hittheboards19

... a few days late, but with all the other tournament news I figured I'd add this: Holy Cross traveled to Indianapolis for the Roncalli Lady Rebel Holiday Tournament over the weekend. In its first game, Holy Cross lost 63-48, to the No. 2 team in Indiana 4A, Lawrence North, which is led by three D-1 commits: Purdue-commit Lamina Cooper, Northwestern-commit Jordan Hankins and Purdue-commit Ae'Rianna Harris. Lawrence North was deadly from deep 3-point range, and missed just one foul shot in a physical game. They are quick, the best leapers I've seen on a girls team, great shooters and disciplined. I believe MaxPreps has them 17th in the nation. Game was in the 9- to 10-point range most of second half with LN scoring twice in the closing seconds. However, the Indians were playing without their leading scorer, Deja Turner. And point guard Dajah McClendon came out of the game with a turned ankle either late in the 3rd or early in the 4th when they were making a run. Ally Mayhaus had 17 for HC. In its second game, Holy Cross beat the No. 3 team in Indiana Class A, Oregon Davis, 52-43. The Indians played this game without both D. Turner and McClendon. Oregon Davis was quick, had some smooth shooters and pressed much of the game, but HC was patient on the press and relentless in the paint, on both ends of the floor. HC's scoring was spread out: Cessie Mayhaus in her first start with 13, Ally Mayhaus with 12, Courtney Turner in a starting role with 11, and Abby Hassert with 8. .... Now, a note about strength of schedule for N.Ky. posters: In an earlier N.Ky.-geared thread, a Holmes' fan commented that the Lady Bulldogs had played "four quality teams HEADLINED by Boone County." The Indians played Boone County as well. But while the Rebels are a pretty good team, they are nowhere near to being the headline of HC's schedule. In addition to the two highly ranked Indiana teams, Holy Cross has played Lafayette in Lexington and four tough teams in the LexCath Traditional Bank tourney: Allen County-Scottsville, East Carter, Sacred Heart and Lincoln County. I believe at least four of those five teams are in Kentucky's top 20, or were at the time. The Indians also opened their season at Assumption with its 6-foot-6 Purdue commit. Pre-season, one poll had the Louisville school at No. 19 or some such, which is why coach Kes Murphy scheduled the game. (Of course, HC was up 52-12 at one point in that game, which seems to have set the tone for Assumption's season since.) So that's 12 games for HC, 10 of them on the road, and eight of them far from home. (And every game but one with a starter or starters missing.) Now let me be absolutely clear to all the smack-talkers: I am making no point whatsoever about whether Holmes, Holy Cross, Highlands or even Simon Kenton is the best team in Northern Kentucky (the latter being to pay tribute to the poster who insisted Simon Kenton "has a good chance to win the state" this year). (I'm just another old person with more opinion than game, and I prefer to wait and let the girls figure out who's best via their play on the court. At the end of the season would be a good time for smack-talking, if any is to be done.) The fact is, Holmes and Highlands have both ripped through their schedules like scythes through wheat, and have done everything asked of them. They are scary teams who can score and play intense defense. And I've read that both of them have had injuries/sickness as well. My only point is to add context to Holy Cross' 10-2 record. Coach Murphy so far has put his team to the test. And regardless of what happens the rest of the season, I think the girls should get credit for that. Thank you for reading.

Barry Scott of Holy Cross with 49 against Talbert Turner-led Pendleton County back in '82. .. this before the 3-point shot, of course. I believe this set HC's scoring record at the time.

I might be among the minority, but I'm not a fan of these long, four- and five-day holiday tournaments. Like many other schools, HC girls had hard-score exams all last week (with practices, games and a team service project in the evenings), then left from school shortly after their last exam on Friday. They've been in Lexington since. If HC had won last night, they'd be there until tomorrow evening. Lots of tense BB, lots of studying, very little sleep, sickness going around ... equals exhausted girls.

D. Turner (19-20 ppg) didn't play at all. ... Point guard McClendon was playing with injured foot (ankle, I think) and couldn't plant her foot and push off, which really took away her game -- both defensively and offensively. Couple players down the bench still hurt and didn't play and three of the bigs (C. Mayhaus, Hassert and Gabbard) were sick or trying to get over being sick/hurt). On Saturday, Hassert apparently couldn't lift her arms above her shoulder cuz of spasms. She didn't play in the Sacred Heart game at all. Against East Carter she and C. Mayhaus saw limited action. Don't get me wrong. East Carter could shoot. They didn't miss much in the second half. Good team. And they were missing a key player as well. Would like to have seen the pace of that game with everybody healthy.

Holy Cross just didn't have it. Too many girls hurt, missing and sick. Shot terribly, didn't take care of the ball. East Carter (who was missing a starter as well) hit everything they threw up in the second half to come back from 10.

ok, thanks.

