Simon Kenton 88 South Oldham 69

[Randy Parker]

Final per Greg Spencer. 

Kelly Niece had 41 for SK.

[PaulBlart]

It is great to see Niece back being healthy this year. He is a special player and showing it again. 

[ColonelMike]

Niece 41 Isaac Miller 23 Krohman 8  Smith 6 for SK    Niece with an insane night; had 27 at the half.      Nobody else had more than 4 points.

Cayden Brown 26 points (hit 10 of 15 shots overall, including 10 of 12 in the final three quarters....Brown 4 of 7 beyond the arc) and Ben Michel 15 for South   Davis with 8 and VonFeldt with 8 for South.  

SK staked out a 22-11 lead in the first, aided by 4 of 13 (30.8%) by South and 5 Dragon turnovers.

Pioneers stretched it to 16 in the 2nd, but South back within 11 at the half at 47-36.

South opened the third in a 2-3 zone and SK went on a four-minute scoring drought to start the half.   Dragons made it a 5 point game in the third, but missed out on a couple of chances to make it even closer, and SK had it up to 12 at 63-51 after three.

Both teams shooting lights out through three (South, after that disastrous first, had shot 16 of 25 for 64% in the second and third periods).

South - whose last full practice had come on 2/9 - seemed leg-weary in the final frame, and SK pulled away for the final margin.

SK lived at the line tonight; not something you want to give a team that hits 74.9% of their free throws.

The four made threes by South - all by Cayden Brown, who showed tremendous touch tonight - were the fewest made threes by South in a game this season...  The Dragons were just 4 of 16 (25%) beyond the arc, but I think this was to be expected after the long layoff.

 

[Mojocat]

47 minutes ago, ColonelMike said:

SK lived at the line tonight; not something you want to give a team that hits 74.9% of their free throws.

 

If I recall right, each team had 23 two point baskets, and SK had 6 threes to South’s 4. At that point, it looks like a fairly tight game.  But to your point, SK shot 29 free throws (making 25), while South only attempted 18, and only made 11.  By the way, that’s not intended to be a commentary on the officiating (which was, as others have said, inconsistent at best - but I didn’t really think it had much to do with the outcome).

[dragon man]

I really enjoyed watching this on Pegagus last night - nice job Colonel Mike.  Give all the credit to Simon Kenton, especially Kelly Niece.  He's fundamentally sound in every aspect of his game & very level headed.  27 points at half, 41 points overall shows this kid can really play.  

South came out rusty in the first quarter, by missing some easy shots, and turning the ball over.  Very expected after not being on the court with one another for 10 days.  In the 3rd period, Dragons made a strong run by stepping up their intensity... and also finally moving to a zone defense.  I was impressed by South showing some heart and some grit to bring the game close.  I'm not blaming the refs at all.. but, it was at that time there were 3 very questionable calls in a row, which took the momentum out of South, and also put Michel on the bench with his 4th foul.  This clearly stifled the momentum, and led to SK extending the lead in short order.

SK will be a real force to recon with in the 8th region tourney.  South simply needs more time in the gym together to sharpen their passing...  and execution.  We all know South wants to shoot more 3's in order to win.  So, the next few weeks should be very helpful for the Dragons.  

[ColonelMike]

5 hours ago, dragon man said:

I really enjoyed watching this on Pegagus last night - nice job Colonel Mike. 

Thanks for the kind words, Dragon Man!   So glad you enjoyed the broadcast!    We had a little challenge with bandwidth; the wireless internet connectivity in the SK gym is somewhat marginal for video broadcasts; we had a few buffering issues at times last night.

I haven't had to call a game by myself since 1979....LOL.    

Like you said, this game was not decided by the refs - but those three calls - bang, bang, bang - in the third were crucial ones and very debatable.   They came right around the time South had cut the lead from 16 down to 5....a critical / tipping point in the game.

That said, even if those calls had all gone South's way....I'm really not sure that the outcome would have changed.   As was obvious in the final frame, South didn't have their legs fully under them after the long layoff  (the issues shooting from long range also hinted at this).   SK was simply the better team last night, and the Pioneer offense was very, very efficient.  And Niece was a beast.   He's having a senior year to remember!

SK is going to make a strong run this year in New Castle, I think....and South still has enough time to get things put together, as long as the Dragons can avoid any more layoffs...   Both teams, I think, will be heard from before all is said and done in the 8th.