Final in OT.

 

If you want a play by play check the update thread, I was getting live texts.

Big win for the Dawgs. Will post a recap later.

9th Region looks to be real interesting.

A good game played by both teams. Holmes is definitely not the team they were a year ago. Get beyond Pittman, Rico, and JJ and there is a big drop off. Not alot of help beyond the big 3. Boone looked a little rusty in the 1st half after being off for a while, but picked it up in the 2nd.

 

Thought the 3 officials were shaky at best. Made some questionable calls and seemed disorganized at times. Thought they missed a flagrant elbow by Brown for Boone while he and JJ were battling inside. Brown was getting frustrated and both players were really pushing quite a bit, then Brown got mad and swung a haymaker elbow that caught JJ in the chest. Hard to believe that not one ref saw this?? Things got a little chippy, and a foul was eventually called on JJ. IMO, Brown should have been ejected. It was one of those cases where the retaliatory player gets caught (but he did not).

 

Both teams played hard, and I look for a rematch in a couple of weeks at the BOKC. Should be another good one.

Holmes still uninspired. Why did Rice not play after first few minutes? In my opinion, once Holmes gets to play in the bigger arena, they will finally get excited. Also think the more spacious arena will have a more negative effect on other teams who can't play as close to the rim. Holmes will win the 9th.

A good game played by both teams. Holmes is definitely not the team they were a year ago. Get beyond Pittman, Rico, and JJ and there is a big drop off. Not alot of help beyond the big 3. Boone looked a little rusty in the 1st half after being off for a while, but picked it up in the 2nd.

 

Thought the 3 officials were shaky at best. Made some questionable calls and seemed disorganized at times. Thought they missed a flagrant elbow by Brown for Boone while he and JJ were battling inside. Brown was getting frustrated and both players were really pushing quite a bit, then Brown got mad and swung a haymaker elbow that caught JJ in the chest. Hard to believe that not one ref saw this?? Things got a little chippy, and a foul was eventually called on JJ. IMO, Brown should have been ejected. It was one of those cases where the retaliatory player gets caught (but he did not).

 

Both teams played hard, and I look for a rematch in a couple of weeks at the BOKC. Should be another good one.

 

If you fail to mention the dirty shoving and pushing and elbow shots to the back that JJ was doing underneath then you shouldn't mention this play at all. The refs probably saw this and that's why they allowed this to reach the level of the elbow shot. JJ at his size got well what any big man deserves when they try to play that style with Brown, intentional or not it's a wake up call for them to realize they can't just shove him around because he's a bigger player. Your opinion that Brown should have been ejected is just that, an opinion. If your going to bang with the Big Boys you better be ready to get banged back. I think Holmes was more frustrated because Brown came off the bench and had a moment where they had no answer for him defensively. Now back to the game! Boone played fairly well, but missed key opportunities to pull ahead of Holmes. Holmes attacked the basket and pretty much owned the boards for a lot of offensive put backs. Cotton and Montgomery played limited minutes in the fourth due to foul trouble which did not help on the offensive end and in rebounds. I think Holmes was able to keep their top 3 dogs on the floor for a majority of the night which is very big for them because the depth is not strong off the bench. Regionals will be interesting.

If you fail to mention the dirty shoving and pushing and elbow shots to the back that JJ was doing underneath then you shouldn't mention this play at all. The refs probably saw this and that's why they allowed this to reach the level of the elbow shot. JJ at his size got well what any big man deserves when they try to play that style with Brown, intentional or not it's a wake up call for them to realize they can't just shove him around because he's a bigger player. Your opinion that Brown should have been ejected is just that, an opinion. If your going to bang with the Big Boys you better be ready to get banged back. I think Holmes was more frustrated because Brown came off the bench and had a moment where they had no answer for him defensively. Now back to the game! Boone played fairly well, but missed key opportunities to pull ahead of Holmes. Holmes attacked the basket and pretty much owned the boards for a lot of offensive put backs. Cotton and Montgomery played limited minutes in the fourth due to foul trouble which did not help on the offensive end and in rebounds. I think Holmes was able to keep their top 3 dogs on the floor for a majority of the night which is very big for them because the depth is not strong off the bench. Regionals will be interesting.

 

Have no problem with physical play, but at what point is it excessive? The elbow he threw was clearly with intent to inflict injury. IMO, that is excessive. I also think a double foul should have been called before the elbow was thrown. Both players were heating up. I have seen many times before where officials call a double foul, bring the players together and warn them that the garbage needs to stop. It usually does. Bottomline is that you can't just go throwing flagrant elbows because you are more of a man.

Have no problem with physical play, but at what point is it excessive? The elbow he threw was clearly with intent to inflict injury. IMO, that is excessive. I also think a double foul should have been called before the elbow was thrown. Both players were heating up. I have seen many times before where officials call a double foul, bring the players together and warn them that the garbage needs to stop. It usually does. Bottomline is that you can't just go throwing flagrant elbows because you are more of a man.

