Jim Schue

Figures to be two good semifinal games on Sunday at Taylor County’s very nice new gym.

4pm — Elizabethtown (25-3) v. LaRue Co. (21-8) — The Panthers were ranked all season and they’ve looked the part in my eyes. They diced up a very good Marion County team Wednesday night and will be a tough out if they can stay as hot as they have been.

LC poses a big challenge because E’town is small and LC is not. The Hawks fell behind big in the regular season only to fall short by 2 at E’town a few weeks ago.

6:30-ish — Bardstown (24-8) v. John Hardin (30-3) — Tigers led by double digits in the first half at John a few weeks ago, but the shots quit falling and the Bulldogs rallied back behind strong inside play on both ends to win by 5. Should be a dandy on both games.

Tigers' offense was clicking, with 33 FGs coming off 20 assists.

JJ Traynor had 19/11 and Javon Smith scored a team-high 22 and had 4 assists. JaRel Montgomery went for 19 with 7 assists and 5 rebounds.

Bardstown gets another shot at John. They had them on the ropes at John a few weeks ago but couldn't finish. The Tigers are into the region SFs for the first time in 4 years. The past three years has seen heartbreak in the first round of the region, with three losses by a grand total of seven points.

Was told the Bulldogs needed a late push to get past the Eagles. I had to leave after the first game.

This team is either going to break our hearts or go deep in tournament and at this point I have no idea which.

Could be both.

E'town just cut Marion to ribbons with its offense. Did the same thing to them that they did to Bardstown a couple weeks ago.

Marion was up 10-6 early and looking good. E'town scored the next 17 points and proceeded to run away with it. The Panthers cut the Knights' defense to ribbons.

E’town advanced with a 79-28 win over Hart Co. The Panthers get a rematch with Bardstown, who held Marion Co. without a bucket the last 3 minutes for a 53-45 win.

Bardstown beat E’town by 3 on the Tigers’ home floor 3 weeks ago.

$2.05 today in Bardstown, down from $2.07 the past few days.

Good grief what a power quarterfinal matchup. I will get one like that tomorrow probably with Bardstown and Marion Co. They played to double OT last year with MC advancing.

Please note that as of about 3pm today the semifinal games have been moved up to Sunday at 4/6:45 (approximately, depending on how quick the first game gets done) to accommodate for next Tuesday’s state ACT day.

Wish this would have been discussed yesterday morning at the meeting ...

Weird how it was the exact same draw from last year, just swap out Caverna for Green.

Bethlehem will face Green Co. at 6pm Friday in the semis. Green got through 53-52 in OT over Taylor.

This was not pretty. Teams combined for 42 fouls, 43 turnovers and 52 free throws. It took forever because neither team could stop fouling.

Amelia Hodges scored 19 and Kasey Spalding had 14 for Bethlehem. Mikiah Livers-Bryant had 5 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, and was a big reason for Central shooting just 29 percent from the field. Tons of altered shots inside.

Monica Lindsey scored 18 and Alyssa Lindsey had 11 for Central.

Boy, a South-North first-round game would be something to see.

Per LCHS Athletics, Mark Goode became the Hawks career scoring leader. 2130 and counting.

 

Well done Mark!

Outstanding player and he’s got the great bloodlines from his folks. Look forward to seeing them in the region, which sets up to be great this year. Many intriguing first-round matchups.

Banshees hold off a huge late comeback by the Tigers to win back-to-back titles. Incredible defense played in this game.

Down one with 4.9 left, Bardstown rebounded a missed front end of a one-and-one (after rallying from 7 down in the final 3 minutes) and had a shot to win at the buzzer, but missed a heavily-defended layup try.

Ella Thompson had 21/10 and Bethlehem teammate Mikiah Livers-Bryant went for 11/9 and scored the Banshees' final four points.

Jaileyah Cotton had 20 for Bardstown and all but willed her team back into the game late with six points in the final 2:39, and Katrina Brown went for 15/10.

