Final from New Castle.

Who slowed it down?

Both, and their poor shooting. Great Game!

Two tenacious defenses. Kind of figured this one wouldn't be a high scoring affair. Congrats to both teams for laying it all on the line in an emotionally-charged game (every game at this time of year is emotional, but this one added the subplot of Oldham coach Jason Holland, who two years ago was the head man at Henry...and of course, it was played on Henry's home court).

 

Kudos to both squads and good luck to the Colonels in the finals.

Two tenacious defenses. Kind of figured this one wouldn't be a high scoring affair. Congrats to both teams for laying it all on the line in an emotionally-charged game (every game at this time of year is emotional, but this one added the subplot of Oldham coach Jason Holland, who two years ago was the head man at Henry...and of course, it was played on Henry's home court).

 

Kudos to both squads and good luck to the Colonels in the finals.

 

Congrats to Coach Jason Holland. Met him at the 10th region tourney Saturday scouting.

I know the defenses were great but..............what has happened to teams' scoring come tournament time? As they say, offense sells tickets and defense wins championships. I know coaches want the kids to value every possession, but the game would be more exciting in my opinion if the games were more up and down with more scoring.

I know the defenses were great but..............what has happened to teams' scoring come tournament time? As they say, offense sells tickets and defense wins championships. I know coaches want the kids to value every possession, but the game would be more exciting in my opinion if the games were more up and down with more scoring.

 

Mr. A - I think this was a more emotional game than your average regional semi-final. With it being on Henry County's home court, the home town fans were out in force... Holland was the Henry coach two years ago... the two teams played a very, very close ballgame during the season... Besides the emotion, you also had the styles of play involved. Oldham, under Holland, has focused primarily on being as good of a defensive team as they can be first and foremost. And Henry, which has some talented players, knew that Oldham had better athletes, and that an up-and-down game wasn't exactly to their benefit....

 

So - while poor shooting certainly contributed tonight - I think the intensity level was such that this was almost certain to be a low-scoring affair. I think the intensity contributed greatly to the poor shooting.

I know the defenses were great but..............what has happened to teams' scoring come tournament time? As they say, offense sells tickets and defense wins championships. I know coaches want the kids to value every possession, but the game would be more exciting in my opinion if the games were more up and down with more scoring.

 

Colonel Mike gave you a better answer than I'm going to, just so I get that out of the way.

 

To the bolded, why would any coach care how exciting the game is? You play the game to win. What's a coach to do at halftime, come in and say, "Boys I know we're up two in the regional tournament, but I got the sense some fans were a little bored. We need to get up and down more in the second half and start jacking up shots as quickly as you can get one. We may not win, but we need to make this thing more exciting."

The score was 1-0 halfway through the first quarter. Both teams up and down the floor, and the track meet ensued. I was very impressed by the speed of Henry County's Baldwin and Williams. Oldham County sat their leading scorer Dylan Henderson for most of the second quarter, but I only had him with 1 foul. Not sure why?? Great game to call. Henry County will be a force in the 31st for the next couple of years. Congrats to Coach Holland and the Colonels who found themselves down 7 at the start of the 4th quarter and then doubled their point output for the 34-32 win. Coach Holland has always been great to work with dating back to his first year at Henry which was our first year broadcasting. Going from 11 wins last year to now on the verge of 25. Best of luck to him and the Colonels tonight against Spencer County.

The score was 1-0 halfway through the first quarter. Both teams up and down the floor, and the track meet ensued. I was very impressed by the speed of Henry County's Baldwin and Williams. Oldham County sat their leading scorer Dylan Henderson for most of the second quarter, but I only had him with 1 foul. Not sure why?? Great game to call. Henry County will be a force in the 31st for the next couple of years. Congrats to Coach Holland and the Colonels who found themselves down 7 at the start of the 4th quarter and then doubled their point output for the 34-32 win. Coach Holland has always been great to work with dating back to his first year at Henry which was our first year broadcasting. Going from 11 wins last year to now on the verge of 25. Best of luck to him and the Colonels tonight against Spencer County.

 

Williams was quite a gift from the state of North Carolina. Baldwin runs the court as well as any in the 8th region and is perhaps one of the most overlooked players in the 8th. Lack of size hurts Henry tremendously, but they more than make up for it by being physical, aggressive, and fearless. Springate has done a tremendous job with this group - frankly, surprised they didn't win more games. He had them playing very well in the end.