hittheboards19

The majority of Holy Cross fans and parents realize that while we’ve aced the first couple of quizzes (quizzes that we’ve failed in some years), the big tests lie ahead. A couple of fans are understandably super-excited and optimistic (and good for them). But as a whole Holy Cross has its 2-0 record solidly in perspective: We’re good, but how good is yet to be determined. Stay tuned, tho, because it’ll be fun finding out ...

When my kids were little and said ridiculously untrue things in full-blown kid seriousness, I’d start laughing. When adults do the same thing (usually in political discussions), I usually do the same thing. Why engage, when you’re never going to change the minds of people whose dislike of whatever they are criticizing is typically so visceral that facts, logic and reason are unwelcome and useless. But lest readers downstate who are unfamiliar with Covington Holy Cross begin to believe all the sly insinuations, left-handed compliments, back-handed criticisms and outright distortions being bandied about, I’m going to make a few quick corrections. One is of a frequent Holy Cross critic’s outright statement that in all the years before the Indians won the All A Classic and the Sweet Sixteen championships last year, they were “very mediocre.” The second is his and others’ implications that the Holy Cross won those titles with, quote, an “assembled” and “recruited” team. Fellas, to paraphrase Inigo Montoya, “You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.” First, the “assembled” implication, because it’s the easiest. Let me state this clearly: Except for Deja Turner, every single member of the championship Holy Cross team has spent her entire high school career at Holy Cross. That’s fact, and it doesn’t change no matter how many times y’all say otherwise. Actually, half the key members were at Holy Cross in the 5th grade or earlier. (As for Turner, she was at Holy Cross before she was at Holmes, so the fact that she returned to Holy Cross is hardly grounds for building a “recruited” and “assembled” narrative.) The second issue regards the declarations that Holy Cross was a one-year wonder. One poster stated emphatically with much pomposity that “before last year, they were very mediocre.” Another poster said “before girls decided to go/transfer to Holy Cross, they were not winning anything.” Funny. In the last 13 years, Holy Cross has fought its way to the regional semifinals six times. And that’s coming from a district which also includes Notre Dame and Holmes. Which, voila, is exactly the same number of times as the first poster’s school, Highlands, which comes from a district in which most years it gets a free pass to the regional tournament. As for the one-year thing, the year before last Holy Cross was 21-8 and lost in the semifinals to eventual champion NCC when a last-second shot rolled out (and that with one key starter hurt, two other key starters in foul trouble and Turner ineligible). Which is (wait for it) exactly how far this particular poster’s team got. Were the Bluebirds “very mediocre” that year as well? No, they weren’t. Oh, the year before that, Holy Cross was 21-7 with wins over NCC, Boone, Brossart, Ryle and then No. 1 Conner, a 3-point loss to 8th regional runner-up Simon Kenton at SK and a one-point, last-second loss to 9th region champion and STATE runner-up Notre Dame. So over three years, that’s a 75-18 record. And if you go back 10 years, Holy Cross had a separate three-year run of 74 wins. “Very mediocre?” … “Not winning anything?” You might want to look up those words. After all, dictionaries (and facts), are useful things.

Edit to previous post (I can't get the "edit" function to work.) " ... even though every fan in NKU’s arena KNEW she was going to take it."