 

I agree...the only people who will not think that elbow was intentional are Boone fans. How a ref didn't see that, I have no clue. Also, lovethegame failed to mention that Brown was lowering his shoulder in to JJ's mid section while trying to post up. JJ finally started playing more physical and pushing back and Brown got frustrated and threw a haymaker of an elbow that caught JJ in the chest.

 

Also, while that was going on, a foul was called on Herndon on I believe Popp but yet Brown goes to the charity stripe and a foul is called on JJ? This was a few seconds after that scuffle and once the whistle was blown on Herndon was when the jawing started between Brown and JJ and the refs had to step in. After a ref stepped in, he discussed it with the two other refs and Brown ends up going to the line instead of Popp.

 

The refs were horrible both ways...plain and simple. They'd call a ticky tack foul one way and then let a clear hack go the other way.

 

Anyone who knows Coach Henley, knows that rarely does he say anything to an official...there were several occasions tonight where Henley was out on the floor during during timeouts giving the ref the business. That alone should tell you the officiating was horrible.

I agree...the only people who will not think that elbow was intentional are Boone fans. How a ref didn't see that, I have no clue. Also, lovethegame failed to mention that Brown was lowering his shoulder in to JJ's mid section while trying to post up. JJ finally started playing more physical and pushing back and Brown got frustrated and threw a haymaker of an elbow that caught JJ in the chest.

 

Also, while that was going on, a foul was called on Herndon on I believe Popp but yet Brown goes to the charity stripe and a foul is called on JJ? This was a few seconds after that scuffle and once the whistle was blown on Herndon was when the jawing started between Brown and JJ and the refs had to step in. After a ref stepped in, he discussed it with the two other refs and Brown ends up going to the line instead of Popp.

 

The refs were horrible both ways...plain and simple. They'd call a ticky tack foul one way and then let a clear hack go the other way.

Anyone who knows Coach Henley, knows that rarely does he say anything to an official...there were several occasions tonight where Henley was out on the floor during during timeouts giving the ref the business. That alone should tell you the officiating was horrible.

 

I agree they made some very odd calls and were very inconsistent. One example of their lack of focus and teamwork came on a Boone TO. The Boone coach asked the officials where they would have the ball coming out of the TO, and he was clearly told it would be under the basket. After they break the huddle, the official with the ball was waiting for a side out inbounds. Clearly, Boone had drawn up a play that was intended for an inbounds underneath, and their coaches got upset and the inbound spot was changed back to underneath. They (officials) just didn't seem to have their heads in the game.

I agree Roman Empire. Guess we shared the same point of view on this one.

 

As far as the game, this was clearly a game of halves.

 

Holmes came out and attacked the zone of Boone and they couldn't handle the size, athleticism, and quickness of the Dogs. Boone struggled to rebound with Holmes which led to a lot of put backs and easy baskets underneath.

 

Second half, Boone stepped up the pressure of their zone which forced Holmes to start settling for jumpers. Holmes couldn't hit anything and that allowed Boone to get back in the game. They tried pressing Holmes but that wasn't very effective as Holmes was able to get the ball down the floor. I felt Holmes did a poor job once they get the ball down the floor though. Instead of atttacking and taking advantage of their numbers at the other end, they'd slow it down and let Boone set up their defense.

 

Early on, Earls was on fire and couldn't miss. I believe he had 6 of Boone's first 9 points. I was very impressed with his play all night. Anytime Boone needed a basket, he was there to come through. He definetly played up to his hype tonight.

 

Cotton also had a very nice two hand jam, and one, over Slusher. Foul trouble plagued him all night though which kept him from really contributing. He was over aggressive and got called for a few fouls that I'm sure he wishes he had back.

 

Speaking of Slusher, I'm not sure how many points he had but he played extremely well for Holmes tonight when he was in the game. Like Cotton though, foul trouble kept him from really getting going. He had several put backs and tip ins and also hit a jumper or two during Holmes' run.

 

For Holmes, Ricardo, JJ, and Elijah were the horses for the Dogs tonight. Rice didn't play much because of a few mental mistakes early on which forced those 3 to step up even more. Avery didn't score much, but he did a nice job defensively in place of Rice.

 

For Boone, it was pretty much their inside game of Montgomery, Earls, and Brown that kept them in the game. Pittman picked up his 3rd foul early in the 3rd quarter which forced him to be less aggressive and the Boone bigs definetly capitalized.

 

Overall, a very well played game and this could have been a preview of the 9th region championship. I don't see anyone beating either of these two teams when they play like they did tonight. Holmes has to do a better job finishing though. Up 13 early in the 3rd, they should have continued to attack the basket instead of getting complacent and shooting jump shots.

