sealteam

The final score was closer than I thought it would have been with HC playing back-to-back nights. I have to believe that HC is going to be a legit contender to get out of the district and possibly pull an upset in the regionals.

Will a game outside the 9th Region help CCH get things on the right path and stop Mason County at CCH next Tuesday.

Is Chambers completely healthy? I have watched him since 5th grade and have been impressed by his continual improvement. Has always seemed like a really nice young man.

He is a heck of a basketball player but I would love to know if he is getting bad advice or if he is just to high on himself. It really is a shame because of he still played for LC they would be an even more dangerous team. I hope for his sake that things get straightened out. I hate to see so much talent possibly be washed away.

It will be interesting to see how HC responds after the emotional victory over CCH last night. They could really make a big statement if they can pull off another upset - this time at home.

First of all, HC may have been cold in the 1st half but that doesn't mean that they would stay cold the entire game. CCH had a 6 point lead mid-way through 3rd quarter when CCH went to a 1-3-1 zone. On 3 consecutive times down the court HC hit 3 - 3 pointers to take a 3 point lead. It was an immediate 9 point swing that dramatically changed the momentum to HC. CCH made little adjustments. The CCH guards did not have many turnovers (not sure of total turnovers) and played a good game, however didn't score many points. The points came from Thelen. CCH will not win if they continue to play non-effective zone defenses that allow wide open shots. Believe me that the 3 pointers that HC was shooting were wide open. They were rarely contested and they knocked them down. HC may not be known for as an outside shooting team but they showed that was all they had to do to beat CCH last night.

I was at the game last night and observed the following: Connelly had no passion and it resulted in 0 points, Listerman has no idea how to get his team out of the funk they are in, the HC players played with incredible heart and it propelled them to this victory and lastly beating CCH again in the districts will not be hard for HC if they play the same way next time. CCH is struggling and the players seem very frustrated. I know that in the last two game Scott (8 - 3 pointers) and HC (9 - 3 pointers) equals 51 total points to CCH 1 - 3 pointer in the same two games. You will never win if you are outscored 51 - 3 in 3 pointers. CCH played a 1-3-1 zone against both teams - maybe the coaches can see that maybe that isn't our best defense. Congrats to HC on a big win!

Don't sell the CCH guards short. Of course they don't have a John Wall but they handled the pressure against Scott well, they didn't force any ill-advised shots from the outside and they pounded the ball inside with their 3 big's underneath. If CCH hits their FT's the game is not 7 points in favor of Scott. Thelen missed 2 FT's when CCH was down by 3 with about one minute left in the game. After he missed the FT's, CCH was forced to foul Scott which ended up the differential of 7 points. If HC can stop Thelen, Connolly and Baker from scoring at will they should win. The CCH guards have never controlled or been expected to dominate in the scoring column all year. From what I understand and have seen, that's all that HC has is an outside game. This is the same HC team that just beat Beechwood by 2 in OT at HC. I predict CCH will win by 10 points because of their inside game.

My comments are not misleading. You need to go watch a game and see that other than Thelen, Connolly, Baker, Maschinot, Reidinger and Schult the rest of the team doesn't combine to play 10 minutes a game. Cleves probably gets the most minutes off the bench behind Schult, but in a 32 minute game if you think that 10 minutes of total playing time for the rest of your varisty team constitutes a long bench then I will stand corrected.

I thought someone might offer some perspective on if the economy has hurt the talent pool that was there not that long ago. I can offer what some real stats that I believe will answer your question. The school's current enrollment is 487, which is considerably down from the expectations when the built the new school. The new school can hold 600 students. I do believe that the cost to attend CCH ($6,500/year - tuition only) is a factor, but not the reason why some sports are not as consistent as the fan base would want them to be. There is a growing concern that if the enrollment continues to drop (487 is lowest) that the school is going to face some major financial hurdles in the future. I believe the pool of talent is still at the school.

