Handy Manny

With the exception of Liechty (because I do not know for sure) all of the above players could have played college ball at some level. I know for a fact that each of them turned down opportunities to play. Whether it was the school, the distance, the financial obligation, or the level of play the opportunity and talent were both there.

It's good to see Mr. Kunstek's name in the box score. He is going to be a nice player over the next couple of years.

If the devil is truly working on his game, will there be any eligibility issues with the NCAA?

No ofense Clyde. I love the intense style of play. Bobby Stauffer is one of my favorites, but you have to be able to flip the switch. Draw the foul, don't get the foul.

THe difference I see is that another player isn't getting illegaly shoved in the chest in one situation. I am all for seeing Carter play with more fire and intensity. He is a great player and in my opinion should of been on the floor more last year, but there are better ways to get recognized and be a leader. I am not sure you want to put I led the team in technicals on your resume.

Not only is Chris Hayes listed, but at 5 under Burger. I personally think Jack Jennings should be added to this list.

Hedger has a tremendous upside. He is tall and thick and will most likely get bigger. His skill set was limited going into the past summer. He improved greatly over the course of the AAU season. He worked with some past Bulldog players and spent alot time in the gym. He has drive and determination. This will carry him a long way. I have heard that he had a pretty successful June with the Dixie team as well. I honestly think that he will contribute considerably at the freshman level and may see some JV late in the season. Dixie should be loaded this year and I don't see alot of their incoming freshman seeing too much varsity if any.

Who was the other tall kid. Was it Niehaus?

To whom it may concern. I consider myself to be very close to the Conner team. As unfortunate and dissapointing as this season may have been it is now water under the bridge. I know these kids, I know they played hard and I honestly believed that Coach Hicks wanted to win. There were several hundred people in the stands that all have their ideas of what needed to be done to win, but the bottom line is that it was up to the team and coaching staff and not anyone else. The players were sadened, the parents were sadened, and so was the coaching staff. Conner happens to be in one of the toughest districts in the region and it would have been just as upsetting had Ryle not advanced. I understand emotions are high because this really was a good group who didn't get the regional experience in their careers. Hopefully the players gain strength from this and the future Cougars do well. I will continue to be a fan.

That's why you play the game and hope the refs don't try to decide the outcome. I would never believe it was intentionaly called wrong, but very unfortunate for Cooper.

It is Bobby Stauffer at Ryle, who does have DI potential. NCC beats Ryle in regualr season 65 - 61. There is no way Gielsner dominates Stauffer.

Cooper is so improved. It would not have surprised me at all to have seen them pull that out. They are very well coached. They play to their strengths and it works. The 33rd. just gets tougher from now on.

Very sad for the guys who played their last high school game tonight. No one wants to go out like that. Disappointing end to a disappointing season.

Very poor second half performance by the Cougars. Congrats to the Ryle team and Coach Mullins on advancing. Bobby Stauffer is a stud. I will argue with anyone who disagrees. Todd Vollet is one of the most under appreciated players in NKY. He does the dirty work that can easily go unnoticed. He has quick hands, can hit the jumper, and is always in the right place for a big board. I wish them the best. As a Conner fan. I can only say that it is very sadening for the 7 seniors. I know for a fact that they wanted to win that game. Effort and execution are too different things. They failed to execute and not until they were down 20 with 4 minutes left did i see lack of effort. Conner got a good game from Taylor Miller who has been a question mark this year and split alot of minutes with several other guys. Brandon Ernstes played hard. He is a football player playing basketball. He does what he can and plays with heart. Jacob Flesch played hard. He saw every lane cut off after he lit the Raiders up for 18 last game. They focused on stopping his penetration. Clay Robinson played hard. He is not the banger that Bobby is and his shot wasn't as on as it has been, but he has been Conner's only consistent scorer this year. Jordan Liechty continued to do what he does. He gets to the basket and draws fouls and then knocks down the free throws. Austin Way and Tyler Hodges both did what they could. Austin was undersized and couldn't get his shots to fall. When he is on he is a difference maker. Hodges didn't really get started in this one. I honestly feel like he should have started the game, but I am not the coach. Good luck in the future Cougars.

Wasn't the Scott loss to Dixie in the Kenton County Classic tournament? If so then they would each have 1 loss in the conference with Scott winning the head to head.

You guys are right. The tech was on Robinson. I remember now. My brain may have been trying to block out the agony of the second half of that game.

