Eastern 75 Corbin 61

[GatorFan]

No surprise here. Still only one KY team to beat Eastern all season.

 

Saw they only lost 2 games and that was J-town twice.

[Jim Schue]

Bad move to try and live up to the Runnin' Redhounds moniker.

[WILDMAN]

Hats off to Corbin. When it comes to team, Corbin is probably a better basketball team. However, Eastern is more athletic and created awkward match up problems. They are clearly the most dominant team in the tournament when it comes to matching up. They are tremendous shooters and I love how they take advantage of the forgotten 12 foot jumper. They don't have a big man in the least bit so out of necessity, they send all 5 to the boards. I like how they do that. I didn't like the outcome but that was the big difference because it caused Corbin to commit a lot of fouls and catch them off guard.

 

Hats off to the Hounds. They came out in the second quarter and looked to be ready to open the flood gates. Then Smith goes down and obviously was playing the last part of the game on heart alone. Him going out, forced his younger brother (who is a fine player but only a freshman but played excellent) into minutes. Josh being in there could have or could not have been the difference. That's just part of the game. Congrats to the Eastern kids. They deserved it.

 

Josh Crawford was excellent. He didn't put up the numbers as everyone expected but tonight is what he could do any night of the week if he chose not to be so unselfish. You will be lucky to find a better player than the kid in this tournament. He won't get mister basketball but when he was touted as the best freshman back in 2006, I wouldn't be so quick to say he is not the best senior in 2009. The kid is a warrior and will be remembered as a Corbin legend. BEst of luck to a great player and even better young man. He will have a great life ahead of him. We'll miss him.

 

Also kudos to all of the seniors. Lee Crawford, Josh Smith, and Blake Hendrickson played their hearts out this year. It hurt me to see Hendrickson not be able to play tonight. He was one of the tougher kids on the team and one of the better rebounders in the 13th region. He could have made a difference.

[Jim Schue]

Josh Crawford was excellent. He didn't put up the numbers as everyone expected but tonight is what he could do any night of the week if he chose not to be so unselfish. You will be lucky to find a better player than the kid in this tournament. He won't get mister basketball but when he was touted as the best freshman back in 2006, I wouldn't be so quick to say he is not the best senior in 2009. The kid is a warrior and will be remembered as a Corbin legend. BEst of luck to a great player and even better young man. He will have a great life ahead of him. We'll miss him.

 

I've gotten to watch Crawford play a number of times over the years, since back when he made his first trip to Rupp. Not as much in recent years since moving away from the 13th Region area, but Crawford was always one of my favorite players to watch. Glad I got to see him one more time. :thumb:

[WILDMAN]

I agree, he has been a joy. I am really going to miss watching him play. For my own selfish reasons, I hope he stays close for college just so I could watch him. I read in an article tha Coach Pietrowski said, Centre, Transy, and a few D-1 schools were looking and hoped this tournament could draw in some more offers. I would say Josh didn't hurt his case by his performance tonight. The kid probably deserves his own thread.

 

Games like tonight could have easily been the norm for him. There is not a doubt in my mind he could have easily averaged 30 points and 12-13 rebounds a game. The kid is just a team player. Him being unselfish has probably hurt his chances at getting noticed by some more prestigious programs but I bet dollars to dimes that he wouldn't have it any other way. He is team first all the way. It just shows what kind of kid he is. He is a great ambassador to Corbin athletics and Kentucky High School athletics in general. I can honestly say that I would not trade him for one single player in the state of Kentucky.

[Hilltopper2005]

Eastern is the real deal.

 

They are athletic, but Corbin's 6th man injured his ankle this morning and could not play (He was on crutches) and then when Josh Smith got hurt it was all downhill for the Redhounds. A healthy Corbin team could have won this game in my opinion. For Eastern to go all the way they must shoot better at the free throw line. If they shot 50% tonight they were lucky. Championship teams must be able to shoot free throws better than what Eastern did tonight.

[REH5]

Eastern held a 49-30 advantage in rebounds and a 27-4 advantage in second chance points.

[BigSpikes]

Eastern looked very solid tonight. #5 for Eastern was very good, does anyone know his name?

[Big Game Player]

# 5 or Eastern is tough. They just had more horses than Corbin today. Good game and two good teams.

[WILDMAN]

Chris Dowe was the player for Eastern that hit all those big threes.

[HDE]

I didn't think Crawford was going to make it back to where he was before the injury, but he was tremendous tonight. He was the best player I saw all day.

[StraightShooter]

Congrats to Eastern and no surprise here. Eastern is a very good basketball team. I agree with other posters that they should have fresher legs than the bottom bracket survivor. Eastern has the ability to have all double-digit wins until the finals and may be able to rest some of their key warriors. Good season for Corbin.

[gold sunrise]

They are athletic, but Corbin's 6th man injured his ankle this morning and could not play (He was on crutches) and then when Josh Smith got hurt it was all downhill for the Redhounds. A healthy Corbin team could have won this game in my opinion. For Eastern to go all the way they must shoot better at the free throw line. If they shot 50% tonight they were lucky. Championship teams must be able to shoot free throws better than what Eastern did tonight.

 

I noticed him on crutches and this did really hurt Corbin.

Crawford was awsome to watch. He was doing it all and really handles the ball well. This Corbin team was a very fun team to watch. Wish you could have pulled it out last night guys.

 

Had the pleasure to meet Bubba last night. Thanks so much for the Corbin shirt. I wore it with pride and supported your hounds.:thumb:

[shooterx3]

Chris Dowe was impressive. Put him down for the Kentucky All stars, he will be playing d-1 somewhere

[Orca1]

Whoa!!!!!!!!!! I am a big Eastern supporter and raelly love the style of ball that they play, but a cake walk to the finals? No Sir! Central has enough horses to cause a lot of problems. They have State Champiomship experience in football and basketball. Central knows Eastern very well. Central's HC was Eastern's HC. There is no indimidation factor. Throw out the regular season game, most of Central's football guys weren't basketball ready.