thisguy

Nice team win for Conner. A lot of contributors on both ends of the floor. Also would like to pass along my best wishes for the NC kid. His head hit hard but it looked like he is going to be OK. Big game for Conner tomorrow to see how much they have improved since CovCath drilled them two weeks ago. I anticipate a much better game with an improving Conner team and the addition of Barker back in the line up.

Congrats Coach Trame! One of my favorite people!

Very good win for Conner heading into Xmas break. Barker has the unique ability to make everyone better. With his size he can score inside and help on the boards. Yet, he is versatile enough that he can also guard the 1-5 spots and also help bring the ball up the floor, if needed. Dixie had no answer for Drew last night. Good to see Lamblez playing well again. Hemmerich, Barker, and Padgett are the nucleus of this team but I think he is the "X" factor to Conner's success this year. Way played his best game and fed the post very well from the PG spot.

Not much to say about this game except CCH shot lights out and is very very good and Conner has a LOT of work to do. CCH is the best team I have seen so far in the 9th (I have not seen Holmes yet).

Conner has their work cut out for them tonight, that's for sure. Playing Cooper last night will not allow them to game plan for CCH, who is playing very well. I do expect them to bring great effort tonight to try and get the bad taste of the Cooper loss out of their mouth. Looking forward to the Crazies having some fun with Coach Hicks!

Cooper was the better team last night. They punched Conner in the mouth early and Conner could never fully recover. Impressed that Collins has already found his shooting stroke after only being back with the team for a very short time. His 4 3's in the 1qtr really set the tone. I don't know if the outcome would have changed, but Barker definitely would have helped Conner, especially inside. Maniacci's length gave Padgett fits all night. I'd say he has at least 6 inches on him. Props to Conner for continuing to fight after being down big early. I've seen other teams completely fold in similar situations. Hemmerich is really pressing right now. Needs to let the game come to him. Both teams are back at it tonight on the road. Cooper at Campell Cty and Conner at CCH. Then Conner has to go to Ryle on Thur. Tough/busy schedule this week as a result of rescheduling the Cooper game.

6-19 from the line.

Correct. And Beau Downs who is also a freshman at Boone.

Williams is a great kid and is going to be an absolute force for the next 4 years.

PG play continues to improve and hasn't been an issue for Conner. That might be because they are go-go-go and not running alot of offense right now. Riddle, Watts, and Way are doing an adequate job taking care of the ball by committee. "32 Minutes of Hell" has arrived in Hebron. Really impressed with Hemmerich and his ability to create his own shot. Don't know how Padgett scores and is so effective in the post. Undersized but continues to excel.

Obviously, you are going to have a bit of a biased slant on the officiating depending on who you are rooting for. I thought it was average at best and calls were missed both ways. But all I can say is welcome to the 9th Region! Can't tell you how many times I've seen a Conner team not get the benefit of the call when playing at SK, Walton, Grant Co, etc. That said, I would like to address your issues above from a Conner slant. The Bowling 'and one' should have been a travel. He jumped to shoot, did not release the ball, and landed. Only then did a Conner player make contact. The 3 by Sampson was a total flop job. The Conner kid closed out well, did not leave his feet, and barely made contact. After the shot Sampson flopped into the stands. As for the Jim Hicks effect, I think that has hurt Conner more than help them over the years. Again, your point of view is going to be skewed a bit depending on your team, but that is the way I saw the calls in question.

Barker was out. Did not even dress.

Hmmm. Very interesting question. If they did it would be very hypocritical and add some credibility to the "real" reason why the boys' game was cancelled. Can anyone confirm if the Cooper girls team played today? Also, good luck to Cooper football today.