Without taking away from the other players, if I’m building a team in the 9th and I get first pick, no question I’m taking McClendon from HC (btw: “Dajah,” not “Deja.”) • Four years’ experience running HC’s point, including the historic season last year, and almost never gets rattled. • Finished the year at almost 8 ppg (42 percent from “3” and 72 percent from the line) even though she backed off her offensive game the last dozen games to focus on being a floor leader. • State tourney: 9 assists and 3 steals vs. Bell County and Maci Morris … 4 assists, 2 steals v. E-town and its D1 contingent … 5 assists and 3 steals vs. Male … 4 assists and 2 steals vs. Allen County-Scottsville. • Two HUGE defensive plays: HC’s Abby Hassert doesn’t make the game-winning 3-point play if Mac doesn’t pick UK-bound Morgan Rich’s pocket with about 35 seconds left and the score tied (see video I linked above). And Ally Mayhaus doesn’t muscle in the All A Classic game-winner if Mac doesn’t cause the Murray player to fumble the inbounds pass on the end-line with 12 seconds left. • Three wins against the otherwise undefeated (final 30-3 record) Holmes Bulldogs last year. Holmes overwhelmed most teams with traps and in-your-sports-bra pressure. Holy Cross had McClendon. • In the 9th region semifinals in 2014, McClendon singlehandedly almost knocked off Nicole Kiernan-led NCC. Turner was ineligible, Hassert was out with a stress fracture in her back and both Mayhaus twins sat much of the game with foul trouble. McClendon scored 23 or 25 points by blowing past defenders even though every fan in NKU’s arena knows she was going to take it. If Mac’s floater with a couple of seconds left doesn’t roll off the rim, HC beats NCC and goes to the title game against Notre Dame, with whom it had split two games. • Last year Holy Cross went to Indianapolis and finished third in the heralded Lady Roncalli Classic. Its loss came against Lawrence North, which was nationally ranked and had four D1 commits. Lawrence North came out with uniform shorts covered in words, including in huge block letters the word “Swagalicious.” One of their girls was jumping up and smacking high up on the backboard in warm-ups. As in HIGH up. Huge gym. One side of the stands is packed. And Deja Turner is out and on the bench with a foot injury. McClendon keeps Holy Cross in the game (until she suffered an ankle injury herself) with stellar ball-handling and nice feeds to the Twins and Hassert. She also had a series of coast-to-coast drives that ended in either NBA-style no-look passes or spin-move layups that had much of the Lawrence North crowd jumping to their feet and hooting and hollering and smacking their heads. • And oh, Holy Cross’ other two losses in its 33-3 year? Against East Carter, McClendon was limping badly and couldn’t plant her foot to either cut and spin or to cut off her defender. At best, 50 percent speed. And against Brossart (with Mayhaus out with a concussion), McClendon is still not 100 percent and in fact at one point was lying on the floor grasping her ankle in pain after re-twisting it. Point is, without Mac, HC wasn’t HC. So … lots of good players. But I’d build my team around this big-game point guard. (Sorry for the length. But I’m willing to read any other fans’ spirited explanation of their team’s top player.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-14RJCr3V-4&feature=youtu.be&t=1h42m 45 minute mark 1:39:50 mark Offense and defense.

Back in the day, we "flipped" cards against classmates all the time -- at recess and before and after school against the old rock and brick grade school building, in the bathroom etc. It got so bad that the principal banned the cards, because younger kids were crying when they were "wiped out." We played three versions: "Closests," in which each player (2, 3 or more) flipped a card, and the closest to the wall took all the cards. "Knock-downs," where you propped a card or cards up against the wall, and then took turns flipping cards to try to knock them down, and he who did it got all the cards on the ground. And a game whose name I can't remember but might have been called "tops," in which a line of guys got pretty far from the wall and started flipping cards, and the first guy to land a card on top of another card got all the cards on the ground. But it couldn't just be the little edge, it had to be past that little border on the card. Oh the cards we damaged (which is why when the collecting of cards became commercialized), no kid would EVER flip cards and risk hurting them. Instead, they brought the cards to school in binders. Binders! I remember when flipping, you'd tuck the cards you needed under the stack in your hands to try to avoid losing them. And if you won a Cincinnati Red, a team photo or an All-Star, you might even tuck it in your pocket. How we loved to go against kids who hated the Reds and liked, say, the Yankees or the Cardinals or Cubs, because they'd flip Reds all day with nary a thought. To buy the cards, my brother and I would search for returnable pop bottles (especially along the RR tracks) and turn them into the store for a nickel each.