From nky.com:

 

Boone County (16-7) - Earls 8 4 20, Gabbard 2 5 10, Brown 3 2 8, Montgomery 3 1 7, Cotton 3 1 7, Popp 0 3 3, Lay 1 0 2. Totals 20 16 57.

 

Holmes (20-5) - R. Johnson 8 7 23, Pittman 5 4 14, J. Johnson 6 1 13, Slusher 5 1 11, Herndon 0 2 2. Totals 24 15 63.

 

Boone County 16 11 15 14 1 -57

Holmes 16 19 7 11 7 -63

 

3-pointers: BC 1 (Gabbard)

 

 

Other notable stats:

 

- Holmes out-rebounded Boone 40-26

- Ricardo Johnson finished with 23 points, 9 rebounds.

- Andy Earls finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds.

- Holmes was 0-15 from outside.

- Holmes with 4 in double figures is a very good sign for Holmes fans. Very balanced attack tonight.

No one is going to beat Holmes if they get out rebounded that badly.

Boone had the right game plan for Holmes. They just failed to box out many times, especially on the back side, and they allowed a lot of second chance stickbacks and tip-ins, especially in the first half. Rico shot pretty well for Holmes. Other than that, Holmes did not shoot well from outside. Cotton and Montgomery getting their 4th fouls in the late 3rd/early 4th quarters really hurt Boone.

 

I predicted a two point game. Can't get much closer than that in an OT game.

 

I still think that anything can happen in the regional tournament and that several teams will have a shot. Holmes will need to play better/more consistently if they are going to repeat in the state tournament. Either that, or Boone is a top 20 team... Holmes does not have the depth they had last year beyond the big 3 and maybe Slusher. Rice only played the first couple of minutes.

 

The turnover when Earls dropped the pass near half court with 2 minutes left in OT with Holmes leading by 2 turned the tide for good. Until then, it could have gone either way. Boone still had a prayer if they would have fouled immediately with 16 seconds left instead of waiting until 9 seconds.

I agree Roman Empire. Guess we shared the same point of view on this one.

 

As far as the game, this was clearly a game of halves.

 

Holmes came out and attacked the zone of Boone and they couldn't handle the size, athleticism, and quickness of the Dogs. Boone struggled to rebound with Holmes which led to a lot of put backs and easy baskets underneath.

 

Second half, Boone stepped up the pressure of their zone which forced Holmes to start settling for jumpers. Holmes couldn't hit anything and that allowed Boone to get back in the game. They tried pressing Holmes but that wasn't very effective as Holmes was able to get the ball down the floor. I felt Holmes did a poor job once they get the ball down the floor though. Instead of atttacking and taking advantage of their numbers at the other end, they'd slow it down and let Boone set up their defense.

 

Early on, Earls was on fire and couldn't miss. I believe he had 6 of Boone's first 9 points. I was very impressed with his play all night. Anytime Boone needed a basket, he was there to come through. He definetly played up to his hype tonight.

 

Cotton also had a very nice two hand jam, and one, over Slusher. Foul trouble plagued him all night though which kept him from really contributing. He was over aggressive and got called for a few fouls that I'm sure he wishes he had back.

 

Speaking of Slusher, I'm not sure how many points he had but he played extremely well for Holmes tonight when he was in the game. Like Cotton though, foul trouble kept him from really getting going. He had several put backs and tip ins and also hit a jumper or two during Holmes' run.

 

For Holmes, Ricardo, JJ, and Elijah were the horses for the Dogs tonight. Rice didn't play much because of a few mental mistakes early on which forced those 3 to step up even more. Avery didn't score much, but he did a nice job defensively in place of Rice.

 

For Boone, it was pretty much their inside game of Montgomery, Earls, and Brown that kept them in the game. Pittman picked up his 3rd foul early in the 3rd quarter which forced him to be less aggressive and the Boone bigs definetly capitalized.

 

Overall, a very well played game and this could have been a preview of the 9th region championship. I don't see anyone beating either of these two teams when they play like they did tonight. Holmes has to do a better job finishing though. Up 13 early in the 3rd, they should have continued to attack the basket instead of getting complacent and shooting jump shots.

 

This is the only complaint that I have with the way coach Henley coaches. Imo he takes this team's momentum away by trying to force them to run a set offense when he should let them try to bury a team. If you go back and look at games where they have had large leads they seem to give it up running a set offense. This team is not the 08/09 team because it doesn't have the same set of guards to handle the ball. He seems to be very stubborn in his approach of the offensive sets. They don't seem to have any type of high/low offense to get open foul line jump shots. Everything seems to evolve around the 3 pt line. Ricardo and EP both are capable of posting guys up drawing the defense and kicking it out but you never see this done with these guys, jmo.

Ricardo Johnson's elevation on his jumper is a thing of beauty.