It's not often that so many of us offer congratulations to the team who loses the game. But, Holmes has flat out earned it. They gave the Colonels one heck of a game. Clean, disciplined, controlled, respectful, fun to watch. Good ball handling. Good passing. Good shot selection and high percentages. Austin got frustrated a few times after getting mugged by the double teams, but he kept on tickin'.

Holmes' "subs" played with great chemistry and deserve to be recognized.

Junior Terrance Clark who is normally the 6th or 7th man battled with Schult all night and had alot of rebounds.

Avery did a good job of distributing the ball but had some key late turnovers.

#3 a sophomore really stepped up and hit some key shots in a very tough environment where most "JV players" would be too scared to take their shots.

Austin Hill is by FAR the best player in the 9th region and all of his hard work is really paying off. He barely scored in the second half facing double and triple teams and had to be dead tired.

 

CCH got a win and have a big game against HC for the #1 seed Fri.

I'm sure HC and CCH want to win becasue no team wants to play Holmes first round in ANY tournament.

 

If Holmes gets things together than they will dominate the 9th region...hopefully thats not a big "if" though.

By the way, does anybody have a good recipe for crow? I thought Holmes would take be taking their lumps. With as many of us who predicted big margin losses to HC and CovCath, we should probably get some kind of crow eating contest together.

If CovCath plays like they did at Highlands last week, Holmes will make this a MUCH closer game than being predicted here.

 

CCH has not had many games where they've put it all together offensively. Thus, the above is a true statement.

 

Still a concern.

Forgot to mention....How big was that half court basket that TJ scored at the buzzer at the end of the first half......Those three points were huge......That's two games in a row, that CovCath has scored via a half court or farther back, at the buzzer...

Forgot to mention....How big was that half court basket that TJ scored at the buzzer at the end of the first half......Those three points were huge......That's two games in a row, that CovCath has scored via a half court or farther back, at the buzzer...

 

Not to mention Jacobs didn't even know what the clock was at until he crossed half court. Then he spoted up and casually knocked down the half court jump shot to take the Colonels to half.

 

Overal I was impressed by the well coached and well disciplined Holmes team. Austin Hill showed everyone in the gym tonight that he is a true warrior. He scored 13 of the teams first half 22 points. I don't know what he finished with. I think the whole gym was waiting on Coach L to double team or triangle-2 him. I had not seem him play this season yet, but the first thing I noticed about him was how physically he's gotten stronger and larger. D-1 talent without a doubt!

 

Towards the end he was starting to get frustrated witht the double teams but what do you expect when your supposed to take the ball out of bounds, bring the ball up the floor, beat the traps, distribute to the open man, take the ball to the basket, knock down threes, rebound, defend the best player for CCH, and be the leader of an unexperienced team.

 

As for CCH they have a lot to work on, but I had the feeling that they were being held back tonight by some interesting coaching moves and not sure what exactly to expect from this Holmes team. I'm not saying they were looking past them, but don't tell me one of these kids ever doubted winning this game all week.

 

Fridays game should be a very interesting one. Where is it at?

 

Fridays game should be a very interesting one. Where is it at?

 

The regional tourney qualifier is at CCH.

I think even if you add Duran in the mix as well as Henderson, this Holmes team could still excell.

 

Playing all of these subs right now is really going to help them in the long run not only this year, but next too. I guess these games right now are showing just how deep Holmes bench can go.

Austin Hill scored Holmes' first 11 points. As has been said by NKYBoy, Austin Hill looks like a LB. He has exploded physcially. A specimen. He is by far the best player in the 9th....it's not close.

 

If Henley could have gotten Austin a breather now and then and not risked falling out of reach, this game would have been different (well, I'll go with could have been). Hill was dead tired at the end. Frankly, who wouldn't be. I thought he kept his composure very well in the face of unbelievable pressure, it was only when great passes for bunnies went uncashed did he seem to get aggravated. I thought Listerman going to an "Iverson-type" defense (where he'd run two guys at him when he had the ball to force him to give it up) helped to escalate Austin's tiring.

 

Give Sophomore Luke Maile credit for working his tail off to try and derail Austin early when he was going off.

 

I'm not sure they're better now with Austin and the Hills, but I'm sure that they are playing better basketball right now. If you can add Duran to this team, to ease some of Austin's load while yet still making him the offensive first choice, that would seem to be the best option. The rest of the group simply takes away from Austin's aggressiveness...and that often works against Holmes.

 

By the way, the environment wasn't what it would have been had Holmes been at full strength...kind of a ho hum game. You never got that constant buzz in the crowd that a game like this normally has in that building.

 

Onward to Friday...

Austin Hill showed everyone in the gym tonight that he is a true warrior. He scored 13 of the teams first half 22 points. I don't know what he finished with.

 

He wound up with 15--it was very similar to Nic Simpson's performance against CCH...dominated the first half but wore down in the 2nd half.

So the loser of HC/CCH gets Holmes in the district?

I wouldn't want to be the loser of this game.

Anyone know where the district is held this year?

Holmes will be better when the suspnsions are over and DJ returns. The cloud started hanging over the Bulldogs after the loss to Clark Co. in the Fifth/Third (seems like they played CCH next , UGLY game). Now that it will be all behind them you will see a different Holmes team down the stretch in February. I hear the suspended players have accepted their suspensions very well and have really step up in practice to get the young Bulldogs ready for these games.

Holmes will be better when the suspnsions are over and DJ returns. The cloud started hanging over the Bulldogs after the loss to Clark Co. in the Fifth/Third (seems like they played CCH next , UGLY game). Now that it will be all behind them you will see a different Holmes team down the stretch in February. I hear the suspended players have accepted their suspensions very well and have really step up in practice to get the young Bulldogs ready for these games.

 

 

We shall see what kind of young men they truly are and how they accept their new role when they come off suspension. I applaud the Holmes administration and coaching staff for atleast laying down some sort of law but IMO it wasnt harsh enough. I would have said, see you at next year's tryouts any of you underclassman involved and for you seniors involved let this be a lesson in life. Let the young guys play and get better. This could have been a pivotal turning point in Holmes basketball and I just dont see it getting any better when they come back. Lets just wait and see.

 

If Holmes gets things together than they will dominate the 9th region...hopefully thats not a big "if" though.

 

How can in not be a big if?

We shall see what kind of young men they truly are and how they accept their new role when they come off suspension. I applaud the Holmes administration and coaching staff for atleast laying down some sort of law but IMO it wasnt harsh enough. I would have said, see you at next year's tryouts any of you underclassman involved and for you seniors involved let this be a lesson in life. Let the young guys play and get better. This could have been a pivotal turning point in Holmes basketball and I just dont see it getting any better when they come back. Lets just wait and see.

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: