The big guy was definitely the difference although the long floor started to work on him.

Thanks for the pics.

That and a dollar gets you a Mcdouble in the drive thru

 

I'm with you brother. I've never understood the preoccupation some folks have with cheering sections. I thought I went to the game last night to watch the basketball game; not judge a cheerleading competition. Oh well, I guess to each their own.

Congratulations St Hank and Coach Faust on a nice season. You play so hardaand it's a pleasure to watch you.

Edited March 5, 200917 yr by Ram
Rule 13

congratulations St Hank and Coach Faust on a nice season. You play so hardaand it's a pleasure to watch you.

 

Ditto. The Crusaders were very well coached and played very well. Speed is a very good player. I think Willie's switch on his defensive assignment at half was a great move. No dis to Ben Watson, but in the first half he seemed to have a quickness disadvantage guarding Speed. Steve Kowolonek had the quickness to stay with Speed in the second half and I don't think he was near as productive. Keep in mind that I'm a dumb former football player, so I may be way off the mark.

 

Grubbs had a very nice game. The Cru simply didn't have anyone to match his size and bulk. Birds did a good job of recognizing such and got the ball inside to him a lot. Dill may not look pretty handling the ball, but he certainly got the job done. Nice job Corey. Hope Grote and Lother get over their illness and can come back totally healthy on Sunday. Great job Birds. Keep it going.

You are not the official score. Not your fault. There were 2 or 3 scorebooks there. How did all 2 or 3 of them miss it?

 

Only thing that makes sense to me is that if the attention of the scorers were diverted from the on court action as they tried to resolve the confusion that statman mentioned. I didn't pay attention to Highlands score before the free throw was made, but Willie and a whole lot of Highlands fans thought we had 43 before the free throw was made and continued to have 43 after the free throw was made. I have to assume that a head coach would know the score. I didn't see either Willie or a ref approach Faust to see if he agreed with Willie's contention. Should they have and if he agreed with Willie, would that have trumped what the official score book stated?

Only thing that makes sense to me is that if the attention of the scorers were diverted from the on court action as they tried to resolve the confusion that statman mentioned. I didn't pay attention to Highlands score before the free throw was made, but Willie and a whole lot of Highlands fans thought we had 43 before the free throw was made and continued to have 43 after the free throw was made. I have to assume that a head coach would know the score. I didn't see either Willie or a ref approach Faust to see if he agreed with Willie's contention. Should they have and if he agreed with Willie, would that have trumped what the official score book stated?

 

I had actually sent a text before the FTs were attempted. I had 43-37. One was made. No change to the score. Thankfully it had no bearing on the outcome.

Some notes from the game:

 

1.St. Henry should hold there heads up. It was a long difficult season. But you can always look back and say you are the new 34th District Champs. Good Luck to all 8 seniors, it was fun watching you guys over the years.

2. Grubbs played very well. His size and touch could take the Birds a long way. Also it was impressive to see when the Crusaders put him on the line, he made those free throws too.

3. Highlands is going to be a very very tough team next year. Scary to think they have ZERO seniors.

4. I sat in the Boone section for the 1st game and the St. Henry section for the 2nd game. I heard a lot of complaining about the refs, especially in the first game. But then again I seemed to stick my self with fans that didn't have a clue. WAS IT ME OR WERE THEY ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD LAST NIGHT?

5. Was it too far of a drive for the Highlands student body?

6. I really enjoy watching Mr. Lowther play the game. He really gives 110% and handles the ball as well as anyone I've seen in the pat 5 years. Also he has a decent shot that teams have to worry about.

7. Joey Swikert has been fun to watch over the past few years. He transferred to St. Henry after leaving New Orleans. He started on JV but proved quickly that his speed, defense, and work ethic make him one of the best defenders the CRU has had in some time.

8. I wish we could have watch Scott Volz play for 4 years. He really is a talented player. Good luck with baseball Scottie.

9. Its really fun to watch the two best coaches in the 9th region go at it. They work the officials with class and coach their teams very well. Willie really knows how to teach man to man defense.

10. From my last point, HIGHLANDS plays some of the best Man to Man defense I've seen all year. They play up on you, they cut off the lanes to the basket, they take charges, they keep there hands on you (but not illegally like most fans think). It won't be there offense that takes them far the next two years, its going to be the way they play on the defensive end.

Ditto. The Crusaders were very well coached and played very well. Speed is a very good player. I think Willie's switch on his defensive assignment at half was a great move. No dis to Ben Watson, but in the first half he seemed to have a quickness disadvantage guarding Speed. Steve Kowolonek had the quickness to stay with Speed in the second half and I don't think he was near as productive. Keep in mind that I'm a dumb former football player, so I may be way off the mark.