Army National Guard officials last Friday visited Holy Cross in Covington on their MaxPreps Tour of Champions to present HC’s state champions with the prestigious Army National Guard National Rankings Trophy. NG and MaxPreps officials said the Indians were one of only 10 teams in the country (out of 22,000) to receive the honor. Here is a short video that the Guard put together, including quick interviews with players Ally Mayhaus, Deja Turner and Abby Hassert and Coach Kes Murphy. TOC Girls Basketball - Holy Cross (Covington, KY) - High School Sports Video - MaxPreps And here are links to two print stories: Holy Cross Girls Basketball Team Wins National Award | The River City News Holy Cross athletic and academic stars recognized Congratulations to the players and coaches, the HC girls program, the school, the city of Covington and the entire 9th region.

Morgan Rich. Just wow.

Amen to this. I was there very late last night when the team bus arrived in Holy Cross’ tiny parking lot, courtesy of a police escort. And I was there for the impromptu pizza party in the little rundown cafeteria after the regional final win. Both events witnessed a community coming together to celebrate much like you’d see in an old Rockwell painting. There was a lot of quiet pride on display, a lot of old alumni and community members on hand who wanted to touch the program’s triumph. Holy Cross is too small for a band, so last night one woman (a player from one of Bill Goller's teams in the '80s) used a bucket as a drum. The football coach was there. An ex-principal and the current principal. Former teachers. Men who played on a lot of HC teams over the years who just couldn't get past Holmes or CovCath. To see these girls play like they did -- and sustain that performance for a whole season -- to see them show the entire state this school's reputation for tenacious play, gritty defense and team-oriented philosophy … well that’s pretty darn special. And to see bitter rivals across the region express support during the grueling state tournament, well that means a lot too. So thanks to all. And if there is one anecdote that epitomizes what this championship means to this community, it’s this: Back in 1965, the Holy Cross boys team made it to the state finals but lost. One of those players lives in Florida. When he heard about the girls’ run (this is 50 years AFTER his team, mind you), he jumped in his car and drove through the night to get to Bowling Green. Last-second traffic made him late, but he got the arena in time for the fourth quarter and see McClendon’s steal and Hassert’s winning drive. To him, it was worth it.

East Carter absolutely is/was good. Didn't mean at all to diminish the team or its play in that game. In another thread I pointed out that East Carter was missing their tallest player (was it Brainard?) and said that Holy Cross' lead disappeared when "Mayo and Hall put on a shooting clinic (six 3-pointers and 18-20 from the line)." Those girls just lit it up.

Congrats to Elizabethtown. Saw them play in Lexington and tonight. What an incredible team. But let’s take a breath for a second. While this was definitely an upset, it wasn’t the equivalent of a No. 16 seed knocking off a 1-seed in the NCAA. Holy Cross has had an outstanding year all year, from its very first game when it went to a running clock against Assumption in Louisville in the third quarter (58-23 with half of A’s points coming in closing minute against scrubs). This year, Holy Cross: 1 – … is 10-0 against top 20 teams in the last Litkenhous ratings, and 12-0 if you include No. 21 Sacred Heart. 2 – … is 31-3 with ALL three losses coming with multiple starters and others hurt, sick and missing. 3 – … won the All A Classic by beating (then) 17-4 Danville, 21-3 Clinton County, 16-6 Owensboro Catholic and 22-2 Murray in five days. 5 – …finished 3rd in the Roncalli Lady Rebel Tournament in Indianapolis, beating Oregon-Davis (Indiana A semi-finalist) by 9 and losing to nationally ranked Lawrence North (4A semi-finalist) but giving them all they could handle for 3 quarters. HC was WITHOUT Deja Turner and Dajah McClendon. Lawrence North has four D-1 commits also. 6 – … finished 3-1 in the Lexington Traditional Bank Classic at LexCath, beating Lincoln County, Sacred Heart and Allen County-Scottsville but losing to East Carter without Deja Turner for most of the tournament and with Dajah M. playing hurt and with multiple girls sick. 7 – … beat Holmes (No. 3 in the last Litkenhous ratings) THREE times, twice on their home court. Holmes was 30-0 against everyone else. And the defense? HC held 65.9 ppg E-town to 40, but that's not unusual. It holds teams to 38 a game. Bell County averaged 65.6. Against HC, 33. Holmes averaged 68.5. Against HC in three games: 40. No. 9 Highlands averaged 62. Against HC in two games: 35.5 Murray, 64.6 a game and 46 against HC. Danville, 67.9 and 35 against HC. Sacred Heart, 56.5 and 38.5 against HC in two games. My only point? This wasn’t a one-game performance for Holy Cross. The Indians have been playing well all year with a difficult schedule. Oh, and only 7 of HC's 34 games have been at home -- 27 "away," with 2 in Indianapolis, 2 in Bowling Green, 5 in Lexington, 4 in Frankfort and 1 in Louisville.

