Final in Ft. Thomas.

 

Dogs blistered the nets in the first half with 8 three pointers I believe and never really let their foot off the gas. Birds cut it to 6 at one point but Dogs do a good job of holding them off.

 

Big scoring night for Pittman and Rice.

Congrats to Holmes on a big 9th region win.

Big win for Holmes... Now consistancy has to happen. They can't play good tonight and then slack off against lesser opponets

I didnt see Smith-Keller's name in the boxscore below. Did he play tonight for the Birds? He has been pretty consistent lately with scoring and shooting the 3.

 

Gordon scored more tonight then he has in the last 4 games.

 

Pittman with 23 on the night.

 

from the Herald

 

Holmes 18 19 15 17 69

 

Ft. Thomas 12 13 15 18 58

 

Holmes (17-5) -- Herndon 5, Hayes 3, Slusher 2, J.Johnson 8, Pittman 23, R.Johnson 15, Rice 13.

 

Ft. Thomas Highlands (11-8) -- Lother 10, Grote 3, Kowolonek 11, Gordon 11, Dill 8, Watson 7, Stewart 8.

Birds came out in a zone and Holmes took advantage. They drained 3 pointer after 3 pointer. Very impressive outside shooting exhibition by the Bulldogs. After using their third time-out of the 1st quarter, the Birds changed to man defense and competed much better the rest of the way.

 

I actually thought the Birds played as well as I have seen them play all year. Holmes was just too talented tonight. Pittman had a huge game. He scored from behind the arc, he put the ball on the floor and took it to the rim, he controlled the boards and had a very impressive slam off of a lob pass.

Birds came out in a zone and Holmes took advantage. They drained 3 pointer after 3 pointer. Very impressive outside shooting exhibition by the Bulldogs. After using their third time-out of the 1st quarter, the Birds changed to man defense and competed much better the rest of the way.

 

I actually thought the Birds played as well as I have seen them play all year. Holmes was just too talented tonight. Pittman had a huge game. He scored from behind the arc, he put the ball on the floor and took it to the rim, he controlled the boards and had a very impressive slam off of a lob pass.

 

Holmes moved the ball very well against the Birds zone tonight and constantly moved at that end of the floor. Their offense has really picked up lately compared to early in the season.

 

In the prediction thread I said Pittman would be the difference since Highlands didn't have anyone to defend him. The big guy definetly didn't disappoint tonight. He did it all at both ends of the floor. Dale Mueller even gave Pittman a compliment after the game, telling him what a great job he did and that he was very impressive.

 

Both teams played well but Holmes was just too much for the Birds tonight. The difference was Highlands simply couldn't put together enough runs to keep up with a more talented Holmes' bunch. Everytime they'd make a run, Holmes would respond with 8-10 straight themselves. Pittman had a personal 7 or 8-0 run to put the game away in the 4th.

No really big man to step up to the likes of Pittman or Rice will be tough for the Birds. Im saying that Pittman goes for 25 and Holmes wins by 15.

 

Holmes 58

Birds 43

 

Nice call.

 

Pittman didn't quite make it to 25 (finished with 23), but both he and Rice were tough tonight and Holmes won by 11.

I wasn't there at this one, but every time I am in attendence or read posts on here, Pittman is going off. He dominates night in and night out for this Holmes team and really even though there play has been up and down, his solid efforts every game keep them in games even when others aren't playing well. He is a dominate inside presence and found his outside range tonight. Glad to see that, and hopefully he keeps putting up these kind of numbers and the dogs can reel off some wins here down the stretch to be there mid march.

I wasn't there at this one, but every time I am in attendence or read posts on here, Pittman is going off. He dominates night in and night out for this Holmes team and really even though there play has been up and down, his solid efforts every game keep them in games even when others aren't playing well. He is a dominate inside presence and found his outside range tonight. Glad to see that, and hopefully he keeps putting up these kind of numbers and the dogs can reel off some wins here down the stretch to be there mid march.

 

“He’s so long and he’s learning how to post up and score in the post,” said Holmes coach David Henley. “Last year he didn’t know how to score in the post. Now he’s hard to handle one-on-one down there.”

 

.....Pittman finished with six rebounds, three blocks and three assists. He also hit three 3-pointers. Ricardo Johnson tallied 15 points to go with five rebounds, three blocks and two assists

 

Game story

 

 

After the game, Highlands coach Mike Flynn called Pittman “the most talented player in the state. Ricardo (Johnson) is the best player in the state, but Pittman’s the most talented.”

 

^^^Ryan Ernst blog

Holmes (17-5) – Pittman 8 4 23, R. Johnson 5 3 15, Rice 4 3 13, J. Johnson 3 1 8, Herndon 1 2 5, Hayes 1 0 3, Slusher 1 0 2. Totals: 19 13 69.

 

Highlands (11-7) – Lother 3 1 10, Grote 1 1 3, Kowolonek 4 3 11, Watson 3 1 7, Dill 4 0 8, Stewart 2 4 8. Totals: 22 13 58.

 

Holmes 18 19 15 17–69

Highlands 12 13 15 18–58

 

3-pointers: Ho. 10 (Pittman 3, R. Johnson 2, Rice 2, Herndon, Hayes, J. Johnson); Hi. (3 (Lother 3).

 

Holmes put on a shooting clinic from outside tonight.

I have to agree with Sticky on his points. I thought that if Highlands would have went man to man a little sooner this game might have been closer. Holmes was up 18 I believe, before the switch was made. Nice to see Gordon and Lother on the floor at the same time. IMO this makes the Birds much more effective in the offensive end. To answer your question Q about Smith Keller, not much of a factor because of who they were playing. He needs space to get his shot off and it was not going to happen last night. Holmes shot lights out in the first half and that was the difference. If these two meet again down the road I think the Birds might have a chance of knocking them off.

Nice call.

 

Pittman didn't quite make it to 25 (finished with 23), but both he and Rice were tough tonight and Holmes won by 11.

 

:ylsuper: Its my day job...you know being a physic.

I didnt see Smith-Keller's name in the boxscore below. Did he play tonight for the Birds? He has been pretty consistent lately with scoring and shooting the 3.

 

Gordon scored more tonight then he has in the last 4 games.

 

Pittman with 23 on the night.

 

from the Herald

 

Holmes 18 19 15 17 69

 

Ft. Thomas 12 13 15 18 58

 

Holmes (17-5) -- Herndon 5, Hayes 3, Slusher 2, J.Johnson 8, Pittman 23, R.Johnson 15, Rice 13.

 

Ft. Thomas Highlands (11-8) -- Lother 10, Grote 3, Kowolonek 11, Gordon 11, Dill 8, Watson 7, Stewart 8.

How about Avery? I didn't see his name either.

Nice call.

 

Pittman didn't quite make it to 25 (finished with 23), but both he and Rice were tough tonight and Holmes won by 11.

I said earlier in the year that I thought Rice would be the player to put this team over the top. You know what you can expect out of the "Big 3" on this team, but Rice gives them another big body who can bang. If he comes with some controlled intensity he can really help this team go to the highest level. The trouble is though that it appears that coach Henley has to reel him in every once in awhile. I saw the other night that Rice sat most of the 2nd half against Dixie and probably due to not playing by the coaches rule. These next few games will be interesting to see how the Dogs play against several styles of teams.

How about Avery? I didn't see his name either.

 

Avery played last night...didn't score, but I honestly don't remember him taking any shots either. He played a lot of minutes though and did a very good job defensively.

 

The thing about Demetrius is he's a very unselfish kid so he just goes out there and does what the coach tells him to do. Holmes is very lucky to have him apart of their team. Great team player.