Highlands 72 Boone Co. 65

[DMZ76]

I heard last night at Highlands that Nic is having surgery today, and that he is out for the season.

 

I heard surgery was Tuesday and he's out 4-6 weeks!

[stinkyboy II]

They were down by as much as 11 points, played terrible, and still won by 9 points over a very good CovCath team.

 

Plus, no one from the 9th has beaten them yet. This makes them the clear cut favorite in the 9th.

 

You forgot to mention that the 9 point margin of victory was after an overtime period. I think that means they were tied at the end of regulation. A clear cut favorite doesn't need overtime to get the job done. I agree they are 1 of the favorites to win the 9th, but not clear cut by any means.

[ALLSTAR MVP]

My observations:

 

I was impressed with McGraw. He is the best I've seen in the 9th so far this year (I haven't seen Henderson play a whole game yet). I didn't see any ill effects from McGraw's back. He looked strong, quick, and jumped well. It is apparent that Highlands is heavily dependent on McGraw's scoring now. Without him and his prolific scoring, Highlands won't win the big ones as long as Simpson is out. For that reason, Boone probably should have tried double teaming McGraw.

 

I was also impressed with Kowolonek's rebounding and steady ball handling. Most of his points were down low. Kowolonek is a talented soph, and his coach is giving him ample opportunity to stay in the flow of the game and be a big contributor.

 

I thought that Boone was very outhustled on the boards and outplayed. Highlands' had a good game plan that Boone did not adjust well to.

 

I'm not sure why Boone called a timeout after grabbing a 5 point lead and the momentum early in the 3rd quarter. Highlands immediately went on a run after this and kept the lead for the rest of the game.

 

Highlands play was extremely physical, and Boone did not adjust well to how the refs were letting the players play. Lots of hand checking was ignored and over the back calls were missed.

 

Boone's big man Earls seemed to have a very quiet game and he sat most of the 4th quarter.

 

Boone had too many turnovers. The starting guards must have had 10+ turnovers trying to force the ball inside in the half-court set, and several other Boone players also had turnovers.

 

Boone's McFarland and Popp also struggled some. I'm guessing they are still dealing with their injuries.

 

Boone needs to vary their full-court press more.

 

Boone did not set screens for their shooters like Highlands did. There was too much one-on-one offense by Boone. Highlands was constantly setting screens for McGraw at the top of the key. Boone needs to set more screens in their offensive set and in in-bounds plays.

 

Boone did not hit free throws well, and Highlands did.

 

As poorly as Boone played, it was anyone's ballgame late in the fourth quarter, at 62-61, and they had a chance to tie on Krohman's three-point attempt with 36 seconds. I thought he forced/hurried the shot. They still had time to go for two. Boone needs to chalk this up as a learning experience and move on. As talented as their young players are, the coach will need to be able to coach them up well, call good plays, and help them succeed in tough games.

 

Good luck to both teams the rest of the season.

 

Sounds like a pretty fair synopsis of the game....... I would just add that Boone continues to be hailed with a "young" team but HHS not only got superior play from Kowolonek & Watson.....it should be noted that Grote, Grubbs, and Lother (all soph.) were the only subs and all gave quality minutes. Not only did all the younger players in this game from both teams gain valuable experience, it is obvious that this little rivalry that started in AAU will be fun to watch in coming years.

 

Regarding the outcome of this game, the youngsters were the second story, the difference was the play of McGraw (clearly the best player on the floor when he plays, so far this season) and the leadership of the seniors from HHS. regardless of when Simpson or McGraw is missing, the leadership from seniors is most evident......that's what will allow this team to compete for a Regional championship this year.

[Qryche11]

Sounds like a pretty fair synopsis of the game....... I would just add that Boone continues to be hailed with a "young" team but HHS not only got superior play from Kowolonek & Watson.....it should be noted that Grote, Grubbs, and Lother (all soph.) were the only subs and all gave quality minutes. Not only did all the younger players in this game from both teams gain valuable experience, it is obvious that this little rivalry that started in AAU will be fun to watch in coming years.

