Could a mod please start a poll?

 

Added it for you.

I am a contrarian by nature so I will admit when I am wrong if it happens. I absolutely love Dixie in this game. Have much respect for LC but they were third choice for many in the 11th before this thing started (Scott Co and Tates Creek) and now they are a juggernaught? Dixie's guard play will whip the LC press. The Bigs run the floor well and can score. Have 4 guys that can score and maybe 5 if #1 ever got a chance. OK subs, but all you want out of #45 is to rebound. LC has been there, but I like Dixie by 6.

 

Dixie 58-52.

 

Side note: I have absolutely no problem with Dixie celebrating as they did. Enjoy it. If LexCath won in a thriller, I doubt they would have been so subdued in the handshake line.

We all know how those other predictions turned out!

 

They turned out pretty good SK football only lost 3 games!

They turned out pretty good SK football only lost 3 games!

 

I'll be the first to say congrats to the SK football squad and have no problem saying so! Having said that, read your post again and if you still don't get it, stick to predicting football and not basketball.....remember your famous quote, "ENOUGH SAID". Go Colonels!

Dribbledrive11 is absolutly correct! He nailed it right on the head.I have watched Catholic play all year.If you want to beat Catholic do 2 things. First of all beat the press by passing and not dribbling. Salsman will not take it of no matter how many layups you shoot. If you dribble against it ,Martin will anticipate (Best I have ever seen in H.S,) 3 out of 4 passs and he will kill you with steals. Again beat the press by passing the ball and keep it in the middle of the floor. Secondly give Beckham a clear path to the basket with his right hand and he will take it everytime like going over right tackle. One other must do is to keep the ball from Martin I would chase him the minute he comes across mid court and deny him all night. Keep a body on him when he is two passes away and make sure you block him out because he will kill you on the boards on both ends. If you havnt seen him play you should he is the smartest player you will ever see on a H.S. court. This Cath team if Martin is contained will have to win by shooting 3 pointers. I myself will take that every night going in against any H.S. team.

 

Hammerman, good first post. Welcome to the "fray".

LC will have their hands full with BHatt. He will love this big stage and I predict he will play very well and give LC fits.

Added it for you.

 

Thank you.

If Dixies Bigs stay out foul trouble and Hatton scores 30,Dixie by 6.

This is an interesting matchup. Just had the opportunity to see Dixie online, but they seem like the kind of team who can present match-up problems with Lexington Catholic.

 

I've seen Lexington Catholic play a total of three times in person and once online this year, and saw them multiple times last year as well. Taylor Martin will turn some heads in Rupp, very polished, solid all around game on a kid who could play at a decently high level if he wasn't already playing baseball for UK next season. Schuette is also a very solid player, whose probably somewhere in the 7th to 12th range if you're ranking the top individual players in the 11th.

 

 

As for ways I could see Dixie Heights presenting problems for Lexington Catholic:

 

The Trammel and Hatton combo should be able to handle the trademark Lex Cath pressure fairly well.

The Pike and Stansbury tandem on the interior having the length, strength, and athleticism to create problems on the interior.

The fact that Dixie appears to be a little deeper than LC on the bench.

 

 

As for ways I could see Lexington Catholic presenting problems for Dixie Heights:

 

Their experience playing in big time atmospheres, specifically for their seniors like Martin and Schuette who'll be playing on the big stage for the 3rd time in the past 4 seasons.

The potential that Seth Beckham brings to the table as a lock-down defender on the ball, especially if he's able to use his athleticism to take Hatton out of his element.

The chance that they catch fire shooting from the floor, especially if they shoot the three ball well.

 

Should be a very interesting game to say the least. I think this is one of the better first round match-ups as far as pairty goes (along with Eastern-Warren Central, Wayne County-Perry County Central, Rowan County-Daviess County, and Bell County-Marshall County), and I wouldn't be surprised to see this one go to the wire.

I haven't seen LC play, but based on the descriptions above and watching Dixie play, there are some things Dixie has to do.

 

They have to be smart and strong with their passes. They get lazy with their passes way too much. They have a tendency to lob the ball over top the defender, which results in numerous turnovers.

 

Pike needs to sag on defense instead of jumping his man at the top of the key. Too many silly fouls occur because of this, and they have to keep him out of foul trouble.

 

They have to crash the boards on offense. They stand around too much when a shot goes up. When they crash the boards, they become a much better team.

 

Lastly, they need to put guys on the block/lane when shooting foul shots to give theirselves a chance at offensive boards. They haven't done this all year, so I doubt they change this now. It's something that doesn't make sense to me.

Dixie by 3!

I think that this will be a great first round game.

If I am LC I use some of that length to defend Hatton. If you put Beckham on Hatton he will get to the hoop and score. He showed he can do that against Hightchew who is as athletic as Beckham. Hatton can drive, stop and pop in traffic and it makes it a little tougher if you have a 6'4 kid on him like Schuett. Although I can see them using that vaunted 1-3-1 as well to prevent Hatton's 3 pt ability.

Tri State Internet Sports Radio will be broadcasting the game starting at 7:00pm with our pregame show. You can access the game along with all of the games from the tournament at the front page of our website, TriStateInternetSportsRadio.com.