30 minutes ago, Mr. Sixer said:

Jump shots vs going to the basket. 

Cov Cath won "points in the paint" 40-38. Clear size advantage for Cooper. A lot of nice moves by both teams inside.

Johnson is a load going downhill. Great game by Knuckles (hope his ankle isn't serious), and I like the way Rodriguez plays too.

No rest for the weary. CCH: Friday at Trinity and Saturday vs. ranked Centerville (OH) at TMU.

9 hours ago, Runcible Owl said:

Cov Cath won "points in the paint" 40-38. Clear size advantage for Cooper. A lot of nice moves by both teams inside.

Johnson is a load going downhill. Great game by Knuckles (hope his ankle isn't serious), and I like the way Rodriguez plays too.

No rest for the weary. CCH: Friday at Trinity and Saturday vs. ranked Centerville (OH) at TMU.

Yes, "jump shots" that's funny..., both teams played aggressive going at the basket and both teams played aggressive man defense all night. I would estimate 16 of Harney's 29 were within 2 feet of the basket the rest were 2 three's and free throws. McGillis scored 16 and didn't score a point outside 10 feet from the basket. I suppose Cooper is simply that much better at playing man without fouling...

I would suggest that Isaac Brown was the difference in the game for Cooper on the offensive end as a compliment to Johnson.  

41 minutes ago, Legacy26 said:

Yes, "jump shots" that's funny..., both teams played aggressive going at the basket and both teams played aggressive man defense all night. I would estimate 16 of Harney's 29 were within 2 feet of the basket the rest were 2 three's and free throws. McGillis scored 16 and didn't score a point outside 10 feet from the basket. I suppose Cooper is simply that much better at playing man without fouling...

I would suggest that Isaac Brown was the difference in the game for Cooper on the offensive end as a compliment to Johnson.  

Well said. The first half was combined with excellent jump shots “in the paint” or driving past Cooper defenders “in the paint”. The Cooper was able to settle and play better defense “without” fouling. 
In all 4 qtrs, CCH was the first to reach 5 fouls with meant Cooper went to the line several times. In the 4th qtr, they hit the 5 foul mark with just under 4 mins to go so every foul from then on resulted in FTs. 

Cooper helped out with missed FTs, turnovers and inexplicable fouling at the end of the game to give CCH a chance stay in it. They will need to get better in those areas. Roman Combs played well and continues to be a solid BIG inside and his confidence continues to grow offensive  

As I said previously, these are the two best teams in the region and won’t be surprised if these are the two standing on the floor of the regional final. Both these teams style of play warrants it. 

The 9th Region deserves these teams to draw opposite of each other. Still doesn't mean both or either will make it. Both are certainly capable of losing to Lloyd, Newport, Beechwood, Dixie, Highlands and maybe one or two more. But it would at least set the table that this game COULD be the title contest.

Photo Credits to Chris Granger and he has many more available. 

Photo credit to Dale Dawn.

Mad I missed this one in person. These type games are hard to come by.

16 hours ago, Honey Badger said:

Mad I missed this one in person. These type games are hard to come by.

I had the opportunity to watch this one online. The disparity in foul calls was huge in this one for Cooper and when you can stop and pause the video you can easily see the poor reffing of the game. At the end of the day, you can't blame the refs for the loss as Cov Cath had plenty of opportunities to pull this one out. What was clear to me was watching Cov Cath's Big 3 really struggle. Bradshaw couldn't buy an open bucket, and McGillis and Harney were being aggressive but didn't shoot very well from the field. Between the 3 of them, they were 21 for 54. It appeared Harney was given 5 or more points that Stava hit, and he ended up with 22 points and not 29 as they have posted. Sorry Stava. 

What is more concerning for me and Cov Cath is their lack of running an offense that helps their Big 3. It was high ball screens and one on one over and over. Any coach watching Cov Cath, can develop a game plan to make it tough for Cov Cath to win. In OT Harney had several pull up 3's in transition without zero passes, and McGillis had a couple that he typically hits, but still nothing was being ran on Offense to put them in a position to win. They had 5 players who scored, and zero points from their bench. Huge problem. I enjoy watching the Colonels run and gun but this will not get them deep in the Regionals IMO. I'm hoping Thelen figures this out and gets these boys more disciplined, because as of late it's looking like a free for all. One guard shoots, the next guard goes down and shoots, and repeat. 

Cov Cath is the better team, although they didn't shoot the ball well and are struggling as a "team" right now. Hopefully they figure it out. 

14 minutes ago, Shotwhisperer75 said:

I had the opportunity to watch this one online. The disparity in foul calls was huge in this one for Cooper and when you can stop and pause the video you can easily see the poor reffing of the game. At the end of the day, you can't blame the refs for the loss as Cov Cath had plenty of opportunities to pull this one out. What was clear to me was watching Cov Cath's Big 3 really struggle. Bradshaw couldn't buy an open bucket, and McGillis and Harney were being aggressive but didn't shoot very well from the field. Between the 3 of them, they were 21 for 54. It appeared Harney was given 5 or more points that Stava hit, and he ended up with 22 points and not 29 as they have posted. Sorry Stava. 

