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.

 

No excuse for the loss. Holmes beat the Birds and had more depth. I thought the Dawgs played much more disciplined than in year's past. Rico took a few bad shots but made up for it late in the game when he took the ball to the rack. Avery made more right than wrong decisions. They just played very smart basketball and all of them can elevate. I mean ELEVATE.

BTW, we saw tonight that Holmes winning the 9th is far from a definite. CCH and now Highlands have had them down 10 late in the game but simply couldn't finish. You have to give Holmes much credit for that but they simply can't count on coming back from those deficits every time. The 9th will be fun.

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.

 

Your summary says it all. Holmes makes runs and they made their run. I just didnt expect it to be a 25-15 run. I thought the 10 pt lead was enough to sustain the win.

 

But come on, who agrees McGraw should have had the rock with 7 ticks left, Henderson guarding him with 4 fouls?

No excuse for the loss. Holmes beat the Birds and had more depth. I thought the Dawgs played much more disciplined than in year's past. Rico took a few bad shots but made up for it late in the game when he took the ball to the rack. Avery made more right than wrong decisions. They just played very smart basketball and all of them can elevate. I mean ELEVATE.

 

Can they (Holmes) hop or what, my son and I and our friend Marcus couldn't believe how strong Highlands players were. We were joking, Varsity Blues.

Holmes was not as impressive as I've read here on BGP. No post player of any note. #11 is the straw stirring their drink. He handles, breaks down the D, dishes and can finish if need be. The others crash with such great intensity an d then mug the rebounder. Willie may want to think about using players on his bench to buy extra 30-45 seconds at the end of the quarters for his starters as they indeed did wear out after a valiant effort. They were one out of bounds play away from taking down the #4 team in the state! Not bad at all!! Grote going out (injury?) was the difference. The young man played an exceptional ball game! A. Henderson is the best defender that I've seen in quite awhile!

 

Noticed legendary coaches Coach Ken Shields and Mike Murphy in attendance along with alot of NKU players & coaches hanging on the cheerleader wall (taking notes!). HOF referee has had better nights, also!

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.

 

...depth is the word I believe should be used.

Chappie made a few questionable calls but later made one up which was Henderson's 4th foul. Definitely will take that makeup everytime. Overall not a bad job by both he and Freppon. In fact I will say they had a good game in a very heated environment.

Your summary says it all. Holmes makes runs and they made their run. I just didnt expect it to be a 25-15 run. I thought the 10 pt lead was enough to sustain the win.

 

But come on, who agrees McGraw should have had the rock with 7 ticks left, Henderson guarding him with 4 fouls?

 

When Holmes got down 10 in the 4th quarter I told the person next to me (a Highland fan) it wasn't over yet, and man was it not. One thing that is going to hurt Highlands down the stretch is their lack of depth. Their starting 5 is good as any in the 9th region though.

 

But I agree. When Highlands got the ball back with 9 second left, I expected Greg to come down and make a game winning shot. I would have never expected Hurtt to get the ball, and he got trapped in the corner.

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!

 

 

Hey, I was there.:irked::lol:

Chappie made a few questionable calls but later made one up which was Henderson's 4th foul. Definitely will take that makeup everytime. Overall not a bad job by both he and Freppon. In fact I will say they had a good game in a very heated environment.

 

The make up call was the most obvious and cheapest make up call I have ever seen. You don't do a make up call on a player like Henderson.

...depth is the word I believe should be used.

 

Key word.

The make up call was the most obvious and cheapest make up call I have ever seen. You don't do a make up call on a player like Henderson.

 

Reminded me of the Subway commercial with the football ref.:lol:

The make up call was the most obvious and cheapest make up call I have ever seen. You don't do a make up call on a player like Henderson.

 

Absolutely. That was the most bs call I've ever seen. And to do it right after the call you just made wasn't obvious or anything.

Chappie made a few questionable calls but later made one up which was Henderson's 4th foul. Definitely will take that makeup everytime. Overall not a bad job by both he and Freppon. In fact I will say they had a good game in a very heated environment.

 

Anyone that THINKS they might want to ref would pause after watching tonight's game. Those types of games are tough to ref.

Hey, I was there.:irked::lol:

 

Hey, I only mentioned the people I actually saw. I wasn't allowed to sit in the core Highlands section so I didn't get to see you and your man.