Tonight at 7 PM at Lincoln County, the 12th Region title will be decided. DCA has been at the top of the region all year long with Mercer County assembling what amounts to the second best body of work over the course of the season. This is the matchup the region deserves and one it didn’t see in the regular season. Seniors Hagan Preston and Trevor Ellis power the Titans while DCA has Titus Boyd and Geu Leek Ateny, not to mention Lual Ayiei.

The interior game tonight should be some of the best inside play seen all year in the region. We also know that defensively neither team is prone to give up anything easy.

Should be a good one! Might be a race to 30 lol

A ton of overlap between these two programs.  Mercer Co. and DCA don't play during the season for a reason.  Their proximity is super close (5 miles maybe).  Mercer Co. was extremely impressive last night against Pulaski Co. and DCA continues to win ugly.  Should be a tight ballgame. 

I would like to know if a team has every not "made a sub" in a region tournament.  Mercer Co. could very well do that tonight!  Zero subs through 2 games. 

1 hour ago, LethalPG said:

I would like to know if a team has every not "made a sub" in a region tournament.  Mercer Co. could very well do that tonight!  Zero subs through 2 games. 

And one of those was double overtime. That alone is unreal.

DCA 42-39.

Prediction DCA 47 Mercer Co. 40.  Titus Boyd MVP (with help from Ateny).  My one caveat, is if Ellis can get the bigs in foul trouble. Which is possible, they haven’t seen a post threat with his size and strength.  This is the matchup this region deserves for many factors.  

I forgot about Driver and Danville’s big guy.  Both had success against twin towers, who are extremely long but not physical. 

7 hours ago, se7ens said:

Tonight at 7 PM at Lincoln County, the 12th Region title will be decided. DCA has been at the top of the region all year long with Mercer County assembling what amounts to the second best body of work over the course of the season. This is the matchup the region deserves and one it didn’t see in the regular season. Seniors Hagan Preston and Trevor Ellis power the Titans while DCA has Titus Boyd and Geu Leek Ateny, not to mention Lual Ayiei.

The interior game tonight should be some of the best inside play seen all year in the region. We also know that defensively neither team is prone to give up anything easy.

You are correct in that the 2 best teams are playing in the finals tonight. It doesn’t always work out that way!

I would normally call DCA an 8 point favorite but they’ve almost lost both games so far where I would’ve had them favored by more. Barring meaningful foul trouble by either team, if Mercer can handle the perimeter pressure and have 6-8 turnovers, they have a great chance. They do that and hit 5-6 threes, they likely win the game.

I’ll say DCA by 7.

 

39 minutes ago, QueenoftheSouth said:

You are correct in that the 2 best teams are playing in the finals tonight. It doesn’t always work out that way!

I would normally call DCA an 8 point favorite but they’ve almost lost both games so far where I would’ve had them favored by more. Barring meaningful foul trouble by either team, if Mercer can handle the perimeter pressure and have 6-8 turnovers, they have a great chance. They do that and hit 5-6 threes, they likely win the game.

I’ll say DCA by 7.

 

Mercer County only shoots 28.2% from 3 for the season coming into tonight.

Getting DCA's bigs into foul trouble early might be the key for them.

Not sure what Mercer offensive plan is.  I haven’t seen much.  I’m not sure they set a ballscreen in first half.  Still in it though.  20/13 DCA at half.

Ellis and Preston Goose eggs in first half.  Run a play for either! 

1 minute ago, LethalPG said:

Not sure what Mercer offensive plan is.  I haven’t seen much.  I’m not sure they set a ballscreen in first half.  Still in it though.  20/13 DCA at half.

Yeah, I'm not seeing much of a "zone buster" offense.  They throw the ball to the top of the key and then just throw it back out.  In some ways, this game is a great advertisement for a shot clock (although I'm fully aware and understand the limitations of the state trying to do such a thing statewide).

Before I forget, I want to say thanks to the people at wpbk fm for streaming this whole tournament.  It's been a fun watch over the past week and I appreciate the effort they've put in.  It's one of the better quality streams for games out there.

24/14 3:52 left in 3rd Dca.  Mercer Co. timeout.  Danger zone.  I’m not sure I’ve watched an uglier start to a 3rd Q, but both teams are flying around competing. 

27/16 end of 3rd.  DCA.