 

Regarding the outcome of this game, the youngsters were the second story, the difference was the play of McGraw (clearly the best player on the floor when he plays, so far this season) and the leadership of the seniors from HHS. regardless of when Simpson or McGraw is missing, the leadership from seniors is most evident......that's what will allow this team to compete for a Regional championship this year.

 

:thumb:

[HSBallFan78]

Good win. I thought Boone was on a strong roll.

[CCH24]

Im not gonna lie McGraw is nasty but without Simpson i dont know how far Highlands can go. But at least they still have hope because if Simpson would have gotten hurt last year they wouldnt have hit double digits.

[DMZ76]

Sounds like a pretty fair synopsis of the game....... I would just add that Boone continues to be hailed with a "young" team but HHS not only got superior play from Kowolonek & Watson.....it should be noted that Grote, Grubbs, and Lother (all soph.) were the only subs and all gave quality minutes. Not only did all the younger players in this game from both teams gain valuable experience, it is obvious that this little rivalry that started in AAU will be fun to watch in coming years.

 

Regarding the outcome of this game, the youngsters were the second story, the difference was the play of McGraw (clearly the best player on the floor when he plays, so far this season) and the leadership of the seniors from HHS. regardless of when Simpson or McGraw is missing, the leadership from seniors is most evident......that's what will allow this team to compete for a Regional championship this year.

 

 

Agreed!...the Eaton boy, (SR.) does not get near enough credit. He does all the "dirty, little jobs" and takes control out on the floor for the Sophs.!

[PB40NC]

The refs allowed this game to be controlled by a physical type team and not a finess team. I really hate to see what could be an an excellent game be destroyed by clueless refs. These two were by far the worse that I have seen all year. The call on Popp which then followed with a technical foul was questionable at that point in a game, not to mention many other calls. At least they were bad on both sides of the ball. Rebounding played a big difference in this game. But it's hard to get a rebound when you have someone up over your back. Boone will bounce back from this I'm sure. Just as the teams watch game film to learn, so should these refs. I usually hold my tongue, but this warranted chat.

[wildcatfan]

The refs allowed this game to be controlled by a physical type team and not a finess team. I really hate to see what could be an an excellent game be destroyed by clueless refs. These two were by far the worse that I have seen all year. The call on Popp which then followed with a technical foul was questionable at that point in a game, not to mention many other calls. At least they were bad on both sides of the ball. Rebounding played a big difference in this game. But it's hard to get a rebound when you have someone up over your back. Boone will bounce back from this I'm sure. Just as the teams watch game film to learn, so should these refs. I usually hold my tongue, but this warranted chat.

 

I agree about the physical play. The refs allowed Highlands to play physical throughout and then call Popp under two minutes for a touch foul after stealing the ball from McGraw at half court. I won't speak for the Highlands fans, but most BC fans definitely thought it was a clean steal.

 

To make matters worse, they teed Popp up for flipping the ball a little above his head in frustration after not getting the steal. In that situation, in a 1-point game under two minutes between two good teams, I think the ref needs to let that one slide. It was not a blatant technical by any means. You could tell Popp was just frustrated because he was playing hard and trying to help bring his team back when the foul was called. He may have done it more out of frustration with himself than disagreement with the call. That call was inconsistent with the hand checking and contact they were allowing Highlands to do most of the game. That foul and technical gave Highlands 4 free throws, of which McGraw made 3, and possession of the ball.

 

In my experience, in tight games, anytime an official calls a technical against a coach or player in the last minute or two, it almost always decides the outcome of a close game. I don't like to see referees decide the outcome. They need to be a little more forgiving or have thicker skins and leave their egos at the door, especially in a tightly contested game.

 

In addition, why was McGraw not teed up when he barked at the officials afterward while disagreeing a call? What he did didn't seem any less of technical than what Popp did.

 

I agree that Boone is more of a finesse team. They don't typically play defense with their hands on the other team. While seeing the amount of contact in this game it reminded me of a football game at times.

 

That being said, teams have to adjust to the way the refs are calling the game. HOWEVER, refs need to be consistent and allow each team to play the same way throughout, including in a crucial, game deciding situation at the end of a game. It's not the end of the world since this game really had little meaning. Boone just needs to chalk it up as a learning experience for next time.