In the East Carter game, HC's leading scorer Turner was hurt and didn't play (as was stated by another writer earlier) ... AND pg McClendon was playing (less than half speed) on an injured ankle ... a sub with nice ball-handling skills was out with a broken hand or thumb or something ... AND three of HC's bigs were playing with or getting over upper respiratory crud, which meant they were struggling to breathe and spent a lot of time on the bench. Still, Holy Cross had a double digit lead at one point ... and then it all fell apart when McClendon and the bigs just wore out and East Carter's Mayo and Hall put on a shooting clinic (six 3-pointers and 18-20 from the line). But East Carter was also missing a key player (Brainard?), so the game was probably not representative of either team's typical play.

above box was missing some points for HC. Corrected box: Holmes (28-2): Mayes 0 2 2, Harris 2 0 4, Tubbs 1 4 6, Gulley 1 0 2, McClendon-Englemon 4 8 16. Totals 8 14 30. Holy Cross (26-3): Turner 2 5 10, McClendon 3 4 11, Hassert 1 0 2, Tucker 4 0 9, C. Mayhaus 2 1 5, A. Mayhaus 6 3 15. Totals 18 13 52. Halftime, HC 27-14. 3-pointers: Holmes 0, HC 3 (Turner, McClendon, Tucker).

Covington Holy Cross is 6-1 against these top 20 teams. Depending upon how district/regional shakes out, could play three more games against top 20 competition. (No. 4 Holmes is in HC's district.) Also has played two of Indiana's top teams.

People shouldn’t insert words or meanings that aren't present in what I write. I never alleged "conspiracy." Read my post. Re-read it. Read it again. Read everything I've ever written. Note the threads that I've chosen to weigh in on. (All that reflects a philosophy.) If you’re asking a serious question, then my answer is that I suspect margin of victory and points scored weigh into rankings. Holmes has superior numbers in those regards, per the team's style of play. The Bulldogs overwhelm teams up top, especially teams whose guards can't handle pressure. That leads to easy baskets. Higher scores. Higher margins of victory. Holy Cross' style is a more deliberate, more methodical one. Especially against quality teams. Fewer shots. Fewer points. Less margin of victory. In terms of poll factors, advantage Holmes. Same thing for losses. Holy Cross didn't "take care of business" against Bishop Brossart, as was gleefully pointed it. I know that. The world knows that. The players and coaches know that. Holy Cross was decimated by injuries and sickness. But the girls on the court were good enough to win the game. They didn't step up. Brossart's girls out-shot, out-played, out-passed, out-dribbled and out-hustled Holy Cross. They deserved to win. They played better. Heck, on that night, they WERE better. Holy Cross was ice-cold on offense on a strange court. But those games happen, and the HC players learned from it. They're even inspired by it. So maybe it wasn't a bad thing. So again, OBVIOUSLY that loss counts against Holy Cross in any ranking. Advantage Holmes. But conceding those points (that I already knew) doesn't weaken my premise. Why? Because my premise wasn’t that Holy Cross is ranked too low, or that any of the other three teams are ranked too high. Or that any team is better than the other. Au contraire, my premise was only that Holy Cross has played more quality opponents and has beaten more quality opponents. Read my actual words. The numbers speak for themselves. And toward that issue, your point that "the other 12 teams Holmes has beaten" must not be "that bad" doesn’t recognize, that, um, all of those 12 other teams are ranked UNDER the ten I listed. In many cases, FAR under. And, consequently, under those on the corresponding Holy Cross side. For example, the 11th best team Holmes has beaten is a 79.8. The 11th best team that Holy Cross has beaten is an 85. The 12th best team that Holmes beat is a 76. The 12th best team that Holy Cross beat is an 84. The 13th best team for Holmes is a 70.4, for Holy Cross an 81 (twice). And so on and on. (… again, forgive any mistakes, if you find any). And do you want to match the out-of-state schools? Holy Cross played Lawrence North (at the time, No. 2 in Indiana 4A, with four D1 commits) and Oregon-Davis (at the time, No. 3 in Indiana A). Holmes played Fort Walton Beach and Archbishop Ryan. And uh, Taft of Ohio. So I guess in terms of poll rankings, strength of schedule is advantage Holy Cross. And that was my point. My premise was that Holy Cross has beaten more quality teams than the other three schools. Substantially more. The Indians have faced bigger tests. (And 19 of its 24 games on the road). And if you can't concede that, then I guess facts are meaningless ... Now, the bottom line? As I’m stated, I agree with everybody who says that we have a lot of quality basketball ahead of us in the 9th region, with a lot of talent, and any of the "H's" (and to a lesser extent others) have a chance to go downstate.

