thisguy

Hodges didn't play much because Conner needed a prescence inside to help with Stauffer and he continued (as he's done all year) to hang out beyond the 3 pt line, take ill-advised (fading away) shots, and not play with the strength and length that a 6'8 player should. He needs to score inside (as well as outside) but I can't remember him shooting one shot from inside the lane. Hicks benched him mid-year and he seemed to have gotten the message and was playing with a renewed effort, but for some reason the last few games he's reverted to old habits. To address some of the other threads regarding effort--I believe it is the coaches' AND player's responsibility to inspire and produce max effort all the time. This game seemed very typical of the several I have seen from Conner this year. That is, be in a close game at halftime, only to come out and get buried in the 3rd qtr. IMO it doesn't have so much to do with adjustments as it does with the players stepping up and learning how to handle adversity. This team lacked someone who would step up and refuse to lose and lead by example when things got a little tight or tough. They seemed to accept losing or getting beat too easily. I do agree they were overrated talent-wise, but their year is still very disappointing. I wonder if Coach Hicks used last night's post-game speech as a life lesson to not take things for granted and that you need to work hard to achieve your goals. In reading some of the other threads it sounds like something Coach Sullivan might have offered up to his players. I feel for the seniors. There has to be some level of regret that they were not able to have a more successful season as far as W's and L's go.

As the saying goes, it's hard to beat a good team twice in a season. Using that logic, it's even harder to beat a team three times in a season, which means it should be practically impossible to beat a good, district rival team FOUR times in one season, right? Conner still owes Ryle from last year's district game. I like Conner to wake up and finally win a big game tonight 63-60.

Senior Night in Hebron. Thoughts/predictions?

If Conner beats Ryle next week to advance to the District finals (and secure a 9th Region birth) does all this negative talk disappear?

In watching Coach Hicks' sideline reactions and emotions during the game at Holy Cross, as well as the intensity displayed by the Asst coaches, especially during Conner's 2nd half comeback, I think one can easily see the coaches have not given up on the season.

There are 3 juniors who all see significant minutes. They also start a freshman (Barker) and another freshman (Hemmerich) probably should start. Add in 4 solid sophmores and that is it. They only dress 9. It will be interesting to see if their success this year will translate into wins next year at the varsity level.

Conner has 3 juniors on the team and they all play significant minutes. They also start a freshman (Barker) and another freshman (Hemmerich) probably should start. Throw in 4 sophmores and that is it. I think they only have 8 JV players. Will be interesting to see if their accomplishments this year will translate into success at the varsity level next year.

Yes, the winner of Holy Cross/New Cath will play Conner in the final at Cov Cath on Monday at 6 pm.

Wow, so a 9th Region team actually got a favorable call against a visiting team from another Region??!! I don't believe it! Sounds like Walton played hard. Makes Conner's victory at Walton on Tuesday a little more impressive.

Ryle actually has beaten Conner 3 times this year. Twice in the regular season and once in the Lloyd tourney. So they will need to beat them for a FOURTH time this year to advance in the districts.

Agree 100%. Or, blow the horn, stop the game, call over the officials, and get it fixed correctly if there is any doubt at all.

I do not know the name of the person, but he was an older gentleman wearing glasses. Ted Otte kept the book for Conner. Unfortunately, this isn't the first error for the Conner scorekeeper. Conner JV was assessed a technical foul in a game about a month ago due to a number being recorded incorrectly in the scorebook.

I agree that both teams could have and probably would have done some things differently at the end. But that type of error at a high school game is inexcusable. I wonder how these posts would sound if Conner would have lost by 2 or 1? BTW Highlands played very well. Conner JV has lost some games recently, but they have all been to 3 very good teams.

