Final

Go dawgs!!! Good win. That is not an easy place to play. ANy info???

Holmes trailed the majority of the game, and were down as many as 9.

Was much more high scoring of a game than I thought.

 

Highlands had the ball after Ricardo Johnson scored to tie it and Highlands turned it over while being trapped which set up Holmes for the last shot which was no good with under 2 seconds and having to go the length of the floor.

Then it was all Dogs in OT.

 

Sounds like Highlands just flat wore out and the fresher team was Holmes.

In OT, Holmes depth paid dividends as they ran off about 3 dunks wrapped around some free throws.

 

Good win for the Dawgs.

 

Gutty effort from the Birds.

Getting Simpson back to go along with McGraw will make the Birds a very tough out.

If Highlands hits their free throws in this game they win in regulation. They wore out as Willie played 6 kids most of the night. Lother got a couple minutes but mainly 6 kids. I cant understand why Grote didnt see the floor late in the 4th, he played a whale of a game. I also dont understand why McGraw doesnt get the rock with 7 seconds left in regulation and tie ball game. They were letting him get the inbound pass. Poor decision there by the Birds and it resulted in Hurtt getting trapped in the corner.

 

Holmes is definitely the most athletic team I have seen in a while but they are beatable and should have been beat tonight. Tired legs and questionable decisions costs the Birds but a gutty performance. Kowolonek took over in the 3rd qtr and showed why he is already one of the better players in the 9th Region.

 

McGraw just looked awesome tonight. He took Henderson off the dribble a couple times to the rack and that isnt easy at all. He hit 3's with hands in his face, if he doesnt get votes for player of the year its a shame.

 

Now to Holmes, they are flat out nasty in the halfcourt set when penetrating and slashing to the basket. Avery made some nice dishes for easy buckets and Henderson really turned on the offense in the 2nd half. He hit a couple deep 3's to get the Dogs back in the game late. Hats off to him and Rico Johnson for recognizing he could take his man off the dribble whenever he wanted.

 

I really thought the Birds should have shown a zone package late in the game just a couple times down the floor to cut off the penetration and make the Dogs shoot it from the outside. I know Henderson knocked down a couple 3's but those were in transition and not in the halfcourt set. Mix it up a couple times and maybe you force a turnover or cause them to use a timeout.

 

Overall the Birds showed they are a legitimate contender in the 9th along with CovCath, Boone Co and the defending champs Holmes. When Nic Simpson comes back its going to be scary because the Highlands Sophomores are really stepping up and playing like veterans.

 

ONe final observation, the Highlands Studen Section should be ashamed of themselves. I didnt hear them the whole night in a seesaw game where they could have been a factor. They just sat the whole game and didnt get up unless the Holmes fans started chanting. Unacceptable and someone needs to be a leader in that crowd and wake them up.

 

Congrats to both teams.

Holmes is tough. Good game for the Birds though. Proved they can play with the Dawgs. Hit some FTs and it Highlands win. I agree with q about the students. Lots in attendance, but non existent.

Short and sweet MC I'm surprised. You were blowing a lot of hot air at the game buddy. It was a great game to watch and the dunk a thon in OT was interesting.

Yea, poor student section. Sorry to say that. I never like beating down my alma mater but when they stood up in the 4th I thought we they were going to get it started. I was wrong.

If Highlands hits their free throws in this game they win in regulation. They wore out as Willie played 6 kids most of the night. Lother got a couple minutes but mainly 6 kids. I cant understand why Grote didnt see the floor late in the 4th, he played a whale of a game. I also dont understand why McGraw doesnt get the rock with 7 seconds left in regulation and tie ball game. They were letting him get the inbound pass. Poor decision there by the Birds and it resulted in Hurtt getting trapped in the corner.

 

Holmes is definitely the most athletic team I have seen in a while but they are beatable and should have been beat tonight. Tired legs and questionable decisions costs the Birds but a gutty performance. Kowolonek took over in the 3rd qtr and showed why he is already one of the better players in the 9th Region.

 

McGraw just looked awesome tonight. He took Henderson off the dribble a couple times to the rack and that isnt easy at all. He hit 3's with hands in his face, if he doesnt get votes for player of the year its a shame.

 

Now to Holmes, they are flat out nasty in the halfcourt set when penetrating and slashing to the basket. Avery made some nice dishes for easy buckets and Henderson really turned on the offense in the 2nd half. He hit a couple deep 3's to get the Dogs back in the game late. Hats off to him and Rico Johnson for recognizing he could take his man off the dribble whenever he wanted.

 

I really thought the Birds should have shown a zone package late in the game just a couple times down the floor to cut off the penetration and make the Dogs shoot it from the outside. I know Henderson knocked down a couple 3's but those were in transition and not in the halfcourt set. Mix it up a couple times and maybe you force a turnover or cause them to use a timeout.

 

Overall the Birds showed they are a legitimate contender in the 9th along with CovCath, Boone Co and the defending champs Holmes. When Nic Simpson comes back its going to be scary because the Highlands Sophomores are really stepping up and playing like veterans.

 

ONe final observation, the Highlands Studen Section should be ashamed of themselves. I didnt hear them the whole night in a seesaw game where they could have been a factor. They just sat the whole game and didnt get up unless the Holmes fans started chanting. Unacceptable and someone needs to be a leader in that crowd and wake them up.

 

Congrats to both teams.