I agree completely, RCC9. Hence my caveat, which was a sincere one. Any of those three teams could win the 9th. Easily. So could several other teams, were they to get hot. I have the utmost respect for Ryle, Notre Dame, NewCath, Boone and others. Always have. And fouls, injuries, sickness, cold shooting hands, hot shooting hands -- at any moment any of those factors could rear their heads and dictate the outcome of a game or games. And we all know that the region match-ups could be a huge factor. But any poll or any person's opinion is a point-in-time snapshot of a season and a team's performance to that point. And there's no denying that ... to date ... one team has been tested more severely than the others. And there's also no denying that that team has passed that test.

Correct any mistakes I’ve made, but … the Litkenhous ratings of the 10 best teams that these four highly rated N.Ky. teams have beaten: Simon Kenton (20-1): 88.6 87.8 86.7 86.1 85.9 85 83.7 83.6 82.6 82.6 (Zero teams above 90) Highlands (20-3): 95.2 88.6 88.1 87.8 86.7 86.5 86.1 82.6 81 80.8 (one team above 90) Holmes (22-1): 100.9 96.4 88.6 88.1 87.3 86.7 86.1 85.6 85 81 (two teams above 90) Holy Cross (21-3): 108.1 102.2 102.1 100.9 95.2 94.3 92 88.7 86.7 85.8 (seven teams above 90) Against top 20 teams: Simon Kenton: 0-0 Highlands: 0-2 Holmes: 2-1 Holy Cross: 4-0 Against top 30 teams: Simon Kenton: 0-0 Highlands: 1-2 Holmes: 2-1 Holy Cross: 7-1 (not counting a 1-1 record against two highly ranked Indiana schools) Don’t like Litkenhous? Using the Cantrall ratings, versus the top 25: Simon Kenton: 0-0 Highlands: 1-2 Holmes: 2-1 Holy Cross: 7-0 Using the latest BGP rankings, versus the top 20: Simon Kenton: 0-0 Highlands: 1-2 Holmes: 1-1 Holy Cross: 5-1 Using the latest MaxPreps rankings, vs. the top 25 Simon Kenton: 1-0 Highlands: 0-2 Holmes: 2-1 Holy Cross: 5-1 Now before anybody gets bent out of shape, I'm not predicting any outcome of any future game. Just presenting facts for the ongoing discussion of polls, and strength of schedules.

