Final !

 

The Birds jumped out on top of the Cougars early breaking the press and scoring layups. Birds opened up in a 2/3 zone and with their length posed major problems for the Cougars who didnt shoot well at all. Halftime score was 17-12 as two Bird starters got in foul trouble Nick True the big 6'4 8th grade Center and Luke Turner the starting PG. Turner would come back in the 2nd half to burn the Cougars though scoring 10 of his team high 12 points. The Birds who shot 1-6 from the FT line in the 1st half dropped in 11 -16 in the 2nd half.

 

Conner made a nice run at them late in the 3rd qtr to take a 2pt lead but the Birds fought back to tie and the 4th qtr was back n forth as far as lead changes.

 

Trailing by 3 with just over a minute left, Birds 6'2 substitute Jake Gronotte got the ball on the block and made a nice move to the basket only to miss and get his own rebound. He put up a follow up shot that was good and he was fouled on the play. He nailed the FT converting the old fashion 3pt play to tie the game at 38 with a minute to play. The Birds would then go on to score 5 unanswered points. Bailey Witte nailed a couple FT's and Luke Turner put the Birds up by 3 nailing 2 FT's himself. Turner was 4/4 from the line in the 4th qtr. Nice road victory for the Bluebirds against a pretty good Conner ballclub who had decent depth.

 

28 fouls called in the game, 2 Bird players fouled out and 1 Cougar fouled out.

 

Conner 3 9 12 14- 38

Highlands 10 9 13 13- 43

 

Scoring-

 

Highlands

Witte- 7 3/4 from FT line

Collinsworth- 4

Christian- 5

Turner- 12 6/8 from FT line

McCoy- 9

True- 2

Gronotte- 3

 

Highlands shot 12/22 from FT line 55% for game but made 11/16 in 2nd half when they counted.

 

Conner shot 12/19 from the FT line 63% and made 10/13 in 2nd half.

 

Highlands improves to 7-4 on the year.

 

Conner Cougars

Spencer- 2

Price- 8

Kunkel- 13

Maines- 8

Padgett- 5

Riddle- 2

Edited January 13, 201016 yr by Qryche11

Great game. Highlands is well coached and their length and athletic ability made it tough for the cougars to get shots off. Conner was down 4 or 5 starting the 4th and took a 3 point lead but couldn't finish the deal. There were some bizarre calls in this game by the portly ref against both teams that kept the crowd entertained. A Highlands fan next to me made a comment to the ref about being a homer. The ref responded with first time I have been out here. I haven't seen him do a conner game and you can take him back to Ft.Thomas if you like! McCoy is a great athlete. Conner had won 3 in a row coming into this game against Holmes,Newport and Dixie.

Great game. Highlands is well coached and their length and athletic ability made it tough for the cougars to get shots off. Conner was down 4 or 5 starting the 4th and took a 3 point lead but couldn't finish the deal. There were some bizarre calls in this game by the portly ref against both teams that kept the crowd entertained. A Highlands fan next to me made a comment to the ref about being a homer. The ref responded with first time I have been out here. I haven't seen him do a conner game and you can take him back to Ft.Thomas if you like! McCoy is a great athlete. Conner had won 3 in a row coming into this game against Holmes,Newport and Dixie.

 

I will agree with the refs making some crazy calls but like you said they were bizarre both ways. Funny thing is after the Ref said it was his first time at Conner the Highlands fan finished with "You can bet they will invite you back" :laugh:. But that was after a couple really bad calls against the Birds.

 

Kunkel had a really nice 3rd qtr, he hit his FT's and made some nice shots in the lane. He will be a very nice player out there. Price didnt impress me as much in this game as he did last year, he seemed to be rattled most of the game but he does have a nice handle. I think the Birds zone threw the Cougars off quite a bit. The Maines kid takes it to the hole strong but struggled finishing against the taller and more athletic Birds. Padgett was somewhat silent as well and struggled offensively. This is still a very nice team who will most likely develop into nice JV/Varsity players.

I did not see Fogle in the box score for Conner. Did he move up to JV or is he injured or ill. I believe he is their best player.

Fogle played the entire game but didn't score. He was very frustrated to say the least.

Conner Cougars

Spencer- 2

Price- 8

Kunkel- 13

Maines- 8

Padgett- 5

Riddle- 2

 

In case a few of you are wondering the answer is no.

I have seen them play so I knew the answer. lol.

Fogle is a tough kid, built like a footballer. I hear he was their best player on the Cougar freshman football team.

Fogle is a tough kid, built like a footballer. I hear he was their best player on the Cougar freshman football team.

 

His older brother was a strong high school player as well.

His older brother was a strong high school player as well.

 

Both of his older brothers.