Jack of all Trades

They have really been in every game outside of the Walton game. Scoring has come from all over, but Finfrock has been the most consistent. Cain missed the last 2 or 3 games and is just getting back. I would not say that scoring so much is the issue, but having the patience to take "good" shots rather than rushing everything. As for last nights game, the officials played a very very big part in the final result. Do not like to say that much because I know how difficult it is to call games, but they let too many things go unchecked at one end and called similar type things at the other end. At the end of the day, this Highlands team is still a work in progress and I am sure many in NKY expected this to be a big big blowout.

I would certainly hope not as that would send a bad message throughout the entire Newport program. Then again after being taken to the mat by the Birds last night, Snapp may be having second thoughts on that.

I would not say that there is a grudge. I will say that "word" has passed among the association regarding this Highlands team. They are not playing football on the court, but I can tell you that several officials have made that comment during the course of a game and it is totally unprofessional and uncalled for. This team will proudly wear the moniker of "Bully-Birds" because they are not going to back down from anyone. The game to be honest really was not that physical, but I cannot tell you how many times Kyle Finfrock was fouled with the body and nothing was called. Dougherty was tripped on a drive to the basket and no call, however Davis tripped over his own feet and call was made. Covington was allowed to throw elbows anywhere and everywhere and nothing called all night long. In fact, he had 0 fouls. Thing is, many of these Highlands kids have played AAU basketball and are used to things getting a little physical, but when it is only called at one end of the court you now have issues. Highlands still has work to do as guys are still trying to find their roles on the team and coach keeps mixing lineups to try and find that right combination.

Okay. I was wondering because I heard that there were some issues last year with kids only being worried about their stats after the game rather than how the game was played.

You and the boys can load up the Big Red Tomato and go watch Hoge take on Hergott in a MAC game. Won't that be fun?

Nobody wants to offer anything up? Okay. Highlands came out in their usual fashion of rushing things and allowed Newport to get out to an early 8 to 10 point lead. Then in the 2nd quarter they started to ramp up the defensive pressure a little by forcing the ball out of Snapp's hands and Newport then struggled to score. Birds down 4 at break and have a drive to basket with about 4 seconds on clock and Dougherty is hammered on drive and bald headed official swallows his whistle. 3rd quarter is when things really get interesting as referees are appearing to be intimidated by the atmosphere as Covington has been hitting guys for 2 plus quarters with various cheap shots and nothing is called. There is then a loose ball on the floor and he decides to take a cheap shot at Dougherty and spineless official calls an intentional foul on Dougherty after he shoves Covington who gets away with another [rough] play. This little sequence inspires the Birds who rally to tie the game at 28 all in the early 4th quarter. Neither team can convert baskets or free thrown attempts and then Newport opens a 4 point lead only to see Highlands Cain drive to the basket for a score and then the "play of the night". Finfrock called for goaltending on a shot that is 3/4's of the way in the basket and appears to grab the net for fear of getting his feet taken out from under him by someone that was fouling him. To say the officials had a big impact on this game would be nothing but the truth. Both teams played hard and Newport tried their usual thuggery tactics, but this Birds team did not and will not back down. I said it earlier in the year that they will play hard and defense will create offense. Newport knows that they were in a game last night and that Highlands can certainly get them in the district tourney. On a side note, I truly believe that the referee's are looking for any little thing with this Highlands team because there are so many footballers playing. They are starting to get a little bit of a reputation which is bull. Their defensive style has been used by many of the top teams over the last several years and no one was saying anything to them, but every time something gets a little physical with this Birds team the officials are quick to talk to them and nothing is said to the other team.

So does Coach Vories have someone keeping stats for the middle school games now?

That is what good defense will do to you. I will let others chime in before I make any further comments because I do not want to sound like the Cooper guy in the NCC/Cooper game thread, but .......................................

Nah. Not doing that. Honestly have so much else going on in life that it never really crossed the mind. Not that big of a deal as he will still have the chance at this dream of playing college football at a pretty high level.

Really???? At least the group put in the work which is way more than I can say about a few others.

