Final in the championship of the Berea Invitational.

What should 9th region teams take from this tourney title?

What should they take?

Probably that Holmes is the third best team in the 35th District at this stage.

Should this score be a concern to Holmes fans, or is Madison Southern better than many probably think?

What should they take?

Probably that Holmes is the third best team in the 35th District at this stage.

 

It's early a win is a win. Holmes as most teams are just trying to figure out who to play, how to play, and how to win. They are 5-1 playing a pretty solid

schedule. The 35th will sort itself out as we move on. It really doesn't matter if they are 1st or 4th best team right now. Just keep winning.

What should they take?

Probably that Holmes is the third best team in the 35th District at this stage.

 

3rd best? Based on what?

What should they take?

Probably that Holmes is the third best team in the 35th District at this stage.

 

Third best team?? Holmes fan or not, I find that hard to believe. By the time January rolls around and this YOUNG team gets a few more games under their belt, they will be very tough.

 

Let's not forget they were preseason #2 in the region. The year they had the Johnson Brothers and Pittman they only beat a bad Knox Central team by 5....has nothing to do with what they'll do in the region.

What should 9th region teams take from this tourney title?

 

Should this score be a concern to Holmes fans, or is Madison Southern better than many probably think?

 

Outside of Holmes, Somerset was the best team in this tourney. Holmes held a 21 point lead against them and then ended up winning by 11 or 12. Why the games with Estill and Madison Southern were so close, I have no clue.

 

I know Coach Booher likes to use these tourneys though as a way to get a lot of guys playing time and kind of get a better feel for what type of rotation to use. Haven't seen a box score, but I'm going to say a lot of kids played against both Estill and Madison Southern.

It's hard to tell from a tournament that all 4 teams play 3 games in 24 hours. How much did coaches rest players, are they in basketball shape, I don't know who

played football on these teams, Holmes probably didn't know these teams very well, you can't practice/prepare thoroughly for the last two matchups (none of the

teams)? Good job by the Bulldogs to win this tourney. The 35th district teams know each other well or will as the season progresses and you can bet the kids on

all those teams will play their best or be well prepared to when they square off.

Box Score:

 

MADISON SO. 10-17-9-23—59

HOLMES 20-11-13-17—61

 

MADISON SOUTHERN (2-4):Roberts 8 0 22, Alshear 8 0 17, Rothemel 3 0 8, Harris 2 3 7, McQuire 2 0 5. Totals 23 3 59.

 

HOLMES (4-1): Rice 6 2 16, Knox 3 5 11, Palmer 4 2 10, Coston 4 0 9, Englemon 3 0 6, Lewis 1 3 5, Martin 1 1 4. Totals 22 13 61.

 

3-pointers: Madison Southern- Roberts 6, Rothemel 2, Alshear, McGuire. Holmes- Rice 2, Coston, Martin.

 

Rice finished with 16 pts, 7 rbs.

Knox finished with 10 pts, 13 rbs.

Palmer finished with 10 pts, 6 ast.

 

Story from kypost.com:

 

....In the second game, Holmes held a 44-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Madison Southern connected on five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including three by senior guard Chris Roberts, to tie the score at 59.

 

After Lewis hit his two free throws to put Holmes back in the lead, Roberts missed a jumper at the buzzer.

 

Roberts finished with a game-high 22 points, draining six triples.

 

Rice led the Bulldogs with 16 points and had seven rebounds. Knox added 10 points and 13 rebounds, 11 of which came in the first half, and DaQuan Palmer had 10 points and six assists.

 

Rice, Knox, and Palmer represented Holmes on the all-tournament team.

 

The Bulldogs had opened the tournament Friday night by defeating Somerset, 71-60, behind 29 points from Rice

From all I can gather, Somerset had a bulk of their kids playing basketball for less than a week because of football.

 

I prefaced my first comment with "at this stage".

 

As of now, I would place Holy Cross and Cov. Cath. as the top two teams.

 

Holy Cross- The addition of the transfer from Cincinnati gives them a legit shot at the region title, because he offers them a low post presence. Holy Cross can put up a lot of points. They also have return quite a few players from last year's team.

Add a solid player in Campbell to go along with Beurger and company and you have a solid nucleus. Can they get enough stops? Their game at Scott this week should tell us some things.

 

Cov.Cath- They beat Boone last night coming off a hard fought loss in Falmouth. I have heard rave reviews of their point guard, who may be one of the best in the region. They will get after you. Thus far they have played fairly well against a solid schedule. Do they have enough perimeter shooting?

 

Holmes- At this stage, if you are a Holmes fan you have to be somewhat concerned about their scoring/shooting. They have potentially the best player in the region, because very few players have the skill set and size of Dontel Rice, but he is going to have to want to be the best player and Holmes needs him to be that if they want to make a run at the region.

Coach Booher's style will put a lot of pressure on opponent's guards, but Holmes misses that guard on offense that can break you down and score at the basket. I have no doubt as the year progresses that they will get better.

 

Getting that one seed this year will be very important. Aren't the districts at Holy Cross?

All legit points Lee, and I agree but let's see how Holmes does through December then judge how Holmes stacks up against nky.

 

At this point Dontel Rice is averaging 20 and 10 a game. Hard to argue his effort. I understand where you're coming from but look at the game by game progression of both Palmer and Coston...and even more important, Knox. As Englemon progresses, so will this team.

Outside of Holmes, Somerset was the best team in this tourney. Holmes held a 21 point lead against them and then ended up winning by 11 or 12. Why the games with Estill and Madison Southern were so close, I have no clue.

 

I know Coach Booher likes to use these tourneys though as a way to get a lot of guys playing time and kind of get a better feel for what type of rotation to use. Haven't seen a box score, but I'm going to say a lot of kids played against both Estill and Madison Southern.

The difference in the Somerset game vs. Estill and Madison Southern was the shooting. Holmes was absolutely lights out from behind the arc against Somerset. Not so much vs. the other 2. If Holmes would have shot against Somerset like they did against the other 2 teams then the SHS vs Holmes game may have had a different outcome IMO.

I wasn't very impressed with Holmes at all. Southern does have one really good player in the Abshear kid, and Roberts is a streak shooter. Southern actually out worked Holmes, but the better team won. Other than maybe Model, Southern in the worst team in the 11th region so I think Holmes will struggle against solid teams.

I wasn't very impressed with Holmes at all. Southern does have one really good player in the Abshear kid, and Roberts is a streak shooter. Southern actually out worked Holmes, but the better team won. Other than maybe Model, Southern in the worst team in the 11th region so I think Holmes will struggle against solid teams.

 

I'd have to disagree with this. Right now Holmes' biggest problem is they are streaky and lack consistency, regardless of competition. This will get better as the season progresses. Of the kids who play regularly, 3 are seniors (Knox, Rice, Martin), 3 are juniors (Coston, Palmer, Englemon), and 1 is a sophomore (Herndon).

 

From an outsiders' view, it seems as if Holmes has experience...in reality, Knox and Rice are the only ones who saw mins last year throughout the entire year. While talented, Palmer didn't start and see a lot of mins until Mayfield went down with a season ending knee injury last year. Coston didn't see the floor until mid season. Englemon didn't see the floor until Peterson quit in the middle of the year. Martin was virtually a JV only player last year but because of his work ethic and commitment over the summer to get better, he has worked his way in to the rotation. And even though Lewis is a senior and sees some time, he quit last year so is still learning the "system."

 

This team will be fine. I'm not worried about a few early season games where they simply didn't shoot well and knock down open shots.