TDC

tough loss for the home team, FT's killed them, but Coach Willams and the Bath program is showing promise. He's done a nice job of mixing in a strong sophomore group in with the veterans, and even though it's been a bit of a rollercoaster - the improvement is obvious. Rough loss recently with a knee injury to one of the key sophomores but future is bright.

Final. Tied 18-18 at halftime, sloppy and slow-paced 1st half. Lex Cath changed up and turned up pressure in 2nd half, it was too much for LCA as they likely had more turnovers than shots made in 2nd half. Austin Hall only bright spot for LCA, 7-8 from the field. Lex Cath had balanced scoring, couple of big 3's from Blake Scott and a spurt from Sparkman off the bench and some excellent dimes from Johnson. But is was conversion of turnovers into layups that was the difference in a 2nd half dominated by Lex Cath. For LCA, not too dissimilar from what Paris did to them in All A. With this win, Lex Cath can win District top seed with a victory in the coin flip. LCA locked in as 3 seed.

amen, and amen. 'showcase' camps must be a nice business to be in.

good list - a few others that come to mind for the 9th/10th divisions, but not sure who is together and who is not this coming season. NKY Force Celtics KY Grind Shining Stars Ambition Athletics KY Kings CKY Magic ACND Prep GHITP Splash Bros I am Third / ICE NKY Legends NKY Rockets Hardin Co. Elite KVO Elite SE Predators

I'm confused - Kelch had 19? but is not listed here?

West led 25-23 at half. West made a couple of runs off turnovers in the 2nd half, but it was their half-court execution on both ends that was the difference. Despite being hammered by a hot-shooting North Hardin team over the weekend, West is looking much improved recently with a slower pace when needed, they had good ball movement and shot selection on offense and a nice motion-based attack of Woodford's 2-3. Woodford struggled to get open looks most of the night - but they defended well until they got fatigued late, and they did a nice job of converting West's overplay into layups early on.

Can be easier to break a losing streak at home than away, slight lean to SW because of home court and their ability to force pace there.

nailed it. ok maybe I would swap Corbin or Mercer for Valley if I had to pick something.

agree that Paris should be in top 25. I think LCA is a little high, they've been exposed a bit lately. Including by Paris. Could re-arrange the top 5 in any order, I can see any one of the 5 in the top spot. CC a good choice though.

NH on fire from 3 pt line, hit 9 of them in the 1st half, they took control of the game early and slowly pulled away throughout. West had some open looks and a chance to stay close, but had an off shooting day. They also got in early foul trouble which slowed down their ability to get turnovers. NH's Young got two quick technical fouls late in the 3rd Q for unsportsmanlike conduct, didn't hear what was said. NH scorekeeper was removed shortly after that (not sure I've seen that before). Young had 29 when the techs finished his day, including 4 or 5 three's.

wow. Sayre continues to impress. I wouldn't want to play them in district . . .

agree. especially at this time of the year, teams can sometimes show up uninspired. I think the steals/assists numbers tell part of the story too; if you force LCA to score off the dribble they are far less effective, 4 assists is very low for them. And you can turn them over by forcing the bounce, too, as 11 steals partially indicates. Let them spread the floor and pass over top, or penetrate and pitch, however, and they are very efficient.

I think West has struggled because: 1) Loss of two seniors, one transfer and one injury. 2) They have lived and died by the trap and have struggled with half-court execution on both ends, they struggle with getting a good shot at a slower pace. 3) Finding chemistry can take time, and shot selection has been shaky at times (but has been improving recently). Come strong with the ball, spread them out and attack out of the traps and you get layups and open 3’s. Play at their frenetic pace and/or be loose with the ball too often and they can beat you. They are figuring some things out, though, perhaps coming together, and two wins in a row vs. good teams (Madison Southern and Boyle) will certainly boost confidence. They'll need it, tough schedule down the stretch.

from what I saw - Paris is the better team, but Elliott Co. is better than they showed in the 1st half, where: 1) they beat the press but didn't attack it to score. They did this in the 2nd half and scored proficiently. They beat the press then set up to face pressure again in the 1/2 court. Most of their 2nd half points came at the end of the press or off turnovers. 2) they closed out 3 point shooters with hands down, and Paris made them pay. Seems they wanted to close out low to stop penetration but this resulted in several 3's that simply weren't contested aggressively. Different story in the 2nd half, but foul trouble and Paris staying in attack mode made a comeback difficult. I think Paris could give LCA trouble ... if they make it an ugly game. Assuming they both survive to semis. They'll need to stay calm in tense situations, they teetered on the edge of losing composure today. But they didn't. LCA will test that. Elliott will learn from this and improve. I don't care where they're from, they have some good players (Spencer and Porter can compete in any region), and they play very hard. Get some balance and improve defense without fouling (hand up on closeouts), and they'll be very competitive in Rupp.

ok, time for my first ever post and it's actually going to be complimentary and uplifting. Hopefully. Lawnboy - you must have amazing energy, I've been at all 8 games today and feel like I've played a few of them. Yet you continue to feed. I survived 7.5 games but by LCA - HC halftime I'm ready to sleep. Kudos to your conditioning my pov as a newbie - you nailed it with the top half of the bracket. Wide open top half quarterfinals, I think. I can make an argument for any of the 4. If refs continue to let them play (aka hack), though ... I like UHA. But if it's called tighter, I think NCC wins if these are close games and down to single closing possessions. If they use high ball screen like they did vs. Cordia with Luken - very tough to defend alongside Hall's athleticism and the corner pitch to the other shooters. Cordia's bigs couldn't defend it at all (this was a key to the game I think). Mayfield and Russellville - toss up. Both have go-to players and are well-coached. But I think the NCC-UHA winner gets to the finals, there seems to be a greater energy in both teams that I think gets one to the finals. Beating LCA? sorry NCC or WV fans, UHA or Paris might do that but I can't see anyone else. You beat LCA with a frenetic pace and turning the game ugly, and UHA and Paris are the only teams I think are capable of getting LCA out of their comfort zone. I enjoyed my day at the All A, but unfortunately I'll miss what I suspect will be an amazing quarterfinals on Friday. No really close games today aside from NCC-Cordia, but it was a great day of hoops. love this site - hope to contribute in the future.