Black Jack

Can anyone tell me if the Corbin/Eastern game scheduled for Wednesday night @ 8:00 will be on T.V.? What channel? What time?

This may be somewhere else on BGP's but will the Corbin/Eastern game be on T.V. Wednesday night? What time? What station?

That 8th. grader would be Jared Barton. I look for him to be one of the best pitchers in the region. Williamsburg should be a contender this year with Junior Ryan Moses and Seniors Jacob Teague & Brandon Conlin. Rob Ledington's leadership will certainly raise the Colonels to a new level of play. It should be an interesting season in the 13th.

Great win for the Jackets. Both teams played well but the Jackets managed to pull it all together and play like they should have been playing all year. I'm glad I came out to watch this one. It was senior night and they gave a good send off to their senior players. Strange turned in a good performance for the Lions but I don't think Coach Strange went home happy.

I heard a rumor, one that hope isn't true....Has anyone heard that Lebanion, Powers, and a couple of other players from Whitley have left the team? This may be old news for some but it was new to me. The last time I watched them play Lebanion & Powers were still on the floor. Both these players are assets to Bakers squad. I was looking forward to a rematch with South during District.

I thought that Jacob Lowrie had a great game against North Laurel. If he continues to step up his game Whitley could do very well in the District. I believe if the team comes in ready to play their best that they can give South a run for their money this year. Let's all hope Lebanion has recovered by then.

Run-of-the-mill teams have a way of upsetting teams who underestimate them. Whitley nor Williamsburg have anything to lose come district time. Everyone assumes that Corbin & South are the main contenders. If either the Colonels or the Jackets go into District with their heads on straight and play good games they could send Corbin or South to the house early this year. I wouldn't dare underestimate Whitley.

Sorry Earnit08, no disrespect intended but that not the way that I saw it last night. Taylor tried to drive in between 2 SL players and make the last minute basket and lost the ball. Let's say that he had made it past those 2 defenders, what was he going to do about St. John? I think that this was a shot that would have worked better being taken from the outside. You have to look at the situation. In the Whitley game, during the last seconds of regular play, when one of the guards tried to drive in between Whitley's players to take the last second shot, going inside was the right play but the wrong person tried to execute the play. The ball should have been passed off to a more open teammate on the inside. Last night, Taylor didn't have a chance of making a play inside because he had 2 defenders on him and of course St. John was waiting if he somehow got past those 2. He should have passed the ball off to a more open teammate (Cunningham or Terry) and let one of them try for the outside shot. Williamsburg must start playing together more as a team and keep it up for an entire game. There is no room for selfish play in basketball. College coaches will look for good shot selection, assists, the ability to work well with others, and many other things besides just points scored. Taylor had a good game. I'm not taking anything away from him last night but Williamsburg's guards have got to buy into the team concept if the Jackets are to have success this year.

I think that SL got alot of no calls during the game. The no-calls weren't so much on handchecking although South did play a little more physical against Whitley. However, I agree with whoever posted earlier about South not playing as physical as Corbin. Last night I saw one SL player walk almost everytime he handled the ball and once St. John blocked a shot from Teague (I think) and pushed him to the ground in the process. I don't think that it was a foul but it should have been a jump ball because both players had their hands on the ball.

I'm not taking anything away from St. John. I'm just saying that it appears that he is shown some favoritism due to the fact that he was the only player from both sides that the Ref's continually made contact with on a personal level throughtout the game last night. If they want to appear impartial then they need to refrain from that sort of socializing.

Sorry about that...you are right, Mikey has really stepped up this year and become a huge asset to the Colonels. No offense intended just having a senior moment. I also forgot Josh Smith and Aaron Manns. Has either of them been approached by anyone yet?

Enjoyed the post, Thomas Magnum. The 3-point shot most definitely hit the guide wire. I saw it myself vibrating after the shot. The Ref’s might have missed it hitting the guide wire but there is no way they could have not saw that wire moving. Coach Robinson and most of the Williamsburg side were pointing at it swaying. I will be the first to admit that I think Williamsburg tends to be a little whiney when it comes to calls but they have a few legitimate gripes concerning tonight’s game. The 3-point shot that hit the guide wire is one and the lack of calls against SL is another. I do not like the fact that the Ref’s would go over to St. John and pat on him during the game. This happened on more than one occasion and it does not look right. Tonight’s game was really enjoyable and I thought both teams played well. The Jackets are playing together more as a team. This should make the District tournament very interesting if they can keep up the teamwork. I liked the addition of the Hoffman kid to the lineup but I would have liked to have seen another big man in the game. A question…..Has anyone heard if St. John has been approached by any colleges yet? What about any other players in our surrounding area? Josh Crawford, Jamie Lebanion, Mike Crawford, Jacob Teague, Aaron Cunningham, Jonah Mitchell, Cody Miller?

Any thoughts? I'm looking forward to seeing how Williamsburg will handle St. John. He was a powerful force when he was in the game Friday night.