CCH is a premier athletic school. They are the smallest all boys catholic school in the state of KY. They may not win state championships every year, but if you look at each of there varisty sports they are in position to compete with the states best programs. I know that football and basketball are king but you can't dismiss the cross country and track teams competing for a state championship nearly every year. Swimming and golf are two of the states best programs and have graduated students that each year receive scholarships to DI programs. I know this may be off track but nothing is wrong with CovCath as a whole. The football program will be very competitive again with Wirth as the head coach. They may not beat HHS every year but as they showed this year the games will be far more competitive. The basketball program does need some development, but is certainly considered, year after year, as a quality team that can win the region. They have been overshadowed by Holmes the past couple of years when they were clearly the 2nd best team in the region behind one of the best teams in the state.

While GRC grew as a team at the beachball classic, I would have hoped that CCH would have done the same after their impressive showing at the LexCath x-mas tournament.

They will not win every game but they are very good and well coached. I wish I could have been at the game.

I agree that Ballard looked great in Lexington, but similar things were said last year and they finished runner-up in KY. The under classman are really good and they go more than 6 - 7 deep. There 12th player off the bench could have started for the majority of the teams in the LexCath tournament. They are going to be ahrd too beat but getting out of Louisville may be the most difficult thing they have to do.

Doesn't Holy Cross figure inot the discussion for small school? If not, then BW doesn't have any competition.

I don't understand the Monday final. Even if you had it on Sunday that would be better. Is there any place better than The Fieldhouse to see a high school basketball game?

Dixie should recieve credit for their play on the court, but the nay sayers are going to be out there due to Brandon's and Zeke's age questions. I have personally watched and coached against Brandon in AAU basketball for the past 5 years and no one can question is ability. There is no reason to continue with the discussion because nothing is going to happen because of it. Let it go and enjoy the Red Colonels season.

Still can't believe that CCH only made 4 foul shots to NCC 17. I won't go as far to say that this game was a mirage but I do believe that the Colonels can play much better and that NCC played there best.

They must not think that the HC or CCH game will present them much problems.

Reidinger clearly had the ball released from his hands, however a made basket is nullified when an offensive charge is called. I don't like it nor do I like a charge call that close to the basket. To easy to slide underneath someone when the offensive player leaves there feet. I don't like to speak directly about an officiating crew, but I will tell you that over the past couple of weeks the calls have been sparse and questionable at times. If the objective is to keep players from standing at the foul line the entire game and "Let them play" then I don't agree that's basketball the way it was designed to be played. I thought at times last night and at the CCH/NCC a football game started. Skills are being replaced by rough play.

This could be a difficult game for CCH because they really struggle on the boards. The aggressiveness of GRC will be the major difference. The rest for CCH over the next 5 days could really help them after playing 3 games in 4 days this week. GRC 71 - CCH 56.

I don't believe that any current varsity players are going anywhere. Nick is a good player and a contributor over the next two years wearing CCH blue and white.

Great to see Thelen get back on track against Cooper. I would have thought that CCH would run away after starting 8 - 0 but Cooper is a tough team that just wouldn't quit. If they shoot better from the line they would have won the game. Another thing I found interesting was that CCH only hit 3 - 6 free throws. With the inside game they have I would have thought they would be at the line more.

I do know a little about what's going on inside the program and feel very strongly that (read thread above) that the junior class year after year is often forgotten by CCH's coaching staff and that their development is thwarted and preparation for their senior season is minimized. Some of you are getting nuts about a simple comment about the coaching staff going to a 6 man rotation in December. The bottom line is this - the CCH senior class is extremely talented. The junior class playing time is down to less than 10 minutes per game (last night it was approximately 6 minutes total). Don't even start with me about you going to practice every day. I know many players that look like Kobe in practice and can't hanlde the pressure in game. Stick to what my point is and don't try to make my comments something that they weren't intended.

Is Stewart back yet for HHS? If not, is he expected back this year?