Good win for Conner, albeit, against a struggling and short-manned Highlands team. Still, when you can win convincingly on the road only 18 hours after a very tough loss to a district rival (Boone) it's a good thing. I believe Conner had 8 3's so they did shoot very well. Hodges continues to play well in his newly defined role. Robinson was solid and Flesch seems to be attacking the rim more. January was definitely better than December for this group. Tough schedule ahead. I don't think I'd give up on this team just yet. They have proven that they can play with anyone. Now start playing for 4 qtrs and finishing games and they will be very dangerous come District time.

Here's what happened. The scoreboard operator mistakenly gave Conner two points when the basket should have been credited to Highlands. Both scorekeepers realized the error and it was fixed correctly (the 2 pts came off Conner's score and was credited to Highlands on the scoreboard). HOWEVER, while they were both conferring with each other they missed another Conner FG. Neither scorekeeper saw the basket which resulted in both of the scorebooks reporting the same thing, which was 2 pts less than the actual score Conner had. The coaches were aware of it. I saw the coach go to the scorers table at the end of the 1st half and once again before the 2nd half started. There wasn't anything he could do however, since both books had recorded the same results. And the 2 pts was huge because it totally changed the way Conner approached the game at the end. They would have been down only 1 pt which gives them alot more options on offense. The coached did NOT call a timeout when down 3 with only 10 seconds left for a very good reason. Highlands only had 2 team fouls (don't get me started on the officiating). They would have just kept fouling after every inbounds pass and Conner never would have gotten a 3 pt shot off. Credit the coaches for realizing this. That is exactly how they lost to Ryle last week, so they recognized the situation and gave their team the best chance to get a 3 pt shot off by not calling a timeout. You could hear the Highlands bench screaming to foul the last 10 seconds of the game, so I'm pretty confident that's what their plan would have been if Conner would have taken a final timeout.

I'm not sure what the tiebreaker system is, but I don't see how they can get a #1 seed with 2 losses to Ryle and one loss already to Boone. Boone still has not lost a district game either. If Boone were to lose tonight, and potentially drop a game to Ryle and Cooper it would be tight up at the top, but I don't see that happening.

Good point, Roman. And of course, I was only referring to varsity basketball at this time. I do see very good things in the future for Conner, as they have had some very good success at the middle school and JV levels (I believe their JV team is 14-1 this year). Of course, Ockerman has a strong 8th grade class, too, so this should set up for some very competitve games for years to come!

The only way the rivarly can continue to be strong is if Conner can win a game. I believe Boone has won the past 6 meetings. I know the Conner seniors have never beaten Boone.

Yes, it is a triple-header starting at 430 with the freshman.

I'm sure Conner is more focused on Boone right now. That said, I like Conner in this one. They played horrible in the earlier loss in Mercer Cty. They have made some zone offense adjustments (which Highlands played the entire game). This would be a very bad loss if Conner stumbles to them again. No secret Highlands is really struggling, especially with Stewart still injured.

Can Conner win this game? Absolutely. Will they? I have my doubts. I just don't see Conner having an answer for Brown. Conner does not like physical play, and Brown is a beast. Hopefully, Conner has improved their zone offense, because that is all they are gonna see vs Boone. If they can knock down some 3's, Flesch continues to drive to the hoop, and they attack the basket collectively in transition they have a shot.

Conner just had a good win vs Cooper and is showing life. Boone continues to play solid basketball. Predictions/thoughts?

Tough to say at this point. As mentioned earlier, this was a very strong and much needed win. The prior 2 games Conner lost in 3OT to a very good Campbell team, and in 2OT to a strong Ryle team that just beat Holmes by 10. A bounce here or there and we are talking about an impressive winning streak right now. However, the reality is they did just get a good win vs a surging Cooper team. Tomorrow's game vs Boone Cty is HUGE. A win vs Boone on Friday, followed by another win on Saturday vs Highlands would make me confidently say that Conner is/has turned the corner. Until then, we'll have to wait and see.................

Cooper is learning how to win. Conner needs to win. Predictions?

I was just told that this game IS going to be played this evening, as scheduled, in Hebron.