I didn't see the game (Whitley was playing) but from reading the posts and the paper it sounds like Williamsburg gave Corbin a good game during the 1st. half but that past bad habits reared their ugly heads during the 2nd. half. I'm glad to see the ball being passed inside more. I never understood why this wasn't the plan from the get go. It's like South not passing the ball inside to their big man. I'm not compairing St. John, Pettit, and Teague so don't anyone start on me. I'm just saying that it is wise to use the advantages that you have. I don't like the fact that a player shoved his own teammate who was trying to help him out. There is no place for that on the floor or on the team.

I am looking forward to watching these 2 teams match up Friday night. Lebanion, Crawford, Storms, and Akins are playing well at the moment and should be able to give South a good game. Matt St. John, as always, is a huge threat and is also playing well. Any thoughts?

I think that if Williamsburg can put defenders on Madison Johnson and Josh Smith that will at least hinder their outside shooting ability, go inside as much as possible with the hopes of getting Manns & Crawford in foul trouble, and take care of the ball by making good, solid passes then Williamsburg might be able to hold Corbin to a 10 point win. Taylor & Cunningham can match up with Johnson & Smith, Teague with Manns, and Pettit on Crawford. I would like to see the Hoffman kid in the line-up. I like his quick style of play. I think the end score of this game will come down to what type of ball Williamsburg plays. If they come out playing selfishly and taking bad shots, Corbin will dominate the night. If they come out playing together and smart they could make this a decent game.

I think that this one will go to the Hounds but by how much depends on which Williamsburg team shows up to play. If the Jackets show up ready to play as a team and stops the selfish type of play that they displayed during the Whitley game then they could make Corbin work for the win. But if the Jackets play out of control, take bad shots, and the guards do not play defense then Corbin will win by as much as they choose. I would like to see more of the Hoffman kid from Williamsburg. From what I saw the brief time he was in a game he has the ability to help especially on defense. I noticed in yesterday's paper that Williamsburg has 3 of the top 10 scorers in the Region ( Cunningham & Teague were tied for 2nd. and Taylor was 8th.). Add Pettit and Hoffman to the mix and I think that they could give Corbin a decent game. Williamsburg is a team that no one should ever under estimate until a couple of minutes into the game when enough time has past to see which team showed up to play.

I know the coach from NCC and the team will be ready for SK! The outcome of this game may surprise a few.

Having scored 26 in the game is not a reason to have a player take a last minute shot when he isn’t open. You could apply the same reasoning for taking the shot from the inside considering that Teague scored 31 against Lynn Camp and he made all but a couple of his shots last night. And yes, had Cunningham not scored 26 Williamsburg would have lost by more but had Terry not scored 19 or Teague 17 Williamsburg would have also lost by more than 7. It's this "one player can do it all" mentality that hurts Williamsburg the most.

If this is true, maybe the fact that the guards had been shooting all night, and it would be expected that Cunningham would try to get the last shot off, was the basis behind the thought process when the coach decided to run a play to get the big men open and have one of them go for the last shot. I’m sure that Baker had his defense ready for Cunningham to shoot and that is why they collapsed on him as he went in for the shot.

No disrespect taken and you are correct about the free throws, many were missed, but I saw the last 13 seconds differently, the guard drove inside and at least 3 defenders collapsed on him. There was no way that he was going to get off a decent shot and he didn’t either time. Maybe I would see it differently had not both big men been open and he didn’t have a choice but to shoot. IMO Williamsburg does not utilize their size advantage to the fullest. I don’t want to be bashing any players, both teams played well and a rematch at District could go either way.

I watched this game and Williamsburg came out hot playing great ball until the 4th. quarter when bad shots and selfish ball allowed Whitley to get back in the game. Mikey Storms played a great game and stepped up when Whitley needed a boost. Jamie Lebanion & Mike Crawford battled in the 4th. to tie the Jackets at 62 all. Williamsburg got the ball after a timeout with 13 seconds on the clock, the guard drove the ball between 3 Whitley defenders, tossed up a horrible shot, missed, and after a struggle for the rebound, time ran out and the game went into overtime. I am a Whitley fan at heart so I am pleased with the outcome of the game but could someone please explain to me why, during those last 13 seconds of the game, did Williamsburg not pass the ball inside to one of the open big men? Both Pettit and Teague were under the goal wide open when the guard drove in between 3 Whitley players and tried to score. Poor guard play cost Williamsburg this game. Turnovers, selfish playing, and terrible shot selection allowed Whitley back in. I know many of Williamsburg’s players and it was sad to watch the game go down like this after starting out so well.

The Colonels and the Yellow Jackets square off again next Monday @ Williamsburg. Any thoughts on who will come out ahead this time around?

I agree. The Jackets have great potential this year with Cunningham, Teague, Taylor, & Pettit. I only hope that they can pull together as a team and get over the selfish playing style.

The Yellow Jackets have a great deal of potential and talent but they are dropping these small margin games by not focusing on doing the little things correctly and with total effort and intensity. A few things that I have noticed: 2 of their 7 games have been played without a main starter in the lineup. A strong defense nor a strong offense can be built with an unreliable player. Get with the program or get to the house in my opinion. Pass the ball inside to the big men. The games that Williamsburg has won have been the games where the ball has been passed inside. Take better shot selection. Rogue players take poor shot selection, turn the ball over, and create unanswered points for the other team. The Jackets are a good team depending on which team shows up to play. Teamwork and correcting small mistakes are the key to their success.