After last night I wondered how Elliott County lost to Shelby Valley. Tonight, I still wonder how they lost to Shelby Valley. With all due respect, I thought Elliott was the better team. Crazy things happen and I thought Elliott looked better last night than they did tonight.

 

I also thought it was a bogus call on Ethan Faulkner and so did the people sitting around me and I sat on the Shelby Valley side. Luckily it didn't affect the game too much.

 

I also noticed a lot of the arena cheering when Ferguson hit a 3 late in the 4th. They will have a lot of people cheering for them tomorrow morning.

 

Oh yeah, Elisha Justice is a stud!!!! He has been a joy to watch over the last 2 days and I hope to get a chance to watch him next year.

 

Good luck to the Lions and congrats to the All A State Champs Shelby Valley on a great season.

I am going to preface this by saying that I cheered for Elliott in this one; so that the state could see the best matchup of the season in the second game of Session 7 tomorrow-Holmes vs. Elliott County. This isn't meant to make anyone mad or take away from what either team did, it is how I saw it, and it was an entertaining game until the very end.

 

1. Elisha Justice was the best player on the floor, plain and simple. He may have had an off night shooting, but he is the reason that they were in the game at all. He was a 1-man press breaker, made several amazing passes, all of the key rebounds, and broke his man down off the dribble almost every single time down the floor. I thought that nothing would beat Sanford's late-game heroics from yesterday, but Justice's performance to keep Valley in the game surpasses Sanford's.

 

2. Elliott wasn't going to lose that game, if the officials had any thing to do about it. And they did. I don't complain about referees or their officiating ever, but a lot of the calls were questionable at best. Valley was in the bonus FOUR MINUTES INTO THE SECOND HALF. At that point, I believe Elliott had 2 team fouls. There were some very ticky-tack calls, such as Justice's foul on Christopher Knipp, Knipp had already passed the ball away and was virtually out of the play. It appeared that Justice had hand checked him and was called for the foul. At this point, I believe Valley was up 3, I don't think that Knipp hit both free-throws, but even so, I don't believe in a game of this magnitude the call should have been made. There were also several instances in which Elliott County would have a shot blocked and a whistle blown. But then at the other end, the exact same thing would happen and play would go on. Also, when Ethan Faulkner took the charge in the fourth quarter, his feet were not set and a blocking foul should have been made in my opinion.

 

3. I can not wait until tomorrow morning when the two best teams in the State meet up. With all due respect to Central and West Jessamine, I believe your State Champion from 2009 will be the winner of Game Two of Session 7.

 

With all of this being said, congratulations to Elliott County. Your dreams live on for another day, all of your hard work is beginning to pay off and your goal is just two games, albeit tough games, away. And to Shelby Valley, congratulations on a great season, although it isn't ultimately what you wanted, you are All-A Champions, and I look for you all to be back in the State Tournament next year.

 

And to Elisha Justice, your performance from this state tournament has put you into the discussion as the favorite for next year's Mr. Basketball Award.

 

Good luck to West Jessamine, Louisville Central, Elliott County and Covington Holmes for getting this far. Congratulations on getting here, and realize that your goals are a little less than 24 hours away.

You thought the officials were calling in favor of Elliott? :confused:

 

My head is going to explode.

Good win for Elliott. Defense kept them in it because the ball handling was the weakest I've watched them with this year, Several uncharacteristic unforced turnovers and a few more from just plain weak play. They better handle it better in the semi-final. Holmes looked strong except for a brief second half meltdown. Ethan came through with some clutch free throw shooting and the Knipps' offensive performance saved a poor shooting night. Timmy and Ferguson hit some very key shots in the third quarter. The intentional foul call was completely ridiculous and could have been a game changer but Elliott did a great job regaining composure and taking control of the game. That will be one fine semi-final matchup at 11:30.

You thought the officials were calling in favor of Elliott? :confused:

 

My head is going to explode.

Mine too! Best I recall in the first half Elliott County had been called for 7 fouls and Shelby Valley had only one. So what's the difference, it has already been said that the officials were not up to this level of competition and I agree, they weren't!:ohbrother:

And yes I was at the game!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.:jump: Congratulations Lions you survived and live on to fight another day.:taz: Good luck tomorrow, give us another win.:dancingpa

Mine too! Best I recall in the first half Elliott County had been called for 7 fouls and Shelby Valley had only one. So what's the difference, it has already been said that the officials were not up to this level of competition and I agree, they weren't!:ohbrother:

 

I think the officials just couldn't keep up with the speed of this game. Another completely bizarre call was in the second half when there was a scramble for the ball. NEITHER team had possession of the ball and sure enough, the officials called a jump ball. They made Justice and the other guard look like the best on-ball defenders in the state, but it was because they were able to just jump in and rip the ball away from the Elliott guards. It was pretty bad tonight.

Also, I think Justice is a great player, but did everyone realize that he was 8-25 from the field?

I think the officials just couldn't keep up with the speed of this game. Another completely bizarre call was in the second half when there was a scramble for the ball. NEITHER team had possession of the ball and sure enough, the officials called a jump ball. They made Justice and the other guard look like the best on-ball defenders in the state, but it was because they were able to just jump in and rip the ball away from the Elliott guards. It was pretty bad tonight.

:thumb: Pretty much my thoughts too and yes I remember that call, I guess they had to call something and yes that something was wrong.:idunno:

addout

All State

 

Join Date: Aug 2003

Posts: 2,260

 

 

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CatsCatsCats I will agree here. But, if Ferguson is on like he was last night Shelby Valley will have their hands full. Valley needs to rebound and limit Elliott to one shot, that is really the only thing they can control defensively, IMO. They will need to get a hand on the shooters of EC, but alot of times, as Ferguson proved last night it really doesn't matter if their on. I think it will be a good game. If Valley controls the paint and uses their size getting Elliott in foul trouble they win. They will have to make free throws though when they get fouled. If they don't do these things Elliott will win.

That's a lot of ifs. That being said, if the game goes as I expect Elliott County wins 75-69.

 

I've got to crow a little. I got the score exactly right in the predictions thread.:banana:

Was this Coach Mays' 400th win? From what the paper said of his tenure at the start of the tournament, he was 2 wins away.

Was this Coach Mays' 400th win? From what the paper said of his tenure at the start of the tournament, he was 2 wins away.

 

Funny :lol:

I bumped into Landon Slone tonight. Some interesting comments about UK.

That was probably one of the best calls all day. It happened right in front of the official and he made the correct call. Faulkner went right after the Shelby Valley player and caught him with a forearm/elbow. Everyone in the building who was watching the game without having a dog in the fight, knew it was the correct call. Great call.

 

Well Justice told one of his coaches that Faulkner did nothing to deserve the intentional foul. I would that the kid that got hit on the play would know. So it was not the right call.