Brady was guarding Hodges at times. He did a great job of taking him out of his game. Some of the pushing and shoving may had been called fouls if there wasn't such a size difference. I give him credit for getting in Hodges head and making him a non factor. Hodges played very limited minutes. He couldn't connect on his shots and was mentally frustrated the entire game. He picked up a technical for shoving Hightchew. He would make nice plays and follow them up with bad ones. He is so much better than that. He needs to learn to play through an off shooting night or a mistake here or there. I know I have read this before and I have to mention it, but I thought Giesler could have had about 8 to 10 fouls called on him last night. He comes down with tomahawk blocks on anyone in the lane. Now I know some of them are clean, but my experience with officials is whenever you you swat at the ball they tend to get whistle happy. One time Giesler came down and caught Flesch in the head for a no call. I have just seen this picked on so much it really surprised me how physical he plays and manages to stay out of foul trouble, but hey you have to play the way they are calling the game.

NCC started off the game on a 6 - 0 run and it looked bad for the Cougars in the first minute, but they battled back to make it 26 to 29 at half. Robinson had 15 and Flesch had 11 at this point. Hightchew was giving Hodges fits. At one point he literaly backed Hodges from under the basket to the sideline. The scoring drought for the rest of the Cougars continued in the third. NCC began to focus defensively on Flesch and Robinson and went on 16-0 run and finished the third quarter 23 - 3. Conner's only third quarter points came off of an Austin Way 3 late in the quarter. Conner just failed to hit shots and then failed to get back on D and gave up easy buckets and open triples. Very very poor quarter. The game was over at this point. NCC extended the lead to 29 at one point in the fourth and the rest of the Conner scoring came in garbage time against the New Cath JV. This was a very sad senior night performance for the Cougars. I give props to Clay Robinson and Jacob Flesch who played their tails off and never gave up on the game.

It seems like the successful teams are playing a more uptempo style of ball. Holmes and Tichenor both win in the 8th grade games last night.

I see where you are coming from, but I think the lack of success by the Conner team as a whole has dimished the perception of the individual players. As has been stated, Conner needs their top three to be on together with some help from Liechty. This hasn't happened very much. When it does, everyone looks better and is attributed with the success.

Ryle doesn't have a guard better than Jacob Flesch. Ryle rests on Stauffer. Perkins , Mullins, and Vollet are all solid, but in the big games that team goes as Stauffer does. Robinson and Hodges for Conner are not the strong inside force that Vollet and Stauffer are, but provide alot in their own rite. If Hodges, Robinson, and Flesch are all on at once Conner can beat anyone in NKY.

Even in the loss last night Conner looked better. They were moving the ball like a team in the end of the season should. However, Hayes and Gray were not on the court and this would have changed things considerably. Still there was life in the players and the coaches. Obviously no one has given up yet.

There is more than one way to work and play. You can work and play smarter and not harder. That may be Conner's problem. losing the mental game. I am sure there is not one player on that team that comes to the game to lose, but they may not know what it takes to win. I agree with Clyde that good guard play = high chance of winning. Conner starts three guards. (Flesch, Miller, Liechty) They need three guards to come and play. If they do not feel comfortable handling the ball or don't know what to do with it, then put someone in that does or better yet, play to your strengths and put in the bigs. Force teams to deal with your size. IMO this team settles too much on the 3 point shot. I would like to see them get more movement in their offense to open up lanes for penetration and for the big guys to go to work. If they can get one on one matchups with Robinson and Hodges, they can win those.

I really hope no one has given up on the season. I am really close to some of the players and I do not get a feel that they have given up and it would be hard to believe that a coaching staff has. Like you said one win in districts and the door opens. That will be a hard win, but it is possble. Being close to the Conner program I hated the number 1 ranking, but there is absolutely no excuse for the way this season has gone. I can't speak for who plays and how much, but being a fan and watching the games I get a feel for the team. This team has never found their leader. Robinson has been their biggest scorer, but no true leader. I believe it could have easily been Flesch, but he didn't seem to embrace that role. At this point, nothing counts until districts. Work , work, work, and work some more.

As bad as Conner has looked this year they are still extremely dangerous. My money would be on Holmes to win this game, but I honestly can see the Cougars pulling off the win. Holmes will press, but if Conner can break the press they should be able to get easy baskets with their size and speed. Conner actually is really athletic. Conner struggled with the Holy Cross press, but I am hearing that Flesch may have the flu and since he seems to be the only ball handler that can really take its toll. Conner will need to get more people involved and get solid games from Hodges, Robinson, and Flesch. So far this season, Robinson has been the only consistent scorer. THe holmes guards may cause matchup issues. Conner may need to play zone and hope it is an off shooting night for the Bulldogs.