Final

 

Game never in question. Balanced scoring by Birds. Lewis led with 11, Stewart 9, Dean 9, Turner 5

 

Crowley named All tourney.

Birds improve to 4-4 heading into next week's AIT.

It should be mentioned that Whitley Co definitely won the dunk contest in warm ups. Several of their players could elevate including a kid around 5'10 who did a 360. Unfortunately it seemed to doom them as they couldnt hit a shot for the life of them and most of them were short. They also struggled from the FT line but was very impressed with their leaping ability in warmups.

It should be mentioned that Whitley Co definitely won the dunk contest in warm ups. Several of their players could elevate including a kid around 5'10 who did a 360. Unfortunately it seemed to doom them as they couldnt hit a shot for the life of them and most of them were short. They also struggled from the FT line but was very impressed with their leaping ability in warmups.

 

Christian County looked good coming off the bus as well:D

Well done boys.

Played two teams in that tournament that I am sure knew who the Birds were due to the beatings they took in football playoffs over the past few years in Lincoln Co and Whitley Co.

Considering the Birds seemed to be short-handed the entire tourney I'd say they had a good run.

Considering the Birds seemed to be short-handed the entire tourney I'd say they had a good run.

 

Monday- No Stewart or Crowley lost to Lincoln Co (who got 3rd place in tourney) by 9

Tuesday- beat Conner by 10 without Towles but with Stew and Crowley (Lewis had 15)

Wed- best game of the tourney for them as they were down 7 at half and rallied to win by 3. Crowley hit big 3 pointer to put them up 1 with 15 sec left. No Towles. Stewart had like 25 in this game and Crowley had 15. They combined for 40 of the 67.

Thurs- sluggish game, all the kids legs were tired but they led entire game. Got up by 10 and WC could only cut to 3 at best. No Towles

 

They played with 10 kids the entire tournament while most other teams had 12-15 kids on their bench.

 

Things that I saw and liked. Stewart still not 100% IMO but he is rejecting shots, nice touch around the goal and draws double teams all the time. Sitting recently has hurt is conditioning. Next week's AIT (3 games in 3 days) should help with that. Crowley is a scorer on the floor and can shoot the 3 well. He also is a dyanamite FT shooter. Towles only played one game and was sick but he has nice drop step and adds strength inside. Lewis had a fantastic tournament, he is getting better every game and can shoot well when open and is nails from FT line. Dean also ran the show very well and can penetrate and get into the lane. He has a great little floater once he gets in there and avg like 8 pts a game. Egan can shoot the ball well but really needs to help on the boards more and play with more confidence. He can really hurt teams with his shot but doesnt always take it when he has it.

Bench play- True, the 6'5 frosh got a lot of minutes with Towles out and he played well. Turner and Witte both Sophomores came off the bench and provided nice minutes. Witte provides an offensive threat with his shot and Turner also is long and athletic and is coming out of his football rust. He actually had a very nice game yesterday off the bench against Whitley Co hitting a big 3 pointer to put them up 10 at one point. Carter New provides strength at the guard position but he was saddled with foul trouble this tourney. He made one of the best plays I have ever seen in the Lincoln Co game. Birds were full court pressing, he was guarding the ball out of bounds and the kid tried to throw over him. New leapt in the hair and just grabbed it with two hands, came down and layed it in. I thought he was out on the gridiron playing CB snatching interceptions after that play. McCoy didnt make the trip this week.

 

Next week I would expect them to be at full strength.

 

Crowley was named to All Tourney Team.