank coaches in the region it would be 1. Code, 2. Biggs, 3. Cook, 4. Hinson.

 

It's true that players can have off or bad nights, but can't coaches be the same way?

Bracken faithful still rolling with excuses.

I'm not making excuses. Just said Bracken County had their chances but just couldn't execute.

How could you ever throw out Coach Russell for the best coach in the 10th. He has won 3 regional championships!!!!

I saw that it was mentioned above that Hinson's resume was based off two wins and I am just going to have to disagree with that. He is the only coach in Saint Pat history with a winning record. After he was coaching Augusta and upset Mason County twice he still had to beat a decent Bracken County team after that. And they still beat Brossart in the Class A with out Brent Bach.

 

I've always said if I had to rank coaches in the region it would be 1. Code, 2. Biggs, 3. Cook, 4. Hinson.

 

It's true that players can have off or bad nights, but can't coaches be the same way?

 

Alright I have 2 questions for you then:

1.) Did anyone around the 10th really respect or talk about Hinsons as one of the top coaches in the region until Augusta beat Mason Co twice? No

2.) I fully agree, coaches can have bad nights.. but he's matched up with the royals 6 straight times now since he lost Bach and is 0-6, 6 bad nights??

How could you ever throw out Coach Russell for the best coach in the 10th. He has won 3 regional championships!!!!

So Hinson wins at a school with 80 kids and a D-2 Brent Bach and is seen as a bad coach, but Aric Russell wins at a school with 1,900 kids and a D-1 Matt Wilson and is seen as a great coach? Kind of a double-standard, both are really good coaches.

Coach hinson has done a great job here and our guys played hard tonight. We will regroup good kids in Bracken County!

Alright I have 2 questions for you then:

1.) Did anyone around the 10th really respect or talk about Hinsons as one of the top coaches in the region until Augusta beat Mason Co twice? No

2.) I fully agree, coaches can have bad nights.. but he's matched up with the royals 6 straight times now since he lost Bach and is 0-6, 6 bad nights??

Sorry but Hinson in his career the team he was coaching has NEVER EVER been the favorite to beat Mason County. This time they were favored by 1 point in computer poll, which to me doesn't make them an absolute favorite.