OK, help me out ... just so I'm interpreting this correctly ... if a player picks up her dribble in a stationary position, with her left foot clearly established as her pivot foot, and she's spinning all 360 degrees on her left foot looking for someone to which to pass to, she CAN then plant her right foot, lift her left and jump forward and pass it, as long as she releases it before her left foot comes back to the floor? I THINK that's what you're saying, but as I envision it, it looks really "illegal" (haha), and I know I've seen that called as traveling many times.

Dozer, turns out we were both right. Turner was knocked out of the game with a foot injury and was sitting with a bag of ice on it. McClendon finished out the game with a turned ankle and after the game turned to the ice. Both guards played in the Indians' win over Sacred Heart today, but neither was anywhere close to full speed (see the HC/Sacred Heart post). In fact, Turner was in and out with probably more minutes on the bench. That's a shame, because both of these young women are special players.

Holy Cross fell behind 10-1, came back to take a 20-point lead, then coasted. Sacred Heart hit a bunch of threes in the last couple of minutes to make the score closer than it was. But ... if you haven't seen the Indians play before, you should know that tonight was a slow-down version. Hobbled by injuries and sickness, they did not play well at all. Starting guards McClendon and Turner are both playing with foot injuries (they were two steps each off their game tonight, and in fact Turner sat much of the game) ... HC's starting big Hassert (plays the "4" position) didn't play at all because of a rib injury/muscle spasm ... one of the first subs off the bench (Gabbard) is coming off of being seriously sick ... and C. Mayhaus, while she's finally back, is still only 70 percent. And another sub is injured and didn't play.

It was Turner, not McClendon. Two girls fell/dove/rolled on her ankles and took her out of the game. Not sure how bad she's hurt. But it wasn't a foul.

At Newport. ... Kylie Orr was raining them in from everywhere on the court (I believe she had 22, including one just a few dribbles from half court), but she didn't have help. Indians came out cold and stiff, but Newport was slow getting back on defense way too many times. D. Turner and A. Mayhaus led the Indians, who again dressed only eight (injuries and sickness).

from the Enquirer: Holy Cross 68, Boone County 37 Holy Cross (4-0) - Turner 7 0 17, McClendon 7 2 16, Hassert 2 1 5, C. Turner 2 2 6, Gabbard 1 1 4, Tucker 4 1 11, Beal 1 1 3, A. Mayhaus 3 0 6. Totals: 27 8 68. Boone County (3-2) - Ford 1 3 5, McGarr 1 1 3, Foster 3 5 14, Switzer 2 0 4, Moore 4 1 9, Anderson 1 0 2. Totals: 12 10 37.

Holy Cross' defense was stingy -- just flat-out didn't give Boone open looks at the basket. 4 points in 1st quarter, 12 at half-time. Contested every shot, kept dribblers far from basket. Very few shots in the paint, even tho HC still missing one of the twins and the other was on the bench with foul trouble.

final from Covington.

Congrats to Coach Houston and his team.

Holy Cross still playing without starting center Cessie Mayhaus. ... Jumped out to a nice lead early with Turner hitting some threes, but fouls put Turner and Ally Mayhaus on the bench for the second quarter. Hassert (who had to guard Ashanti Thomas with Mayhaus on the bench) sat out the last half of the second quarter as well, so Lafayette crept back and took the lead early in the third. Down the stretch, tho, Holy Cross just had too many different players stepping up and making plays. From the HC side: Turner 19 (11 in the opening minutes of the game), McClendon 8, Tucker 8, A Mayhaus 11, Hassert 4, Beal 2, I believe. Thomas is a real warrior, I'll tell you that.

At Assumption. Senior night for fall sports teams. Went to a running clock in the 3rd quarter with Holy Cross up by 40. Cross emptied its bench early, and Assumption scored half its points in the closing minutes of the game. The other Mayhaus played just a couple of minutes because she was sick, and Turner sat out most of the second half.

Congratulations to Covington Catholic and its fans/families. What poise, focus and late-game free throw shooting. And thank you to this board for the play by play.

Dicky. Not Dickie. I doubt Dicky's picky, but no need to be tricky.

thanks for the updates, fellas.

Beal was the deal. Holy Cross had some awesome teams of its own back in those days, and the games at the school's little crackerbox gym next to the RR tracks were something to experience. Standing-room only, people sitting on the steps (and HUNDREDS more waiting outside), a million degrees inside, a thousand decibels, cops everywhere. Like a previous poster said, the entire Holy Cross fan base held up newspapers one time when Holmes' players were announced to show their (somewhat good-natured) disrespect. I believe Cross won that game, because I remember the lead in The Kentucky Post zeroing in on coach Bill Frey's wilted carnation pinned to his lapel. Frey would coach games in three-piece suits back then. Flynn wore suits too. Another time the Bulldogs' Elliot (sp?) Simpson zig-zagged through the HC cheerleaders to burst through the papered hoop they were holding up for the HC players to run through. Holmes' fans went absolutely crazy when he did that. And didn't Holmes have those candy-striped warmup pants back then? That was the game, I believe, when Beal -- motivated by the fans' chant of "Dicky Who?" thundering through the gym -- lit the Indians up for 50. Posters here have been dismissing Beal's jumper, but I can still picture him taking a couple of dribbles past half court and launching one of those patented high-arching rain-makers. He just wouldn't miss. Lord knows how many more points he would have scored if there had been a three-point shot. He made so many against HC that I was stunned later when Joe B. and the UK community talked about how he couldn't shoot. But yeah, Beal also benefited from the strong players around him. It was a big dilemma for defenses: Did you focus on containing Beal and risk Walton and Simpson running wild on you, or did you play the Bulldogs straight up and try to limit the impact of their post players? Holy Cross tried the latter strategy that game, and Dicky just flat-out made them pay. I remember this little old guy (a Holmes fan) walking out of the gym that night and announcing to the world, "Well they dang sure know who Dicky Beal is NOW!"