Every year, the same hot air. This annual conversation could heat a third-world country's largest city. By adults, too. Embarrassing. The fact is that EVERY SINGLE ONE of the 130-some-odd Class A schools participated in this tournament. Holy Cross beat the best of them. If the school wants to call itself the Class A State Champion, the girls have earned that right -- especially since that is how the tournament is billed. And they earned it properly -- on the court, with hard-nosed play by the girls themselves ... not with a bunch of smack-talk rhetoric about semantics while sitting at their computers. While grownups were pontificating about this so-called mediocre mid-season tournament, Deja Turner was pumping in 18-19 a game and winning the MVP ... Ally Mayhaus was blowing past a star player and putting in the last-second game-winner (not to mention blocking 6 shots a game with her sister) ... Aleah Tucker was raining in 3's ... Dajah McClendon was driving defenders nuts with cuts and spins (and 8 assists in the final) ... Abby Hassert was very quietly dropping in almost 8 points and grabbing almost 5 rebounds a game ... and Courtney Turner, Zyah Beal and Morgan Gabbard were joining Cessie Mayhaus in contributing points, rebounds and defensive stops off the bench. Did anybody SEE Beal's long-range 3 in the semifinal? Wow. Congrats to the girls and their coaches. Players play, parents talk. So yes, Holy Cross is celebrating. The girls beat Murray, Owensboro Catholic, Clinton County and Danville in a five-day span ... which is a HUGE accomplishment no matter what the heck you want to call the tournament. Those teams are pretty dang good. And yes, Holy Cross is also calling itself the Class A State Champs. Players were told they could – especially since (again, repeat after me) EVERY SINGLE ONE of Kentucky’s Class A schools participated. But here’s the key: Holy Cross is grounded in reality. Players and coaches know that this tournament was NOT the big prize. That comes in late-February and mid-March. They're back in the gym practicing, worrying about how to beat Holmes, Highlands, Notre Dame, NewCath, Ryle, Boone County and other perennially tough 9th region teams. They “get it.” So save your breath and your concern about whether they do. Adults should let these teen-age girls savor their accomplishment instead of talking it down. Move on to opining about passing on 1st-and-goal and inflated footballs and Kate Upton’s assets and UK's record and climate change and Common Core and immunizations whatever else gets you all swelled up ...

Stumbled across this quote in the Enquirer from a Holy Cross player, I think it was after the Owensboro Catholic game: “I try to give everything that I’ve got because I’m not always going to score, but if I at least rebounded, played good defense and got a few assists then I fulfilled my role for the day. Definitely talking on defense and helping each other out was a big key today.” As a coach, it sure would be nice to imprint this on EVERY player’s brain and in every player’s heart!!!!!!

I read this thread with no trepidation whatever, knowing you guys would never steer me wrong. But alas, now I'm confused. I'm unsure which of the various theories and ironclad explanations from this reliably in-the-know crowd to believe. So I compiled the various suggestions that have been posited in this thread: 1 -- Holy Cross is scared of Highlands. 2 -- A Holy Cross player sneezed two weeks ago, and now the coaches are worried. 3 -- Holy Cross girls are princesses, and not used to playing in winter. 4 -- "Something" went down in a summer game, and this all flows from that. 5 -- Holy Cross had decided it was going to lose this game, and it didn't want another loss, so it canceled. 6 -- Holy Cross decided its girls needed rest for the small-school tournament coming up (because it's the highlight of the season), so it called off all practices and games for the week so the girls could stay home and sleep. 7 -- Coach Murphy just had something he'd rather do that night. 8 -- There's bad blood between Coach Murphy and Coach Richey. 9 -- Holy Cross' girls need to get ready for prom. 10 -- The Holy Cross boys' team wanted the gym to practice in, so the school canceled the girls' game. 11 -- Holy Cross wants to "protect" its season, so the coaches have decided to go through the remaining schedule and cancel each game against a tough team. This was all poor planning, you see, because they scheduled so many tough schools. 12 -- Holy Cross refuses to play any game without every single one of its players (and the fact that the school has played 13-14 games with seven girls out at various times with injuries, and has played almost every game with a starter or starters missing, is just an coincidental string of anomalies.) 13 -- This reflects the "prevailing mindset" of girls basketball, which is that this isn't a serious sport and the girls aren't really athletes. 14 -- There's a problem with the furnace, and the temperature fluctuated by a degree, and Holy Cross girls are princesses (corollary to previous theory). 15 -- Holy Cross isn't as tough as those guy football teams, which by gawd would suit up 6th graders -- and have, dag-nabbit!!!-- against the state champion to uphold the good name of their school. (This one is popular with the "back in my day" crowd.) 16 -- Holy Cross is still upset about losing to Brossart, and their "tummies hurt" (i.e. don't have the stomach for competition any more). 17 -- Holy Cross is worried about its "conference" record because this is a big "conference" game (tho I'm still trying to find someone at HC that even knows what "conference" that is). 18 -- Holy Cross doesn't understand the value of letting underclassman step up and get experience when there are injuries or sicknesses, and it would never ever ever ever EVER let younger girls play (again, it was just a string of anomalies that Deja Turner, Dajah McClendon, Courtney Turner, the Crigler girl and DeAsia Beal played varsity as 8th graders, and Abby Hassert, Ally Mayhaus, Aleah Tucker and a slew of others played as freshmen). 19 -- Holy Cross is scared of Highlands (I list this one twice because it seems pretty darn popular). So, please, fellas, help me out. Which one is right?

