Final from Fort Thomas.

I didn't get to see the whole game, but the broadcast by @859Radiowas fantastic, as usual. WV looked in control at halftime. Tired legs maybe got to them in the third quarter? Highlands got a little sloppy with some late turnovers that WV turned into transition buckets after the Birds had seemingly seized control. Fantastic game, from what I saw.

 

Wow, the state champs go down in game one.

Congrats Walton!

Big win for Walton!

Congrats Walton! What a way to kick off the season for the Bearcats! 

Big statement win for the Bearcats. Congrats Bearcats and best of luck to the Birds the rest of the season. Walton now is 4-2 all time against Highlands.

Huh.  Good job Bearcats.

How many other NKY schools will be using the cashless entry format?  What happens if you're not carrying a phone?

Once I finally got in, it was a great game.

OK finally at my Sports Desk.  

First off, HOW MUCH FUN WAS THAT!!!!!!???!!!!!

That environment in the gym was ELECTRIC!!  You had all the local celebs and dignitaries in the house:  Coach Sphire, Coach Barth, Luke Muller, Sam Vinson, @859Radioand Coach Messmer to name a few.

After all these posters given WV love predicting a win I had to go back this afternoon and read @ColonelMike synopsis on WV and boy was he spot on, this team can shoot and if those shots fall boy will it be a tough night for their competition.

The Birds were trading blows most of the 1st half until the end of the 2nd quarter when WV really piled it on to go up 13 at the half 57-44.

Luckily the Birds regrouped and put in 30 in the 3rd to i think be down 1, 75-74.  Then the 4th was just a good old street brawl of a game trading baskets.

The key to WV victory was with like 17 seconds left Birds grabbed either a steal or rebound ran down the court and instead of eating it, up 1, and waiting for WV to foul, Barth tried a bunny shot and it rimmed out, WV rebounded scored and the rest was history.

Am I frustrated the Birds lost their opener, sure.  Am I super excited about this team 110% ABSOLUTELY!!!!  This team will be SO MUCH FUN to watch.  They are worth the admission to see in person.  After a COVID season that locked us out from attending these regular season games last year it was a breath of fresh air to pack the gym tonight, show these players some much needed love and support.  I can't wait for the next game!  

Looks like after their weekend trip to Marshall County this weekend with some brutal tests, the Birds fly back home to the nest for a match up vs Scott at home on Dec 7th!  I can't wait.

Now I am going to go eat my slice of CAKE and get some rest.

I figured W-V went into this one as a slight underdog, but I'm not shocked by this score at all.    Mike Hester has created quite a team at Walton-Verona, and he has the shooters to back up the scheme.   Thrilled for a big win as an A school proves the truth about basketball - no matter the size of the school, you can only put five guys on the floor at one time!    (It's why KY HS basketball reigns supreme in the USA!)

That said - while I was expecting big things from the Cats - I must now re-assess the 8th Region pre-season rankings.   The 8th is starting off with 6-8 teams with legitimate region title hopes, and I had W-V 6th.....the Bearcats with a statement win right out of the gate are going to force a bit of a re-assessment!

CM

Anyone have stats?

 

Smithers and Barth both had to be at or above 30.

WV

Smithers 34 

Christy 22

Krohman 18

H

Barth 34

Herald 23

Wow. Shot those defensive stats all to heck and back lol. Sounds like a great game!!

WV just tweeted out the starters more specific Stat lines:

SMITHERS:  11/23 FG, 4/7 3PT, 34 PTS/6RBS

CHRISTY:  10/17 FG, 22 PTS, 6 ASST, 5 RBS

KROHMAN:  6/14 3PT, 18 PTS, 3 ASSTS

DIXON, 7 PTS/10RBS/5 ASSTS

GUTMAN:  9 PTS/8RBS

I saw on Smithers Twitter acct he has an offer from TMU, I'll be first to say.....more offers to come for that man....he is a PLAYER!!!!!!

2 hours ago, throwback32 said:

Anyone have stats?

 

Smithers and Barth both had to be at or above 30.

 

Has to be the best regular season game in a long long time.  We had a blast.  Watch the archive on 859SportsRadio.com.