Bad parenting I guess you could say.

No I realize that the "hype" that surrounds some players does not go to others. I have posted Dougherty's highlights from this year on this site. Go take a look at them and then tell me he is not as good or better.

I do not want to be overly critical here, but the issue as I saw it is that there are sets run to try and get her free, however there are a couple of problems with that. One, there is no one else currently that can also step out and consistently knock down an outside shot which allows defenses to focus their efforts on taking the "3" ball away from her arsenal. Second, she does struggle a little to create her own shot which makes my first point even more critical. Thought Coffey showed signs last night of what they are going to need as the season progresses and that is a kid that gets the ball where it needs to be when it needs to be there and can knock down a shot when left open. Also kind of agree that the rotation is a little too big right now, but believe coach is looking for a few to hopefully separate themselves in the next few weeks. Love Barth's game for a frosh, but at times just needs to let things come to her and not try to force too much. When she does that she excels anywhere on the floor that you put her. Leigh is showing signs of being a dominant type player but needs to be more of an enforcer in the paint. Great kid that needs to find that "mean" streak on the court to let everyone know that the paint belongs to her.

How does Carlos Dunlap continue to get overlooked on all of these various all pro teams?

The answer to that would be yes. Believe that he attended a camp up there going into his junior or senior year and they were on him from the outset. Then once BYU came calling they won out. Beau can do very well at Ohio U.

So making this all star team is about having the longest field goal and longest punt or is it about the numbers you put up THIS year. The comments you make about kickoffs could be said about more kids in this state than you could ever imagine. Was there some sort of statistic that was maintained for that? How about the 2 kids that are currently ranked in the top 5 all time for career PAT's in the state of Kentucky? Both of these kids also had in excess of 50 consecutive PAT's in a row and one of them had 11 field goals this year. Honestly, I know what it is all about when it comes to the kicking game and gaining recognition. This summer go take a gander at the individual kicking statistics for the state of Kentucky and tell me how many times you see someone from Johnson Central and how many times you see one from Highlands.

From Highlands, I believe Evan Richardson is going to Rose Hulman, Bo Hebel and Nick Kendall still weighing options I believe. Jared Dougherty has picked up a really nice offer from Lindsey Wilson with several others still in pursuit.

My understanding that Smith from NCC may be attending TMC.

I will take Bo Hebel from Highlands over several of those lineman every day of the week.

Still do not understand the love for the kicker from Johnson Central. Perhaps someone could clue me in.

I would certainly hope so. If not, it sends a really bad message to the remainder of the kids on the team.

First time seeing Highlands since game number 1 of the season and have to say I was surprised at the number of 3's they took. Scored first 9 points of game on 3's to go up 9 to 0 and then continued to launch them as the game got away from them. Then when they needed to take them at end of game they were reluctant to shoot them. Notre Dame guard play was very good and they shot lights out from the field and the free throw line. A little disappointed in the effort put in by HHS given the good crowd and first varsity game in the newly renovated gym. Like RCC said, there is time to correct mistakes and continue to focus on the big prize at the end of they year.

Actually was kind of made tongue in cheek, but there is not an emoji for that. Simply was trying to reference what you did so eloquently in that there are these type of issues throughout NKY and the state for that matter each and every year. Seems to be getting worse to be honest because some parents are taping games at a young age and then using them for what exactly? It would appear that some do it so that there kids can have memories of their various athletic experiences and then there are others that do it to gather their kids stats and then get on here and brag about it. Have seen many a kid that dominated at the younger ages because of early growth only to sort of get left in the dust as they got older. There should never be a time when a middle school kid should be the brunt of this nonsense no matter where they attend school

No? It is the rag on Highlands correct? Perhaps I should start attending games and pick out all of the idiots from around NKY. Trust me there are plenty of them to go around and the parochial schools are by far the worst.

And Highlands is the only school that has these type of parents? I will answer that for you with a big no they are not. Simply find some of this stuff rather amusing to say the least. Every team in NKY has choir boys and the Highlands basketball program has a bunch of "bullies"