After a steady diet of high school girls games I watched an 8th grade boys game on Sunday and was stunned at the frenzied pace. Even at that young age the boys were quicker, jumped higher, could turn on a dime more accurately, could get off a jump shot a lot faster and were just more athletic. I was told that one of the 8th-grade players had thrown down a dunk a couple of games earlier, and he nearly pinned a shot high on the glass in this game. The zip of the passes and the frantic fast breaks were exciting. "I can't believe these kids are just in the 8th grade," my wife kept saying. In that sense, the game offered the casual fan something the typical girls game doesn't. And no doubt to an experienced fan a typical girls game has its share of frustrating moments: A dozen times a (girls) game I find myself thinking "geez, if you lifted your head when you dribbled you'd have seen your teammates wide open" or "a bounce pass wouldn't have gotten picked off" or "roll after setting that pick" or "fill the lanes on the break!!!" But magicfan and clyde are right, too. The girls game is fun to watch too -- especially when you know the players and their strengths, when you watch game after game how a team begins to mesh and find itself, when you see a girl step up and have a big game, and when the careful execution of a coach's strategy allows a less talented (or smaller or slower or younger) team win a game it shouldn't. And in a 3-point shot or foul shot contest? I might bet on the girls. Some of them are just deadly. There were plenty of "mistakes" by players on both sides in the Holy Cross-NewCath game the other night. But there was plenty of brilliant, courageous and gutsy play as well. And for the outcome to be in doubt even AFTER the buzzer sounded (with the potential game-winning shot still in the air)? I doubt a single fan in that arena -- whether a casual fan or a parent uniquely familiar with the players -- walked out thinking they didn't get their money's worth ... even at $8.

Congrats to sophomore Dajah McClendon of Holy Cross, who as other posters have said was an absolute force last night. It was a joy to watch her seize control with HC's "bigs" sidelined, and I'm thrilled that we have two more years to watch her mature. After a game like that, it's a shame that her floater off the glass with seconds left didn't go in. Congrats also to senior Michelle Hungler of Holy Cross. She showed no fear when she pulled up and drained that three from the far corner in the last minute, giving Holy Cross the one-point lead. A lot has been alleged about the Indians' outside shooting. It's true that Holy Cross is not a team of good outside shooters, top to bottom. But Hungler (and freshman Aleah Tucker) are the exceptions. Half-way through the year, Hungler found her stroke and her confidence, and the Indians suddenly had another weapon. People who watched Holy Cross night in and night out know that truth. As with McClendon, it's unfortunate that she didn't get the reward of seeing her shot prove the game-winner. As far as Holy Cross' three "bigs" are concerned, I feel their pain and frustration. Hassert's literal pain, as a back injury kept her sidelined for the last third of the season. She died a little physically and emotionally on the bench each game, especially last night knowing the Indians could really have used her. As for the Mayhaus girls, they weren't given a chance. Their combined minutes last night I don't think added up to 32. I won't dwell on the officiating. Other posters have already zeroed in on that. But I would like an explanation sometime of what kind of contact is allowed, and under what circumstances a defensive player is entitled to the space she occupies. NewCath's Kiernan knew that if she initiated any contact whatsoever, she would get the call, and she exploited that advantage. It was fitting that her game-winning points came at the line -- she spent a lot of time there. And though she missed what seemed like a dozen free throws, I'll give her credit for hitting the two that counted. She's fortunate, however, because her miss with a couple seconds left would have cost NewCath the game if McClendon's desperation heave at the buzzer had been a foot to the left. In closing, I'll say this: Two HC-NewCath games this year were decided on a shot with less than three seconds to play. As a fan, you can't ask for more than that.

Yep on Dixie's Brock. Nice player. But don't forget that Dajah M is only a year older. Her maturity belies her age. And the Indians' other guard (Tucker) is only a freshman.

Holy Cross still missing a starter, No. 5 Hassert. She's been out for a while, and I think she's now out for the year. Had a back injury, then in the earlier game against Notre Dame, had her feet taken out from under her and landed right on her spine. Stress fracture, as I was told. That won't help the Indians any. She averaged about 8 a game last year as a sophomore, including 18 against NCC when the Tribe thumped them last year. When one of the twins gets into foul trouble, she slides easily into the No. 4 spot. Hassert's like 5-foot-9, but Holy Cross has been starting a freshman in her spot, and going with three guards.