I just have to wonder about Holmes sometimes, particularly the coaching. Why were they not really coming at them with full court pressure early in the game? They were very stagnant on offense tonight. I dont know if they were tired, but they didnt look the same. What happened to being 10 or 11 deep? I dont get some of the substitution patterns of the coach.

 

Mason played well and was the best team tonight and deserved to win. Congrats to them.

 

Lets face it, Holmes had the tougher road to the final. They took care of Bardstown easily but Paintsville and Lex Cath were tough outs. Let me re-phrse that,they were extremely tough outs. Henderson having to gaurd Slone and Sanford had to wear him out.

 

Congrats to Mason Co on their big victory though, they deserved the win last night.

Having watched Holmes play several times this year, I think that they looked tired(energy wise) from the start of the game.

 

Congratulations Mason County!!!

 

Congratulations Holmes!!!

I just have to wonder about Holmes sometimes, particularly the coaching. Why were they not really coming at them with full court pressure early in the game? They were very stagnant on offense tonight. I dont know if they were tired, but they didnt look the same. What happened to being 10 or 11 deep? I dont get some of the substitution patterns of the coach.

 

Mason played well and was the best team tonight and deserved to win. Congrats to them.

 

I agree they looked drained energy wise from the beginning.

 

Holmes is more of a half court team, not a pressing team.

Mason is a really good shooting team congrats to them, it's just to bad Holmes couldn't get anything to fall. I really feel for the dogs. Great year guys everyone in NKY is very proud of you.

I didn't like the fact he changed the starting lineup. Unless something was wrong with 41. But I really don't think it mattered. Mason was the better team last night. Congrats to them.

 

The reason for the change in the starting lineup was because Pittman matched up better against MC than Clark did. Clark would have probably been a step to slow against King which is why Pittman got the start.

I agree they looked drained energy wise from the beginning.

 

Holmes is more of a half court team, not a pressing team.

 

Holmes is a pressing team. They have won probably 90% of their games this year from getting points off turnovers with their press.

 

Mason Co was just really good at handling the press. The few times they pressed Mason Co got a 2 on 1 lay up at the other end.

 

Holmes was just drained in this one. Mason Co had a much easier road to the finals than Holmes. Holmes had to knock off 3 of the state's top 5 teams (Paintsville, Lexcath, Mason Co) to win a state championship. I don't think there's any team in the state who could accomplish that and teams out of state would have just as tough a time at beating Lexcath and Mason Co in the same day.

 

Darius Miller was the X factor. Unless you have a 6'6 kid who can match up with him down low, he is going to take over a game. He was the difference. Holmes matched up well with everyone except Miller. As bad as they were playing, they hung around but once Miller took over, that was all she wrote.

Highlights from the game can be seen here:

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Dato=20080323&Kategori=VIDEO02&Lopenr=80323001&Ref=AR

I know everyone talking about the Dawgs being worn, out I'm sure they were, they played one heck of a game against Lex. Cath. I remember in 2004, when Mason Co. played a triple overtime game against Trinity in the Quarterfinals and then played a single overtime game against Scott Co. in the semi-finals, then lost to ten to Warren Central in the finals. Now that would be tired. But, congrats to Holmes on a good run to the finals and a great game to end the season on. They have some good young talent coming back. Good Luck to all the seniors and their futures.

Congrats to the Royals.

I know everyone talking about the Dawgs being worn, out I'm sure they were, they played one heck of a game against Lex. Cath. I remember in 2004, when Mason Co. played a triple overtime game against Trinity in the Quarterfinals and then played a single overtime game against Scott Co. in the semi-finals, then lost to ten to Warren Central in the finals. Now that would be tired. But, congrats to Holmes on a good run to the finals and a great game to end the season on. They have some good young talent coming back. Good Luck to all the seniors and their futures.

 

I was thinking the same thing, not that anyone is making excuses for Holmes, they are just stating facts. We knew going in the upper draw was going to be the tougher road and it probably was.

 

With that said, when reading BPG back in 04, I don't recall anyone on here making excuses for Mason Co and the 29 overtimes they had to play before even making the finals. They lost to the better team in 2004, end of story.

Congrats to Mason Co.

 

 

Elliott gave them the best game of Tourney.

 

However, it was the same result as the other three teams. Mason Co. beat them and it doesn't matter if it's by 4 or 44. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. Mason Co. got the wins and Elliott Co. went home early.

I was thinking the same thing, not that anyone is making excuses for Holmes, they are just stating facts. We knew going in the upper draw was going to be the tougher road and it probably was.

 

With that said, when reading BPG back in 04, I don't recall anyone on here making excuses for Mason Co and the 29 overtimes they had to play before even making the finals. They lost to the better team in 2004, end of story.

 

I don't think anyone is making excuses. Just saying it is a tough feat to beat the top two teams in the state on the same day. Mason Co was without a doubt the better team, in large part to Darius Miller which is why he is IMO the Kentucky Mr. Basketball.

 

Holmes just didn't shoot the ball well enough to pull the upset. They didn't try to do the same things that worked against Lexcath which was get to the rim , use a good head fake and get the bigs ( Setty, Miller) in foul trouble. Mason Co is a good shooting team and Holmes settled for too many jumpers.

Congrats on the state championship! This is something you will remember for the rest of your lives. You have a class act team and for the most part class act fans. However that can be said of every team. Enjoy this very special occasion!

Congrats to Mason County. It was win/win for NKY. I guess as a 9th region guy, I really hoped that Holmes would win because I feel like the 9th is underrated all the time. Holmes had a heck of a run and once again congrats to Mason.

I was impressed by Holmes in both the semi and final game. Both times, they were down significantly, but just keep their cool and played their game. Never got rushed, ran their offense, and looked for the best shot. A lot of teams who get down, go into helter-skelter mode, and end up digging a bigger hole. Their composure and maturity amazed me in both games.

 

Mason had too much in the end. And Darius was the primary reason Mason won. He was a level above everyone else on the court. Once you got him the ball on the blocks, he was 90%. I was surprised in the semi-final game, that Mason didn't get him the ball more inside. Shelby was much smaller than Holmes and Darius could have scored 35 in that game. Can't wait to see how he does at UK. We need him bad.