... have never met paNDA, but love his photos. What a contribution he makes to high school sports and memories for the athletes.

Congrats to Bishop Brossart. Shot well, handled the ball extremely well. Holy Cross played without energy and shot terribly from all spots on the floor, tho they hit a few late 3s. Every time they made a run, Schultz would get the ball underneath or on a break and power in for an old-fashioned 3-point play. She was deadly from the foul line, too. Puzzled by HC's "go small" strategy. With the one Mayhaus hurt, the other Mayhaus got few minutes and I believe just seconds in the second half. The girl who starts in the "4" position, Hassert, was subbed in and out. She had 12 points, but she was put on the bench for much of the 4th. And C. Turner, one of the primary "bigs" off the bench who's had some spot starts, played almost none at all. For much of the second half, HC had four or five guards on the floor. As a result, Brossart owned the boards and Schultz just went wild.

Of course Holy Cross' so-called "non-top 20 loss" was against the No. 2 team in Indiana 4A (with its three D1 commits), in Indianapolis, while playing without their leading scorer, and their point guard playing with a sprained ankle. So if you're presenting that game as evidence that HC might not belong, um, don't. And actually, come to think of it, HC's "top 20 loss" (to East Carter) ALSO came with HC playing without their leading scorer, with their point guard playing with a sprained ankle (she was about 40 percent) and several girls getting over the flu. But, in general, I agree with you: Polls are fun to look at, and most have some truth in them, but in the end, it's all about play on the court.

Concussion. Alas. She'll be the fourth HC starter to miss a game or games with injuries this year, and the seventh of HC's 11 players. Nine different girls have filled starting roles. I HATE seeing girls (on any team) hurt.

I have no opinion on maxpreps. Don't know enough about the site to offer an opinion. I merely referenced its assessment of Lawrence North as one more piece of evidence in an array of such evidence about Lawrence North being a top-notch team. Other pieces of evidence are that various Indiana polls have the Wildcats picked as a top team in 4A with a chance to win it all ... that big-name colleges have selected at least three Wildcats as good enough to play D1, and other players are being looked at ... that other Indiana high school coaches attended this game to scout them, which I assume meant they respected LN enough to want an edge ... that LN went to the state semis last year as the No. 1 team and lost to the champion on the champion's home court, and have returned much of that squad ... that they picked up two nice transfers from other schools in the off-season ... and of course that I saw LN play in person and watched with an unbiased eye. So yes, in the case of Lawrence North, I'd agree that maxpreps is accurate is saying the Wildcats are a very good team. As a footnote, I've also seen Elizabethtown (Ky.) play, so yes, I agree with the maxpreps site too that E-town is a good team. I can't speak to any other team on the list, not having seen any other team play. However, I'm willing to be proven wrong. So if anybody has evidence that contradicts maxpreps' assessment of Lawrence North (which is the only assessment I referenced), or of E-town for that matter, then please trot it out so I can throw it in the mix ...