Lets look at the matchups in this one.

 

Dixie has tremendous guards in Trammel and Hatton. Trammel, the meistro has done an excellent job of distributing the ball to the Dixie players. Normally a scorer in the past he has taken on his role as the dime dropper and it has worked out for the Colonels. Hatton is just phenomenal as a scorer. He has such a cool demeanor under pressure and is a winner.

 

Stansberry is a long kid who is not only a nice offensive player but can defend as well. Pike is as athletic as they come and will be a load on the block. The keys for Dixie may be their bench play and whether or not they can keep Pike on the floor.

 

Highlands brings an entirely different team to BOK this week then the roster they put out there early in Dec when they traveled up Dixie Highway and lost by 20. Jack Stewart will be a tough matchup for the Colonels as I would expect them to have Pike matched up on Towles. Stansberry may get the task of guarding the 6'3 Crowley so this may free up Stew for a big offensive game.

 

Towles has been playing well and really had a nice game defending Geisler last night keeping him out of the paint all night. Geisler had to settle for jumpers but boy can he shoot for a big fella. Crowley has been nails offensively and has a ton of fun out there on the court. He is playing with so much confidence right now that I would expect a big game out of him as well. The key for Highlands will be the play of their guards Alex Dean and Ryan Egan. Dean has played well in spurts and Egan is a deadeye shooter who doesnt shoot enough. I think if Dean can play under control and Egan can knock down some open looks it will put more pressure on Dixie to defend all 5 players outside of slacking off a couple and focusing on Stewart/Crowley.

 

Should be a great game and I know Coach Flynn's preparation is 2nd to none for these games. He really had an excellent gameplan against NCC going after the soph Beuter and keeping Geisler out of the paint. He just ran into a buzzsaw with Hightchew having a career night.

 

I think its a low scoring game with Highlands shocking the best team in the 9th Region.

 

Highlands 47

Dixie 45

Dixie 62

Highlands 50

I think it will be a good game with Dixie winning by about 5 pts.

I don't think Highlands have enough scorers to beat Dixie. Dixie by 15.

Pulling for the Birds but I think Dixie wins this one by around 10...give or take a few.

 

Simply too much depth and too many weapons.

 

Score Prediction:

 

Dixie: 64

Highlands: 51

I don't think Highlands have enough scorers to beat Dixie. Dixie by 15.

 

Highlands will need to get scoring from Egan if they want to win this game. They cant rely on Stewart and Crowley to score 90% of their points. Towles will need to attack the offensive glass as well and hopefully get to double digits.

Other than beating St. Henry in the 1st game of the season, hasn't Highlands lost to every other team in the tournament at least once? I can't see them upsetting Dixie in the 1st round. Dixie 69- Highlands 55.

Other than beating St. Henry in the 1st game of the season, hasn't Highlands lost to every other team in the tournament at least once? I can't see them upsetting Dixie in the 1st round. Dixie 69- Highlands 55.

 

As Q stated, the team that will play Dixie this week and the one they saw in December are two different teams.

I'm sure that they are not the same team and no disrespect to the Bluebirds, but are they 15 - 20 points better than they were in December?

When you consider they played that game in Dec without Stewart and Crowley who lead them in scoring then yes. Both avg around 16 a game and combined for 51 of their 62 the other night.

It would be a huge upset but the first round of the region is the best possible time for the Birds to hook up with Dixie and have a chance to take them down. I look for a very close game.

Should be a good matchup but when playing on the open court @ BOK teams always seem to have shooting problems from the outside due to the open space behind the baskets. First games could be interesting because of this and inside play may be the road to victory for teams in the early round.

Dixie by 13.

When you consider they played that game in Dec without Stewart and Crowley who lead them in scoring then yes. Both avg around 16 a game and combined for 51 of their 62 the other night.

 

Quote from Coach Chevy on nky.com:

 

......Dixie coach Ken Chevalier said. "Right now, we’re just worrying about Highlands. We played them 10 days after they won the state football championship and they didn’t have their team ready and (Conor) Crowley and (Jake) Stewart didn’t play, so we’re going to see a brand new Highlands team."

Thank you Walter.