Twotoplace

Dynasty talk is based on Ruthsatz staying at CCH. Not sure the Cols will be able to afford to retain his services if he goes deep into the tourney again.

If one is chalking the 9th tourney this far out, it seems to me that HC is clearly the favorite ... more so because of their size and guard play than the fact that they squeezed out narrow wins vs. Holmes and Highlands.

Highlands' problem is that Holmes and HC are in the same district and will be on opposite sides of the bracket in the 9th tourney.

Etown vs. Holmes-Holy Cross survivor likely in 2nd round.

Possible Mason County vs. CovCath in first round.

We've explored this topic in past threads. When a particular team is left off a ballot, the most likely explanation is that the coach of that team ... the team left off the one ballot ... didn't cast a vote for his or her team. Clearly HC is the No. 1 team in NKY. These polls shouldn't be used for motivational or grudge reasons. Period.

I'd also flip HC and Holmes. HC won the head-to-head matchup and in my mind is clearly the team to beat in the regional tourney.

Playing Holmes just 18 hours earlier might partially explain the Tigers' 4th quarter collapse.

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Good job by Holmes of finding the open man on perimeter, then draining the trey. Huff for Beechwood also put on a shooting exhibition. Holmes' press in second quarter was effective, which explains the Bulldogs' 28-11 advantage in quarter.

Guide button says 6:30-7 pm on Ch. 2.

Keys to the game: Does Highlands have the guard play to beat Holmes' press with the dribble -- like NCC did the other night? How fatigued is Holmes at this point of the season -- physically and mentally? As an aside, both the Holmes boys and girls seem to play better away from home, probably because they're taking everyone's best shot at home.

Also noticed the other day that the biggest game of the day -- Holy Cross girls vs. Highlands -- 1 vs. 2 in the latest 9th Region poll -- just got a tiny mention at the end of the girls high school coverage -- as if the game wasn't too meaningful. So in addition to not even covering some games, the Enquirer apparently has no idea which games are important and which games aren't. I guess this could be a result of putting together the pages in out-of-town locations so Gannett can save some money. Sometimes I have no idea why I still subscribe.

Holmes was up 13 about halfway through 4th quarter when NewCath started its dramatic comeback. Breds tied the game with maybe 30 seconds left. Holmes held for last shot and hit two FT's with 3.9 left.

Quite an evening for the HC center. Double zero Turner also extremely impressive. Did HC miss any free throws tonight? Maybe one? Holmes does many things well, but field goal accuracy is not on that list. As an aside, how did HC ever lose to Brossart?

On Jan. 6 Brossart beat Holy Cross by 6. A couple weeks later Holmes beat Brossart by 50. I'm assuming Holy Cross was missing some key players when they lost to Brossart. But still ... The path to victory for Holy Cross will be to stay somewhat close at half (10 points), then eat clock and pound the ball inside in the second half.

Holmes has the advantage vs. any team right now in Game 1 because the opponent simply can't simulate Holmes' press and defensive intensity in practice sessions. I would exect closer games when opponents such as NDA, Holy Cross and Highlands play 'em a second time in district or regional contests.

Ruthsatz is an excellent coach. Having said that, he's 3-5 vs. Holmes.

Better open up both sides of the gym for this one.

I believe I was sitting near the fan in question -- at least for the first three quarters. The man, in my opinion, basically was carrying on a rather loud running conversation with himself -- or with people he knew in the row behind him -- rather than deliberately heckling one of the frontline players for NDA. If that makes sense. He was telling the Holmes girls to pass the ball more and dribble less, cheering good plays by the home team, taking an occasional shot at the refs, correcting the announcer regarding one girl's first name, etc. Yes, I did notice that he was directing some comments to one NDA frontline player in particular, but I didn't think at the time that his comments were being picked up on the court. If they were, then he probably needs to tone it down in the future, because I agree that singling out a young athlete on the other team is unwarranted. Hope this helps.

Terrific game from No. 22 for Holmes-- Stovall? She was forcing turnovers all afternoon. Believe the score at half was 40-16. Lady Dogs only had two fouls called on them in first half, which is somewhat amazing given the defensive pressure Holmes was applying in second quarter.

Same also happened vs. Madison Central a week ago.

63 points in first half. We'll see in the next two-three weeks -- with games against the top teams in the 9th -- just how good this undefeated team is. So far, though, very impressive. Next game Fri vs. Notre Dame at home.

Looks like makeup date set. Friday, January 9, 2015 Highlands, Holy Cross postponed By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter The 9th Region girls basketball showdown between the Highlands Ladybirds (13-1) and Covington Holy Cross Lady Indians (11-3) was postponed because of sickness. The two will make it up on Jan. 24 at 5:30 p.m. The Ladybirds have beaten the Lady Indians eight straight times. Highlands plays again Tuesday against Cooper. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Obviously, my sense of elapsed time failed me last night ... no doubt a result of Madison Central shaving the deficit from 12 points at the start of the 4th quarter to 2 points late in the game. In other words, for us Holmes fans, that was one long last quarter. Those seated around me concurred that we certainly did not want to see the game go to OT, because the Indians seemed to have more gas in their tank.