What is more concerning for me and Cov Cath is their lack of running an offense that helps their Big 3. It was high ball screens and one on one over and over. Any coach watching Cov Cath, can develop a game plan to make it tough for Cov Cath to win. In OT Harney had several pull up 3's in transition without zero passes, and McGillis had a couple that he typically hits, but still nothing was being ran on Offense to put them in a position to win. They had 5 players who scored, and zero points from their bench. Huge problem. I enjoy watching the Colonels run and gun but this will not get them deep in the Regionals IMO. I'm hoping Thelen figures this out and gets these boys more disciplined, because as of late it's looking like a free for all. One guard shoots, the next guard goes down and shoots, and repeat. 

Cov Cath is the better team, although they didn't shoot the ball well and are struggling as a "team" right now. Hopefully they figure it out. 

When you're down 6 points with 31.8 seconds in the game, what offense are you wanting to run ? Same as Harney shooting the second three being down 4 points with 7.4 seconds left ?

6 hours ago, Shotwhisperer75 said:

I had the opportunity to watch this one online. The disparity in foul calls was huge in this one for Cooper and when you can stop and pause the video you can easily see the poor reffing of the game. At the end of the day, you can't blame the refs for the loss as Cov Cath had plenty of opportunities to pull this one out. What was clear to me was watching Cov Cath's Big 3 really struggle. Bradshaw couldn't buy an open bucket, and McGillis and Harney were being aggressive but didn't shoot very well from the field. Between the 3 of them, they were 21 for 54. It appeared Harney was given 5 or more points that Stava hit, and he ended up with 22 points and not 29 as they have posted. Sorry Stava. 

What is more concerning for me and Cov Cath is their lack of running an offense that helps their Big 3. It was high ball screens and one on one over and over. Any coach watching Cov Cath, can develop a game plan to make it tough for Cov Cath to win. In OT Harney had several pull up 3's in transition without zero passes, and McGillis had a couple that he typically hits, but still nothing was being ran on Offense to put them in a position to win. They had 5 players who scored, and zero points from their bench. Huge problem. I enjoy watching the Colonels run and gun but this will not get them deep in the Regionals IMO. I'm hoping Thelen figures this out and gets these boys more disciplined, because as of late it's looking like a free for all. One guard shoots, the next guard goes down and shoots, and repeat. 

Cov Cath is the better team, although they didn't shoot the ball well and are struggling as a "team" right now. Hopefully they figure it out. 

Got to say, I am searching for a trace of your argument that CovCath has the better team.  I believe that conclusion is true, but can’t find anything in your comments to help me be optimistic.

Bottom line is Cooper played lockdown team defense to get them back into game as they were clearly outplayed in the 1st qtr. CCH had a 14 point lead at one point. That has little to do with offense and more about defense, one team upping theirs and the other letting their guard down. Getting leads is hard against the upper echelon of the 9th, teams have to take advantage of that and put opponents away. 

On 1/24/2025 at 11:16 AM, Shotwhisperer75 said:

I had the opportunity to watch this one online. The disparity in foul calls was huge in this one for Cooper and when you can stop and pause the video you can easily see the poor reffing of the game. At the end of the day, you can't blame the refs for the loss as Cov Cath had plenty of opportunities to pull this one out. What was clear to me was watching Cov Cath's Big 3 really struggle. Bradshaw couldn't buy an open bucket, and McGillis and Harney were being aggressive but didn't shoot very well from the field. Between the 3 of them, they were 21 for 54. It appeared Harney was given 5 or more points that Stava hit, and he ended up with 22 points and not 29 as they have posted. Sorry Stava. 

What is more concerning for me and Cov Cath is their lack of running an offense that helps their Big 3. It was high ball screens and one on one over and over. Any coach watching Cov Cath, can develop a game plan to make it tough for Cov Cath to win. In OT Harney had several pull up 3's in transition without zero passes, and McGillis had a couple that he typically hits, but still nothing was being ran on Offense to put them in a position to win. They had 5 players who scored, and zero points from their bench. Huge problem. I enjoy watching the Colonels run and gun but this will not get them deep in the Regionals IMO. I'm hoping Thelen figures this out and gets these boys more disciplined, because as of late it's looking like a free for all. One guard shoots, the next guard goes down and shoots, and repeat. 

Cov Cath is the better team, although they didn't shoot the ball well and are struggling as a "team" right now. Hopefully they figure it out. 

? 3 top officials on the game.

”When you stop and pause the video” ? It’s always the officials. You could never get on the floor and do what they do! Also come regional games everybody wants the 9th officials versus whoever KHSAA sends in the swap.