Good 1st win for the Cougars. Led by 12 at the half, although they played without Hemmerich (fouls) and Barker (injury) for pretty much the entire 1st half. Hemmerich responded in the 2nd hf scoring 16 of his team high 18 pts. Padgett played well and added 15 pts. Lamblez was a beast on the boards and finishes with 11 rebounds. #21 for Ludlow (Howard?) can flat out shoot. Had 12 of the first 18 Ludlow pts all of which were 3 pt baskets. Cooled off in the 2nd hf partially to adjustments Conner made. Ludlow played a 1-3-1 the entire game and Conner gradually picked it apart. Conner pressed the entire game until the game was out of reach. Great energy from the entire team. Congrats to Justin Rabe, Michael Scott, and Alec Garnett of Conner for scoring their first varsity points. Always neat to see that!

Conner 20-43 from the line. Yikes.

My info came directly from Coach Sullivan. I think the PC line is to say let's reschedule for the Cooper fan base. But as I said in an earlier post, I'm sure getting the football kids back and in basketball shape is a huge factor in this request to reschedule. If the roles were reversed Conner would also be missing 3 starters. I'm sure Coach Hicks would be taking the same steps.

No I'm referring to Cooper. Just stating that it is not meaningless from either team's perspective because of all the factors involved, including the oppty for Conner to compete against arguably the top team in the 9th region this year.

Meaningless? Why don't you try telling that to the coaches and players (of both schools) that have been working their tails off since July that this is a meaningless game? It is for district seeding, it is a rivalry game, it's for bragging rights, and it's the #1 team in the Region (in some polls) playing an early season game vs a district school that took away half of their student base 5 years ago. I'm on board as saying I completely understand why the game is being moved, but don't short change the basketball only players who have put in as much time and effort as the football teams.

The game was scheduled to be played at Cooper at 430 pm. I believe the football game is slated for 3 pm. I believe Coach Hicks first response was "Too bad" or something to that effect, however, when the ADs and principals got involved it was out of his hands.

I see both sides of this. Certainly, this does give Cooper an advantage, and I can understand some of the resistance from Conner. On the same note, I agree with alot of the comments on here about how the Cooper fanbase should be able to attend a state championship without conflicts. The scheduling was done poorly. I don't think it's too far-fetched to think that Conner also had realistic expectations to be playing football this Sat.

I believe the head Varsity coach makes the schedule in unison with the AD (who confirms gym availability). I agree though, crazy to play that big of a district game 5 days into the season.

Also, the game is not being rescheduled to allow football players to return for the District game, it's being done in order to allow the Cooper fanbase (including players, parents, cheerleaders, etc) to travel to the football game and not worry about missing a basketball game. At least that is what is being said by Cooper. I'm sure there is an underlying motivation to postpone for the aforementioned reason.

I believe Conner was willing to reschedule but they wanted the game moved up, not back, which is not hard to blame them and if that's your team I'd think you'd feel the same way. That was my next question--do you think Cooper would be as accommodating if the situation was reversed? This has become a big rival in football with, IMO some petty controversy, and now you are intertwining this situation and hoops into the equation.

The Conner vs Cooper game scheduled for 5 pm this Saturday has been postponed in order to allow Cooper fans to travel and attend the Cooper football state championship. No make-up date has been determined. Obviously, this favors Cooper as they will likely have their football players return when this pivitol District game is ultimately played. Right call?

Conner scrimmaged Oldham County on Saturday with Conner winning the first 3 quarters and losing the 4th and 5th. Once again, Conner was without Barker who was visiting Ohio State. Game started slow and sloppy for both teams, but improved with each quarter. It appears Conner is going to be much more up-tempo this year. They pressed for most of the 5 quarters and had some nice success. Guard play was sufficient, although there were some head-scratching turnovers. Hemmerich was a beast and scored at will in the 3rd quarter from all over the floor. I really think he emerges this year as a top player in the 9th. Padgett is still in football mode. Missed alot of "chippies", drew 3 charging fouls, and was whistled for 4 offensive fouls. Still a little rusty but he will be fine. For what it's worth, Conner went 2-0 in the preseason with wins over Walton and OC. And I know these are scrimmages, but certainly positive steps coming off a "down" year.