At this level, "D" wins games, and thankfully NDA plays a great "D". Highlands was as hot as a cup of coffee from White Castle, and NDA was as cold as inside the Dusing Ice House in Erlanger. NDA was down at the end of both the 1st and 2nd quarters, but in all honestly I wasn't worried at all, as I knew that NDA couldn't play as bad on the "O" as they did in the first half, and thankfully they didn't.

 

The biggest stat to me, was that after the first quarter Highlands only scored 23 more total points in the game. Think about that statement, Highlands scored 16 points in the first quarter and then only scored 23 more points in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters..... You call that "D"

 

BTW: while I guess having the games on live TV makes it nice for the non high school basketball fans, but the long.......long......long............TV timeouts were totally unfair to both teams since in none of the other games are these players used to such timeouts. It indeed was a joke, when the bald headed referee wanted to wipe out a coach called TO for Highlands and instead wanted to make it instead a TV timeout... Sorry Ref, you can't give a TV timeout except on a dead ball and this wasn't a dead ball TO. Really the Ninth Region Refs handled the TV timeouts really poorly.....

 

Again Drees, Dickman, and Tierny stepped up when they needed to.....

Four words summed up this game.. Bigger, Faster, Stronger, Better. HHS had no answer down low in the second half against Drees and Dickman. Dickman powered herself to 3 offensive rebounds on foulshots that resulted in 6 points. Second half ND got the transition game going and got several baskets off tournovers and just beating the birds down the court. For 2 quarters and 7 minutes the Birds were in this ball game. Down 4 with a minute left in the third and ND outscores them by 3 to take a 7 point lead which was huge. I felt if Highlands could keep in under 4 they had a slim shot of pulling off the upset. Tiereny had a great second half, struggled from the foul line-I lost several in the lights with that high, I mean high arching shot. Overall the better team won tonight. Positive for HHS is that they return 37 out of the 39 points scored tonight and got a taste of what it's like to play in a regional semifinal game. Work hard this summer girls and you will be a team to reckon with next year. Good luck ND tomorrow night.

 

Really the Ninth Region Refs handled the TV timeouts really poorly.....

 

.....

 

Isn't that to be somewhat expected since its the only time they have to deal with them?

Isn't that to be somewhat expected since its the only time they have to deal with them?

 

cshs81 the men in stripes are paid employees of the KHSAA and the Ninth Region. If the Ninth Region is going to be selling their soul to televise these tournament games, then their (meaning the Ninth Region/KHSAA) Referees need to understand what they are doing. Everybody from the coaches, to the people at the score table seemed to be confused about just how long these TV timeouts were to last.....and it indeed had players from both teams standing around on the court, waiting for the TV guy to say it was OK to play....

 

Teams that only play a few players, or with little or no bench gain a huge advantage by having these TV timeouts giving their players a much needed blow near the end of each quarter of almost two minutes or more.......Even the halftime was more than two minutes longer than normal for a high school game......

 

Sorry but it just isn't high school basketball with this happening, and I will make a bet with you, that when the Ninth moves to the Bank of Kentucky Arena at NKU with close to ten thousands seats, you won't see Insight Cable doing the games anymore.

 

BTW, don't ever remember having to clear the gym for a girls Ninth Region Basketball game, and there was no sign at the door that I saw, telling you that, as you entered the Conner gym.....Any one else?

Didn't see a sign either.. Also never saw an entire student body allowed on the floor at halftime either. Would they ever let that happen at the Boy's Regional?? Very poor game management IMO.

The second half was totally dominated by the 2 big girls from NDA they were unstoppable... I agree the TV timeouts were horrible it ruined the rhythm of both teams, high school basketball does not need this when the players and officials are not use to it... In response to clearing the gym and having to pay again to get back in was absolutly horrible... not to mention the fact that it took them an hour between games

TV timeout confusion isn't reservsed for 9th region officials.

 

Go to the Football Finals and the dude in the red jacket at the 20 yard line was the most hated guy in the 17 degree weather as teams stood around not knowing how much longer he was going to hold the game up.

 

Half the time one or two of the officials would have to remind the others that they couldn't resume yet.

Didn't see a sign either.. Also never saw an entire student body allowed on the floor at halftime either. Would they ever let that happen at the Boy's Regional?? Very poor game management IMO.

 

Naw, they let the HHS cheerleaders on the floor all night long during TO's, so the NDA cheerleaders did their rountine on the floor during halftime....:lol:

That's how you explain it..

Didn't see a sign either.. Also never saw an entire student body allowed on the floor at halftime either. Would they ever let that happen at the Boy's Regional?? Very poor game management IMO.

 

If it was during halftime and not in the way of any players, what was the problem?

Its the regional tournament and they do not normally let the entire student body on the court. This would have never been accepted in a boys regional. They did a very poor job running this years 9th region tourny. Hope that they do a better job tomorrow night and have a great turnout for the title game

Let's all try to remember this is for the kids. I saw no harm in letting the girls on the floor at half time to do their little cheer. Even the HHS fans applauded. This in no way reflected on how the tourney is being ran. How many times to you go to a game and see the A.D. sweeping the floor, never, only Tom Stellman. He is a great guy and runs a great tourney when held at Conner. Some of us grumpy old men need to stay home and be miserable so they can't come on here complaining about high school kids having fun and supporting their team. Who cares what they would or wouldn't do at the boys tournament. Why, as a society, do we always look at things as men/women or black/white issue? This is a game, played for fun and nothing else.

Well what do you have to say for paying $12 for 2 games. When it has always been $5 to see both region semis.

Well what do you have to say for paying $12 for 2 games. When it has always been $5 to see both region semis.

 

You know it wasn't the additional money or even clearing the gym for the game that I was concerned with, it was not knowing, or being told ahead of time about it. It seems if memory servers me correctly, that always at the boys games, there were announcements made at the first round games reminding fans that they would be clearing the gym between games in the semifinals, and there were always signs at the door telling you of this prior to entering the doors. None of this happen at the girls games.

 

I am so very glad and proud of the NDA students who showed up in such great numbers, and seemed to have a great time cheering on their team, even when it looked bleak in the first half. Way to go Pandas..... Get out the girls for Saturdays game also and be proud and loud......and have some fun......

Its the regional tournament and they do not normally let the entire student body on the court. This would have never been accepted in a boys regional. They did a very poor job running this years 9th region tourny. Hope that they do a better job tomorrow night and have a great turnout for the title game

 

Again, I'll ask: What was the harm? Did they somehow interrupt play? Did they interrupt halftime warmups? Did they interfere with HHS cheerleaders?