Final.

Not bad for Hazard. To lose by only 13 to one of the top 3 teams in the state on the road is respectable imo. There's not too many teams that going to Holmes' home court and do much better.

Hazard 10 5 6 19 40

 

Holmes 12 13 14 14 53

 

 

 

 

R Johnson 16

J Riley 12

D Johnson 10

J Johnson 5

E Pittman 4

K Arnold 4

Housley 2

 

 

First of all Holmes acted like they didn't even want to be there today. IMO, they were flat, no intensity, I don't know.:irked: I can give them this, don't know the %. they were lights out in 3 point land. 7-3's today. Rico-3,Riley-3, and Dom Johnson had 2. :thumb:

Congrats to Holmes:notworthy:

I am not downgrading the Hazard team or the fans of Hazard. It should have been a blowout. :thumb:

#13 Josh Whitaker for Hazard is a beast. Some of the best ball handling I've ever seen. :notworthy:

Just got in from the game. It was actually pretty boring to watch from both sides. Hazard sat in a 2-1-2 zone the whole game to force Holmes to work for their shots.

 

First quarter Hazard played Holmes tough and actually held an 8-6 lead with 2:34 left in the first quarter. This would be their only lead of the game though as Riley came down and knocked down a 3 to put Holmes up 9-8 and then Rico got an "and one" on the next possession to give Holmes a 12-8 advantage. Hazard responded with a bucket of their own and Holmes led 12-10 after one.

 

Second quarter Holmes jumped on Hazard and went on an 11-3 run to start the quarter and give them a 23-12 advantage at the 2:09 mark. The run was keyed by back to back 3's from Riley and D. Johnson as well as nice buckets from Arnold and Housely. Holmes would head in to the locker room up 25-15 at the half.

 

Third quarter Holmes came out and put an 8-0 run on Hazard to give them a 33-17 lead with 2:40 left until the fourth. Hazard responded with a 4-0 run to close within 12 at 33-21, but back to back 3's by Rico, with one coming at the buzzer gave Holmes a 39-21 advantage heading in to the fourth quarter.

 

Fourth quarter Holmes started getting a little sloppy and Hazard was able to creep back in the game by pressing. Hazard went on a 6-0 run to start the fourth to close within 12 at 39-27 but a big bucket by Pittman put Holmes back up 14. Hazard went on another 5-0 run to close the gap to 41-32 with 3:51 to play, but another bucket down low by...guess who...Pittman put them back up 11 at 43-32. The rest of the game was pretty back and forth with Holmes holding an 8-10 point lead and Holmes sealed the deal at the line as Hazard couldn't force any turnovers with their press and was forced to foul Holmes. Rico, JJ, DJ, and Riley combined to go 7-8 down the stretch from the charity stripe to give Holmes the final of 53-40.

 

For Hazard nobody really stood out to me. If Whitaker is the best player in the 14th though, that region must lack talent big time. I was very unimpressed with him. He goes to the rim hard and has decent ball handling but is very inconsistent with his shot.

 

For Holmes, it was a pretty lackluster performance. None of the players really looked too interested and at times there was a lot of standing around. Definetly not the same Holmes team I saw last night against Highlands, but then again this was a good scheduling move by Henley to play a late game last night and then turn around and play less than 24 hours later against a team that we'll likely be seeing at Rupp. Should prepare them for the same schedule they'd see at Rupp, having to play back to back like that.

 

Holmes continues to roll. Big game with Boone Monday.

Big game with Boone Monday.

 

Tuesday...

Tuesday...

 

You're right...thanks. Are you doing the game that night?

Whitaker handled the ball really well tonight but he couldn't finish. Hazard is a solid team from what I watched today. Holmes was a little flat but they played through it. The game was never really in doubt after the start of the second quarter.

Just got in from the game. It was actually pretty boring to watch from both sides. Hazard sat in a 2-1-2 zone the whole game to force Holmes to work for their shots.