 

Too long to read, but I read it anyway.

 

This is a good game that all those sophomores needed come March. They know they can play with them.

 

McGraw is a stud. He is one dude that Arrez Henderson cannot shutdown as McGraw was scoring whenever he wanted to.

 

Also Highlands was 0 for 5 on there free throws in the forth quarter until #31 stepped up to the line to nail two.

I don't know if anyone noticed ,that was at the game, but Sticky was hanging with a Celeb.

 

Hey Sticky, he wasn't fooling anyone if he thought noone noticed him. He needs a better disguise. :bunny:

Too long to read, but I read it anyway.

 

This is a good game that all those sophomores needed come March. They know they can play with them.

 

McGraw is a stud. He is one dude that Arrez Henderson cannot shutdown as McGraw was scoring whenever he wanted to.

 

Atleast I used paragraphs. I knew the English degree would come in handy at some point. :jump:

 

Good points I agree with all. McGraw can take Henderson to the rack when he wants to. Greg was simply tired at the end of the game when he missed that bust out layup in OT that would have tied it. After that the onslought of dunks started and the Birds caved.

 

Great effort though.

I don't know if anyone noticed ,that was at the game, but Sticky was hanging with a Celeb.

 

Hey Sticky, he wasn't fooling anyone if he thought noone noticed him. He needs a better disguise. :bunny:

 

I saw CC in the stands. Was J-Lo in the house? Sticky must have been security for keeping the fans away. :lol:

Wow, what a night. You know its a big time game when you see Raiderbird, Oldbird, Sticky, the voice of CovCath Sports, a prominent member of the 81 state championship team, 2 guys that played in the Super Bowl, the hottest young football coach in NKY,NKU players and many of the local high school coaches. Big time!

I stand corrected for thinking Holmes would blow Highlands away and McGraw is a heck of a player, I am man enough to say this. We will see Highlands in the regions.

Now I am going to give my opinion on the game. Tired legs means the Dawgs had stamina and the defense did not let up , even in OT. So if the Birds lost the game because of tired legs,then the Dawgs won with stamina. I can also say that McGraw did beat Arrez a couple times but overall Arrez did a good job. In the first half when Arrez was in foul trouble, McGraw cleaned house. In closing I am very impressed by Holmes not giving up like I have seen sometimes in the past. A great win for the Bulldogs.

Wow. What a game. This was definetly the Arrez Henderson and Greg Mcgraw show tonight. Greg got the majority of his points when Arrez was out with early foul trouble, but he also scored when he was in. I'm going to say this now, Greg McGraw is hands down the best shooter in the region and possibly best player. (Between him and Arrez)

 

Now to the analysis of each team:

 

Holmes- Many missed lay ups killed the Dawgs. They would go on a run and cut the lead to one or 2 then miss wide open lay ups . Braeon Avery played probably the worst game of his career. He missed 4 straight lay ups which would have had Holmes leading going in to half time and also missed some key free throws.

Arrez Henderson took over in the 2nd half when Highlands got up by 10. A dunk and 3 3's got the Dawgs back in the game. I still think it was an intentional foul when he went up for his 3rd dunk of the night and got pushed from behind, but oh well I guess.

Rico Johnson played extremely well. He had many slashing lay ups and a very nice dunk at the end of the game in OT. This kid and his brother Jeremiah are both going to be players by the time they're seniors.

Clark played very well down low for the Dawgs, but why did Henley have him sitting late in the game?

Pittman played well when he was in. That kid can get up as well which he proved when he went over Mcgraw for that 3 point play.

 

Highlands

McGraw was an absolute man out there tonight. He didn't struggle when Arrez was on him, but he didn't score as often either. Either way though this kid played his heart out tonight. He is the complete package. He can take you to the whole or drain a 3 in your eye.

Kowolonek- Not sure he is up to par with Rico Johnson but the kid is definetly a player and will be a player for years to come. He doesn't play scared and was smart with the ball tonight, scoring big baskets for Highlands down the stretch.

George Grote- He probably impressed me the most outside of Kowolonek and Mcgraw. I don;t see why he wasnt out on the floor more. He was very physical and made some key buckets for the Birds.

Eaton had an alright game, but was nothing spectaclar.

HUrtt, well lets just say the kid had more fouls than points.

 

Overall

Holmes was obviously the better team team tonight. Some can argue had Highlands made free throw and this or that, but the bottom line is Holmes played just as sloppy in the first half missing many lay ups and opportunities, but as all good teams do, they found a way to come back and get the W.

In the pedictions thread, I said Holmes was going to put a run on Highlands, and whether or not they won would depend if they could conuter. Well, they couldn't. When Holmes got down 51-41 with 5 minutes to play, they outscored the Birds 25-15, than 15-5 in OT. All together a 40-20 run to close out the game. While Highlands is a VERY VERY good team, Holmes still proved why they are #1.

McGraw is REALLY good. I had not seen him since the 8th grade. I was really surprised at how well he took Arrez off the dribble. I am going to be curious to see what his options are for college. I selfishly hope he takes a try at NKU even if they don't offer a scholarship right away due to his back.

 

I didn't even know HHS had a student section there until I looked up late in the game and saw them. THe Holmes parents were the only "student section" at the game tonite. Kudos to them.

 

Solid SOPH class at Highlands. Heck, solid SOPH class at Holmes.

 

Great time.