Sorry, GS - I saw this after I had already posted. I apologize.

 

Thanks Wireman....just want to keep this thread open and discusse a great game.

What I can agree with is that Shelby Valley is underrated and whoever was pleased to draw the 15th region in the Sweet 16 is in for a real nice surprise.

 

My region...the 10th drew the 15th and no I wasn't happy to draw them or be in the lower bracket.:cry:

 

Shelby Valley just about gave this game away by not hitting their free throws down the stretch. Can somone that follow them tell us...is this the norm of was today just a bad day at the line for them?

 

Also I loved the way that Elliott Co never gave up and had everyone sitting on the edge of their seats...or standing during the last part of the game. If the game had went into OT.....I believe Elliott would have found a way to win.

I just got in from the game and here are my thoughts - the game was won in the first quarter. Elliott County won the last 3 quarters, but they were shell shocked in the first. They didn't appear to have any kind of gameplan in place at all to start the game and found themselves down 16-3 at one point. I'm not sure if the Elliott coach failed to watch the other Shelby Valley games or what, but he had no plan that I could see as to how to attack SV's defense. Take away that miserable start and Elliott County wins the game. On the 2nd or 3rd play, a Shelby Valley player grabbed Ferguson around the body and slammed him to the floor on one end. On the next play on the other end, Ferguson was hammered twice by the SV big men. Neither was noticed by the officiating crew and that kind of set the tone for the first quarter. The officials were absolutely terrible on both ends and against both teams. They allowed SV to play a physical game and dominate the game by not blowing the whistle. There were numerous times that SV gathered steals by just running into Elliott guards and taking the ball. The officiating in this whole tournament was sketchy at best. Ironically enough, I went to eat after the game and one of the officials walked in the door. I said "that was a pretty intense game, wasn't it?" He answered and then walked out the door and got his food to go. :lol:

 

Elliott had numerous opportunities to get back in the game but always came up a shot or two short. I think their undoing was not allowing Ferguson to get back in the game offensively. He was spotted up several times but they didn't get the ball to him. They just about had to get him going from the outside in order to make a comeback of that magnitude. He hit the big shot near the end of the game to make it 55-52 and then Elliott had the ball with a chance to tie. They should've found Ferguson for that shot, IMO, but Timmy Knipp took the shot and it came up well short. It was, however, a good shot and not forced. He was open but just missed. With 1.5 seconds remaining, SV inbounded the ball and the SV player caught it and landed on the out of bounds stripe. It should've been Elliott's ball with around 1 second remaining but the officials didn't see it and hence the time ran off the clock.

 

Altogether, SV was the better team today and they were more prepared than Elliott was. I won't be shocked at all to see these two teams win their regions and win their first round games at Rupp to setup a rematch. For the regions that thought they caught a break by drawing the 15th and 16th, good luck to you. Shelby Valley is the real deal. They are big, strong, well coached, and they play as good of defense as I've seen in Kentucky this season. Despite what many will say, Elliott is the real deal to and they will be ready to make a run in March. This is a great year for mountain basketball.

 

On a side note, I bumped into Joe B. Hall leaving the arena after the game. He looked about as dejected as I did :thumb:

You keep bringing this up but you could also say the only thing that kept Shelby Valley in the game is the fact that the Lions couldn't throw it in the ocean today.

 

Which would have NOTHING to do with Shelby Valley's size and defense, just like the Cedar Hill loss...right?

 

It's no coincidence that the two biggest teams that EC has played who also had good interior play, ended up beating the Lions and they shot a low percentage. Give the other team a little more credit.

When you take as many 3's as Elliott County does and only shoot 25% then you are not going to beat very many teams.

 

From looking at the statistics to me, that's the first thing that I saw. Too reliant on the 3's. That will not cut it at Rupp- you simply can't stay hot for that many games in a row.

Looks like the missed FT's by SV is all that kept it close. They outscored EC 15-7 on points off TO's, 14-0 in both bench scoring and 2nd chance points (big) fewer turnovers than Elliott had 7 more steal than Elliott. Another interesting stat I saw was that Elliott took as many 3's 6-24 as 2point FG's 12-24.