Either of these teams can win the 5th Region tournament, and with Bardstown having already beaten E'town, this could just be the third of a four-part epic. 5th Region tourney is going to be fun.

Wow. Surprised at the margin. But I understand as E’town doesn’t have the beef inside that John does. And I’m not just talking about Murrell. John attacks the glass relentlessly.

I remember it happening. Seems like Pendleton County had to flip with somebody too.

 

That old fart @Can'tcoach might know.

The Licking was especially bad that year and I know Falmouth took the biggest brunt of it. It seemed like it rained every single day in NoKy (I was living there then).

Watched a 47-42 district semifinal game tonight. At half the score was 20-12. At no point did either team take more than 30 seconds to get a shot off. It was just great defense causing missed shots.

I've said it before and I will say it again. Shooting percentages for HS teams are already poor. A shot clock would make it worse, with even more teams shooting sub-30 percent than what I already see. Shot clock in HS is a terrible idea.

Watched the first episode last night. Interesting stuff.

Bardstown has dealt with a lot of injuries this year and hasn’t had the best record as a result.

But they’re coming into form. Had an 11-point lead early in the 4th, but Whitney Hay rallied E’town back and they took the lead late. But Hay fouled out (4 of the 5 were offensive) with about a minute to go, and Bardstown got the lead back, ending a scoring drought of nearly 7 minutes in the 4th. Katrina Brown had a double-double for Bardstown and got a key block and steal in the final seconds to ensure the upset.

This was an outstanding game. Bardstown led by as much as 17 in the first half behind hot shooting by Javon Smith and JaRel Montgomery outside, and JJ Traynor converted 3 different and-ones.

Bardstown nearly got a steal at the end of the half and a chance to add to a 15-point lead, but John’s Devon Rogers banked in a 28-footer at the buzzer.

The Bulldogs ratcheted up their defense in the 2nd half and Bardstown had troubles scoring and taking care of the basketball. John eventually worked its way into the lead late in the 3rd behind Preston Murrell, who was too big for the Tiger defense inside.

Jalen Tyus hit back-to-back threes that made it a 9-point margin (I think) late. Tigers got a couple big plays late to get within 5 but John held on. I can’t wait for when these teams play again.

Did we have more of the same this year?

Pretty much.

$2k is probably the bare minimum budget you would be looking at. Night time, handheld, shooting action from a distance is not something that's very easy to do with budget equipment. I did sports photography as a side hustle for many years, so I do know a little about this. A DSLR with a long, fast (low constant aperture) is what you'll need. The two items below get you in the game. The camera body is refurbished but it's a solid mid level body that will get the job done. You could even purchase lower level bodies for as little a $300-$400 but you'll be making concessions that will make the job a little more difficult.

 

 

Nikon D75 DSLR Body, Black - Refurbished by Nikon U.S.A. 1581B

 

The body I'd recommend adds weather sealing, which can be important when shooting outdoors, and it's just a better, more rugged and durable choice.

 

Nikon D5 DSLR Body 1559 - Adorama

 

The lens on the other hand doesn't leave you many options. I consider the one below to be the bare minimum, and even with this you'll be limited by reach. This is a lens I used, but I did most of my shooting from the sidelines, and even there, I couldn't get much when the action was on the opposite sideline, so you can imagine, shooting from the stands would be even more difficult.

 

Nikon 7-2mm f/4G ED AF-S VR Zoom NIKKOR Lens - USA w/Filters, Ext. Warranty 222 F

 

You could opt for similar third party lenses from Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, etc, and also look at the used/refurbed market to save a few bucks.

An f4 lens will be largely useless in low light situations. You will need a 70-200mm f2.8 to even have a chance to get reasonably well-lit photos, and that will need to be in conjunction with a camera body that delivers a very large file size so that it won't be too grainy when you shoot at ISO 2500 and higher.

If you want a camera rig that can give you quality low-light shots at football games, plan on spending about $3K.

Nobody played a better ratbag.