Eastern 54 Warren Central 51

[gold sunrise]

I was sitting 20 feet from the play - the ref closest to the play was screened from the play and should have asked for help from either of the other 2 refs. The ball bounced off the head of the Eastern player. We'll never know if that was a game changer.

 

#4 for WC played his heart out and overcame cramps in the final minutes.

 

Yes he did, that is George Fant, he is going to Western.

 

I too thought it went off the Eastern player. Great overall game by both teams. I too expected this to be a good game, but thought that Eastern would pull away in the 4th.

[Jim Schue]

Riley said afterward that Fant was under the weather, and had been receiving treatment before today. "Sick as a dog, and could still give more," he raved.

[tcjkbt]

Is this the type of game that will propel Eastern to the championship?

[MNCM]

Yes he did, that is George Fant, he is going to Western.

 

I too thought it went off the Eastern player. Great overall game by both teams. I too expected this to be a good game, but thought that Eastern would pull away in the 4th.

 

From upper arena it looked as if the ball went off the Eastern player as well. This game was all that it was hyped up to be. Great win by Eastern.

[DragonFire]

If you'd like to see the out of bounds play:

 

Looked more like it was off his shoulder. It was an awful call, and truly everyone in the arena knew it but him. Or maybe he thought he was wrong but didn't change it. Oh well, it happens. I'm sure calls went our way as well. It wouldn't have happened had they called the out of bounds right, but Shanklin double dribbled IMO on the final play.

 

George spent some time in the ER either earlier this week or over the weekend. Didn't seem to be a big deal in the first half, but once Eastern doubled him, he seemed gassed in the second half. Shanklin really picked the Dragons up. I really thought they were going to win this one, and they were competitive as they always are up there.

 

One painful stat though, the Dragons have never defeated a 7th Region team in the Sweet 16. 0-5.

[JokersWild24]

Fant was the best player on the floor I thought. His game has improved tremendously since I last saw him last year in the Sweet 16. Shanklin is a great pg as well. I enjoyed watching him once again as well.

 

I wish I could have seen Behanan and Fant head to head.

 

You may be able to if you search the ihigh.com database. I watched the fourth region championship game there. There's a good chance it's still in their archives.

[FatNate]

Better game than I expected. It was the highlight of the day, also. I was impressed with Fant and Shanklin. Eastern is very talented, but high school basketball can be very unpredictable. They will have to play better to win the tournament.

[Clyde]

No way for the other 2 to override the call. Watch the replay. James Pouncy is watching 4 guys under the basket. Tim O'Hara is back watching the other 4 or 5 players.

[Ranger]

Warren Central was much better than I expected. Obviously the best game of the day but IMO, the two best teams in Rupp today. This dunk was ridiculous.

 

[southernkyhoops]

This is the end of the Warren Central era in the 4th region. Could be ten years before we hear from them again. I know the Moss middle team was very good a couple of years ago but they haven't developed like I thought they would. Bowling Green and Glasgow seem to be the teams to beat in the next few years.

[DragonFire]

Ten years? Dream on. But then, we never see eye to eye. Sometimes (OK, lots of times) I think you do it just to try and get under my skin. Last year you were pretty confident Central wasn't even going back this year. Didn't Warren Central win the freshman district over Bowling Green and their celebrated freshman class? The Dragon freshmen went 14-1 and their only loss was to Bowling Green. I don't know what the JV did, but they typically wreck their competition.

 

Ten years would rank as a record drought for Warren Central aside from their initial 13 years. Once they started winning titles, they've never gone more than 9 without a title.

 

I think Glasgow has a window of one year. They have 9 seniors next year. Win it then, or add even further to the 34 year drought. But I absolutely think they'll win it next year.