 

Grubbs had a very nice game. The Cru simply didn't have anyone to match his size and bulk. Birds did a good job of recognizing such and got the ball inside to him a lot. Dill may not look pretty handling the ball, but he certainly got the job done. Nice job Corey. Hope Grote and Lother get over their illness and can come back totally healthy on Sunday. Great job Birds. Keep it going.

 

 

Pretty good analysis LN. Dill did have a little trouble handling it last night but I attribute that to the quick hands of the St. Henry defenders. They definitely have some athletic kids. For the most part, Corey has done a really nice job in the games I have seen with bringing the ball up the court against the press and he's not your prototypical guard with his size.

 

Im glad the 2nd half pace picked up because for a minute there I was wondering if the Birds were going to score more than the Football team averaged per game last season. :ylsuper:

Some notes from the game:

 

1.St. Henry should hold there heads up. It was a long difficult season. But you can always look back and say you are the new 34th District Champs. Good Luck to all 8 seniors, it was fun watching you guys over the years.

2. Grubbs played very well. His size and touch could take the Birds a long way. Also it was impressive to see when the Crusaders put him on the line, he made those free throws too.

3. Highlands is going to be a very very tough team next year. Scary to think they have ZERO seniors.

4. I sat in the Boone section for the 1st game and the St. Henry section for the 2nd game. I heard a lot of complaining about the refs, especially in the first game. But then again I seemed to stick my self with fans that didn't have a clue. WAS IT ME OR WERE THEY ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD LAST NIGHT?

5. Was it too far of a drive for the Highlands student body?

6. I really enjoy watching Mr. Lowther play the game. He really gives 110% and handles the ball as well as anyone I've seen in the pat 5 years. Also he has a decent shot that teams have to worry about.

7. Joey Swikert has been fun to watch over the past few years. He transferred to St. Henry after leaving New Orleans. He started on JV but proved quickly that his speed, defense, and work ethic make him one of the best defenders the CRU has had in some time.

8. I wish we could have watch Scott Volz play for 4 years. He really is a talented player. Good luck with baseball Scottie.

9. Its really fun to watch the two best coaches in the 9th region go at it. They work the officials with class and coach their teams very well. Willie really knows how to teach man to man defense.

10. From my last point, HIGHLANDS plays some of the best Man to Man defense I've seen all year. They play up on you, they cut off the lanes to the basket, they take charges, they keep there hands on you (but not illegally like most fans think). It won't be there offense that takes them far the next two years, its going to be the way they play on the defensive end.

 

Nice post NKYBOY. I agree with you on all points. I thought the Cru had a nice ballclub. Volz impressed me with his toughness and ability to hit that tough shot from the hip while getting fouled. Swikert is a tough lefthander and Speed is just a very smooth player.

 

I thought the refs called a few ticky tac fouls on the Birds but for the most part were pretty good. They gave Grubbs some love on a couple "and 1's" but then didnt give any when he complained that they were holding him. Look buddy, when your 3 inches bigger and 50lb's heavier you gotta deal with that. LOL

 

The Birds can be very good with the combination of players they have in that lineup. You have potential scorers in Kowolonek, Grote and Grubbs. Very nice role players who can rebound the ball and have nice free throw shooting abilities in Dill/Watson/Smith Kellen. Gordon and Lother do a very nice job of controlling the tempo of the game out front.

 

I liked how Willie got sophomore Conner Crowley in the game as well early to get some touches on the ball. With the depleted lineup due to sickness you never want to have to bring in a sophomore late in the 4th cold.

 

Hopefully if the sophomores on this year's squad can develop and grow in the offseason and provide some excellent depth for next year this team will be able to go 10 deep very easily. But for now, I am hoping the Birds can pull of a major run and take it to RUPP ARENA.

Congrats to the Cruasders on a very hard-fought season. Winning record, district champs and the pride in knowing you played your best and left it all on the court.

 

Kudos and good luck to Highlands the rest of the way. The game with Boone should be fun to watch.

 

Quick question for anyone who can answer: How many of those Highlands kids play football as well?

 

-CardinalsFan

The St. Henry and Beechwood both single "A" schools made the bigger schools lack of student support embarrassing. How does a school like Boone County that has close to 1,500 students have no one at the girls game on Tuesday and no one at their boys game tonight....

At $8 bucks a pop, the travel out to HH and on a school night, maybe some thought it was too much. These are students, not working adults, so they do what they can. Boone and Beechwood had a decent crowd behind their bench and supported them well. Maybe you can help out by purchasing 100+ tickets and donate them to the schools that lack the student support you're looking for. The student crowds may increase as we get closer to the finals.