I agree...SV is underrated. IMO they should be the team receiving all the hype that EC is getting and be mentioned with the teams in the 4-7 range.. In all honesty, the only thing that kept EC in this game was SV missing 10 straight free throws at the end. If they make their free throws throughout the game, they beat EC by 10+.

 

That could be a nice point but on the flip side, if Elliott makes their 3's as they normally do, they win the game anyways. Elliott didn't shoot 3's all that great in the EKU arena this weekend. They are normally a 40+ percent team from outside the arc.

When you take as many 3's as Elliott County does and only shoot 25% then you are not going to beat very many teams.

 

 

And when the legs get tired, the shots are not shot with the same degree of accuracy that they are when the legs are fresh. Would the legs have been fresh with the starters not playing and winning by 20 instead 61? I am not sure, but the past history of EC has shown that when they aren't tired, they shoot very, very well from beyond the arch but when they are, well some coaches live and learn and others........:idunno:

On another side note - is there anything better than the Shelby Valley band's version of the "Tequilla" song?

I just got home from the game (Richmond to Sandy Hook is about a 2 hr drive) and I wanted to congratulate SV on a hard fought win today. I hope they win it all!!

 

EC: live by the 3 . . . die by the 3. They just weren't dropping. It happens! We're still proud of our boys and will support and defend them until the last game of the season is played. Several people came up to various EC individuals in support of us (not to mention the tourny promoters that LOVED the numbers of tickets they sold to the EC fans :thumb:)

 

EC came out in the first half looking kinda sluggish, but showed their heart and motivation in the 2nd half. Many times in the first half, I thought their hands must have had butter on them with the number of loose balls. That just isn't their normal ball handling. :idunno:

 

Any team can win/lose on any given day . . . this was just ours. I can garantee you that they will take this lose and turn it on during Districts/Regionals/ (and if they make it) Rupp. Whomever plays against us will know that they've played one of the top teams in the state.

 

Elliott has a limited bench. We've all know that for the last 4 years. We've got what we've got and that's who we play on the court.

 

CONGRATS SV . . . GOOD LUCK IN THE FINALS!

I just got in from the game and here are my thoughts - the game was won in the first quarter. Elliott County won the last 3 quarters, but they were shell shocked in the first. They didn't appear to have any kind of gameplan in place at all to start the game and found themselves down 16-3 at one point. I'm not sure if the Elliott coach failed to watch the other Shelby Valley games or what, but he had no plan that I could see as to how to attack SV's defense. Take away that miserable start and Elliott County wins the game.

From looking at the stats, I believe it said that 9 of Elliott County's 10 shots in the first quarter were beyond the arc?

Great win SV! Good luck rest of the year Elliott.

Possibly, SV is a very impressive team but I personally think EC was wayyyy overhyped by some on here. They'd have trouble with any team in the top 10. Why? Because they all have a big front court and depth.

 

EC is a nice team but IMO in the 10-15 range. If they're hitting their 3's they could possibly knock off a top 10 team, but I just don't see it.

 

SV proved pretty much everything I've been saying all along to be correct.

 

Not all top 10 teams have a big front court. Bryan Station usually only plays one player over 6'5 at a time I believe, Eastern definitely does not have a big front court. J-Town has 6'10 Reeves but no others overwhelming. I'm pretty sure Ballard doesn't, Mason County, not really. Corbin?...Seneca?...These are all top 10 in BGP and I don't think any have more than one good big guy, if that, which they play at the same time.

From looking at the stats, I believe it said that 9 of Elliott County's 10 shots in the first quarter were beyond the arc?

 

That is probably correct. Most of them were good looks, they just didn't fall. It took until the 2nd quarter for Elliott to put an offensive player in the middle of the SV zone. Once they did that, they were able to get some better looks and more positive ball movement.

Oh yeah, it was nice to meet Lion Mania and ECCHEER today :thumb:

 

I also saw Jim Schue walking around on the floor but he couldn't hear me when I tried to get his attention. I also bumped into Matlock and Dale Ferguson.

 

I saw alot of local college coaches in the stands including Happy Osborne and John Mills.

That could be a nice point but on the flip side, if Elliott makes their 3's as they normally do, they win the game anyways. Elliott didn't shoot 3's all that great in the EKU arena this weekend. They are normally a 40+ percent team from outside the arc.

 

See post #93..competition has a lot to do with that stat.