 

First quarter Hazard played Holmes tough and actually held an 8-6 lead with 2:34 left in the first quarter. This would be their only lead of the game though as Riley came down and knocked down a 3 to put Holmes up 9-8 and then Rico got an "and one" on the next possession to give Holmes a 12-8 advantage. Hazard responded with a bucket of their own and Holmes led 12-10 after one.

 

Second quarter Holmes jumped on Hazard and went on an 11-3 run to start the quarter and give them a 23-12 advantage at the 2:09 mark. The run was keyed by back to back 3's from Riley and D. Johnson as well as nice buckets from Arnold and Housely. Holmes would head in to the locker room up 25-15 at the half.

 

Third quarter Holmes came out and put an 8-0 run on Hazard to give them a 33-17 lead with 2:40 left until the fourth. Hazard responded with a 4-0 run to close within 12 at 33-21, but back to back 3's by Rico, with one coming at the buzzer gave Holmes a 39-21 advantage heading in to the fourth quarter.

 

Fourth quarter Holmes started getting a little sloppy and Hazard was able to creep back in the game by pressing. Hazard went on a 6-0 run to start the fourth to close within 12 at 39-27 but a big bucket by Pittman put Holmes back up 14. Hazard went on another 5-0 run to close the gap to 41-32 with 3:51 to play, but another bucket down low by...guess who...Pittman put them back up 11 at 43-32. The rest of the game was pretty back and forth with Holmes holding an 8-10 point lead and Holmes sealed the deal at the line as Hazard couldn't force any turnovers with their press and was forced to foul Holmes. Rico, JJ, DJ, and Riley combined to go 7-8 down the stretch from the charity stripe to give Holmes the final of 53-40.

 

For Hazard nobody really stood out to me. If Whitaker is the best player in the 14th though, that region must lack talent big time. I was very unimpressed with him. He goes to the rim hard and has decent ball handling but is very inconsistent with his shot.

 

For Holmes, it was a pretty lackluster performance. None of the players really looked too interested and at times there was a lot of standing around. Definetly not the same Holmes team I saw last night against Highlands, but then again this was a good scheduling move by Henley to play a late game last night and then turn around and play less than 24 hours later against a team that we'll likely be seeing at Rupp. Should prepare them for the same schedule they'd see at Rupp, having to play back to back like that.

 

Holmes continues to roll. Big game with Boone Monday.

 

 

Wow. Typical, being critical of high school kids. The problem is Whitaker doesn't have a lot around him. I am sure Holmes really focused on him. I am not saying he is a big time talent, but its hard becaus hes really the only player Hazard has who can penetrate and get things done against a team as athletic as Holmes, and they were keying on him.

Wow. Typical, being critical of high school kids. The problem is Whitaker doesn't have a lot around him. I am sure Holmes really focused on him. I am not saying he is a big time talent, but its hard becaus hes really the only player Hazard has who can penetrate and get things done against a team as athletic as Holmes, and they were keying on him.

 

I liked Whitaker alot, he played hard, he played physical, intense on defense, and he could handle the rock. He shooting could improve a bit but I liked him alot. He was definately the best player on Hazard, he stood out to me.

Hazard was without there head coach tonight to. He was put in the hospital last night for an illness or something. So everyone keep Coach Holland in there prayers.

 

I would say without him it probably changed there rotation a lil if I was guessing. It also makes teams play a little sloppy without there head coach. At least that's what I've seen from teams in the past.

Number 1 Hazard does have talent. Whitaker is not a one man team. He will tell you that. Hazard needs to pick up the energy level and they'll do fine. I hope the two meet again, maybe in Rupp.

Number 1 Hazard does have talent. Whitaker is not a one man team. He will tell you that. Hazard needs to pick up the energy level and they'll do fine. I hope the two meet again, maybe in Rupp.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing that either because the only way that would happen is the Sunday night game for all the marbles because they are on opposite sides of the bracket.